Since I fell off the blogging bandwagon while in San Francisco, you have to deal with a really long entry now. Sorry!

Night Tour

We started our first night in San Francisco with a Night Tour. We chose the Big Bus Company because they seem to offer the best deal. I’m not too happy with them but I’ll get to that. First off, we were lied to. They told us we had to get on this bus as it was the last night tour bus. That meant we had to sit downstairs and have a crappy view. Well that wasn’t true because there were at least 2 more buses behind us, I think it was a lie to get the bus full. I would have waited for the next bus because I wanted to sit upstairs with the open top but whatever. The other reason I wanted to wait is because what is a night tour if it was not dark at all during the tour?  The tour started at 7pm. It doesn’t get dark for another 90 minutes at the earliest which means that it really isn’t the night now is it? Argh! So I was mad for the whole tour and didn’t take many pictures because what was the point they wouldn’t turn out anyways because we were behind glass. So we crossed the Bay Bridge and went to Treasure Island where we could get our night skyline pictures (even though it was still daylight) and when we got back on the bus somebody had taken our seat. WTF? Some of the people sitting on top got cold and wanted to sit down below now. So I high tailed it to the top and boy that made a huge difference. It was freezing but I got some awesome sunset pictures. And the best part was the traffic was so backed up going into the city that it wasn’t cold sitting on top. Suckers downstairs, you loose. We waited over 30 minutes for a street car back to our hotel. Two street cars that were scheduled never showed up and when one finally showed up it was packed and we were packed like sardines.

Zombie Runner 10K

Don’t really want to say too much here, my full race report can be found here.

Relaxing

After the 10K, which I did horrible in, we went back to the hotel and relaxed. It took a lot out of us, especially those hills. We both crashed on the bed. Eric took a nap and I uploaded some pictures. I tried to nap but it wasn’t happening.

Big Bus Failure #1

Finally after 3 hours I told Eric we had to venture out so after a quick shower we jumped on the Big Bus Tour at the stop across the street from the hotel (the other reason I chose this company).  We went to Alamo square to see the Painted Ladies, the famous house of San Francisco that is shown in every movie ever shot here. It was a beautiful view.  

Painted Ladies from Alamo Square

We managed to catch the next bus (it was a hop on, hop off variety of tour) and decided we were going to ride it to the Golden Gate Bridge Vista point. Again we were relegated to downstairs which sucked. What sucked even more was the fact it took almost 2 hours to get to the Golden Gate Bridge Vista point because the traffic was so horrible. Like MnDot, California DOT thought it was a good idea to close the major interstate that goes through the city on a holiday weekend so all traffic was diverted to the same road the bus tour was driving. It was a nightmare. Eric and I were sitting in the last sit in the bus, on the motor, so it was HOT.  My butt should be smaller because it should have melted off! By the time we got to the vista, we didn’t have time to stop because we had to get back to our hotel for the Giants/Twins game. And of course we couldn’t get upstairs so we continued to ride the bus downstairs all the way back to the first stop. The bus was packed and I had to sit next to an ashtray. Gross! I couldn’t handle the smell of the guy sitting next to me, it was awful. I was so happy to get off the bus.

Best View from Bus

Giants/Twins Game at AT&T Park

So we got back to the hotel, changed into our Twins garb and went to the game. AT&T Park has nice views and was overall a good park, the best one of the trip. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite. The game wasn’t much to speak of, the Twins lost. There were a few kayakers and boats in the water but there were no splash hits for our game. We walked around the park and took in all the views. It was so cold. The windy was whipping and the air temperature was about 50 degrees. It was like we were back in Minnesota! A nice guest services person bought me a Ghirardelli hot chocolate. I was taking pictures and talking with her and the hot chocolate guy came by and she said I had to try the hot chocolate. Well Eric had my wallet so I had no cash on me so she insisted on buying me one. It was delicious. I was very grateful. Prices at this ball park were by far the highest. Almost $6 for a bottle of water?!? And the hot dogs were almost $7. Not a cheap place to visit! Overall it was a good game even though we lost by one. Giants went on to sweep the Twins.

AT&T Park

Big Bus Failure #2

So on Sunday we decided to try the Big Bus Company again. We had a 48 hour ticket so why not. We got down to Fishermen’s Wharf around 11 and hopped on the bus, upper deck, back row. The best spot. The tour was going along well. The only stop we wanted to do was the Vista. This tour was almost as bad as the day before. Thankfully we were upstairs! The tour is supposed to last 2 hours. After 3 hours we still hadn’t reached the vista stop. We were stuck in the traffic again. Our bus driver this time was more aggressive but still we sat for hours in traffic. We got the vista and I was too tired and irritated to get off so we just stayed on the bus and went on with the tour. It was over 4 hours later when we got back to the first stop. We were starving. We missed lunch so when we finally got off the bus we headed to In N Out burger. I was so excited but I forgot that they put a special sauce on their burgers so it ruined it for me. I can’t believe I forgot about it. So my In N Out burger was sour. I was so hungry too so it was disappointing.

I ran down there!

Hills and more hills and then a Tower

We decided the best way to tackle the city is walking. Not an easy task when all you see is hills and they all look like they are going up. We walked to Lombard Street, “the most twisted street in the world” their words not mine. It was interesting to see but coming from bluff country in Wisconsin and having driven in the Black Hills many times, this street was lame. They had flowers on all the switchbacks but “the most twisted road in the world,” I highly doubt it. I will say the walk was difficult, up to steep hills to get there. We walked back down to Washington Square and Sts. Peter and Paul Church. Nice church. We walked up another couple steep hills to Coit Tower. Walking some of those steep inclines sucks the wind out of you and I’m not sure which is worse, walking up or walking down. They were both very difficult. We stood in line to go up to the top of Coit Tower. The view was nice from up there but I don’t know if it was really worth the $7 entrance fee and 30 minute wait. The upper area was encased in glass so you couldn’t take great pictures from up there because there was always the glare. We walked around and snapped some pictures and came back down.

View from Coit Tower

After the Coit Tower we walked the mile or so back tour hotel for some relaxation. It was a very tiring day. We ventured out again close to evening time to finally get on one of the famous cable cars. We decided to try the California Line. One, because it was a few blocks from our hotel and two, it is less busy. The other one is more famous and has better views and always has a queue. There wasn’t a queue for the California Line. We rode it all the way to the end of the line and then came back. It was so much fun. Some of the most fun I had on the trip. I guess I’m easily entertained! We got hang on the outside, a must do. We stopped at Chinatown and walked around. We hopped back on the California line to our hotel and crashed. We had an early morning.

California Line Cable Car Ride

California Line Cable Car Ride

Alcatraz

We had to get down to Pier 33 by 8:45 for our 9:10 tour of Alcatraz. The tour itself wasn’t bad. We got to see the whole island and hear the history of the prison. The audio tour was quite good, I’m not usually a fan of them but this one didn’t drag on like others I have done. It was fascinating learning about the various escape attempts, the riots and the lives of the guards who lived on the island with their families. It sounds crazy to me that people would let their kids live on an island with a maximum security prison! We managed to see the whole site and were back on the return boat by 11. We walked around Pier 39 for a bit and saw the Sea Lions but we had to get back to the hotel for the Oakland A’s game.

Alcatraz

Lines, Lines and more lines

I never hated the Metrodome, I actually kind of liked it and after seeing where the Oakland A’s play, I really loved the old place. The A’s play at O.co also known as the Coliseum. The Coliseum is old, built in the 60s. It is a football first stadium, baseball second. There is nothing fun to look at. It is a maze trying to find your seat and you have to walk through a restaurant to get to your seats. It is just weird and dumpy. The A’s are having a fantastic year and as a result, it was actually a sellout. Unbelievable! Obviously they are not used to sellout crowds because only half of the concession stands were open and the lines were ridiculous. We got to the game late and stood in line for an inning and a half for a hot dog. On a positive note their food prices are pretty cheap, especially compared those across the bay! We watched a few innings and then Eric wanted ice cream. We waited in line for over 2 innings for ice cream. By that time it was the 8^th inning (we missed the 7^th inning stretch) and we were tired of standing around. The A’s were killing Detroit and so we left after eating the ice cream. I’m sure glad we did, the BART back to San Francisco only runs every 20 minutes (bad planning!) and we got on one right away. When we were heading out of the station, the bridge that connects to the stadium was packed with people heading to the train. I was so glad we beat that crowd. It was amazing!

Coliseum

Finally we walked the bridge!

So after two failed attempts at walking the Golden Gate Bridge, we finally had our chance. We took the BART from the stadium to Civic Center plaza, connected with a bus to the Golden Gate Bridge. We finally got to walk the bridge. It was cold and windy. I knew that but it is something to feel it! We walked about half way and turned around. It was a great site and I’m glad we finally got there. We took a couple buses back to the hotel and crashed. Our vacation was over. We had an early morning wake up call for our flight and we had crazy shuttle bus driver but we got on our early morning flight, thankfully for another successful vacation.

This race report won’t be as upbeat as previous ones because to be honest my race sucked. I wasn’t prepared for the hills, I knew that.  And I made soft goal of finishing in 1:30.  I was close, actually my 10K time was 1:26 but the race was really 6.77 miles. That is over a half mile longer than it was supposed to be! My official time is 1:33. Whatever!

Strong-ish start, terrible middle, horrible finish.

My first mile was around 11:44.  Slower than I thought it would be but still acceptable. Around mile 1.5 is where the “fun” began. Steps up to the top of the hill, yes, steps. See it wasn’t a typical race, it was a “trail” race. So we walked up the steps. I tried running but thought to myself I still have 5 more miles to go, if I run up these steps now, I will have nothing in the tank for later! I ran a bit one on top of the hill but we continued to keep climbing. It felt like it was never going to stop!  I coasted down the hill at a fast clip, averaging around 10 minute/mile pace until we hit the sand…wait what, sand? Yep sand. We had to run on the beach for about a half a mile. I hate running on sand it is horrible! I didn’t run on the sand, I walked. Walking again! We stopped at the turn around spot and grabbed some water and a few graham crackers and headed back on the sand. I walked. When we hit the parking lot of the beach, I actually stopped to take a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we hit the big hill I just coasted down a few minutes before. I walked.  We got to the top of the hill and I ran again. And pretty much ran most of it from that point on. I even sprinted down the steps, I had to climb so long ago. My knees did not like that at all. We switched between running and walking during the home stretch. I was completely spent. I never thought the finish would come but there it was. I got across, got my medal and gorged on water and food. I was so happy to be done with it.

Pre Race View

At Mile 3.3, yes Eric we have to run back. Look at the view!

Success! We made it!

The Medal - Zombie Runner San Francisco 10K

What I learned!

I learned some things in this race. One is I hate hills and steps. But I already knew that but during this race made body made sure I knew it. I should have trained better. I knew what was at hand but I don’t think my mind really grasped what a 300 foot hill looks like. It isn’t fun! My legs were spent on the downhill sprint at mile 3 and I never recovered. I didn’t even finish strong on the flats. Hopefully I can move on from this “race” and do better in the future. I only have a few more days before our marathon relay. I’m very nervous!

Map!

Splits

But I finished my first 10K. Yay!

We left San Diego and head north in our awesome Ford Mustang Convertible. I seriously want one now. The first day’s drive was to San Luis Obispo. The views were pretty blah and traffic was ridiculous. I think we would have been better off going the 405 through LA since there really wasn’t much to see on Hwy 1 and it took us over 2 hours to get through the LA area. It really was a bust. I don’t get all the hype about Malibu, it really wasn’t that special. The special places were up the coast. So the first day was not that exciting.

Elephant Seals

About an hour up the road from San Luis Obispo is the elephant seal rookery. There is this one pull off which is free (if you can believe that in California, somebody could make a fortune off of this stop) and it is home to hundreds of Elephant Seals. They are so dang cute. There were some fighting: 

But mostly they were swimming or the majority were sleeping:

 It is definitely worth a stop if you are driving up the PCH.

Big Sur

Just before Big Sur is the Julia Pfeiffer State Park. Stop, it is beautiful.  There is a short trail, about ¼ mile that is almost entirely flat and the view at the end is amazing. There is a waterfall, a small one, and the water on the beach is the most turquoise water I’ve ever seen:

After you see the water fall, continue to the end of the trail and check out the coast on the other side. Breathtaking!

Also up the road is the Bixby Bridge. I’m not sure what is so special about this bridge, other than it is cool but I is also much photographed and one of my atlas has this bridge as the front cover.

The road twists and turns its way to Monterey (I rhymed there!) with many places to stop and look. I have to say of the portion of the highway we covered the road from Cambria to Monterey is the best. Once past Monterey, the road is very straight and the view is much the same as down south but not as exciting.

I wasn’t sure what to name this blog post because I didn’t want to be generic and say San Diego. That would be boring. So I thought about it and went hum. Petco Park and the Zoo. They are both animal places. Granted Petco park doesn’t really have any animals unless you consider baseball players animals but it is named after “the place where pets go.” We meet Blue Mews and Red the dog (mascots that walk around the park) and got a picture so I guess there are animals there.

DEN to SAN via SLC

Our venture from Denver to San Diego was uneventful but a little bumpy, as in turbulence. We had leaving Denver and landing in Salt Lake. And leave Salt Lake was really bad. Some of the worse I’ve experience. I’m not sure why the sun was shining and there were very few clouds. I’m not sure if it is because of the mountains?  We got to San Diego and hoped a shuttle to our hotel. Oh to be in San Diego again. I really do love this city, it is probably the only one in California I’d consider living in.

Kim & Eric 2, Padres 0

We didn’t have much time to relax at the hotel before the Twins game. We dumped our stuff and changed. Weather of course was dilemma again. It was about 60 degrees with that ocean breeze. For once I got my clothing right. I didn’t get cold until the 6^th inning but I brought my sweatshirt along so all was good. Our seats were pretty good, 4 rows from the field right by third base. Before the game started a few twins came over. Kubel held his daughter which was cute but refused to sign stuff…bad! Plouffe was really good about it he signed for everybody and took some pictures with people but that only lasted until Mauer came over and everybody ditch Plouffe. I wish I had a sharpie and ball because I would have gone down to Plouffe for a signature when everybody ditched him. I don’t care about Mauer…but that is for another blog post at a later date.

The Twins got on the board early with a Chris Parmalee home run. The cool thing about going to games in California is that almost half of the players are from here so that means family and friends are in the crowd. Parmalee had friends behind us…that was so cool. We talked a bit about him and his family and his baseball. You don’t get that at Target Field!

The other cool thing about going to away interleague games is watching your pitcher bat. It is hilarious. I know they have batted in the past but to watch them do it when it isn’t a regular occurrence is funny. Our pitchers didn’t do so hot batting.

The Twins lead most of the game but the Padre’s tied it up. Kurt (Clutch) Suzuki fixed that with an in-the-park home run. It was weird. We all thought it was out but they ruled in never went out because it rolled on the wall and came back in. That make sense since Kurt was flying around the bases and slide home. A very strange play. Perkins came in for the save and the Twins won 5-3. It was a fun game.

Animals are Calling

Yesterday we spend almost the entire day at the zoo, and I mean the entire day. We got on the 9:40 trolley from our hotel. We drove over the Coronado Bridge and saw some of the sites on the island including the $4.89 gas. The next stop was Balboa Park. This place is massive and has lots to see including the Zoo. We walked around the park and got to zoo and you could hear all the animals making noise. We covered almost the entire zoo, entirely on foot. No busses, no shuttles, no kangaroo express. All on foot. By the way my feet now hurt.

First stop was the reptile house for all the snakes, lizards and iguanas…Eric’s thing not mine. The Galapagos Turtles are awesome. A women standing next to me pointed at turtle number 5 and said that is Speedy. I rode him as a child and I’m 68 years old, he is over 150. That is so crazy to me. We saw Speedy get into a confrontation with another turtle for the water. They just raised their heads at each other and Speedy didn’t win. He got one foot in the water. 

Animals Galore

We saw a tiger during feeding time. He stalked the zoo worker, it was funny to watch. We saw the a walrus, pelicans and other birds, polar bears, panda bears, elephants, lions (both African and Asian), koala bears, rhinos, giraffes,  and so much more.

I wore the wrong sandals for the day and ended up with blisters. Stupid me, I know it was a lot of walking and steep terrain but I wore sandals. Doh!

After the zoo we hoped back on the trolley and was forced to stop at Old Town…think flea market with a Mexican flare. Yep, not really our cup of tea. We had to wait for the next trolley to take us back to our hotel. We stopped at Horton Plaza shopping center first for a new bag because we bought too much (again, we never learn to pack right). And finally made it back to the hotel by 5pm. A long successful day.

Rootbeer and Pizza Don’t Mix, Seriously!

We relaxed for a bit and took a swim in the heated pool and hot tub. The breeze off the ocean was cold! We changed clothes quickly and went to the Fox Sport’s Grill for dinner. This is where I spilled my entire glass of rootbeer on my flat bread pizza. That was gross. I managed to salvage a few pieces which was enough for me to eat (it was huge) but that was a major bummer. As a friend put on Facebook, “Dough!”

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