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shannon_aEvery once in a while I post how many days we have remaining in the Bay Area over on Facebook. And, I wouldn't want to give anyone the wrong impression. I'm not counting down the days left until we get to go to Hawaii; I'm counting the days left that I get to enjoy California.
And that's the great thing about making this five-year plan to move. It's given me a lot of time to really appreciate what I have here in the Bay Area and make the most of it.
And it's given us plenty of time to prepare for our move as well.
Mind you, that preparation got more difficult this last week, when Kimberly got hammered with multiple health problems, one of which has resulted in emergency surgery for her on Tuesday. It's just one more thing that we really didn't need to deal with, but poor Kimberly has to, and it feels at times overwhelming when added on to all the work to prepare our house for sale and ourselves to move.
But, it is what it is, and we are persevering.
Anywho, I was talking about saying goodbye to the Bay Area.
In the last few weeks, pretty much as summer faded into fall, I've become increasingly aware of how little time we have left here.
So, I've been waking the fire trails up above Clark Kerr whenever I have a chance, and I got to see a few beautiful sunsets up there. A few weeks ago I took the bus up to Tilden, then walked up to Inspiration Point and down the fire trails to San Pablo Dam. Last weekend I had lunch at the Oscar's-replacement in Point Richmond, had a nice ride through Point Pinole (since you can now use it as a thoroughfare, with the two new entrances they've opened in recent years), and after a flat-tire adventure that led to a three-mile walk to the nearest bike shop, revisited Kennedy Grove. (I'd planned to go up a nice creek trail that I enjoy on the border between Pinole and Hercules, but ended up being in the wrong place and not have time after the puncture problem.)
These are all places that I know and am familiar with, and wanted to see again.
And Saturday I went out to The City, with the intention of visiting Golden Gate Park and The Golden Gate Bridge.
I love the fact that Golden Gate Park is huge and rambling (bigger than NY's Central Park!). I love that it has hidden nooks and crannies, some just off the beaten path, some mostly abandoned for decades.
Kimberly and I used to head out there every once in a blue moon, grab sandwiches from the nearby Andronico's (now a Safeway in all but name, with a commiserate drop in sandwich quality) and enjoy them in the Fern Grotto (or as I call it, "Fern Gully"), just above the National AIDS Memorial Grove. And, we haven't in years, since sometime before she broke her foot, and we probably won't again, sad as that is to say.
I decided to remember that on my own on Saturday. So I hauled my bike on BART, then Wiggle-d my way up to the Park.
I found a nearby sandwich place called "The Yellow Submarine", which I've seen before from the bus. When I got there I saw they advertised "Boston-style" sandwiches. Which turned out to be Philly cheesesteaks. Which amused me, because everyone else in the world calls them Philly cheesteaks, not Boston sandwiches, but maybe there's some Eastern rivalry thing going on there. Anywho, my chicken cheesesteak was stasty, and I enjoyed it in Fern Gully, and that was pretty much my visit to the Park.
(Other than some biking through it here, and there, which was nice, as always.)
From the Park, I biked straight up into the Presidio to get to the Bridge. There was one section which was straight up hill which took some effort. I immediately recognized it as a nemesis that I'd visited before, but I made it up the hill all on my bike, albeit with two rests along the way.
Biking through the Presidio was even more beautiful than biking through Golden Gate Park, because you get gorgeous coastal views along the way.
And then I was approaching the Bridge.
I had to swerve around a clump of meandering pedestrians as I ramped up onto the western side of the bridge, reserved for bicyclists. I kindly told the tourists that there were no pedestrians allowed on this side as I went, but they seemed pretty oblivious. So maybe they spent the next 30 minutes dodging bikes and wondering what was going on.
The ride across the Bridge was MAGICAL.
I mean, it's always a gorgeous ride, but as I'd hoped, the Blue Angels started flying over the Bay as I biked across, every once in a while making it over to the Bridge. I think it was mostly the warm-ups, as I only saw one at a time, at least then. But still it was just amazing seeing them up in the sky as I biked across. I pulled over ra few times to gawp.
(It was Fleet Week, if it's not obvious. I don't think I've ever been into the City for Fleet Week before, though I saw them circling up in the sky in a recent year when I was over at Point Richmond. But this time I knew it was Fleet Week and purposefully scheduled this trip to the City for that. As I hoped, it didn't make things too crowded, but was a wonderful spectacle for one of my last trips into the City.)
Once over the Bridge, I crossed over to the View Vista Point above Fort Baker, and from there was able to watch the Blue Angels for awhile from afar. There were more of them now, circling and looping and making amazing dives, mostly above the Embarcadero. On the bright side, no deeply rumbling afterburners right above, but they were pretty far away.
I wished I'd brought my binoculars, instead of just my better camera, but it was still pretty amazing.
My last activity for my day in San Francisco (and now Marin) was to hike up the SCA Trail above the North Tower Parking Lot.
And here, the trip became entirely magical again, because I'd hike a few hundred yards, and then I'd hear the jets, and they'd be close enough to see. A few times a set of four of them zoomed right over the headlands. One time, one went spinning over head. Sometimes I'd be on the same chunk of trail as other hikers, and we'd all stop and look up. It was amazing! Though the mile hike up the SCA trail took quite a long time as a result!
I eventually got to where the SCA Trail meets the Coastal Trail, and it was getting late, and Kimberly had had a seizure episode back at a friend's house, and so I wanted to get back. So I looked at those other beautiful trails headed into the distance, imagined walking them, and turned around.
I'd never realized quite how many trails there are in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and from there into Muir and beyond. It's an amazing area that I'd love to hike more, but pretty far from our house by BART and bike. And there are only 80 days left. And the weather is quickly turning cold and gray.
I had to thread through crowds as I biked through Crissy Field and around Fort Mason on the way back, but eventually I found Polk Street, which took me back to Civic Center BART.
Along the way, I powered up a hill (one of a few on the route), and passed two people on the electric Ford bikes, and thought, "They're doing something wrong".
And within a few hours of leaving the Marin Headlands, I was home in Berkeley.
The Bay Area is an amazing place full of natural beauty. I'm glad I've been able to really mindfully enjoy it these last few years. And I'm sorry Kimberly hasn't been able to join me for much of it due to health reasons. Having a car in Kauai will probably be a big, helpful change in that regard.
And that's the great thing about making this five-year plan to move. It's given me a lot of time to really appreciate what I have here in the Bay Area and make the most of it.
And it's given us plenty of time to prepare for our move as well.
Mind you, that preparation got more difficult this last week, when Kimberly got hammered with multiple health problems, one of which has resulted in emergency surgery for her on Tuesday. It's just one more thing that we really didn't need to deal with, but poor Kimberly has to, and it feels at times overwhelming when added on to all the work to prepare our house for sale and ourselves to move.
But, it is what it is, and we are persevering.
Anywho, I was talking about saying goodbye to the Bay Area.
In the last few weeks, pretty much as summer faded into fall, I've become increasingly aware of how little time we have left here.
So, I've been waking the fire trails up above Clark Kerr whenever I have a chance, and I got to see a few beautiful sunsets up there. A few weeks ago I took the bus up to Tilden, then walked up to Inspiration Point and down the fire trails to San Pablo Dam. Last weekend I had lunch at the Oscar's-replacement in Point Richmond, had a nice ride through Point Pinole (since you can now use it as a thoroughfare, with the two new entrances they've opened in recent years), and after a flat-tire adventure that led to a three-mile walk to the nearest bike shop, revisited Kennedy Grove. (I'd planned to go up a nice creek trail that I enjoy on the border between Pinole and Hercules, but ended up being in the wrong place and not have time after the puncture problem.)
These are all places that I know and am familiar with, and wanted to see again.
And Saturday I went out to The City, with the intention of visiting Golden Gate Park and The Golden Gate Bridge.
I love the fact that Golden Gate Park is huge and rambling (bigger than NY's Central Park!). I love that it has hidden nooks and crannies, some just off the beaten path, some mostly abandoned for decades.
Kimberly and I used to head out there every once in a blue moon, grab sandwiches from the nearby Andronico's (now a Safeway in all but name, with a commiserate drop in sandwich quality) and enjoy them in the Fern Grotto (or as I call it, "Fern Gully"), just above the National AIDS Memorial Grove. And, we haven't in years, since sometime before she broke her foot, and we probably won't again, sad as that is to say.
I decided to remember that on my own on Saturday. So I hauled my bike on BART, then Wiggle-d my way up to the Park.
I found a nearby sandwich place called "The Yellow Submarine", which I've seen before from the bus. When I got there I saw they advertised "Boston-style" sandwiches. Which turned out to be Philly cheesesteaks. Which amused me, because everyone else in the world calls them Philly cheesteaks, not Boston sandwiches, but maybe there's some Eastern rivalry thing going on there. Anywho, my chicken cheesesteak was stasty, and I enjoyed it in Fern Gully, and that was pretty much my visit to the Park.
(Other than some biking through it here, and there, which was nice, as always.)
From the Park, I biked straight up into the Presidio to get to the Bridge. There was one section which was straight up hill which took some effort. I immediately recognized it as a nemesis that I'd visited before, but I made it up the hill all on my bike, albeit with two rests along the way.
Biking through the Presidio was even more beautiful than biking through Golden Gate Park, because you get gorgeous coastal views along the way.
And then I was approaching the Bridge.
I had to swerve around a clump of meandering pedestrians as I ramped up onto the western side of the bridge, reserved for bicyclists. I kindly told the tourists that there were no pedestrians allowed on this side as I went, but they seemed pretty oblivious. So maybe they spent the next 30 minutes dodging bikes and wondering what was going on.
The ride across the Bridge was MAGICAL.
I mean, it's always a gorgeous ride, but as I'd hoped, the Blue Angels started flying over the Bay as I biked across, every once in a while making it over to the Bridge. I think it was mostly the warm-ups, as I only saw one at a time, at least then. But still it was just amazing seeing them up in the sky as I biked across. I pulled over ra few times to gawp.
(It was Fleet Week, if it's not obvious. I don't think I've ever been into the City for Fleet Week before, though I saw them circling up in the sky in a recent year when I was over at Point Richmond. But this time I knew it was Fleet Week and purposefully scheduled this trip to the City for that. As I hoped, it didn't make things too crowded, but was a wonderful spectacle for one of my last trips into the City.)
Once over the Bridge, I crossed over to the View Vista Point above Fort Baker, and from there was able to watch the Blue Angels for awhile from afar. There were more of them now, circling and looping and making amazing dives, mostly above the Embarcadero. On the bright side, no deeply rumbling afterburners right above, but they were pretty far away.
I wished I'd brought my binoculars, instead of just my better camera, but it was still pretty amazing.
My last activity for my day in San Francisco (and now Marin) was to hike up the SCA Trail above the North Tower Parking Lot.
And here, the trip became entirely magical again, because I'd hike a few hundred yards, and then I'd hear the jets, and they'd be close enough to see. A few times a set of four of them zoomed right over the headlands. One time, one went spinning over head. Sometimes I'd be on the same chunk of trail as other hikers, and we'd all stop and look up. It was amazing! Though the mile hike up the SCA trail took quite a long time as a result!
I eventually got to where the SCA Trail meets the Coastal Trail, and it was getting late, and Kimberly had had a seizure episode back at a friend's house, and so I wanted to get back. So I looked at those other beautiful trails headed into the distance, imagined walking them, and turned around.
I'd never realized quite how many trails there are in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and from there into Muir and beyond. It's an amazing area that I'd love to hike more, but pretty far from our house by BART and bike. And there are only 80 days left. And the weather is quickly turning cold and gray.
I had to thread through crowds as I biked through Crissy Field and around Fort Mason on the way back, but eventually I found Polk Street, which took me back to Civic Center BART.
Along the way, I powered up a hill (one of a few on the route), and passed two people on the electric Ford bikes, and thought, "They're doing something wrong".
And within a few hours of leaving the Marin Headlands, I was home in Berkeley.
The Bay Area is an amazing place full of natural beauty. I'm glad I've been able to really mindfully enjoy it these last few years. And I'm sorry Kimberly hasn't been able to join me for much of it due to health reasons. Having a car in Kauai will probably be a big, helpful change in that regard.