San Francisco Part 1 - The Ultimate Tourism Experience

Its now a week since Christina and I returned to Edmonton after our week long trip to San Francisco.  Looking back on it, it seems like it happened so long ago.

I have been having a hard time devising how to present the experience on my blog. I considered a daily journal format or a thematic approach but nothing seems to do the trip justice. Instead I am going to present the trip in a couple post... Part 1 Ultimate Tourism Experience, Part 2 Alcatraz, Part 3 Muir Woods and Marin County, Part 4 Sports, Part 5 Odds and Ends. This first post will spotlight some of the well known tourism staples that Chrissy and I encountered while traveling.

I love walking cities that I have never been to before. I like checking into my hotel and then just getting lost. Thankfully, Chrissy was game to do some walking with me as we averaged approximately 13 or 14kms a day. If I'm on the coast I immediately walk the shoreline - after that first walk it becomes my point of reference for the rest of the trip, my "North on the Compass" if you will. Thankfully, SanFran's shoreline is outstanding.

View from the Marina walk.

Alcatraz

My first ever blimp sighting.

Seals on the docks at Fishermans Wharf.

Chrissy the Riveter

The Jeremiah O'Brien anchored near Fishermans Wharf. The ship was present at D-Day in Norm

Taking a break from walking we hitched a ride on the F Line Trolley from Fisherman's Wharf to the Ferry Terminal downtown.

Chrissy on the Cable Car at Powell and Market

At the end of the cable car line they have to actually flip the trolley around to reset it on the cable under the street. 

On one of our rides the brakeman actually let me hold onto the brake lever. The resistance and rattle on it was amazing. It takes a lot of 'oomph' to stop the trolley.

From the end of the trolley line at Castro we walked up to Alamo Square and came across the Painted Ladies which are famous for representing the classic Victorian housing style and for appearing in the credits of Full House.

These buildings are actually all over the middle part of the city and I think are pretty cool. The detailed millwork on the roofs and along the doors really provide a lot of character. I would love to see the interior layouts of some of the places.

From Alamo Square we walked SouthWest down to Haight Street and checked out some of the hippy shops.  

Chrissy found a little boutique shop that sold only socks. What a waste of real estate.

A favorite place of ours during the trip was the Palace of Fine Arts located in the Presidio. The scale and design of the structure really is awe inspiring. We first came across it while in the rain, and it seemed to me that it was the perfect West Coast way to see it.

Way on the other side of town we walked up the side steps to Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. Although rather plain the white cement creates a nice sheen in the sun.

Just down the hill from Coit Tower we walked through Chinatown and grabbed some dim sum for lunch.

As a fan of Francis Ford Coppola (at least the Godfather and Apocalypse Now) we stopped in at his restaurant Cafe Zeotrope in the Sentinel Building (just steps away from City Lights bookstore) for some of Coppola's signature wines. The building and the old geezer busting his butt behind the bar made for a memorable time.

No San Fran trip is complete without hitting up the crookedest street in the world: Lombard Street. Pretty surreal seeing vehicles maneuver the switchbacks on the hill.

Finally, nearing dusk on a long day Chrissy and I came up on the Golden Gate Bridge. 

We ventured onto the bridge but due to the time of day and my general unease with heights we only went in to the first pillar as opposed to the full 1 mile walk. Here we are enjoying ourselves on the bridge.

Christmas trees, Palm Trees and my fiance. The big heart says it all.

Halloween Night

The last 3 years Christina and I have dressed up and stayed home on Halloween night to give out candy at her/our place. Tonight on All Hallows Eve (aka - the night before my brother Richards birthday) we continued the tradition.  

Chrissy dug deep into her closet of toys and pulled out a Batgirl costume from a few years ago. Here she is standing guard in front of her beloved Gotham City. 

For those of you who are nerds like me, you may be asking: Which Batgirl is she? The costume is non-committal. Is she Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain, or Stephanie Brown? Clues to follow.

My costume is way lamer. I grabbed some facepaint at 5pm and threw on a Gwar t-shirt to become a walking member of the undead. Be afraid as I stumble out of the office with a sinister note pad.

 Cheetos and Chocolates for the kids.

Vigilantly standing at the ready for the door to ring. (The silent watch is very Cassandra Cain)

 Success - And then a Marvel (the Hulk) and DC (Batgirl) standoff.

But the whole night is not all fun and games. There is super hero laundry work to be done (Seems like a Stephanie Brown thing to do).

And slow cooked brain soup to be spiced just right.

Musical playlists to be made by the light of the laptop. I quite like how Chrissy captured the deathly pallor of my skin off the computer.

In between chores and treat demanding kids Chrissy and I sat on the stairs and played angry birds to pass the time.  Chrissy is pretty adept and also addicted (Similar to Oracle era Barbara Gordon).

It was a bit of a slow night with approximately 65 kids, down from the triple digits of warmer Halloweens past. That being said, it was a fun night with my favorite hero.

What a sweet couple!

Final Verdict on which Batgirl...Stephanie Brown. Basically, like Chrissy she is blond, modest, and looks good in purple. Plus, I miss her in the New52. IMHO - They should have left Babs as Oracle. 

The Garden - Growing our own Food

This year marked the first full garden growing season that I have been living with Chrissy. While I don't consider myself in any way to be a green thumb I do enjoy tending to plants. Whether it was helping dad trim tower poplars along the highway at Almi Campground, planting chokecherrie shelter-belts  near Burton Lake with Auntie Marian & Uncle George or picking apples in  Humboldt I like the effects that plants have on the land and the obvious results of interacting with plants.

We planted our garden around the first week of June once the frost was out of the ground and the nights got warmer. The tomatoes were started by Chrissy's Father in mid march and were well established by the time we got them. Other than the tomatoes and some green peppers all of the other garden veg came from seed.

The garden on June 23rd. 

Our sometime sentinel and neighborhood cat, Samson (aka Catballdoshia - due to his tomcat characteristics)  keeping watch for seed stealing birds.

Our most prolific plant: Dill that 'volunteers' (we don't plant it, it just comes up).

Water testing the tents in our urban jungle before heading out camping (July 16).

Dill, Green Beans and Tomatoes on July 23rd (one month pf growth from the first pic).

Note the little white flowers - that is our radishes gone to seed (July 23).

The bell pepper pot (July 23).

A few years back Chrissy got a hybrid spliced apple tree that has 5 different types of apples. It really produced this year but I think the tree looks funny as it is spindly (maybe due to the splicing) and the branches hang low just off the ground.

As last year Chrissy had problems with rabbits I grew swiss chard and lettuce in boxes so I could pull them on to the deck off the ground. It was either growing in boxes or getting a bobcat (Catballdochia was slacking). As you can see the boxes worked well (Aug. 2).

Finally the radishes stopped blooming and we thought it was about time to 'harvest' them. I thought it quite funny the size of the plant versus the 'veggie' root. From tip to tip they were well over 4 ft tall and you can see how it towers over the railing and BBQ (Aug. 9).

Left - All of the radish plants .......  Right - The radish bounty

In actuality we never got any edible radishes at all, they were either wormy or wooden.

Turnips, Beans Swiss Chard and Carrots for supper (August).

The apple tree bowed by its own weight.

Fistful of apple.

Backyard bounty - apples, white turnips, beets, tomatoes, carrots, squash (Sept. 3)

 Bell pepper and partial tomato harvest (Sept. 9).

'Volunteer' sunflower seed in the garden (Sept. 9).

We were happy with our overall garden but were completely blown away by the amount of tomatoes we got. Christina's father and his tomato incubation earns him the title of "Tomato Whisperer". 

All of our tomatoes, that we hadn't already eaten or given away, on October 2nd. 

It's been a challenge getting rid of them all - lots of tomato toast, new recipes and canning (blog to come).

Now, nearly a month later we still have many tomatoes left...if only we had that many carrots or turnips. Oh well, I will just need to plant more of those next year.