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Thursday August 28 Georgetown – San Francisco
I went to water aerobics since we didn`t have to leave until after 10. I had left my swimsuit at the rec center so we stopped by on the way to the airport. We got a sandwich at Schlotsky’s at the airport which we ate in the Admirals Club. We had no extra time in DFW. I watched “The Million Dollar Arm” on the plane. We actually had a snack and a glass of wine at the SF Admirals Club before taking Super Shuttle. At Suze’s I went to Fresh N Easy and got pizza for supper. We walked down to Eagles Point to grab a geocache. Suze wanted to watch Robin Williams “Birdcage: but I went to bed.
Friday August 29 San Francisco
Suze & Luis went to work. I looked on line for a picnic table and ordered one from Lowe’s. Phil and I drove long the water, getting out at Pelican Beach to watch surfers and use the potty. Then we went to Costco near the airport where we got gas and picked up 3 caches on the Bayfront Trail. Then we got a couple of things at Costco before heading to Lowes. It took a long time for them to deliver the table and we stuffed it in the car. We took a circuitous route back and unloaded the heavy box. Closer inspection showed that the table would be very hard to assemble and impossible because one the pieces of wood was rotten. So began and afternoon of hassling Lowes to get one delivered and the other returned. But after many hang-ups and talking to many folks I think we got it straightened out. I made pork chops and mashed potatoes for dinner.
Saturday August 30
Suze and Luis decided to run to Baker Beach and Phil and I walked. It was a gloriously sunny morning and we enjoyed seeing all the people on the beach and the beautiful flowers in the lawns of the fancy houses. Luis had to go to work so Susannah and Phil went to the Garden Café shop to get yummy sandwiches for us, After we ate and Lowes delivery service took away the defective table and installed the good one, we headed to Marin in the Golden Gate Bridge traffic. We went up the road to Hawk Mountain and then stopped most of the way down to the headlands at a battery where I talked to a very interesting guy who told a lot of stories about his grandfather : he had been at Pearl Harbor during the attack and used his own rifle to shoot at planes because they couldn’t get into the armory. Later he was at Angel Island where he ferried laundry to Alcatraz. During the Korean War he helped out nuns get leftovers from the soldiers to the orphans.
We were too late to go to the lighthouse which closes at 3:30 but we saw deer and watched huge harbor seals. We explored another battery and then went to Rodeo Beach where we sat on a log and saw four dolphins frolicking in the surf. Fantastic! Then we went to Sausalito. We had planned to geocache but on the way we stopped to explore Galilee Harbor, a boat dock where artists and people in the ship building trades lived in a semi-commune of 39 boats. One of the residents spent a lot of time talking to us about the place. When we got home, we ordered Chinese food from Tsing Tao which Suze and I brought home. We watched “Maiden Voyage” about the youngest person to sail solo around the world. She was 14 when she stared and 16 when she finished.
Sunday August 31 San Francisco
We all got up early to go meet Karen Mottola at her apartment which was gorgeous – she can even see the ocean! We then all walked to Seal Rock Inn for breakfast. Karen took a bus from there to the airport. We walked back on the Lands End Trail. Another gorgeous day. Then the four of us went to Sonoma with Luis driving. We stopped at Viansa Winery where Suze and I did a wine tasting. Phil and I split a salad and baguette and Suze and Luis had sandwiches. We sat out on a picnic table and listened to a really good trio of women singing western music. We then drove around the square in Sonoma to get an idea of the place and headed to Napa to see the earthquake damage first hand. It had many similarities to Christchurch – the tagged buildings: green for ok, yellow could go in to clean but damaged or red for no entry. Then we walked on the Napa Riverwalk and found a geocache. We went to San Rafael to one of Luis’s favorite restaurants, a Puerto Rican place called Sol Food. We took the food home and ate it. We watched CodeBreaker about Alan Turing. It was great but Suze fell asleep. yummy Sol Food
Monday September 1 San Francisco
Luis had to go to work. I wanted to leave the geocoin somewhere in the “mountains, so we rode busses to Mt. Davidson which is the tallest point in San Francisco. I had us get off in the wrong place so we wandered around in a neighborhood and then got a bus right to the trailhead. The trail led to a huge cross that the City had to sell the land around it to settle a lawsuit in order to keep the cross. The views were fantastic and the day was great. We took Uber back to Suze’s . She and I went to Fresh N Easy to get the fixings for our barbeque. Luis started the fire when he got home and I had precooked everything but the hamburgers. The neighbors, Neil and Anne, brought their hamburgers and joined us. It was really sunny and a fun way to inaugurate the picnic table!
Tuesday September 2 San Francisco
Luis had to leave for work really early. Suze did her chores and left us to our own devices. Phil and I took the bus into Fishermans Wharf. We started at Aquatic Beach where there was an Art Deco CCC building with an exhibit from the New Bedford Whaling Museum that told the story of the Portuguese (Lusophone) diaspora mainly from the Cape Verde Islands and the Canary Islands. Phil learned a lot about the heritage of the people around Carver! We also looked at the Customs Exhibit and learned a lot of interesting factgs like Herman Melville, US Grant, and Chester Arthur had all been customs agents. I had wanted to go to the Boudin Sourdough Bread place. We shared a bread bowl filled with clam chowder and then paid for the tour of bread baking. We learned a lot there, too! We took the bus back to Suze’s and Phil went to the store for me. I made papas rellanas (mashed potato balls filled with leftover hamburger and coated and fried) plus a ham loaf from the Christmas ham! We went to bed early.
Wednesday September 3 San Francisco –
