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!