visiting Dani and Greg

So it's been about a month since we visited my college friend Dani and her husband Greg.  Luke and I left when he got out of work on Friday and came back on Monday afternoon.  We had so much fun catching up with them and hanging out all weekend.  Dani is expecting in January so it was also a chance for us to hang with just them as well as see their new home.

They live about a 1/4 mile from the sound so we took a walk there to check it out.  After Hurricane Sandy Luke and I weren't exactly sure what to expect but it wasn't bad at all where they live.  They only had one tree fall and their neighborhood didn't loose power.  I know others who weren't as lucky.

Here is a swim/boat buoy washed up next to someones deck.  Other than lots of drift wood their beach was not bad in terms of damage.  This quaint little restaurant was across the street and we made reservations for dinner there.  It happened to be restaurant week so we were able to eat there for $25 each.  It included an appetizer (soup or salad), dinner and dessert.  It was delicious and very cute inside.

They have 5 cats at their house.  Here is Meeko (Dani got him in college)  He was just a kitten when I moved in with her and shared the apartment.  Such a big boy now and taking over baby Michael Geoffry's sitting thing.  

They have a nifty bar in their basement and while Miss D taught me how to make stuffed shells I indulged in a margarita in her special redneck glass.  The boys indulged in a growler from a local brewery.  Dani had some all natural/organic apple juice.  

 Here she is teaching me how to make stuffed shells.  The one of her with her socks off (barefoot and pregnant) came out blurry.  She's about 7 months in this photo incase you are wondering.  Her shells were scrumptious.  I tried to make them at home and it worked but they weren't as pretty as the ones she made.  I'll have to keep trying.

 Kitty feeding time.  They all start to gather in the kitchen when they know it is time to each and sit munching til it's gone.

 Here is Miss D and Champ (their special kitty).  He sits in her lap and "hugs" her belly.  We were playing Wii games and having a blast.  I am so glad that we just stayed in and relaxed instead of going out ant about at night.  We did go to a nearby winery during the day and sat on the deck to enjoy the weather.

 Their crazy clock in the bar that the seller left.  It made me a bit confused more than once.  Time definitely flew by and we hope to get down to see them again.  Although 7-8 hours in the car is no fun. Weather cooperate so we can go visit and meet their little guy!

Giant Race and Relaxing

Traveling to San Fran I checked into running a race while I was out there.  I found the Giant Race was being held while we would be there and signed up the for the half marathon.  The race started outside of AT&T park where the Giants play and finished on the infield of the stadium.

Unfortunately there was a 5k that started about an hour before the race and there was a 10k that started at the same time as the 1/2 marathon.  It was also an out and back course for all races, which meant a very narrow course for the first 4 miles and still narrow after that since it was held through the Presidio near the Golden Gate Bridge.

I took the camera incase I saw anything that caught my eye but I decided to just get the race over with after I was so frustrated at the start organization and narrowness... seriously you are hosting a huge race you should have been forced to go through some training on how to host the event properly.  I should have known after the race expo.  Oh well.  Enough about that and hopefully they figure it out.  I stick to Disney organized races or those hosted by Fleet Feet Rochester (Dave and Ellen are amazing).

start that wraps around a corner

After the race we went out to the Cheesecake Factory that was located on the top floor of Macy's overlooking Union Square.  We got to eat outside and enjoy the view.  Lunch was yummy and the outside seating was very limited compared to inside seating so we were lucky to be seated outside.  

 We figured out that after lunch we would go back to the Golden Gate Bridge.  I really wanted to walk across it since we didn't the other day.  I also wanted to go watch the sunset so we headed over to the Golden Gate Bridge.  I also would have liked to take pictures of it at night but that didn't work out so well (too many lights in the park where we were).  We did walk almost halfway across the bridge this time though.  It wasn't bad except for the very chilly wind.

We did wait in a lot of traffic on the bus just to get dropped off at the  park and then we figured traffic would have been way better and the bus would be back to a consistent schedule after our walk and waiting for the sunset (which we didn't see... notice the heavy clouds/fog).  We sat around the corner from the bus stop semi-blocked from the bone chilling wind.  I guess it is all about timing to capture a good picture of the bridge without fog and such.  

 

Telegraph Hill and the Death Boat

Ok... I know it has been way too long since the last post so I will wrap up our San Fran trip.  We walked up the stairs to Coit Tower to see the beautiful view.  Of course we stopped along the way to take in the view and let people walking down the stairs by.  Once at the top we realized why people were "looking at us funny" on the way up.  Apparently there is a bus that actually drops you at the top of Telegraph Hill.  All those stairs for no real reason.

random sign along the stairs

after already climbing over 200 stairs what's left

Lombard St. and the Bridge

Coit Tower

After taking in the view we caught the bus back down and went over to Pier 39 to take a boat cruise of the bay.  Although it was windy and cold on the boat it allowed us beautiful views and took us out to the Golden Gate bridge and circled around Alcatrez before returning to the dock.

We found out that with our tickets from the boat cruise we could get tickets for the Rocket Boat death boat for $10.  Luke was excited about that and after I had a cup of coffee to warm up we boarded the death boat.  It wasn't actually a death boat but I think it is a more fitting name.  Seriously, hitting waves at high speed and being strapped to a chair on a speed boat is not my idea of fun.  Many people were enjoying the death boat, I was not one of them.  I would have felt better if I was allowed to wear the life jacket instead of having it under my seat in the event that I needed it.

before leaving the dock 

Although the boat ride totaled 30 minutes it felt way longer than the 1 1/2 hour cruise we just took.  You can see the spray and such from the death boat as it made a turn back towards the bridge (this boat went opposite the other tour boat so it was the bay bridge).

Luke and the Death Boat

Stress from the death boat equals a trip to Ghiradelli Square for another ice cream sundae before heading back to the hotel to rest a little bit for my half marathon the next day.  Luke did not complain about calling it an early day after the stairs and walking I'd put him through the past couple days.

the great ear band search...success!

So it is chilly and windy in San Francisco.  I planned on the chilly with 2 jackets.  I did not plan on the wind.  Hence the great ear band search.  We walked in and out of about 20 stores on Saturday during our travels.  I was about out of hope and was just going to tie my ribbon/sash from my race dress around my ears when I found an ear band.  Thank goodness.

It is now Saturday and I have my race tomorrow so we didn't walk as much.  We walked through Chinatown to the financial district so Luke could see the Trans America Pyramid. The sidewalks didn't seem as wide through Chinatown, but there was all sorts of foods and goods for sale on tables outside the shops.  Later, riding the bus through it was all cleaned up and looked a bit like a ghost town.  

TransAmerica Pyramid

 

 Financial District was very quiet (again, it was a Saturday)  I was glad he wanted to see the Pyramid because it allowed me to stumble upon the Port of San Francisco.  It had a nice view of the other bridge in the bay area.  Luke enjoyed the architecture of the District.  It just reminded me of other cities and I'm not a city person.  I prefer pretty views of mountains and things like this:

the bay bridge

Port of SanFrancisco

We could tell that this area is busy during the weekdays.  There were a lot of restaurants and little park areas that weren't being used at the time.  It was eerily quiet.  Not the case on Monday when we had to go through on the bus to get to Pier 33 for our Alcatraz trip.  There were a bunch of people from the Occupy protests marching the street stopping traffic.  Fortunately we didn't miss that boat for our tour time.

You can see Coit Tower in the distance.  We took the bus to near the tower.  

San Fran...day 2

So after our first day walking everywhere we embraced our MUNI bus passes and started the day a little later than the day before.  First on the agenda was picking up my race number at the expo.  We decided to walk there incase we would need to on race morning so we'd know how long.  I preface this by saying I am spoiled by Disney races and their organization and such.

This race expo was not anything that I expected.  I knew not to expect too much, but even this was way less than that.  We waited in line to be given an orange bag and then thrown into chaos at a table for our bib numbers and shirts.  No labels or lines, just go to that table.  Awful.  Enough about that event... they have a lot to learn.

We decided to take the bus from Pier 1 to Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf.  It was busy with lots of people there but it was very nice.  First thing I saw when we arrived:

Immediate photo text to my mom,"Guess what I found." Mom, "A hidden Mickey cruise ship?"  I respond back,"it's not very hidden.  it's huge!"  Luke had to pry me away from the dock and prevent me from trying to figure out a way to get closer to the ship.  It was the Disney Wonder if you are wondering.  The back has Huey, Dewey and Luey painting the name (one of Disney's other ships has Dumbo).

We walked all around, looking at the little shops and restaurants before we finally asked where to see the sea lions from.  Turns out you have to go behind the shops on the one part of the dock.  They smelled a bit but were fun to watch.  They just sort of hang out on the floating docks and bark.

As you can see it was quite windy there and chilly.  Thus began the great ear band search.  The day before I was "ok" with the chilly air because there wasn't wind in my ears.  I decided that I needed and ear band for the race or I'd end up with a terrible headache.  Plus we were going to be going to Alcatraz, hello windy island in the bay.  To get out of the chill for a bit we stopped at the restaurant called Wipe Out for a bite to eat and to relax.  

We both got a burger and fries.  It was delicious.  Plus we could look out the window to the docks. A little bit of shopping and more of me gawking at the Disney boat and we called it a day.  Well, almost a day.  I decided that we needed to go to the Disney store in Union Square for the 3rd time.  Still didn't buy anything, but I had to go look.  After that it was back to the hotel for complimentary wine hour and I had planning to do for the next day.  

walk a bajillion miles

Luke and I went to San Francisco in early September.  Thank goodness we were together there.  He was excellent at reading the street map for the grid streets there (my sense of direction there was way off) and I excelled at reading the Golden Gate park trail map (he was super lost on that one).  It was a perfect balance of map reading skills.

I bet you are wandering about those bajillion miles.  Apparently my sense of how far things are away in terms of walking distance is way off.  We hoofed it close to 10 miles--not bad for running but not pleasant with the extreme hills of the city.
First on the agenda walking from near Union Square to see the Full House house.  This was probably a 3 mile journey.  Full House house, you were nice looking.  I wish it wasn't so foggy out.  We probably shouldn't have left so early in the morning so the fog would have evaporated.  Oh well.

painted ladies

Additional hiking at this point for another mile or so to Golden Gate park.  I consult the map and realize that once you get to the park the map is not to scale and the ocean is actually 4.5 miles away so we board a MUNI bus to get to the Golden Gate bridge (which is not located in Golden Gate park but the Presidio that is really close to the park). Luke eagerly sits on the short bus ride to the Presidio.  We find out that September is the foggiest month typically and the bridge is not super visible today.  Bummer. I still want to walk across the bridge part way since only the top part is veiled in fog.  The bridge vibrates and it is a bit unnerving for Luke so we high tail it off the bridge.

I look at the map and figure that it isn't that much of a hike, like 2 miles, to the Walt Disney Family Museum.  Luke asks about a bus--he's had enough of my crazy idea to walk everywhere.  FREE bus in the Presidio park--bonus!  Current distance walked so far about 4.5 miles.

I am beyond excited about the Walt Disney Family Museum.  We pay the admission fee and wander around, reading and looking at all things Disney.  No photos were allowed in the museum and incase you are wondering it is NOT "affiliated" with Disney although they have permission to use documents/film pieces/etc... I loved it.

I handed Luke a granola bar and drink to enjoy on the porch while I visited the gift shop.  He was checking out the map and we boarded the free bus and took it for a full Presidio loop before realizing that it didn't stop where we thought it would.  We did end up exiting close to where we wanted to though after getting some assistance from the driver.

yay Disney

We end up in Walgreen's since that is where you can buy a MUNI bus pass.  We each purchase a 3 day pass and then I convince him that it isn't that far of a walk to Ghiradelli Square.  Bring on another 3 miles so now our total mileage walked is 7.5 miles.  We stop for Pizza on the way.  Luke almost gets sucked into a movie on tv that started when we sat down to order.  Sitting=bad since it takes away all motivation to keep moving forwarad.

Ghiradelli Square

it was butterscotch and not caramel :(

We gladly enjoyed a sundaes at Ghiradelli Square.  "Manfriend, it's really not that much further to walk to see the crooked street from here.  It's like 6 blocks.  Why don't we check it out and then go back to our hotel since we've done a lot today already?"  Somehow he agrees to this idea.  Lombard street is only one block long--why did I think it would be longer/bigger???  Oh well.  Distance hoofed so far almost 9 miles.

Lombard Street
I'm ready to walk back towards the hotel and find a place along the way to stop for a quick bite for dinner (soup and sandwich maybe).  Luke busts out the map and points saying we are getting on this bus and getting off here (almost next to the hotel).  I concede to the idea, but only if we can go shopping at Union Square when we get back.  He glares at me as if to say, "are you kidding me?"  We do go shopping, but only so he can get some new sneakers since his are falling apart.  This little shopping trip brings the day to about 10 miles walked.  Even I am tuckered out since walking miles feel very different than running  miles... Luke conks out and I check out maps and things to do, scheming for day 2 of exploring.