San Francisco

Geoff and I made a quick trip to San Francisco in early September. Our hotel location was fantastic, right in the heart of Union Square. The room was interesting - the ceilings weren't very tall (a little taller than Geoff), but other than that it was quite charming.

The weather was great, got to hang out in Chinatown and explore the curious stores. We didn't have a large agenda other than hitting the Mission for what I would consider the best burritos I've ever eaten, hanging out and enjoying the city and spending some time with Geoff's brother Gavin. We tried to make it over to Alcatraz, but who knew you needed advance reservations? The great thing is Gavin lives in the city, so we'll be back.

The John Wayne Trail

Over Labor Day Weekend, Geoff, Colleen and I did the bike trek from Hyak to Mile 38 on the John Wayne Trail. I had done it years before and I was excited to do it again. That portion of the trail is about 16 miles long and has a slight down slope, so it makes for a leisurely ride. At the beginning of the trail is a two mile long railroad tunnel - read: dark, cold, a bit scary. I took the lead in the tunnel, armed with a headlamp and a brave smile on my face and began into the darkness. Colleen was really nervous at first, but with Big Poppa at her side, she reached into her suitcase of courage, dug deep and began her trek into the darkness. Part way into the tunnel it was apparent she was becoming more comfortable - she began to get really chatty - trying to estimate how far we had gone and whether the light at the end of the tunnel was bigger than her head. We came across several groups, some of which were doing it without light.....yikes! We finally reached the end of the tunnel and back into the sunshine and after a brief snack stop, hit the road again.



Our pace was a bit slow - the first half taking us about 3 1/2 hours, but we stepped it up at the end and did the last half in about an hour. The key was timing our miles! We started at a leisurely pace, but kicked it into hyper-speed.

All in all a great trip, and it sounds like Colleen is ready to take on the tunnel once again! Pretty impressive for an 8 year old.