Summer Happenings: San Francisco

I am back. And it's already time to leave again. Well, not really - I have GOT to stay put for long enough to take care of some items of business that have been neglected but I am no-joke already hurting for another weekend away. What does this say about my life, you may ask? Just don't ask - I have no idea.

After arriving in San Jose on Friday night, Sara and I packed ourselves a couple of backpacks and caught the CalTrain to San Francisco in the morning. We both definitely fell asleep face-down on the formica table afforded our section of the train - the jury is still out as to whether I contracted any communicable diseases from that encounter. I was totally unprepared as to how cold the weekend was actually going to be - I took short sleeved shirts, flip flops, and just a basic fleece to keep me warm and it was a good thing that we were continually on the move because it was CHILLY! Luckily, we literally were always on the move; on the full days of Saturday and Sunday that we were in the city I'm guessing that we walked 14-16 hours each. Loved it. At some point we were both wincing and hobbling a little bit, but Sara is tougher than me and I try to keep up, you know? We made sure to make plenty of treat stops to maintain our energy and also made time for a brief nap just off of a pathway in the park. One day after situating a backpack to use as a pillow, we fell asleep for a few minutes and upon waking, were pleased to notice that a little man had taken a seat on the bench some 15 ft. from us and was watching like a hawk. I can't decide if he was thinking about trying to steal our stuff or about offering us some money to go and sit tight in a shelter for a while.



There was no need though, as a new experience for me was staying in the Mason St. Intl. Hostel:



Sara made all of the arrangements and the price and location were perfect - I think I may become a frequenter of hostels. They are competitively priced, there are bunkbeds, and you may get a cool roommate like Bridget, our new friend from Ireland who has been hanging out in Canada for the last year just for the hell of it. What a life, right? Poor Sara may not have gotten the best end of this deal as she doesn't sleep much and there is literally nothing to do in the rooms other than sleep. Total trooper.



On Sunday we decided to take off on a walk and see if we couldn't find the Exploratorium (we couldn't), see the park (we did), and get lost for 6 or so hours (we did). After biking through Golden Gate park and along the beach for a few hours, we ended up on Haight-Ashbury and were able to see all-things-Grateful-Dead. The street was pretty cool and we found some cute boutiques and funky little shops to look at while we walked. A while later, we were looping back towards Mason and found a little outdoor market-fair thing that we hung out at for a while. For those of you that don't know, I could spend all day looking through Etsy and the blocked off streets were the physical manifestation of all that etsy could offer - everything was handmade, fairly original, and generally awesome. I could have spent a LONG TIME just going back to look and talk with the vendors but we caught it at the end and saw everything pretty quick. I found this little gem of a shop and bought a tiny little necklace that I fairly adore. This is one of my favorite things about bigger and more temperate cities- the outdoor markets! We went throught the farmer's market on the Embarcadero and then found the goods market without even looking- they somehow just appear with the most lovely of items. I swear I would move somewhere if there was the promise of fresh flowers being wrapped in newspaper for my consumer purposes... My purchasing power was definitely exercised between the boutiques, markets, and last but not least: the famous City Lights Bookstore. We literally wandered by the front door one night and I am so glad that Sara suggested going in; I didn't know it at the time but City Lights was one of the most popular locations for beat readers like Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Ferlinghetti. Since of my best/favorite papers written at BYU was on Ginsberg's "A Supermarket in California" I honored the location by reading parts of "Howl" and purchasing "On the Road." I don't know the last time I felt so patriotic to my cause.



We caught the early train back to San Jose first thing on Monday morning and after a quick change of clothes headed down towards Santa Cruz to hang on the beach. After a quick tour of the actual 'town' of Santa Cruz (again, full of boutiques and outdoor sales) we headed to a prety vacant beach where Sara wore layers and I wore layers plus a coat. We didn't last too long because it was cold but upon getting back to the car it wouldn't start. So, we warmed up by taking a couple-hours walk along the railroad tracks and once we got back it started! Hooray! We made it back to Sara's house and her generous dad and step-mom made a great/much needed barbeque. It just doesn't seem like Memorial Day if there isn't some grilling involved, you know?

I left the next day after some MAJOR sleeping (like, more than I've slept since Christmas) and some errand running (via bicycle, naturally). The flight home was uneventful, unlike the first which I only made by running through the airport in really unfortunate shoes. So here I am, just catching up on the mundane and real life related. My only goal for next time is to have my camera in operating condition and learn how to be more brief in my re-telling. We'll see...