Party Crashing at the Academy of Sciences

To follow up my post from yesterday. I did manage to get all dressed up and head to the Golden Gate Park. Brian Brian Zach and Jessa were all there already. It was an absolute scene when I walked up. The entire place was lit up, giant spotlights to the sky tons of entertainment outside to greet the guests. I didn't know it until much later but there were oyster bars set up outside. Dang it! I missed it!! Chris would be so mad at me!!

Caviar Dreams

This party was one of those you hear about or see in magazines. San Francisco put its party hat on and went to town. I mean, we are hosting the worlds travel companies, showcasing the city is their job but wow!! They had lights on everything, tables chairs of all shapes and sizes, themed rooms and themed tents. Tables full of food and drink everywhere. It was great. Jessa and Zach got split up from Brian A and I so we just wandered around and had a look. Brian really wanted to show me the table with the lamb (he really wanted some) but we walked into a tent with the Caviar instead. Ooh yummy!! That stuff is so good! The men service were so professional and then they'd pour you a vodka shot to chase it down. I didn't have any of that. The tent next to that one was set up as the middle eastern tent, with the kebabs and belly dancers. Really amazing setting!

From there we wandered downstairs to the aquarium. You are surrounded by these glass windows full of huge fish. Its really cool! One little room you crawl into and stand up with an entire bubble overhead and fish looking down on you! Its great.
Back upstairs we kept making our way around the rooms and found the tent with the lamb finally. Brian was pretty thrilled. They had a live band in there (they had many) but at that time it was disco so they were wearing hilarious wigs and outfits. It was great!
They had hired performers to walk around in amazing costumes and makeup. Some were on stilts, some were on those bouncy feet you see. Some had claws, plumes of feathers. Wow. Unbelievable sights!!
We finally found all the others and carried on together. We met the man in charge of PR and marketing for Sonoma County. What a great guy he is. Very nice and hilarious too. Brian D our owner knows a ton of people so it was fun to follow him around and be introduced.

Handsome bunch of coworkers!

We made a few more frequent visits to the caviar tent and called it a night. We grabbed a shuttle bus back to the Moscone and headed to the Bart/Muni station and parted ways.
Josh had invited me to a concert but by the time I'd have gotten there from where I was it would have long been over. So I went home and went to bed!
Today I've packed and gotten ready for the long haul. I do back to back camping trips for the next 6 days. If the second trip doesn't confirm then I'll have a mini break before I do Yosemite on Monday but we'll see.
It will be good to finally do a camping trip and see what I think of it, since I volunteered to do alot of them this summer. :)
I also will not have internet for that entire time so stay tuned...

Mission Wander

looking towards the Mission

Not a mission to wander but a wander through Mission really. The Mission district of San Francisco. Its a huge area and I've never spent much time there other than the occasional crazy bus ride.
I walked down Church to 16th then down Dolores to 19th and found a place to sit for a little while and study my map. I didn't have a goal in mind so I was aimlessly wandering. I decided to go to Pirate Cat Radio again and try a different latte than before. Plus I figured I could ask for suggestions while I was there.

My options...many!

That is on 21st and Florida so I had quite a walk but it was great. I walked through a bunch of neighborhoods that require revisiting. I went into the Pirate Cat and the radio dj was also the coffee maker so she had to come help me while the song was playing. It was pretty funny actually.
I decided to try something new and she suggested the Anarchyato (get it, like macciato) which is just a concoction of the baristas choosing. I told her to surprise me. So she did!
It had caramel, coconut, cayenne pepper and cardamom in it. It was an evolving drink too because it started out spicy, then to eggnog then to cookies it was really good, let's just put it that way!
I sat and savored it and listened to the dj, she was really funny actually!

The last time I went to Pirate Cat I had seen a Spanish bakery, so I headed there to try it out. You just walk in and help yourself. I chose one that was similar the one I like from Spain but still not the same. Weird how that is so hard to find!!

Slocumbe's ice cream shop

I did a little bit more wandering and then decided I'd go have some Humphrey Slocumbe ice cream. I thought it was on 15th and Harrison but when I got there it was a Muni bus depot...oops, so back on the bus I went and back to the EXACT PLACE I JUST WAS!! No kidding, I'd walked right by it. Not once but twice actually. That's how awesome I am! I found it to be surprisingly different gourmet than I thought. The flavors were out of this world, strange, ALIEN, flavors and combinations. I chose to eat the Secret Breakfast which was bourbon flavored ice cream with cornflakes in it. It was really delicious. Some of the other flavors were not very tempting but people say its all good there, so I'll keep trying it out! You know me....
About this time I had to get back on the bus to go meet up with Jan for a quick catch up and food so I got to the bus stop and up walks this man in the craziest outfit you've ever seen and wild neon pink hair to go with it. It doesn't surprise me anymore really, but this strange old man started ranting and cussing and getting really mean, I don't know what about though, the guy in pink or the Hispanics (he used a dirtier word than that, but he was hispanic too so that is weird!) anyways, he was waiting for my same bus...as per my usual Muni adventures.
Whatever, it wasn't that big a deal once he got onto the bus. After a few more pick ups a girl got on with a raccoon tail pinned to her purse and a couple sitting by me freaked out on her. It was a funny interaction because the girl with the tail couldn't figure out why they were so upset. ha!
Right now I'm headed to the Academy of Sciences to see about getting into the big event. If I can't then I'll come home and nap before I meet Josh for a concert. Phew, going to be a long night. I'm tired already. I might make it a short night actually. We'll see!

Olive's and Molotov's

Olive's and Molotov's, after a full day of adventures. I got up early on my day off yesterday and went along on Mitch's Muir Woods and Wine Country tour. It was great fun.
We picked up our last bunch of people and right off the bat they said "where's the wine! Its noon somewhere!" they were hilarious. From the east coast.

Mitch does things entirely different than Tom or Paul so it was fun. He took us to a different overlook to the bridge, it's from the upper west side. I don't know if I can manage to find my way there but I'm going to try because it was a really unique view!
From there it was on to Muir Woods. The usual story there. Mitch and I shared some of his snack food and waited in the sun for the guests to come back. We headed to Larson Family Winery by way of the strawberry stand. That was really cool because Larson sells this Cabernet chocolate sauce and we each got to indulge a little.
We headed to Sonoma Square for lunch and once again Mitch and I had a picnic in the square. It was so nice there yesterday! Sunny and not too windy.
We popped into Homewood and then on to Robledo (they've seen me enough to remember me now). Robledo did our guide party last week too.

signs leading to Larson

On our way back to Highway 101 we stopped in at Ernie's Tin Bar and had a beer. That was a funny stop. The locals were really nice and all the beer in there is really cheap too! They have a rule if you use your cell phone you buy a round for the entire bar so Mitch told us all to leave them outside.
Once we got back to the city I decided to go back to the office with Mitch and then ride into the city with him. He was headed to a place he goes every Monday night, called Olive. Its in the tenderloin and looks totally dive-y outside but you walk in and you're transported! It was great fun. The door to get into this place looks like the surrounding walls too so it was difficult at first to even get in there.

Ernie's Tin Bar

I don't drink martini's usually so I let the bartender pick one for me. Gin martini with green olives. I didn't used to like green olives until Tony and I had them in England one day. I nursed that martini for hours too, it was not really my thing.
Josh, who I'd met at the concert the other night decided to join us for a drink. That was pretty funny. Mitch kept asking him all these personal questions trying to find stuff out for me. From there Josh and I went to Molotov's on Haight and had a drink. He did actually, I didn't, I'd had enough already. But we talked a little bit more, turns out we have a lot in common! He travels a lot for his job (he leaves Weds for 3 weeks in Germany) he likes beer too so we could talk about all the different ones we'd had. It was fun. He's cajun. So that is interesting. I told him I liked the chicory coffee from Louisiana and he just laughed. Its hard to find here.
It was a long night but fun. I was so tired all I could do was yawn so Josh finally gave up and we went our separate ways. Molotov's is as cool inside as I thought. A local place with a crazy jukebox full of bands I'd never heard of. Its famous for that I guess.

Kick a Raccoon in the face and see what that get's you.

I did almost kick a raccoon in the face, so I don't really know what that gets me!

I was walking to the T Train and I came around a corner and just about got this big ole raccoon who was running on the sidewalk. I think I scared him as much as he scared me! That was my big fright right off the bat, then I had to walk down the dark street to the train. Its really dark, I hate that walk at night!!
I got on the T train and discovered I walked into the shuttle bus to looney town. I mean a guy hunched over talking to the driver through the window, another one cussing and kicking things randomly, a couple of lovebirds (pimp/ho) near by. It was quite a treat.

I did get home in one piece with little interference so it was okay. The afternoon was pretty boring really. I decided I'm going with Mitch on his wine country tour tomorrow as I've got the day off and nothing to do.
Should be fun. But it does mean getting up early. I've been spoiled! My Yosemite trip on Thursday will be a real wake up after a week of late mornings.

More new discoveries.

I'm currently sitting at the Bean There coffee shop on the corner by my house. Today I start carrying bags back to the office (also known as my closet) to make the eventual move to my new place next week. I paid my rent yesterday. Talk about reality check!!

ruins of Sutro Baths

It is now Sunday morning. I've been recovering and wandering for days now it seems. I don't like days off generally speaking. So much time on my hands! Luckily I can manage to wander for hours on end and make the time pass.
Friday morning I decided to take the N train out to Ocean Beach. It was a gloomy day but warm out and I decided I'd walk from the train stop up to Golden Gate park and then on to Cliffhouse and around the Lands End (the piece of land around the corner toward the GG bridge).
Once I got as far as the Cliffhouse though I wimped out. I decided to go back to the train and get off in this really cute neighborhood I'd passed through. That ended up being a great idea! What a fun afternoon. I was at Irving and 9th roughly. I found a shop that had more wallets in the shape of food. I bought a pizza slice this time. Its hilarious. I'll take a photo of it soon.

9th and Irving

I asked the guys in that shop where I could find a cup of coffee and they gave me some suggestions. As I wandered towards a place I stopped into a shop called Amazing Fantasy. A comic book store. Entirely devoted to comics, nothing else. I asked the clerk for help and he made some suggestions and I bought a comic to read. It was great fun going in there. He had tons of collectors stuff on his walls and shirts for sale and all sorts of things. I wonder how he manages to stay open. People don't spend a ton of money at any given time there I imagine, if they follow a series they aren't buying but one comic at a time.

Comic Book Store!

After I picked something out I ended up at Dash. This place serves Blue Bottle Coffee that everyone is loving here these days. I had a New Orleans Iced Coffee. That is something I find I really like. In New Orleans they add chicory to their coffee and it really does change the flavor but I really like it.
The coffee shop was divided into two types. In front they had it very minimally decorated and light and in the back was a dark wooden area. It was great. Low light, jazz playing and quiet. I found a spot with enough light to read and dove into my comic book.
Believe it or not I managed to spend almost a whole day checking out this neighborhood. It did take the train forever to get from one place to the other so that was part of it too. Sheesh! Oh I did forget to mention that a guy had wandered into the train tunnel so we had to stop and get him on the train. This tunnel wasn't wide enough for two trains and people too. They must have done that so people couldn't go live there. Actually that's probably not why they did it but it worked out nicely.
So the question you have to ask is did that guy want to die? Or just go find a dark place to sleep?! I mean, had the train conductor not seen him it would have been really bad!

Saturday was another nice day. I decided to go visit another new area. First I met Charlotte to pay her rent and then I wandered on down the road. I went to Yerba Buena Gardens and into the Moscone Center. They were gearing up for a big event. One my company is involved in this time.
I walked down to the bay from there and then caught the train to the office to pick up this book I'd left there.
There was an afternoon ball game so the train was packed with people!! Why don't they adjust the length and frequency of the trains on game days!! No one drives there, the train stops right in front of the place!

I hopped back onto another train I'd never taken before the M train. It goes out to West Portal (where Joe, Barb and Leigh live) and on down to the Stonestown Galleria Mall. You should have seen the place. Total traffic jam and people everywhere. I guess that's what malls are?! I wandered around in there for a while and then caught a train back to the house.

It certainly does change the wandering adventures when I'm not eating or drinking my way across a neighborhood. Once I get past this two weeks of being totally broke then I'll have some new places to go try. People refer to this as a food blog which it sort of evolved into but that wasn't its intention originally. It just is something I enjoy writing about when I'm not messing things up etc!
Once I move to a new neighborhood June 1st I'll have plenty to share as I'll be eating at all new places and some of them have been on the tips of peoples tongues. Best burgers in SF or pizza or things like that. All within walking distance to my new room.
I also start the 3 day tours this coming week too so there will be new adventures soon! Plus I'll be cooking which is going to be interesting!!

Go where the day may take you

Well, I had a big day yesterday! The biggest day I've had in San Francisco by far (I'm sure there will be more!)

I started my day out early so I could get to the hotel in plenty of time to talk to the tour escort in charge of my city tour group. Turns out they are all Australians! I usually do pretty well with Australians because they tend to keep it real, their not too fussed with formality.
The bus arrived and I introduced myself to the driver. Raymond and talked over the route with him. Luckily he's done plenty of this before so I just had to give him my ideas and away we went.
It was surprisingly easy to do a city tour. I had been studying the parts I didn't really know and then the rest just sort of came to me. Having been a city wanderer for days on end helps too because I can make it more personal.

Bay cruise

Everything was going great until we got to fishermans wharf. We pulled up to a stoplight and one of the guys dressed in gold (or silver) that pretend to be statues was there. Everyone was excited to see what he'd do. He was sitting down holding still and then he looked up and flipped us off. Then he proceeds to get more mad at us and stands up and flips us off and starts yelling at us. So what do you do about that? I mean, what on earth was that dumb ass thinking. A bus load of potential tippers just got told to shove it. I just said, well that is one of the colorful characters you'll find in the city and this one happens to actually be a color. They thought that was funny and we moved on.
The weather was perfect for a city tour and we went to Twin Peaks to see the view and then headed back to fishermans wharf so they could be dropped off for lunch before their Alcatraz Cruise. I got off the bus with them and answered a few questions and then they all disappeared. I had the biggest smile on my face. I just managed to pull off a 3 hour city tour by motorcoach, just like they taught us in ITMI. Wow!

Irish Coffee

So I had some tip money in hand and a craving for mini donuts on Pier 39 so thats where I went first. Then I went and got myself a sweatshirt with a hood because I've been wanting a fuzzy warm thing to cuddle up in and havn't had one. Plus they are cheap there. Then as I wandered on I came past the fish mongers and up to the boats that offer bay cruises for like 15$ and I said why the heck not! So i got onto a little boat and out we went to the see the Golden Gate Bridge. We had the whole thing to ourselves too. Then we circled Alcatraz and came back in. It took about an hour to do all of that and it was a beautiful day out! So I was really living it up it felt like.

Tony Niks in North Beach

Tony's Pizza, so good!

From there I decided it was time to go to the Buena Vista Cafe and have an Irish Coffee. They are famous for it there and I always tell guests to go try one so there I went and did it! They are fantastic too! Its a great place! I had a couple of them before I realized I hadn't eaten lunch yet so I found a seat at this table where these two guys were sitting. Its kind of a free fer all in there anyways and they were cool. They had driven up from Pasadena to see a concert by Mike Patton at the Great American Concert Hall (or something) so we chatted and introduced ourselves (they were Sean and Cristian) and then they headed on down the road. I finished eating my lunch and the waitress says (I had my tourist map out, its amazing what doors open when you do that!) you should try Tony Niks in North Beach, you'd like it there! So thats what I did. Tony Niks is a little local bar with great character. I sat at the bar and ordered a drink and proceeded to make friends with Tina and Andy and Jan and Devon the bartender. Then after having sat there chatting for quite a while I bought some pizza from next door at Tony's pizza (amazing!!) and was eating my slice (at the bar...) when a girl walks up and chats with Devon and the others and says "I'm on my way to a concert at the Great American Concert Hall" and I say "you're going to see Mike Patton" and she's blown away! She has an extra ticket and would I like to go?! I said "yes of course I would"! So after a few laughs about the coincidence we head to a place called Whiskey Thieves to meet her friend Stephanie (the girl I just met was Rebecca) so we had a drink there and then made our way. We had a Bulleit whiskey. Thats the brand name. It was really good stuff. Anyways, at the concert we're in line for the bathrooms and we meet Sammie and his friends who are I don't know what because I wasn't paying attention, but all friendly at any rate. We head into the show which was a big theatre space but with no chairs. And who do I find? Sean and Cristian from earlier in the day. They were so surprised! It was hilarious! The whole day had come full circle.

Stephanie and Rebecca

So the music was totally weird the man just screamed into the microphone and the other guy pounded a keyboard non musically but everyone there was totally digging it. I just laughed.
After the concert was over and we'd all exchanged numbers and things it was time to go home. So I walked down to Market and caught the N train and was just about to open the garage door when I see Brian D emerge from the house. He was so surprised to see me, it was really funny. I don't even know what time it was by then maybe midnight?!

Tornado

He said he was headed to Tornado (not pronounced like to looks of course, tor nah doe) they have a ton of beers on tap all unusual etc. people have been telling me about this place forever now so I went along with him. Its a cool place, another local one. I had a pomegranate cider beer and Brian had a sour beer. It was amazing! Like sour grapes but not wine tasting, its hard to describe!
That about wrapped up my night. Can you believe the day I had?! Epic!

Sean from Pasadena

Today I'm headed to work for a few hours and then back here to the house for the big start of season party.

New Exploration of the Old Neighborhood

Only in the USA

Well, I'm so glad that it says USA right above this sign because you would only find it in the USA. I can't wait to go see what that's all about. It doesn't open until 5pm daily so I was too early today.

I started my quest out this morning with a walk up Fillmore to Hayes. If you remember from my mega foodie walkabout last autumn I ate my way down Hayes for Moishe's Pippic, Fritj's, True Sake, and what else...so many things. Well I am not staying far from there so I walked there today. I ultimately was making my way to North Beach to try this restaurant that some guests had suggested but we'll get to that.

Pounds of Bread Pudding

I walked into La Boulangerie on Laguna and ordered a cup of coffee and a slice of bread pudding. When the man handed me the plate I thought he had to be joking. It weighed a ton! Like one of those things you're not quite ready to hang on to because its way heavier than you thought. The man just laughed when I was said "oof"
It was delicious though, but way too much! So I had her wrap it up and once again I was walking with food in my bag. That's less strange than I think I guess...Brian my boss came up to me yesterday absolutely famished and asked what food I had in my bag. Ha! He really does know me well enough to know I've got something in there he can eat. I gave him some almonds.
So after that and with a pound of uneaten bread pudding in my bag I kept making my way to North Beach. I walked all around the civic center area, scouting my route with the motorcoach tomorrow.
I walked up to the hotel where I'm meeting my bus. Strange place for that as it's on a busy one way street and not really big enough but thats okay, that is the beauty of driving a big rig into town. People have no choice but to avoid you.

From there it was scouting the route through Chinatown and then up Kearny to Columbus and here is where it got interesting. I actually crossed the street here. I've never done that before. The whole place looked new to me! I can't believe I've never done that! And crossing the street was only the half of it because all of these really great little streets are on that side and there is a ton to see and eat and drink there! I wandered for hours.
I should say at one point I did go to Mara's Italian Pastry shop, you know the one, my favorite. And I had a coffee and a little break to dry off because it was raining (of course, my day off) also to figure out a new plan as my desired restaurant is closed on Tuesdays. Umhmm.
While i was in Mara's the guys there were asking where I was headed because I had the map out and I said I didn't really know yet I was just going to pick a direction and walk there. They thought that sounded good.

Oh my goodness! So good!

I went back up the street onto that other alley way and had breakfast officially at Mo's. I had walked by it earlier and seen the cook making the home fried potatoes but kept walking. I went back there and decided to have some scrambled eggs with scallions adn cream cheese and a side of home fries.
This place is actually known for its gourmet burgers but the cook totally rocks these scrambled eggs. I have got to give it up to this city, they do make amazing scrambled eggs around here!
Lets see, from there I wandered around Washington Square trying to find Mama's. Brian had talked about it and I was supposed to be going there for breakfast but I didn't find it in time. There was a huge line out front, must be a good one. that is usually a good sign. I also went into the church right there for the first time, really beautiful place. I didn't know they opened churches like that in the US. I've always said how sad it was that they had to keep them locked up.

Needless to say, in my wandering to find Mama's I stumbled onto the BoardRoom (see above photo) And then turned the corner and walked into one of the guys from Mara's. Ha! He said "you really are just walking in circles" it was so funny! I like them there, they are nice.
About this time I decided I wanted to take a break. It had been a nice walk and I was reminded of how much I like this city. It turns out I feel love when I'm on foot and can enjoy things at my own pace and I feel hatred and loathing when I get on the bus...lesson learned. I decided to test my theory and get on the #30 bus. Its notorious for being packed and stinky and packed. It was not a disappointment. Totally stuffed to the gills, except the back half, where no one would go. So I went and just watched the chaos at the back door. I mean, one lady started yelling at people to watch her bag and she's standing right by the exit and wouldn't move. Give me a break. I think people are on their WORST behavior when they board the bus sometimes!

I got off at Market and caught the muni train to Duboce. Its a much nicer journey that way.
In another hour or so I'll put my best outfit on and go sit out at a cafe in Belden Place and see what that's all about. Its a cute little alley by the financial district. I've discovered it and can never get there when they are open. They are a lunch/dinner time place.

Belden Place

Then maybe I'll find a happy hour, or not. And come back home and study for my city tour. I'm getting nervous and excited about it. I think I better read up on Haight Ashbury. Older people seem to be interested because they saw it in the news or read about it. I'm too young to know anything about it really.
So that was just half of my day. How about that. I covered a lot of grouch today (thats been other days lately)! Ha that is a funny typo. I meant ground but that isn't as funny.

Wine Country Tour #1

Benziger Biodynamic Winery

Nothing like taking your mind off a shitty city than by taking a tour to wine country. After a few set backs first thing in the morning things got steadily better and better.

I found myself running for the bus again (new time, threw me off!) this time I was running along side the bus, he saw me coming and I was almost to the bus stop and he just kept going. I was so mad. He knew I'd be there in a few seconds why couldn't he have waited for me?
I also planned to eat breakfast, fix my hair and put on nicer shoes at the office so I was completely unprepared (not really, I carry everything but shoes in my bag) so I went into the bathroom at the Wyndham Parc 55. Wow, that place is so nice! I pick up people alot there but have never been inside it. And the staff were nice to me despite my looking a little bit bum like at that point.

After all was said and done I got myself into downtown so that Paul could pick me up (and I'd take over driving the tour). I picked up a coffee and a breakfast sandwich and went to Union Square to have a seat and people watch. A fat little blackbird hopped up to see what I was eating so we hung out and I fed him tiny bits of my croissant. I think he was pleased. He stood right by my foot and watched me eat. That was pretty entertaining.

The tour included Benziger Winery and I was able to go on a tram tour of the vineyards this time. It was really interesting. Lots of good information and great views! This group was a little hard to read, I think they were enjoying themselves but I'm not sure. You never know how much to cheer them on in a tasting room...

The cave, full of barrels of wine

We went to Glen Ellen market for a picnic lunch. Wow, they have amazing stuff there! All really good and all complimentary to wines you'd have been drinking by then too!

We ate our picnic next to the bocce court at Imagery Winery. That place is pretty. Lots of space to eat and drink outside, special tasting areas etc. They use peoples art for their labels and they have a gallery of the art in the building too.

Next stop was Napa Valley!! We drove over the mountain on Trinity Road. Its a steep windy road but amazing scenery!! Then you drop into Napa Valley and that place is gorgeous! The valley is much narrower so you can see from one side to the other, and its all vineyards and estates. We went to Hagafen (pronounced- ha ga fin) and did some tastings there and then drove to Domaine Carneros where they serve "champagne" like bubbly. They were founded by Taittinger, they still refer to it as sparkling wine though. Not sure how that works. Champagne only comes from one place...I didn't get a chance to ask. The group loved this place and the flights of bubbly were full glasses not sips! I mean, they each essentially had 3 glasses of bubbly! Wow!

From there we hurried back to San Francisco as we had one guest who needed to check in to his conference by 7pm. It's tough when you have to hurry home, we could have hit another winery probably.
Though at some point the people must have had enough?! Not sure. They get sleepier and less interested as the day goes on. I think that's why we limit the amount of tastings. People are sad that we say 4-6 but don't realize that by 4 wineries they've had enough and are ready to sleep on the lawn.

Domaine Carneros

Its been a learning experience. I've now been 4 times and have done none of the same wineries (which isn't saying much, there are hundreds of them) but it does go to show that you just have to drive up there and see what the people are interested in doing or tasting and go for it! Not to mention, you never know. I don't know that I'll even bother asking. Most wineries have reds and whites they'll have their chance. Some places only have bubbly so that will be easy. I think it will be okay!

Looks like I didn't highlight the wineries I went to with Tom on Weds. Those were Larson Winery, Sonoma Square (many tasting rooms around the square), Gunlach Bunschu (pronounced gun lock bun shoe, they have a cute logo with those photos on them so you know how to pronounce the name) and Robledo Winery which was great too. I drove both days so no tasting for me but I'm sure I'll have my chance.

Sparkling Wine

This week should be a good one. I do a city charter Weds morning (for which I'm prepping with positive vibes not shitty city vibes) Tomorrow I get to sleep in (sort of ) and I'm going to go have pancakes! I am starting some night shift training with Molly tomorrow night. Should be good.

I also have finally heard from the sublet lady Charlotte and I'll meet another roommate today and then we'll talk money. I can't wait to move in there!! I will have access to kitchen and bathroom (clean ones) and can unpack and see what I've been lugging around for a month now!! Yeah!

Tears on the T Train

I got onto the T Train today and had to stand up because these two kids were spead out making a mess and not sharing seats etc and I look down and this kid looks up and say what are you starin' at bitch. Stupid bitch. And his friend looks at me and says "wheres a brush", I need a brush. (my hair was a little wind blown) I mean, seriously? They were really young too. At the next stop a couple more girls got on and they went off on them. My feelings were so hurt I got off the train adn waited for another one.
A few stops later we caught up to that train and the driver had called the police and they escorted those two kids off the train! Yippee! Payback is a bitch kids!

This was after yesterday when I walked by a guy on the street and he decided to pull his pants down and pee. in front of me. I was so mad!

Sometimes I just feel beaten up by this city. This coming Weds. I am giving a city tour of San Francisco and it may be tough to fake the love for this amazing place that they are all here to see.

Needless to say its been tough to blog lately.

You can get kicked off a bus!

No not me! But I did discover that if you're crazy enough you will get kicked off a bus! Saturday morning I was headed into work. I walked to the bus stop and waited for a few minutes (notice...not running to catch it). When the bus pulled up I could see inside (it was dark out, the lights stay on in the bus) that a group of people was standing near the middle and someone near the back was shouting really loudly and swinging their arms wildly. My gosh. So the bus pulls up, the driver opens the doors and jumps up and hustles to the back of the bus. I'm standing there debating about just taking a taxi...but I get on and watch the mayhem ensue instead.  Not really sure what was going on. Apparently a Hispanic couple had just gotten on and were headed to the back of the bus to sit down and the man (women) had completely freaked out, yelling at them and waving and kicking. The poor couple were so upset and didn't speak enough English to understand her/him but the driver stepped in between them and kicked the person off the bus. He/She was still screaming on the street corner when we drove away. Everyone was completely shaken.
Who knows what it was all about but that was my 5am wake up call.

I had a Yosemite 1 day tour to do so I got my things in order and took off to do my pick ups. My boss was right those are getting easier. I may not know all the places but I know the streets almost well enough to get around and find them. I had a good group. Very laid back. All excited about going to Yosemite. All really disappointed when I said no Giant Sequoia. No one realizes how far away those trees are from the valley.

One group saw a bear on their hiking trip and they came back totally excited to report on it. Bear #53. When they showed me the photo I didn't say anything to them but it was the biggest bear I've ever seen in Yosemite (to date) Wow!! It was huge!
The bear was so into digging good stuff out of a fallen tree that it didn't hear them approach and I had told them, on the way into the park, to make noise to get its attention so you didn't surprise it etc and they did finally yell loud enough to startle it and it ran off, thank goodness!!

Yesterday was also the windiest drive I've ever had as well. My goodness it was so windy and I was the "the big guy" the man van #8. It was a crosswind but it seemed to be swirling. I had a death grip on the steering wheel a good portion of the way home.

Other than that just a regular day at the office  :) oh wait, that's today. A regular day at the office. I slept here last night and slept better and more comfortable than at Jolie's house. It was quieter or something and a little warmer. I may do that more often. Not sure what to do about a place to live. Its getting really frustrating! For the amount of rent I'll pay I should make that payment on an RV and just camp here at the office. The parking is free anyways.

City Exploration with visitors!

What a day I had today! Actually its been 3 days I've had! It all began when Heather came to town from Washington DC on Wednesday. Her friend Sonja (who she's here to visit) lives in San Rafael and has been coming to the city to pick up Heather each day and the best part is she's a foodie! Its been great fun! She loves cheese, beer and beards. Can't go wrong!

I've lost track of where I left off. I hate it when I do that! Weds night I went with Heather and Sonja to a place called Mission Cheese on 19th and Valencia. Wow, it was just a wall of little refrigerators with cheese in them. You could order a cheese flight or a "grilled" cheese sandwich. All those sandwiches had these speads on them that complimented the cheese perfectly. Yum! Those sheep are drawn using cheese names. How cute.

Brian boss man, called and said that a van needed to be rescued from Yosemite Valley on Thursday so I said sure thing! Driving an empty van to the valley and back! Yippee! My own tunes and rolling the window down!! (simple pleasures~I miss having a car in a big way sometimes!) I guess Chris's van Wilma had broken down and been towed to the shop there so I was to pick up Chris on my way into Yosemite and we'd go to the shop together and get the situation figured out. It was fun. I've never really spent much time with him, we had some good laughs. We shared novice tour guide stories. Everyone has them!

I was able to get back to the city on Thursday with enough time to catch up with Heather and walk around a bit. We didnt' have much time before Sonja was coming back to meet her for dinner so we decided to walk to the dinner spot and save her the trouble of coming to pick us up. (I walked Heather all around the financial district looking for those fun little alley ways.)

We walked another mile and half, poor Heather, she'd been walking all day already! But we made it to the spot we were looking for. It's called Radius. Everything they make there is bought from within miles of the city. It was a good menu and we sampled a seasonal beer there too. It was Lagunitas Little Somethin' it was really good!

From there we headed to City Beer Store which is just like walking into a friends basement. Sonja said that as a way to describe it and its really true! There are beer fridges and a "bar" that looks like something a frat guy would set up in his basement and it had a few taps. There is a whole corner full of bottled beers too. Its a cool place. The "bar" area looks like a makeshift kitchen or something too. I liked it there alot! I had a beer called Reality Czeck (appropriate I thought as I'm usually in my own little world). It was a little fruity in a good way. The girls each had a different brew so we could try them. Then I bought a beer to go (for another day...) its a Saison beer?! Ever heard of it? Its really good too. My friend Joe in New Mexico would love the place! Sonja's friend Amy met us there. She was really funny. She ordered a pizza from these guys on the street who had a little barbeque sized brick oven pizza cooker. It was great pizza. They let her carry it back to the beer store and she shared it with us. Wow! Fresh mozzarella and basil. Yum!
After all of that fun we called it a night. So much for Cinco de Mayo. We were all too tired for that! There they are in front of the beer fridge! This place was funny, it was a local pub for sure and mostly men. Tons of

bearded men in t-shirts. It was nice. Not a fancy place. The owner was a really nice man. you could tell he just liked being there and talking about/serving beer. Though he was so busy it didn't seem he had much chance to talk to everyone.

My goodness, they changed the way you put photos on here and its really annoying. Definitely not as easy!

Today (Friday May 6th) I got up and caught a bus to the ferry building to meet Heather for a city walk about today. It was great fun! The sun was out and it was a nice day, not too busy, which was good. We started out trying to find breakfast. We ended up at Noah's Bagels. They have a yummy egg white breakfast sandwich on a bagel thin. Really good and filling.

We walked up through Chinatown and wandered all over trying to find the fortune cookie factory I'd heard about for a year now. We accidentally found it when we discovered a group of kids hovering around the front of this tiny place. It was great fun. You walk in and point at a bag of cookies and he say "he take your money" and then he helps the next person.
Since I bought a bag of cookies he let me snap a photo of the ladies making the cookies. Its pretty neat.

I took Heather to the Cable Car Museum next. That was quite a wander as well. I don't know that area quite as well as I thought. But we made it. It was really cool! I really enjoyed it. I hope she did. Since she hasn't ridden on one maybe it wasn't that cool for her :) but you can see the cables running that move the cable cars. When you walk over the tracks you can hear the rumble but now I know where that comes from. Its amazing. Those cables run in one continuous loop for each cable car line. I'm glad I've seen that now! There I am goofing off at the museum.

They had a bunch of old cars there to look at.
Lets see...from there we wandered down to North Beach and found this great place to have a $3 Mimosa. Pantarei. Its on a corner so you can sit and see out all around you. Its great people watching. We had some Mimosa's served by this really nice young Italian man and had some good laughs about the day and things in general. Its been fun to hang out with Heather again. She's very real and we have alot in common.
We decided we were hungry enough to walk to Sam Wo's and have lunch there. I'd been talking about it and so she gave it a try. I don't think it was as good as I've had but still pretty delish!
I had a crazy idea that I should try to show here Union Street or Chestnut but after the street car being too full and us walking a while we hopped on a bus on Van Ness instead and went to Ghiradelli. I talked her into sharing a homemade waffle cone with a scoop of ice cream in it. The waffle cone was really good but we both sweeted out! I can say I've done that at least. Its usually too busy to get anywhere near it!

We walked to Fishermans Wharf and then decided to walk to the Ferry Building so she could catch her ferry back to Larkspur where Sonja lives.
I had a crazy notion that I should try and catch the Giants game but once I got there I realized that was silly. And in the mean time Brian had called and wanted to put me to work doing a Yosemite 1 day trip so I went to the ballpark and took some photos and then came back home.
The trains were packed with people today. I did that alot today. Travelling in commuter time. Its the first time since i"ve been here. I'm usually up way earlier and home later.

I have to work Sunday at 5:45am so I will just sleep at the office again. Ugh. I wish I had a car and a home sometimes really bad. This whole commute thing is getting annoying. If the buses ran more often and nearer to the office/home I'd be okay but they don't.

And YES, that IS oatmeal in my backpack!

I'll admit I do carry a lot of random food around with me but a container full of my morning oatmeal is a new one. I had made it and put some peanut butter in it etc and then realized I'd need my hands free to get the office opened up today.
This was after I had to run down the street to catch my bus.
But let me take you back.

I flew into San Francisco yesterday afternoon. It was absolutely gorgeous out and I didn't mind the major hassle of getting onto the 22 bus with three large bags at one of the busiest times of day on one of the busiest street corners in the Mission. Phew. 16th and Mission BART station.
A nice man had to help me get up the stairs and then he helped me off as well. I was in everyones way and I stood next to this lady who kept cracking up about how crazy her husband is. That was pretty funny actually.

I moved into a new place temporarily. I'm staying with Jolie and Brian. My bosses. Is bosses even a word? I don't like it. It makes me spit when I say it. Either way...they live in Lower Haight so I got to their house no problem and walked down to find the bus stops going my way for todays little outing to work. I got the stop ID number so I could look it up in the morning and know how quickly I needed to get going to make it to the bus. (did that make sense? Stop ID tells you the upcoming buses at that stop)
Well. 4:30am rolls around and I get a Skype message beeping on my phone, one of my friends from England, thought he'd be funny and say hi! But since I was awake I checked the stop ID and realized that the buses are about 40 minutes apart which puts me at the office late if I didn't hustle and catch the bus that was in 11 minutes!
Yep. I had 11 minutes to get out the door and down the street. Luckily I'm prepared ahead of time so I got my clothes on (all right side out this time) grabbed my bag and ran out the door.
I ran down the street and as I reached Fillmore I realized the bus was right behind me (my street is between stops, of course) so I ran into the street and down towards my stop. I knew he couldn't run me over and would have to follow me there and also he had about 2 stop signs to get through while I ran like the wind (in my flip flops AGAIN) and got to the stop.
Wow, not looking forward to that each morning. I catch the bus at 4:40am or 5:10am which is too late. Why is that too late, you ask? Because I have a 10 minute walk to the office at the end of the bus line and its a 25 minute journey. I start at 5:45am.

Jolie has offered to let me use her bike...I'm thinking that is the thing to do! Its a straight shot from where they live and not too much uphill getting back (all uphill but slight). So that might be the thing to do!

At the infamous 16th and Mission stop (the same chaotic one from yesterday) a man gets on and proceeds to harass this poor girl who doesn't speak English (she is lucky). She probably still got the message through because he was very graphic about the whole thing. What a jerk. The bus driver had his eye on him at least.
I don't like that spot very well. It's the end of the drain pipe of humanity there, where the last of the water drips out and the algae grows, see my meaning. The problem is there are tons of great restaurants and shops there, which means TOLERANCE for Karen. :) Ah the life lessons we learn!
Today should be a good day, great weather! And then tonight Jolie and Brian are having this lamb stew that sounds so good! Smelled good too as they cooked it yesterday while I was around.
This afternoon I go see a place to rent potentially and I just convinced Tom that if I could find us a cheap studio we could split it. He was amenable to that. Yeah! I really want to find a place to live SOON!!
My friend Heather is flying in from DC today so that will be great fun! I'm meeting her at that station so I can take her back to Jolie's and drop her stuff off and then we'll go explore a bit! Her friend lives in San Rafael and works until 5pm so we'll have the afternoon.

How to Survive a 90th Birthday Party!

You'd think it would be drinking or hiding in corners but really with this family its just good fun.

I flew home from SF on Thursday. I was pretty excited to get out of there for a bit and back to a slower pace and smaller city...then we had the family reunion/ 90th birthday party so it hasn't been that slow a pace after all but its been fun. Friday the families started arriving, Saturday we decorated and hung out and then had a huge dinner at moms house. It was really nice. We have so much fun together. Alot of A type personalities in the bunch I will say!
Sunday we had church with Grandpa and then afterwards we gathered family for photos and lunch before all the guests started arriving.
At one point I picked up the microphone and laughed because I use one all the time now and it is so funny how I love talking in a mic! But then as the day went on it became obvious that a lot of my family likes talking into the mic as we were all fighting for a chance to get up there and use it! It was funny. You can see the teachers and public speakers come out. Cory played the bagpipes! It was fantastic!
I was in charge of handing out name tags for the family members as well, ones that said things like..."Karen-Norm's grand daughter". But then it because "Norms favorite grandson", "favorite son" and so on. At each point someone was saying why aren't you putting favorite on there. Aren't we all well loved! :) The sons and daughter were numbered 1-5 so they got a good laugh when Uncle Stan was #1 which made my cousin Steven grandson #1 then Aunt Maureen got favorite (or was it #1) daughter in law! Ha!
It was a good turn out and lots of fun for grandpa as he got to hug and say hi to everyone!

I can honestly say it was really sad to see everyone go today. I miss my family a lot and wish we were all closer together. I think we are all feeling that way a bit. There just isn't enough time in the day to get caught up with everyone!
I'll have another full day here then its back to the chaos in SF again Tuesday. I'm on a major hunt for housing now and also going to study my wine country maps as well!
As for food or fun, nothing really to report. Lots of good home made food, which is sometimes the best! Though having gourmet at every turn in SF is really nice sometimes! As you already know...did you not see that breakfast picture from Dotties'?! Yum!