It's Grrrrrreat!!

San Francisco is a great city. Even though the temperature never broke 70 in mid-August and the first day it maybe hit 60. But I guess it a city would be pretty nice when it is only 7 miles square with a median home price of $750k. Tends to keep the riff-raff out. I stayed with T-Bone for three nights. Not only is the city beautiful but the girls are also incredible. This place puts Minneapolis to shame. No offense to my lady friends in Jax, you guys come in a solid third. The first morning I went down the Fisherman’s Wharf to see what all the hype is about and to check out Alcatraz. This was a Tuesday morning and they were sold out until Sunday. After I spit on the glass of the ticket booth I settle for a one hour bay cruise. I thought the Wharf was nice but it was just an oversized Navy Pier with too many tourists and expensive parking. I enjoyed the National Park at the end of Jefferson street. It was foggy that morning so I took the cruise on Wednesday. I enjoyed the cruise and it reminded a lot of the cruise I took around Sydney harbor (but it was warm in Sydney). Tuesday night we hit a local restaurant for dinner and a crepe place for dessert. T-Bone’s neighborhood is very trendy with lots of little shops and the like. Wednesday night we went to an A’s game. About what I expected from Oakland fans. Similar to Philly fan but this was actually a sell-out. I think that was because it was dollar dog night. The lines for hotdogs were ridiculous and while we were waiting three drunk chicks cut in line behind us and wanted to get in front of us to get to the dogs quicker. They offered us a little extra to cut in but I told them that I turned down a chick in Vegas twice as good looking. ;o) The stadium sucks but the A’s won and everyone went home happy. Wednesday afternoon I checked out the cities two main parks, The Presidio and Golden Gate Park. They set the city apart from any other on the trip. I would like to come back some day and bike around the city for a day. Overall it was a great stop and the apartment was better than any hotel I’ve stayed in yet.

On Thursday I headed over the Golden Gate bridge and out of town. Many hours later I arrived a cool little seaside town just south of Redwoods NP. I spent the day at Redwoods on Friday. The cold fog prevented visibility along the coastline all day but a quarter mile off shore it was warm and sunny. I started at a visitor center and then did an easy one mile hike. Next stop was Trillium Falls Trail. The trail was 2.5 miles of rough dirt and rocks with a big ascent at the very beginning. It wound through thick groves of 500 year old, 300 foot tall redwoods. It took about an hour and was a highlight on the trip. There were hardly any other hikers so it was very pleasant. I found it strange to think that at the same time I was walking amongst the giant Redwoods on one coast my brother was walking amongst the giant buildings in NYC on the other. Like the other national parks I would love to come back and do more hiking and biking again here someday. I think I’ve determined that I need to marry a teacher or someone who is self employed so we can take long outdoor vacations every summer. I’ll take referrals.

After Redwood I decided that I’ve had enough touring and I’m skipping Portland and Seattle. I’ll get there someday. I spent today driving through Oregon and Idaho. Tomorrow I should hit Yellowstone about noon and will be staying in a cabin. (Too cold to camp, mid-30s at night. Where’s the drunk Vegas girl when you really need her?)

Pictures: cool B&B in Eureka, me inside a Redwood, windmill, flowers, and me in SF