San Francisco and the Bay Area

We are fortunate enough to stay with a friend of dave’s in the Bay Area. Danny and dave used to work together for the Forest Service back in 1998. Danny, his wife Nancy and their new baby Hazel live in Oakland.

Danny and Nancy’s Backyard

Hazel

We had a large list of things we wanted to do when we were in the San Francisco area. With just over a weeks time here we have been able to accomplish most of them. We saw a punk show at a famous club in Berkeley, 924 Gilman Street. Here is a snip it from their web site: The 924 Gilman Street Project a.k.a the 'Alternative Music Foundation', is an all-ages, non-profit, collectively organized music and performance venue. We strive to provide a violence, alcohol and drug-free environment. We will not book or support racist, misogynist, or homophobic bands or performances.

924 Gilman

We saw the classic sites around San Francisco.

Golden Gate Bridge

Alcatraz

Trolley Cars

Lombard Street aka: Crookedest Street

Downtown Scenery

The main reason to race to San Francisco was for a high school friend’s wedding. We gave ourselves two hours to get into the city, find the church and park. Needless to say we did not give ourselves enough time. First we got stuck in traffic trying to get over the Bay Bridge. Then we couldn’t find a parking spot big enough to fit Hans, our van. We finally found a spot without a meter, on level ground but it was 3 miles away. We only had 35 minutes to get to the church so we had to hustle. We ran like hell UP and down crazy San Francisco hills. We arrived at the church, sweaty and by far the least dressy of the 150ish people there 30, seconds before they started walking down the aisle. But without our sensible shoes (aka: sneakers) we wouldn’t have been able to run as fast as needed. It was a beautiful wedding and as usual it was fun to catch up with old friends.

Matt and Angie