The End For Now...

With no clever epilogue to offer, this blog will now become dormant until this summer when we pack up the tandem and head to... France!

Home At Last!

It's 10:08 PM and we've been home for about one-half an hour. Did minimal unpacking, paid a few bills and pet the cat... the rest will take care of itself. Tomorrow. Or the day after...

On Our Way Home...

It's just about 6:00 PM MST and we're sitting in Reno unloading some passengers and taking some new ones... then we'll be Boise bound and home in about an hour's time.

It's funny how trips always seem to go much too fast, yet the time between them drags along way too slow!

Tuesday at Noon...

We spent our final morning doing what we've done before: coffee run, showering, packing and then wondering what to do with the extra time between formally checking out and the time when we'd have to grab our stuff and head for the airport.

We went down to wharf, shared a bread bowl of clam chowder and caught what will now absolutely be the last cable car ride of the trip.

Dinner...

We took what might be our last cableb car ride of this trip to the wharf; the wind picked up (again), the sun disappeared and it started to rain lightly. The temperature dipped and we found refuge in Scoma's for our last dinner in the city.

The photo is from my perch on the running board of the front left side of the cable car looking down Hyde Street toward the bay.

Lunch...

While Valerie was out shopping I decided to step out for lunch. There's a place called John's Grill about a block and a half from here that is supposedly mentioned in "The Maltese Falcon". There's also a dish called "Sam Spade's Lamb Chops".

I had something that came touted as one of their signature dishes: the Lamplighter. It consists of sole wrapped around a filling of shrimp and crab meat. Accompanying this were sauteed green beans and carrots. Definitely worth the trip, and easy to see why their sign says "Since 1908".

Strange Currents...

It's 1:20 PM and the bike is packed away in its case. I'm looking out of our hotel window watching some flags on top of a building a block away from here - they're sticking straight out from their poles, pointing due east. On top of a taller building a block further past the first one, the flags were pointing in exactly the opposite direction- due west.

There are three flags on top of the second building, spaced out evenly along the building's eastern edge. For a short moment as I watched, the hotel's flag (furthest away) stuck out toward the east, the California state flag (middle) hung limp and the American flag was pointing due west. Strange currents, and glad we're trying not to ride in it!

We Quit!

We threw in the towel after a brief 4.3 mile ride; it was too windy, too cold and drizzling in sections. We're back at the hotel where I'll break the bike down and then we'll spend the rest of the day as tourists... in the warmth of transport or shops.

The Morning Coffee Run...

This is Blue Bottle Coffee Company's "Mint Plaza Cafe". The only signage is a little square with a figure of a blue bottle in it. Other than that you're on your own!

The doors opened promptly at 7:00 AM and they had an instant crowd. Sorry about the blurred photo; it's hard to see whether the cell phone photo was crisp or not... but borrow a computer in the hotel's business center and look up your blog and -- yikes! What a horrible shot!

The Sunday Ride...

Our sunday ride is over; we put in 43 miles and rode from here in the city to the town of Tiburon in Marin County, which means we made another trip over the Golden Gate Bridge.

The weather was sunny but nippy for a good portion of the day, then we took our jackets off and enjoyed ourselves when it started to warm up. Everything was great until we came back over the Golden Gate Bridge and got nailed by a vicious crosswind that brought all the bikers to a sudden stop when they had to turn on the portion of walkway that goes around the big struts that holds the whole span up. People were muttering all kinds of things announcing their shock of being brought to a standstill, and also from the shock of finding out just how chilly the wind was. We both put our jackets back on and left them on until we got back to the hotel.

We are now on a crowded cable car heading toward Columbus Street where we hope to find a well recommended Chinese restaurant.

The photo was taken from the very back right hand corner of the cable car looking forward.

Sunday Morning...

I'm sitting tucked away on the second floor of our hotel, where there's a bank of computers. Now I can do what I couldn't do from my cell phone, and that's provide links to some of the places we've been to (for the ultra-curious who want to check out the menus or information). So... here we go.

A Bicycle Odyssey - a bike shop in Sausalito where I bought a colorful jersey of a San Francisco backdrop.

City Cycle - A place west of the Cow Hollow area that has always been helpful, and we seem to hit when they're having a 30% off sale. I bought a pair of tights to replace the ones I was using because they had gotten... well... tight. (I haven't expanded over the years, oh...no.)

Pacific Bicycle - Another place we stick our noses into, probably about six blocks away from the hotel. A good first stop to borrow a pump a make sure we've got the tires up to the proper pressure. Valerie found a cute little long sleeve jersey for herself here (in her traditional black, of course).

Blue Bottle Coffee Company - their "Mint Plaza Cafe" is a scant three block walk from here. They don't open until 8:00 AM on Saturdays and Sunday, so I've been hoofing the one block from the hotel to the local Starbucks for her morning coffee. We also order their coffees over the internet and have them shipped to us. They're a little expensive sounding, but it's not so bad when you consider the higher cost is what's paying for their Priority Mail shipping.

Java Beach - The place where I took the train to last night... had a blended mocha that was, for the most part, like a chocolate milkshake. I considered my late night trip a success!

Alioto's - I need to learn how to try new items when we eat out... and I usually do when we're here in San Francisco. I normally try stuff that I've never had... except at Alioto's. They have a dish called Risotto Alioto that is a "must have" when we go there. I figure that if I try something new, I will miss out on my favorite dish -- which defeats the whole point of coming here.

Scoma's - Our other favorite seafood restaurant on the Wharf. If you look in the photo from the post that spoke of our eating at Alioto's and look below the right side of the Golden Gate bridge, you'll see a little speck of an orange sign. That is where Scoma's is located. They also have a restaurant in Sausalito, although we've never been to this one.

Town's End Restaurant and Bakery - Another great place, that serves organic foods whenever possible and prepares them in a manner that is a step or two above the norm. We haven't been there for breakfast or lunch, but the dinners (and deserts) are well worth the trip.

The Parc 55 Hotel - This is our "home base" while we're in town.

Westfield San Francisco Centre - A multi-story shopping facility on very short block away from here, that usually gets a visit from us when we're in town. Way too many shops, way too little cash...

ImagiKnit - Probably the largest yarn shop in the city these days. Great selection of just about anything you'd need.

And that, in a nutshell, are some of the places we've been.

Dinner at Alioto's...

The picture is the view out of the window at Alioto's and the meal was as great as the sunset.

Valerie is back at the room taking it easy and I'm trying to hop a train and go back to Java Beach for a late night treat.

I was dog tired earlier, but am just trying delay the inevitable as I don't want to wake up before the crack of dawn.

28 Miles...

We got in 28 miles of riding today, which sounds truly pathetic, until I stop and think of just what kind of riding this was.

We went from the hotel to the ball park on the bay, through an industrial area, crowded neighborhoods and city traffic, lots of stopping and starting, etc. Oh... and then there was the hill separating the downtown area from the section of town along the Pacific known as Ocean Beach.

We made it to the far left coast and stopped into a local coffee joint called Java Beach that serves up great coffee drinks, a nice variety of pastries and some very impressive looking sandwiches.

After that break it was time to grunt back over to the city side of the hill and engage in a little more urban cycling before making it back to the hotel.

We haven't decided what we're doing for dinner yet, but I'm thinking it might be Alioto's at the Wharf.

Early Saturday...

Blue Bottle Coffee didn't open until 8 AM so it was up to the local Starbucks to fetch coffee for her majesty the Valerie. While she readies herself for the day I caught a trolley down to the ferry building which also is host to a farmer's market today. I was looking for someplace that sold pastries, but what I found was either too fancy or too bland. Bottom line? I guess I wasn't really hungry!

After the Ride...

It's getting close to 6:00 PM... does Valerie know where her husband is? He's down in the Castro district running around unescorted... it turns out that the city' biggest and best yarn shop is located there so I went down to browse. I found a skein of mercerized cotton to make a dishcloth or wash cloth out of, so I'm happy.

We haven't talked about dinner yet; don't know where we'll wind up.

We're currently on the north peninsula in the town of Sausalito. Visited a bike shop and a local eatery - a place called Cibo - where we sampled a wild mushroom panini. It was surprisingly delicious!

The photo was along the bay close to the Embarcadero looking toward Treasure Island and the Oakland Bay Bridge.

Friday is Here...

It's Friday morning and I've just returned from my morning ritual of walking to the Blue Bottle Coffee Company's cafe at the corner of Mint and Jessie streets. Valerie likes her morning coffee, and she likes quality coffee... so off I go in the waking hours on my dutiful mission to acquire the morning mud.

The Blue Bottle Cafe is perhaps two and a half blocks away from the hotel (which is the building in the center of the photo). They're located directly behind the building that was, for many years, the San Francisco Mint.

The forecast for today is mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain... the mostly cloudy part seems to be accurate and it's not feeling too warm at the moment. But we'd better get our bicycling done today as it sounds like the weekend will best be spent by riding the MUNI system and hiding under an umbrella!

Successful Ride

Our first ride was a success even though I forgot to turn on the cyclocomputer... so we can only guess at the distance ridden. At least 10 miles with a good portion being along the waterfront. It was sunny but rather chilly.

This evening we caught a cable car at the Powell & Market Street turntable (don't know if that's the correct word for it, but it's the end of the line and that portion of the track revolves to turn the cable car around). We rode to the terminus near the Wharf and then walked the rest of the way until we were at Scoma's, very possibly Valerie's favorite restaurant. She had fried scallops and I had baked Patrale.

We are both very full and not looking forward to the bumpy ride back to the hotel, but looking forward to BEING back at the hotel... and passing out until tomorrow!

In San Francisco...

It's 2:09 PM and the tandem is assembled and in our room of the 9th floor of the Parc 55 Hotel. All I have left is to put the rear rack on it and we're ready to ride.

The view from our room is roughly NNE and the TransAmerica building is barely visible.

Leaving the Rain...

They're starting to board; here's the scene out of the window. Good day to not be here!

The Neighbor's Response...

...And this is no doubt the best way to compete when you live next door to the most lavishly decorated house in Boise! Merry Christmas to the electric company!

Let The Games Begin...

It's 8:00 in the morning, we're sitting at Gate B-17 at the Boise airport with 40 minutes to go before we're airborne. The photo I've included here has nothing to do with San Francisco; it's the most decorated house in Boise every Christmas.

I'm including this photo here so I can clear it off of my Blackberry to make room for photos from San Francisco. I'm not taking my computer with me, so I'll be doing all my postings via my Blackberry.