Cover Me! I'm going in... (to the city)

Sandy gave me "the business" this morning about not writing in my blog. I guess some of us need a bit of encouragement (AKA a kick in the ass) to get projects started. So...

Greetings from sunny San Francisco! Having a wonderful time... wish you were here! It's true. We have yet to wake up to a day here that is not sunny, and 

whose temperature doesn't rise to a pleasant 75 degrees. 

       

This is Harry, our resident Great Blue Heron. He hangs out here in the evenings.

Whitey thinks he own the 

place, and struts up and 

down our dock all day.

 

Last week, armed with my map of San Francisco and my BART Destinations Guide, I braved the mass transit system and headed into the city to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. If it had been the New York subway system, which I am familiar with, it would have been a no-brainer. Or maybe if someone had been with me who knew what they were doing. But since I'm not familiar with BART, I kinda had to pay attention. Luckily, people were happy to answer my out-of-towner questions. Particularly, a fellow name Jose (of course his name was Jose) who helped me get my ticket out of the machine, and let me sit by him on the train into town. I told him I was planning to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge and he said, "Well, hey...look at you! Still out there gettin' around!" What he failed to add was "at your age." Jose had to get off in Oakland, so after that I was on my own. 

When I got to my stop I asked the Muni information lady (that's the bus information booth and it's perfectly legitimate to ask her stuff) if she knew where the # 45 bus stopped. "Oh, sure. Upstairs at 3rd and Kerney." Piece of cake. The escalators were under repair (of course they were) so I trudged up four flights of stairs to 3rd and Kerney, which more closely resembled Times Square in New York City, than the intersection of two streets. There were several visible bus stops, and after crossing the streets (I lost track of how many times I actually crossed back and forth) to see which buses stopped at each one, I finally decided to ask a woman at one of the stops. "Excuse me. Do you happen to know where I can catch the # 45 bus? " She looked at me a little wildly, ran her hand through her already disarrayed hair, shook her head, and said, "I'm sorry. It took me 20 minutes to find this place!" I was this close to going back down to the Muni lady for more specific details (which I didn't really want to do because I wasn't relishing the prospect of climbing back up those three flights of stairs again, and also because I had a sneaky feeling that she didn't know much more than she had already told me, or else she just got a kick out of telling tourists '3rd and Kerney') when I happened to glance down Kerney street and spotted an older style electric bus (you know the kind- with those two prongs sticking up to the wires overhead) with a #45 on the front. I scooted down the street hoping it wouldn't pull away before I got there. Luckily it was a tiny little Chinese lady getting aboard, who could barely reach the first step, so it was taking a while for her to get on. Once on board, I noticed, her feet stuck nearly straight out from the seat, she was so short. 

The bus route took us down through China Town and all over the place before dropping us at the Presidio, an old fort at the south end of the Golden Gate, which is now residential and businesses. From there I discovered the free Presidio Shuttle, which eventually took me to the Golden Gate Visitor's Center. I scoped out the Gift Shop first of course. A true shopper, I spotted the t-shirt I planned to buy after the walk. (It says: I WALK. Golden Gate Bridge). Next, I went and stood with my back to the bridge and asked a man to take my picture. 

Rather fetching, don't you think? 

Then on to my original mission. I joined a stream of people heading up the pedestrian walkway along the bridge. You walk along the east side of the bridge, so it's hard to see the ocean to the west as you're walking, but since I just came off the ocean a few days prior, I didn't need to see it all that bad. The city looked pretty cool. Exactly like in the books. 

It was a perfect day for the walk. All different kinds of people were on the bridge as we first started out, but as I approached the middle of the bridge, the crowd thinned noticeably, so I am assuming that many people go out a ways, snap a picture, and head back the way they came. One old woman had an awfully mean look on her face as she passed me going heading south. She looked like someone's grandma from Iran. A mean grandma. I wondered why she was walking it. Maybe she had been thinking of jumping until she read the signs that said that jumping off the bridge is against the law. She still looked mean on her way back. And yes, she walked the whole way. I walked round trip from land to land which I estimated to be about three miles total. I was rather pleased with myself, and celebrated by buying the t-shirt plus a fleece pullover for good measure.

The trip back was great. That Presidio free shuttle really gets around! This one took us downtown to San Francisco, so I got off, clutching my map of the city, and began roaming. I loved it! By now it was rush hour, but I managed to get myself back to the BART station and home in time for dinner! It was a perfect day!

We also visited Sausalito twice. Once to just shop and the second time, to meet with Chris' cousin Stephen (who is a blues musician) and his wife, Judy, for dinner. He gave us two of his latest CD's. Great meeting them!  

It's been excellent weather for getting our boat projects done. Our main sail has been repaired and is back on the boat ready for action. Chris has finally been able to finish installing his single side band radio. Plus he replaced the pull cord on the dingy motor. (I helped on that one.) I've sanded and sealed with Setol, a board that we'll mount on the rails of the foredeck to attach our jerry cans to. Tonight we pick up Michael and Finn at the Oakland Airport. Thursday we leave for Monterey and places south. We'll be offshore quite a bit so will not be in touch so often. 

Until later, 

love, 

Patty