That was one long parade.

First, traveling with SS definitely has it benefits. The nice Asian young lady (sorry, did not catch her name) who checked us in was quite taken with SS. She gave us a room upgrade with a view of the bay because she thought SS would enjoy it. We had no idea that toddlers were such view connoisseurs. P and I were thankful but did not think much about it. Turns out that other than having Coit Tower smack in front of our window, plus a nice view of the bay, it also offered a view of the end of the parade.

It was a long parade, and by 7:20 p.m. we had moved from our original spot to the bridge connecting the hotel to the other side of the street. It was restricted to guests only so other than people on the bleachers (for $30 a seat) it was not crowded. That was a great move on P's part, because we had our chairs, backpack, SS's fun bag and her stroller. We are very proud that we did not forget SS in that messy move. I can't imagine navigating all that through that mass of people once the mass exodus began.

By 8:00 p.m. SS was losing it big time, too much noise, too much stimulation, and a very long day without a nap. We called it a night, and to our surprise, we had a great view from our room. We sat by the window (12th floor) and watched the end of the parade from there. We fed SS, changed her into her PJs, when we heard more firecrackers, and music. Dude the parade was not over, truly unbelievable. Somehow that last group was way behind, and back to the window we went. We are all rather exhausted and SS is bouncing off the walls. P does not have the heart to get tough with her, so I am about to play tough guy (as usual) and I am about to get her in bed.

We had an great time, but are too tired to download, select and post pictures now. I had reservations about coming, not only the overall expense, but SS's sensitivities, and the fact the she is so young. I am glad I caved in, because it was a really awesome experience. We did not have the best spot for picture taking and P expressed his displeasure at the pictures he took (I have not taken a look yet). It does not matter, we had a great time, and this was important to P because he is so proud to be the father of a Chinese daughter, that it meant so much to him. He was beaming, not only because of what we saw, but because he was holding SS, while ye yelled "GO CHINA!" He is equally proud of my and JJ's Puerto Rican heritage, that's why it was so important for him to visit my birth place. Besides, the man seems to thrive in situations where he is the White odd dude out.

Well, I have a pig to wrestle into bed, more later.