In the Throws of a City

So many days. So many miles. So much to say.

San Francisco has been more or less good to me. It's given me a good chance to calm down and catch up on sleep. I've been getting a solid amount, although not once have I slept straight through the night. That's one thing about being away from home that I'll never be able to accept; I don't think I've gotten a complete night of sleep since I left home. Perhaps it's the fact that I've been sleeping in strange spaces: beds that don't belong to me, couches that seem oh so unfamiliar, camping after such a long time. Not to worry, however, I often feel rested when I wake up, so there has been no loss in that department. Although I haven't had work to go to in the mornings, I still find myself waking up at odd hours, very rarely after 8:30.

My time in San Francisco has gone well, though. I've done a lot of bike riding, which is very relieving since I haven't had much of a chance to before now, both because of the very hot temperatures and inability to find comfortable roads. It is riding pretty well, aside from the brakes, which could really use some work. The front ones are completely bad, so I just tightened them and they are unusable except in extreme stopping emergencies. The back ones sort of work, but they require using the dropdown brake lever instead of the horizontal one. No big deal really, except that I normally use the horizontal ones because they are more accessible and reachable.

I rode the trolley, and a bus or two, just to get a couple places faster and for that signature San Francisco experience.

Other than that, I've just been doing a lot of exploring, including riding across the Golden Gate Bridge on my bike. It was such a great experience, and I took some pretty neat pictures with my 35mm.

I also visited the beach, Fisherman's Wharf, and rode downtown into the city. It was great to see how much could change from the bay to the downtown area, just a couple miles apart. Even the people were different.

I've just been doing a lot of wandering in general, getting lost, and then, eventually, finding my way. The buildings are beautiful to just walk next to, and between.

Probably the highlight of my stay here in San Francisco was my participation in the monthly Critical Mass bike ride. It is an event where hundreds, and perhaps thousands of bicyclists get together and take over the roads as a statement that says something along the lines of, "we deserve the right to use the road just as any other vehicle, and we are here to show that we are taking back that right." Something like that. Basically, it's just an event to remind everyone how many people do ride bicycles and that they are people too and should be taken seriously. As much as I agree with this, I don't agree with the way that they go about doing it. They take over the roads, ignore all the traffic laws, and pretty much just do whatever they want for a couple hours. They block side traffic by making barriers of riders, and they interrupt traffic from around 6:15 until they slowly disband into the night. I rode along for the experience, and it was extremely exhilarating. I left the group at around 9:30 and headed home, after riding for about three hours, unsure of how far we had gone. My odometer wasn't working.

Along with that, I also stopped and visited the Fine Arts Exploratorium that is a couple minutes down the street from where I am staying. It was really interesting and it had sections devoted to the exploration of sight, sound, biology, and physical properties. It was actually really enjoyable and I ended up spending a little over two hours just walking through and enjoying the different setups. My favorite was probably the section that had all of the optical illusions and mirrors.

I also made a stop at the Buena Vista Cafe to have lunch and their signature Irish Coffee, which tasted more like drinking straight whiskey than anything else. It was good though, and I'm glad I took the time to go.

I haven't done too much more than that. Just relaxed, took a break, and enjoyed my time here. Tomorrow it all begins again when I leave for Seattle. I'll be arriving Monday, and I can't wait. There will be so much to do there!

Walking past your house,
I looked and stared and stopped.
I saw you walk past the window,
too busy to meet my eye.