San Francisco - 2011

It had been a few years since I'd been to SF.  I was excited about the prospect of making new memories in a city that I loved to visit.  The only two big things on the list were to see the church where my parents were married, 41 years ago, and to be at the boat on time for our tour of Alcatraz.  Other than that, the plan was to wander and stumble upon all kinds of great architecture, tasty food and thirst quenching drinks.

Friday night we ended up walking from the hotel in Union Square to the very italian North Beach neighborhood.  Dinner at a small family run restaurant was the perfect way to end a long week.  The food was definitely authentic and the paired wines were very tasty. 

I almost thought I was back in Italy.

We got an early start on Saturday morning, finding breakfast at a cute little Greek place on the way to the St. Dominics.

 The exterior of the cathedral was gorgeous.  It's got Notre Dame's buttresses and the windows and detail work were amazing.

 Here's where Mama Mary walked down the aisle.  Standing here took my breath away.  It was amazing to thing my parents were married in this phenomenal place.  The cathedral was very traditional - it was also huge!  It felt like we were in a church in France or Italy.

 I chuckled a bit as I stood taking this picture.  I remembered a story my dad loves to tell about the priest that married them.  With my dad's limited English and the priest's strong Italian accent - my dad thinks they may not really be married because he couldn't really understand what the priest was saying.

 From there, we shopped a bit in some funky neighborhoods, and then started the trek up a hill, down a hill, up a hill, down a hill....finally arriving at the top of Lombard Street.

We stood at the top for a while then decided to venture down to the bottom.  I can't believe I've not been here before.  From here it was time for a break.  We headed into Chinatown and found some great Dim Sum.

After lunch we headed back up, up, up the hill and many, many stairs to Coit Tower. 

Great history, really great views!

After a festive evening of great wine, amazing food and the best ceviche I've EVER tasted at the Slanted Door, we were up not so early for our boat ride to Alcatraz.  It was a bit of a rush to get out the door and down to the Wharf (and desperately try to find some food to soak up the many glasses of wine consumed the night before).  We boarded the short boat ride to the rock - it was a gray morning, but the boats were out.

The Alcatraz tour was so interesting.  You can wander around the island looking at several of the outbuildings.  Once inside the prison you get an audio tour of the facility with recounts of fights, day to day life, and a very detailed tour of each prison area.

 The showers                                                       Typical cells

 After a few hours on the island, we hopped the boat back to the Wharf for lunch and one last thing on the agenda before heading to the airport.

 A great weekend getaway!!!!

Ragnar - Part II

As we wound down our first 6 legs it was time for a little rest before night fell and we started all over again just north of Burlington.  We arrived at our rest stop - a school somewhere near the tulip fields of northern Skagit County.  There were hundreds of people sleeping in the fields - tents set up but mostly bodies scattered about sleeping, eating or just taking some time to not be running.

After our brief hour nap, we fueled up (at this point I think I had eaten enough trail mix, tuna and hummus to last a lifetime) and waited for Van Tutu to arrive.  Delirium began to creep in....rearing its head in some crazy ways......

The rest of the team arrived and we anticipated the arrival of Emma and cheered on Willy to begin our night time legs.

Ragnar rules state that anytime between 8:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., you need to be suited up in a reflective vest, and blinkie light.  I think I may have slept in mine at the Deception Pass sleep spot.

Willy was off, we needed to get Keith to his next spot, then it was my turn - 4 miles to run from a park along the Skagit River into downtown Mt. Vernon. I've never run in the middle of the night so there was a mix of giddyness, anxiety, fatigue after the 2nd mile - my legs were not happy.

The latest in reflective night wear

My second leg was a little sketchy - the first 2 miles were fine - a lot of traffic but not a big deal.  Once I hit mile 2 I was running along a side road next to the freeway, then under a bridge where there were some makeshift "homes" set up.  I dug deep and found a second gear somewhere and ran a fast mile up the hill.  Once at the top, it was just another mile downhill to my finish.

Stay tuned for Ragnar Part III