Thursday we got up early and headed out to the East Bay to do some gardening at Mr. Poe’s school in Fremont.  Let me tell you that gardening is hard work.  It was pretty hot and we weren’t even working for very long but I was totally worn out.  We went for lunch at Mexican place in Fremont that was surprisingly good.  On the way home we stopped by Coyote Hills Regional Park.  It’s this beautiful park on the bay that has these gorgeous wetlands that have been laboriously restored and maintained.  Gorgeous:

 

 

There’s also a big salt pond that’s a remnant of salt production in the bay.  The pool is too salty for anything to grow anywhere near it, but it does support a population of brine shrimp that’s then supporting a population of birds:

 

 

Me:

 

 

Hello gorgeous!:

 

 

We headed home and I took Rufus for a long walk.  After I got home I got cleaned up and we had dinner and then we went to bed.  Happy 4th of July!

Tuesday I slept in and came into work down Market.  I headed home the same way and then went and hung out with Mr. Chris instead of riding after work.  I needed a day off.

 

Wednesday I got up and out of the house in time to put a little mileage in before work.  I headed off Corbett to Clayton to Parnassus to Cole to Haight to Stanyan and into Golden Gate Park.  I headed over to Arguello and then headed into the Presidio.  I headed over on Lincoln and stopped a little East of the Golden Gate Bridge and got a pic of the fog starting to burn off of Crissy Field:

 

 

The old Doyle Drive access to the Golden Gate Bridge has now been completely dismantled.  I can’t wait until the new span is complete.  It seems like construction has been going on FOREVER:

 

 

 I headed down to Crissy Field and got a pic of the Golden Gate Bridge that’s taken shape down there.  I like it but I don’t love it.  I think there are too many of them and the overall effect is more oil field than sculpture garden:

 

 

I headed home for lunch and then went for a nice ride after work.  I headed off 2nd to Townsend to 17th to Hampshire to 26th.  This pretty home is on 26th between Hampshire and York.  I imagine it was originally on a much larger piece of land, likely a farm, that was long ago subdivided away. 

 

 

I continued on 26th to Valencia to Tiffany to 29th to San Jose to Monterey into Santa Clara to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  After dinner I tried to stay up late but was unable.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 30.3 Week to date 45.1 Month to date 45.1 Year to date 4,948.9 To Goal 3,051.1 Over (Under) plan 850.3 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 53.5 Rolling Year 9,844.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 45,416.6

Tuesday I slept in and came into work down Market.  I headed home the same way and then went and hung out with Mr. Chris instead of riding after work.  I needed a day off.

 

Wednesday I got up and out of the house in time to put a little mileage in before work.  I headed off Corbett to Clayton to Parnassus to Cole to Haight to Stanyan and into Golden Gate Park.  I headed over to Arguello and then headed into the Presidio.  I headed over on Lincoln and stopped a little East of the Golden Gate Bridge and got a pic of the fog starting to burn off of Crissy Field:

 

 

The old Doyle Drive access to the Golden Gate Bridge has now been completely dismantled.  I can’t wait until the new span is complete.  It seems like construction has been going on FOREVER:

 

 

 I headed down to Crissy Field and got a pic of the Golden Gate Bridge that’s taken shape down there.  I like it but I don’t love it.  I think there are too many of them and the overall effect is more oil field than sculpture garden:

 

 

I headed home for lunch and then went for a nice ride after work.  I headed off 2nd to Townsend to 17th to Hampshire to 26th.  This pretty home is on 26th between Hampshire and York.  I imagine it was originally on a much larger piece of land, likely a farm, that was long ago subdivided away. 

 

 

I continued on 26th to Valencia to Tiffany to 29th to San Jose to Monterey into Santa Clara to Portola to Corbett to Ord and home for dinner.  After dinner I tried to stay up late but was unable.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 30.3 Week to date 45.1 Month to date 45.1 Year to date 4,948.9 To Goal 3,051.1 Over (Under) plan 850.3 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 53.5 Rolling Year 9,844.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 45,416.6

Monday I was up at 4am.  Of course I was.  I’d gone to bed the night before at 7:15.  I got moving pretty slowly and then walked to work.  My first choice involved me getting on BART at Balboa Park but a new strike put the kibosh on that.  I had a hard time getting excited about any of the choices I had and ended up walking the entirety of Jordan Park and then through Laurel Village and then downtown on California.  I don’t spend a whole lot of time on California because its a little scary on a bike and it was very interesting.  The walk to work ended up being about 7 miles.  I headed home lunchtime and then went to a spin class after work that sucked the last drop of energy out of my body.  I headed home on Muni, had dinner and went to bed. 

Buena Vista Park at sunrise:

 

 

This is the recently closed Bridge Theater on Geary:

 

 

This is a new building that’s gone up on Geary near Arguello.  I think its assisted living.  It’s a beautiful building with exceedingly solid construction.  It looked like they were building a bunker when it went up:

 

 

Some pics from Jordan Park:

 

 

St Gregory the Illuminator:

 

 

I forget where on California I saw this fabulous Victorian:+

 

 

Here’s hoping we’ve got BART running on Monday!

Sunday I got up early and got ready.  It took me a long time to get ready for the parade because I painted myself metallic once again.  It looked fabulous in the sunlight but not so much in shade.  This is the best pic of me taken that day (thanks Bob Katz):

 

I headed down early and hung out with Mr. Chris and David before the parade and then headed over to the meet point.  It was a little crazy:

 

 

Off we go!

 

 

The parade was over pretty fast.  It always is– it isn’t a long route.  Brendan and I went for donuts and then I worked at the Different Spokes booth until 2.  I was so worn out by the time it was over I went home and ate and went to bed at 7:15.  It was a fantastic weekend but it totally kicked my ass.

 

Bike Mileage:

Today 10.6 Week to date 70.9 Month to date 941.4 Year to date 4,903.8 To Goal 3,096.2 Over (Under) plan 870.9 YTD Mileage vs Last Year 8.4 Rolling Year 9,799.2 Since Inception 10/1/07 45,371.5

Saturday I got up incredibly early and started cooking.  I had a very busy day planned and I needed and early start.  I made a banana pudding for the pos ped potluck and some custard for ice cream I was making later that night.  After it was all ready I got cleaned up and we went to the grocery store which was surprisingly empty given that it was pride weekend.  We headed home and then wet over to Crispin’s for the potluck.  We couldn’t stay long but it was great to see everybody.  I wish I’d taken some pics.  I sent Mr. Poe home and took Muni downtown to collect Quela.  We headed home and hung out until she had to leave for the airport and I had to finish making dinner.  We had a few people over for dinner.  Mr. Poe made steaks on the grill and I cranked out, among other things, this entirely respectable potatoes anna:

 

 

Dinner was really fun and unsurprisingly boozy.  The guests left around 9 and Mr. Poe and I went right to bed.  We were beat.

Friday I came into work on Muni and went to the gym.  I went to the spin class at noon.  The regular guy was gone and it was taught by this crazy woman named Libby who worked us until we were nearly dead.  I loved her and hope she comes back.  After work I headed off for Cole Valley and then walked to Golden Gate Park which was gorgeous in the warm afternoon.  I got a couple of pics of the park as I walked through:

 

 

Then I headed up to pretty Saint Ignatius:

 

 

I went in and proceeded to take pictures with flash.  I was all prepared to play the age card for the first time and tell anybody who yelled at me that I didn’t have my reading glasses and couldn’t figure out how to turn it off.  But nobody hassled me and I got tons of pics of the fantastic 1912 interior:

 

 

The building under construction:

 

 

Then I headed up Lone Mountain:

 

 

The shrine to modular storage:

 

 

The view from Lone Mountain:

 

 

The fabulous stairs up Lone Mountain:

 

 

I decided to walk down Broderick because I’d been there on my bike the day before and was hungry for some more.  The first thing I saw was thin enormous mansion under renovation between Turk and Golden Gate:

 

 

I got some more pics as I headed down Broderick:

 

 

This fantastic place is on Broderick just before Fulton:

 

 

Such lovely detail:

 

 

I headed home and got cleaned up and we went to my friend Ron’s birthday party out in the avenues.  I was pretty beat by that point so we didn’t stay long and went home and went to bed.  Long day.