Since we've been outside, running around in our amazingly perfect "summer" weather rather than blogging, AND have been insanely busy the last three weeks, a photo blog this will be...
Gone are the foggy mornings of August. We went out for a quick ride on Saturday and this was the view from the base of Grizzly Peak. The camera phone doesn't quite capture the eerie, other-worldly nature of the fog but this gives you an idea. It totally looks like a rainforest.
Also? In case you don't believe me that they use goats to sculpt the Oakland Hills and cut down on the fire hazard? Here they are. In all their glory. Actually, their guard dog must have been neglecting his duties on Saturday morning because one poor little lonely goat was wandering around Tunnel Road, outside of his gate, trying desperately to get back in to hang with his friends. In a moment of weakness, I thought about trying to pick him up and put him back inside but realized I would probably end up rolling down the hill before I caught him.
Last weekend, we finally made the trek to San Diego to visit Michael, Anna's brother. Unfortunately, before we went, spent a LOT of time going back and forth between airports and home last Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, after we had arrived at SFO, gone through security, and were enjoying the ever-impressive food brought to us by Legends Sports Bar in the horrendous Terminal 1, our flight was cancelled due to the giant power outage in San Diego. We barted back to O-town and were able to fly out the next night...We had a great time with Michael as our tour guide and can't wait to go back. Here he is, looking like quite the beach bum strolling along Mission Beach in perfect, 75 degree sunshine.
Michael wooed us with one of his favorite hang-outs, the Aero Club. Now, it may not look like much from the outside, but I can assure you that the selection of West Coast IPA's (including Sculpin on tap!!!) was quite impressive. Not only that, but Aaron had the good fortune of spending nearly a half-hour choosing a whiskey from their BOUND bible of whiskey choices. It was pretty fantastic. We were the only patrons that particular hour, and the pool tables were enticing, but we tore ourselves away to go to the beach.
Since Michael and his girlfriend were both working the Vikings/Chargers game (sad for MN), on Sunday, we headed up the coast to La Jolla, where they happened to be having their 81st Annual open swim contest. People of all ages were competing and I had to restrain Aaron from jumping in right along with them (and the seals). The little dots on the left hand side of the picture are the swimmers. He did, however, get to go swimming that afternoon when we made our way to the beach at Coronado.
La Jolla is stunning and the weather was gorgeous. As I said, we cannot wait to go back. It has everything: ocean, cliffs, beaches, amazing views, all wrapped up in perfect weather.
Aaron also got to enjoy plenty of fish tacos, amazing IPA's, aaaaaaand, OYSTER SHOOTERS. I didn't even know these things existed. I live a sheltered life.
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| Oyster, horseradish, cocktail sauce, and a squeeze of lemon with vodka on top... |
This weekend was jam-packed with excitement. First off was a Friday night with BCSM who is here visiting from the great Minneapple and directing a show with a local opera company. He brought along his leading tenor, who was, shall we say, skeptical about spending a night in Oakland. :) It was great to see them both and everyone made it home safely...
Saturday, Aaron had planned a food pilgrimage to Yountville to visit Thomas Keller's restaurant, Addendum, with our friend who we lovingly call "Short Arms." They starts serving boxed lunches of fried chicken or barbecue at 11:00 am Thursday-Saturday. They only sell 200 boxes and by the time ours arrived at 11:20, 100 had already been sold. Crazy. I can't attest to the quality of the chicken but I can tell you how delicious the cornbread was. Aaron was also quite pleased with the drink selections, which included purple Crush. The picnic tables were set in the backyard of Ad Hoc and surrounded by their gardens which provide most of the produce for the restaurant's service. So, so beautiful.
THEN, we had the greatest adventure of all on Sunday...climbing Mt. Tam. Our friend from Marin has been dying to get us over there and we finally had the perfect day for it. You can't really call yourself a biker out here until you have climbed both Mt. Tam and Mt. Diablo. One down, one to go. We left Sunday morning, threw our gear in the cars and the four of us drove on over to the other side of the bay. The ride included about 4,400 feet of climbing in a little over 20 miles, a lot of descending, and Aaron putting the rest of us to shame as he raced up the hills while we suffered behind him. The first climb of the day was hot, hot, hot but as we descended into the woods, rolled around the bend, we came upon this.
Alpine Dam is one of the Marin County reservoirs and literally takes your breath away as you leave the dry, golden hills behind and come upon this giant body of water surround by redwoods. Great place to stop for a breather, but there was more suffering to be done.
The second big climb of the day was MUCH more challenging (well, for everyone by Aaron). Fortunately, it was mostly in the trees so it wasn't quite as hot. The climb was looooong and tough, but the view from the top was totally worth it...
That is Stinson Beach down below. We hiked the Dipsea Trail on Labor Day weekend, which starts in Stinson Beach, and we couldn't even SEE the ocean when we got to the top. It was completely covered by a giant, puffy blanket of fog (it is pretty weird when you climb above the fog and find yourself in glorious sunshine). On the rare days that it is this clear, you have a 360 degree view of the ocean, the bay, and the city. Gorgeous. We were so pleased to finally be there that we even indulged our friends with a photo, complete with nerd gear (but a great free advertisement for our bike shop!).
We decided not to continue on to the rollers since everyone was hot and out of water so we climbed, descended, climbed, and descended our way back to Fairfax. Everyone made it back, safe and sound, and we parked the trusty steeds at, where else? The burrito shop.
Our friend's parents live in Fairfax and we were lucky enough to enjoy said burritos alongside their pool before taking a dip to cool off. It was a fantastic day and we can't wait to go back and suffer some more. We are very, very fortunate to live in such a beautiful place and to have met such generous friends in such a short period of time.
Last but not least, when we returned from San Diego last week, Short Arms brought over a PALATE of tomatoes, zucchinis, and peppers from her sister's garden. We spent every night last week trying to figure out what the heck to do with them all. We made tomato chutney, tomato sauce, roasted tomatoes, zucchini scones, zucchini marmalade, enchilada sauce...and we still have 2 bags of peppers and 2 giant zucchinis in the refrigerator. Ideas, anyone?
