2 days of driving, 2 days in San Francisco

Hello everyone!

I had a wonderful weekend in San Francisco with Nandita & Jochem. Jess and I left from Portland at about 7:20 AM Friday morning. We are on I-5 for many miles and many hours. We stopped in Ashland in southern Oregon for lunch and then I took over driving for a ways. It was hot, hot, hot down there. We drove over the Siskiyou Mountains which were beautiful and crossed into northern California for many more hours on I-5. We passed Mt Shasta & Shasta Lake which were both huge and beautiful. We finally got off I-5 and headed towards the coast where traffic really started picking up. I don't understand how people make that commute everyday. Coming out of the city it was a parking lot on the freeway for miles and miles. We crawled over the Bay Bridge and finally were in San Francisco around 6:30. Jess dropped me off at Nan & Jochem's building on South Van Ness & Mission and she went to her friend's place in Berkeley.

Nan & Jochem had tickets for the Coldplay concert long before I planned my visit so I used the key Nan had mailed to get in their place. I haven't visited them since they bought their new place. It's brand new with beautiful hardwood floors and a balcony. I spent the evening relaxing after the long drive down. I fell asleep on the sofa and Nan & Jochem woke me up when they got home from the concert. Nan made us some drinks and we chatted on the sofa & outside on the balcony. Jochem fell asleep but Nan & I stayed up talking until 4 am!

Saturday we woke up and had a small breakfast and coffee before showering and getting ready. We went to Jochem's work bbq which was held in a park on the water. Lots of his co-workers have kids so there were lots of children's activities (face painting, a clown making balloon animals). They also had Wacky Olympics (assorted races involving hula hoops and potato sacks and blow up horse toys), a poker table, food and a bar. We ate and watched the kids jump in the giant blow up castle and get the face painted. Nan & I walked to water front and took pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge enshrouded in thick fog. There were lots of boats out and it was sunny on Alcatraz (go figure!). Jochem joined a poker game so Nan & I decided to go to the Palace of Fine Arts to take pictures since it was just across the street. We walked around and took tons of pictures of the giant tan pillars and carvings. We watched the crazy flocks of pigeons and someone feeding the huge swans grass clippings. There's always a wedding party there but this time we saw a bride climb way up to the base of some of the pillars. Even Nan & I were taking pictures of her because it was such a beautiful scene.

Nandita & I walked back across the street and met up with Jochem. The bbq had ended in our absence so the three of us starting walking down along the marina. We saw the same wedding party gathered with a fire truck & a fire engine. It turned out the groom worked at the fire station so they arranged to take some photos. We were taking photos too even though these people are total strangers but it was a cool scene. The firemen (!!!) started chatting with us, asking where I was from and telling me how much they liked Portland. The wedding party left and one of the firemen asked me if I would like to sit in the truck. Well of course I would! I hopped up into the tall front seat and he asked if I'd like to wear his helmet. Well of course I would! So Nan & Jochem & the fireman (using my camera!!!)take pictures of me grinning away while sitting in an enormous fire truck. They had a hula girl on the dashboard just like I do in my car! The fireman helped me down & I thanked him. We continued walking down along the water with no real destination at that time. I was giddy from the whole experience. I'm totally a cliche when it comes to firemen. They were cute and so friendly and I was all smiles. I was just telling Nan & Jochem how envious Gina was going to be since she definitely has a thing for firemen when the fire truck (the big long one with the ladder) drives up to us and they ask us if we'd like a ride. Well of course we would! Nan & Jochem and I climb in the fire truck. They give us their headset so we can all talk to each other (including the one fireman in the way back of the truck). We're all laughing and telling stories. One of the firemen's nephews just graduated from Lewis & Clark College and was a student I knew when I worked there (such a small world!) They drove us around for maybe 10 minutes. I was too flustered to keep track of what was going on! They drove us up to Union Street and then dropped us off around the corner (since they weren't really supposed to be giving rides to random people). We all climbed out & thanked them profusely and waved to the guy in the way back and smiled and laughed in amazement as they drove away. It was ridiculous and wonderful! Don't worry...I have pictures!

So we walked around Union Street and stopped in a few furniture stores (they're looking for a new chair). We decided to stop for a pitcher of beer at the Buccaneer. We then went to the sushi place next door for dinner which was really yummy. We then started walking in the direction of home stopping along the way at the Hemlock Tavern for a drink. They live just a few blocks from City Hall which is a beautiful domed building so we stopped to take night time photos of it.

Sunday was another foggy morning (shocking no?). Nan made us pancakes (some with blueberries & some with chocolate chips) before we headed out for the day. Jochem stayed in to work on a web design while Nan & I were armed with our cameras and extra batteries for a day of photographing the city. We headed towards Chinatown but along the way saw the aftermath of a PGE explosion that destroyed a Ralph Lauren store and Opera Man (who really used to be an opera singer) and now just belts it out on the street). We checked out an art fair in Union Square before arriving in Chinatown. We took pictures of the colorful lanterns criss-crossing the street and the stores full of chotchkes and unidentifiable items in jars.

For lunch we crossed into North Beach which is the Italian neighborhood. We ate wonderful giant sandwiches with fries and coleslaw piled in the sandwich. We then meandered towards the TransAmerica building and then to the Ferry building along the waterfront. We saw a small leopard shark that had just been caught by some fisherman. We lounged on one of the benches looking at the Bay Bridge and the water.
We decided to head home and jumped on the MUNI to get closer to their area. At home we looked at our pictures on the tv and watched the movie Sin City before making dinner together. We made pasta and used some zucchini that I had brought from my garden. It was yummy and a relaxing end to my visit.

I left with Nan & Jochem as they went to work. We rode the BART together until they got off to walk to work and we hugged goodbye in the station. I jumped on another train which took me under the bay and into Berkeley where Jess was staying. She picked me up and we grabbed some coffee before hitting the road around 10 am. It was a long, long drive through the Sacramento Valley again. Thank goodness for air conditioning. We stopped in Redding for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I drove from there until just past Eugene and Jess drove the final push into Portland just as the sun was setting. It was a long drive but definitely worth it. Jess and I had a fun time driving together (reading trivia questions printed ON the Pringles!?!?) and listening to tons of cds and telling old stories. I had such a great time with Nan and Jochem. I always love visiting them and they always show me something new and fun in the city. I can't wait to go back again!

So that was my weekend. I'll only post a few pictures today (taken by Nan & Jochem). I'll post more tonight and tomorrow after I go through my hundreds of photos. Please let me know how you are and how you spent your weekend. I hope all is well!

xoxo,
carolyn