jg and i spent the weekend in santa barbara. it had been exactly a month since our last visit. sb has now become our choice getaway. jg calls it "going to the cabin." i call it escape from fog hell.
as usual, we had a lot of tasks. but we did manage to squeeze in a hike up saddle rock, my all time favorite trail.
jg on north cusp (of saddle rock)
schmee on south cusp
that's the first time i crawled up from the saddle. jg talked me into doing it. i felt very confident rock climbing in my super grippy keen shoes. i love my zerraports.
cute dog seen on trail
jg and i also took some time off our crazy schedule to see the music academy of the west's recital hall. we got a private tour from the project architect.
waffles helped me work on this building off and on for years. it was nice to see it finally realized. look at it before the renovation. can you believe it?
next time i'm in sb, i hope to catch a recital performance so i can experience the acoustics. if you live in or near sb, you really should check out the new hahn hall.
jg took this next picture of me for proof.
schmee: proof?
jg: i want to make sure it's not some hallucination that i see you cleaning.
that was tuesday's sunset seen from my window. all i could think of was rapture. and how i won't elevate because i don't have the right gear.
the next two pictures are of yesterday's 'sunset' seen from mount tam.
looking east
(richmond san rafael bridge and mt diablo)
looking south
(fog hell over san francisco)
see that enormous wave of fog? my apartment is right under it. anyway, we did a two mile hike from the pantoll ranger station to the west point inn. i'm not a fan of mount tam or evening hikes, but evening hikes are just the thing to do on mount tam: the tourists are gone and the temperature stays mild well after sunset. i enjoyed the experience although it was a bit unnerving to mill around during prime feeding hours in mountain lion country.
serpentine found on trail
(my second all time favorite color)
west point inn will be serving pancake breakfasts this sunday. we might just have to hike back up for some.
i took that picture while waiting to leave china camp. isn't it shameless? i used to rant about how people need to post less pictures of themselves on their blogs. i still rant about it. only now, i do it while i plaster my mug all over schmeebot. (please excuse me for a moment; i need to throw a stone at my own glass house.)
anyway, i went with jg to china camp sunday. we usually go to this state park to hike and bike so we never stray far from the trails. because the hiking isn't very good at china camp, i decided to try something new this time. i went to see the epicenter of the park: china camp village.
rickety old pier
no fog!
the grace quan
genuine five
crack control
best shot of the day
wish i knew what that loopy device is. i saw stacks of it on the pier and around the village near fishing nets and buoys. i wanted to take it home, hang it on the wall, and call it art.
seen from inside the museum
nothing original
for an obscure little state park, there was quite a load of tourists milling around. there were even people swimming and making out on the beach. the attendant at the visitor center seemed aloof but welcoming. i put two meager bucks in the donation slot and he immediately perked up. i had never been thanked so much for so little.
the gnat collector was done biking before i had the chance to see the entire village. even so, i enjoyed my visit. i'd like to go back for more pictures. and may be for a picnic on that rickety old pier.
jg and i had lunch at stacks yesterday. i had never been there before. jg warned me that it's a country peddler version of denny's. wrong! it's more like a laura ashley's version of sizzler.
jg in lobby of main library
after lunch we walked over to the main library to pick up a load of link+ requests.
four hundred pounds of books
no, those were not picked up all at once. anyway, as you can see, i take full advantage of the library. actually, the library system here isn't very good.* it's link+ that rocks. i can borrow books from as far as las vegas. free of charge.
*this is not how i feel about the librarians. everyone i have dealt with is majorly swell, particularly the ones at park branch.
look what i saw right outside the library's door.
no, i don't. but thanks for sharing!
jg with link+ goods
it was a perfectly lovely day, not the san francisco weather i'm familiar with. on the way back i wanted to hop and skip over to gavin's place and say hi. but i couldn't. in fact, we had to rush back before the parking meter expires. one of those times when i wish i could trade my soul for a parking space.
after work, jg talked me into going over the bernal heights. i was still high from the sunny lunch excursion so i agreed.
looking northeast from bernal heights park
the park itself isn't very nice but the view is incredible. 360 panorama of the bay area. too bad the peak is obstructed by an antenna station.
looking north west
that, ladies and gentlemen, is my neighborhood. it's where prime arctic winds go for summer vacation.
peak graffiti
friendly wiener
over all, bernal heights park is totally ghetto. but the views are the best i've ever seen in the bay area. if the sky manages to stay clear after dark, i bet the city lights would look awesome.
for this week's outing, i wanted to try the shawarma joint across from the main library. except it was packed so we motored right along, ending up at the asian art museum.
jg ordered curry lamb and he really liked it. i got curry noodle soup but i didn't like it as much. the food might have tasted better if there were outdoor seating. the weather was too perfect to be sitting in an entirely enclosed space.
come to the table and pay through the nose
on the way back from lunch we walked through the civic center plaza. it was pretty interesting to see a vegetable garden in the middle of it.
tap water is greener
tap water is cheaper
as much as i hate the hype, this is the one thing i can agree with the slow food yuppies: the tap water here is amazing. it's soft, and there's absolutely no taste to it. it's like having voss on tap. i have to disagree, though, that water is slow food.
past slow food nation is city hall. i only had enough time to peep inside the doors but my experience felt complete; i got to see a gay wedding!
the handsome couple
i love how welll dressed they were. i wonder why they chose to get married on a wednesday. shotgun?
