San Francisco Day 3!

I started the day with a nice 5-mile run with friend Doug and Simon of England. It was a nice jog along the waterfront. I could so live here!

Second on the days list of things to do was a swim in the bay. Doug and I squeezed into our wetsuits and hit the water near the Maritime Museum. A minute later we were back on the beach cussing. Talk about cold. 55 degrees and my feet were in agony! We went back in for about a 10-minute swim, and it was better. Added to the list of things to do was to get neoprene footies.


The race meeting was at 1 o'clock, so we headed down to the race expo after a visit to the hotel for hot showers. There were lines for various age groups. I got into the 40+, "A-M" line, behind a dozen people. Doug got into the 40+, "N-Z" line, which had nobody in the line. Everything went quick, and the meeting was very quick. They kept harping on "DO NOT MISS THE BOAT!" No refunds if you do. You are just SOL. Did I mention they kept saying not to miss the boat? We did hit all the expo merchants and nobody had neoprene footies. They all had sold out in a half hour after opening. Wow! They really missed the boat. They could have charged a fortune for those things.


Soon we were pedaling down the bay to go to Sports Basement. The store is huge! They, too, were out of footies. The girl explained they had sold out and the dealer was out. We went back later so Doug's wife Terri could shop, and I found neoprene footies for use under flippers. They only covered the foot to just below the ankle, but ended up working well.

Next was a drive up to Muir Woods to see redwoods. Words and pictures just cannot do these trees justice. As Neal Peart discussed in his book Ghost Rider, to think there are so few of these pockets of old growth trees left, after the logging companies raped the land, that they are all named! Once old growth covered most of the US, and the few remaining pockets all have names! How pathetic? I was in awe of the trees and the area around them. The trees are massive. The plants on the floor, which prefer shade and indirect light, are beautiful. Deer would let people walk right up to them as they grazed. It was really a treat. To think that Muir and his wife bought these 700 acres to preserve, and then corporations tried to take it from them by eminent domain so they could log it, dam it, and make a lake out of the area? Luckily Muir worked out a deal with the US government and Roosevelt. They donated the land and Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act to designate the area a national park, thus saving it. Every now and then, government does something right!




Leaving Muir Woods we drove to Muir Beach Overlook. Again, wow! They views were stunning. The land just plunged to the ocean. Luckily there was very little fog so we could see for a long distance. The guidebooks were right about seeing these views. In the distance you could see boats heading towards the bay.


Sausalito was next, but by then the sun was setting and we were getting tired. We buzzed through, drove up the hills, got some nice pictures and head to the hotel.


I love this place.

As usual, more pics are on my Flickr page.