Paul and Kate's visit

I haven’t blogged for a couple of weeks, so there’s a lot to catch up on! Last weekend was a bit of a partying one – we went to an interesting cocktail gathering at a colleague’s apartment in the Mission district on Friday night, then attended the North Beach Festival in our neighbourhood on Sunday. The festival’s most amusing feature was the pet blessings ceremony at the Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi. Imagine a church full of dogs – with their people – and you have the idea. There was also someone who had brought his hamster in a little cage. The dogs seemed to behave pretty well as the priests passed down the aisle throwing holy water. After the festival, some friends came back to our apartment and we put away a couple of good bottles of wine!

I’ve also seen a couple of very different San Francisco films recently: the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill and The Bridge. I’d read the book that arose out of the former – it’s the story of a hobo who befriends the local wild parrot population, which is ultimately his salvation. It included lots of lovely scenes of North Beach and Telegraph Hill. The other was a less happy tale – it was a documentary about the fact that the Golden Gate Bridge is the most popular suicide spot in the world, with someone throwing him or herself off on average every two weeks.

Last Monday, our friends from Hoddesdon, Paul and Kate, arrived on the last leg of their round-the-world tour. Kate’s parents were also in town on part of their holiday. We enjoyed a few evenings of meals out and also took them up to Top of the Mark for cocktails one evening. The weather was incredible – baking hot almost every day, which is unusual for San Francisco. On Friday evening, we began the weekend with a lovely dip in the pool and a few beers.

Next day, we set off for Russian River, about 70 miles north across the Golden Gate. We hired canoes for the day and set off down the river from Forestville. Much of it was very gentle with barely any paddling required. However, there were a few tricky bits with easy “rapids”, then the river widened and the paddling got rather harder! However, we had plenty of breaks for picnicking and swimming in the river. There were lots of other people out and about in various contraptions – it was a real holiday atmosphere. At the end of it all, we rode back to our car in a converted yellow school bus, then headed to Guerneville, where we stayed in a motel very handy for the restaurants and cafés. We didn’t stay out too late, though, as we were all exhausted from a string of late nights and a few miles of canoeing.

On Sunday, we went to nearby Korbel Champagne Cellars to do a champagne tasting. Not a bad way to start the day. It was another gorgeous, warm morning, but by the time we reached the coast, 12 miles west of Guerneville, we’d hit the fog! We drove down the coast, but didn’t tarry long on the northern stretch because of the fog. However, by the time we reached Tomales Bay, it was beginning to clear, so we enjoyed a nice picnic at Bear Valley and a sunny wander along the earthquake trail, which runs along the San Andreas fault and gives info about the plate tectonics at work underneath! After that, we headed to the southern part of Point Reyes and strolled along the coastal path. Down at one of the beaches, we had the good fortune to see an osprey up close as it rode the wind and thought about diving for fish (but ultimately didn’t bother!). Then it was over to Coast Café in Bolinas for a great dinner, before heading down the coast along Highway 1, taking in the vista from the viewpoint above the Golden Gate (by which time it was freezing!) and finally back to San Francisco.

Kate and Paul have now gone off to Yosemite for a couple of days. Mind you, I’m not sure anything can beat their trip to Alcatraz, where they bumped into Posh and Becks, of all people!

Yosemite waterfalls weekend

Last week was really busy at work, but I had a couple of nice evenings out: firstly with friends from volunteering days on Tuesday at an Indian restaurant in the Tenderloin, which turned out to be rather good! The second meal out was with someone we know from university days, who was en route back to the UK with his wife after living in New Zealand for two years. Then on Friday, I went into school to volunteer, but found they were having a party in honour of me and another volunteer who helps them! There was a huge chocolate cake with our names written on it and a lovely bunch of roses was presented.

Having made it to the end of the week, Jon and I set off for the long drive to Yosemite for a weekend getaway. We stayed overnight at Groveland, the last real community before the park entrance, which is still an hour outside the valley. Next day we headed into the park and went up to Glacier Point. A road takes you all the way to the point, some 3,500 feet above the valley floor. In all the times we’ve visited Yosemite, we’d never been up on this road. Well, the views were stupendous, second only to those from Cloud’s Rest, I’d say (which involves a 14 mile hike from the Tioga Road). There were loads of people, of course, but you can’t take away the gorgeousness of those vistas. We did a short hike (5 miles) from a spot a few miles down from Glacier Point to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. There were still patches of snow here and there, so it felt very odd wandering around in T-shirts and vests, crunching over the white stuff. We were lucky enough to see a marmot posing in the sunshine along the way.

We spent Saturday night in Curry Village, the budget accommodation option in the valley. I’d booked us a canvas tent cabin. It had its own bear box outside, but we didn’t see any bears, alas (just a few chipmunks scurrying around). We had a relaxing pre-dinner drink, watching a deer graze its way across a patch of grass in front of us, then a mediocre meal before settling down to listen to the ranger talk on search and rescue missions. We both had some trouble sleeping that night, as the temperature dropped down very low – probably to about 5 degrees.

The next day, we decided to tackle a big hike, so climbed to the top of Yosemite Falls. The Falls shoot down in two hugely impressive cascades, with a less vertical middle section, from a height of some 2,425 feet, making it the highest waterfall in North America and the sixth highest in the world. It was a fairly strenuous hike. We still hadn’t had enough when we reached the top, though, so meandered through the high country for another mile to Yosemite Point. It was not a hike for anyone suffering from vertigo! We managed to catch a bit of sunshine (we both have a few pink patches, but nothing too serious) and returned – not without first getting a huge feed at a diner in Oakdale – to a decidedly summery San Francisco.

Photos available here: http://public.fotki.com/EllenHardwick/yosemite-waterfalls-etc/

My perfect day

Today I did all my favourite things. Woke up to a beautiful, clear sunny day and the sound of the wild parrots chattering in their morning flight. Eager to get out in the sunshine after a spate of rather dull days, I went for a run along the waterfront with its fabulous views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Bay Bridge, the financial district – you name it – and returned to a delicious breakfast of hot oatmeal and fruit. We then set out to do a hike at Point Reyes. We’d done most of the hike before (and seen a bobcat on that occasion), but this time our destination was Alamere Falls, a succession of waterfalls with the largest spilling out directly onto the beach from a sheer sandstone cliff. The weather held clear, although it was by no means warm – a stiff wind was blowing cold air straight off the Pacific for most of the time. The trail to the falls was a real scramble, but we made it, and felt risking life and limb was worth it in the end, as they were pretty impressive. It was also a delight to see so many wild flowers still in bloom along the trail. This time, there were no big cats in sight, but I did almost step on a snake!

After our hike, we went to our favourite restaurant, Coast Café in Bolinas. I love this little village – it’s so quaint, laid-back, full of interesting types and charmingly located at the mouth of a gorgeous tidal lagoon. We enjoyed cocktails (an aptly named Epicenter and a Bolinas Sunrise), then put away huge quantities of food (fish and chips for me, I’m afraid, and yes, I DO feel guilty!). All the while we had the drive back to look forward to, which is an experience in itself – a windy road hugging the coast, dipping down through eucalyptus forest and emerging from a tunnel to the view of the great bridge, glowing an even brighter orange in the golden rays of the setting sun. All in all, great therapy to cure the frustrations of a hard week at work for me and an exhausting time training customers in Texas for Jon.