Thursday, April 16, 2009

San Francisco - Part I


So, I've had this song in my head our entire visit to San Francisco...

If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

If you're going to San Francisco

You're gonna meet some gentle people there

For those who come to San Francisco

Summertime will be a love-in there





No, we didn't put any flowers in our hair... they were just too pretty to pick.

Yes, we found some gentle folks in San Francisco... but also some rude folks.

Yes, lots of love in the air... but probably not as much in the spring as there is in the summer in San Francisco!










We arrived at the Fisherman's Wharf Hostel mid-morning and decided to walk to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our walk took us across Crissy Field (an old army airfield) to the Golden Gate Bridge. As we walked the 1.2 miles (one-way) across the bridge, we watched wind-surfers, sail boats, and HUGE cargo ships coming into the bay. We even had a bird's eye view of Fort Point.




















The Golden Gate Bridge was fascinating - and windy!




















Cool facts about Crissy Field: The first flight around the world landed here in 1924. Out of the four aircraft attempting this flight, two aircraft completed the flight - the Chicago and the New Orleans. They covered 26,345 miles in 172 days.


I must say - San Francisco is a fit city. We counted over 100 runners in and around the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. And just as many dogs! Oh yeah, can't forget all the Bay windows - they are everywhere! Is that why it's known as "The Bay Area?" heehee - Just crackin' myself up!


We read about a Wave Organ on the end of a jetty in the Marina district of San Francisco. Peter Richards constructed it in 1986 of stones from an old Gold-rush cemetery. During high tide, the water rushes in and out of PVC pipes snaked through the stones and "it's like listening to the world's largest sea shell".



Unfortunately, we arrived at low tide, so no soothing organ music for us. It was really cool to see, though!

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Day two in San Francisco was our day to relax... somewhat.
We figured we should probably never go hiking ever again... it causes us to come up with crazy, unusual ideas like joining the Peace Corps, taking a year long road trip across the US, and now... a spontaneous trip to Hawaii!

Normally, I'm the one who is blamed for out-of-the-box ideas, but this time... it was all Richie. I think he forgot to apply sunscreen on day 3 of our backpacking trip, or maybe it was the smoking $5 ravioli dinner deal at the hostel... because he just came out of the blue and said... "We've never been this close to Hawaii... and might never be again... wanna go?"


How could I resist? So, we spent the afternoon and into the evening searching for cheap tickets and plotting a week on O'ahu, Hawaii.

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