Please, sir, can I have some Muir?

When we left the city to check in for The Girl's most recent marathon, we stopped along the way to explore a little bit of Muir Woods, home to California redwoods.

Visitor traffic is so heavy that this handicap-accessible boardwalk is in place to protect the forest floor.

Redwoods are not quite as immense as the slightly-more-famous Giant Sequoias, but they're still plenty big.  Their size begs you to compare yourself photographically, to prove to other people how very, very, very large these trees are.  Consequently, along the boardwalk where many visitors get their fill of the park, there are numerous signs asking that you stay on the boardwalk and trail; these signs are usually right at the base of the enormous trees nearest to the boardwalk.  The earth between these signs and the trees they ostensibly protect is trampled flat in most places.

A moderate climb.

We veered from the boardwalk to the Ocean View Trail, which led up the valley's side from the visitors' center.  Our plan was to piece together a little loop, return to the car, and finish our drive in time to get dinner and fall asleep by a reasonable East Coast time (her EST body-clock comes in very handy for early-morning starts in West Coast marathons).

For the record, we never did get an ocean view from that trail, but we also turned onto the Lost Trail (found it!) before Ocean View reached the ridge.

The Fern Cliff trail took us back into the valley, passing a footbridge along the way.  I like that The Girl shares my compulsion to cross these, even if they are not along our path, but I was especially fascinated with this one.  Wreckage in  Fern Creek indicated the bridge had been rebuilt, and from what I can tell, both the original version and its replacement followed a similar structural plan: plane off the top of a fallen tree, and add handrails.  The second bridge had the advantage of laying partially on top of the original.

If a dentist did bridgework like this, he'd lose his license.  But I like it for hiking!

Eventually, we found a redwood which was both inviting and reasonably approachable, so we did the natural thing: we put the smaller of us inside to make it look even bigger.

No vegetation was harmed in the taking of this photo.

White Trillium

Wood Sorrel

On May 19, 1945, delegates from the United Nations Conference in San Francisco took a break from the conference rooms to convene at Muir Woods in an area known as Cathedral Grove.  They laid a plaque honoring President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had died a month earlier, and was supposed to have opened the conference.  Fifty nations were represented, and this conference gave us the United Nations Charter, forming the organization we know today.  I like that they took some time to step out into the world they were agreeing to protect, and hopefully saw one of the greatest reasons to do so.

Looking skyward in Cathedral Grove

Wood Sorrel colonizing a fallen trunk.

The hike brought us back to the Vistors' Center, where we had a modest lunch before driving down the road to Muir Beach.  Sun had intermittently peeked through the trees, but it had had its fill of us, and clouds coated the sky.  It made the beach look much more foreboding than it deserved.

We saw a surfer, families with children and dogs, tiny pieces of beach glass, and one large, dangerous shard of broken bottle aching to slice someone's foot open.  Aside from the homicidal litter, it was a very nice spot.  It's easy to see why so many people--and a few sea birds--chose to build their homes there.

Jeans are not optimal wading attire.

 It started sprinkling as we made our way back to the car, but it never got serious about it.  We had our fill, we got to sleep in plenty of time, and she ran a great race the next day.

Watch your step

Just two pictures of random sidewalk art today, and a reminder to watch where you put your feet--sometimes there are neat things down there.

A koi pond in North Shore, near San Francisco's Chinatown.

Fan art a block or so from the California Academy of Science

Bay Walks

After a six-hour flight to California this spring, we needed to walk.  Between the BART station and our hotel, we stumbled onto our first great find of the trip when we decided to get lunch at Lefty O'Doul's.  Talking with local friends at dinner the next night, we found out that Lefty's is a local institution.  That was nice to know, but we had already convinced ourselves that it was a good place to eat when a trio of SFPD cops sat down at the table next to ours.

We dropped our bags at the hotel and set out on foot, against the advice of the local tourist center lady who warned us, "it's pretty hilly."  She's a marathon runner.  I was eleven days from starting the Appalachian Trail.  She was going to have to try harder to scare us.

I wanted to see Coit Tower, because it was the only thing I had wanted to see on my previous trips to SF that I still hadn't visited.  We walked north until we saw the tower, and adjusted our course accordingly until we arrived at the top of Nob Hill, in front of a sign informing us that the tower was closed, and would be until April.  We still had a pretty commanding view of the city and the bay.

I'm pretty sure this bridge is famous.

I was a little disappointed, but maybe it will be open the next time I'm in town.

Coit Tower, designed to look like the nozzle of a fire hose, is a monument to firefighters.

We worked our way down the hill to Fisherman's Wharf, where we engaged in our usual harborside activity of picking out boats we can't afford and planning a life at sea aboard them.  I think the topside deck should be large enough for basking with a drink and a book.  I also think every ship that has a crow's nest is automatically ten percent cooler.

My camera has a lot of cool features, which I am still learning.

When I toured Alcatraz many years ago, I was disappointed with everything The Rock got wrong about the prison.  I'm still ok with the car chase.

I made a joke about how they had given up and ceded entire docks to the sea lions only moments before we saw a sign telling us that's exactly what happened.  Apparently, the sea lions were happy with the territory they controlled, because we didn't see them anywhere else.

I pocketed the free samples I was offered at Ghiradelli square for later consumption, but we ate the ice cream sundae there.  They don't keep well.  To preserve The Girl's legs for her marathon, we took the 30 bus back to our hotel, where we read in a tourist guide that "the 30 bus through Chinatown is an experience in itself."  To us, it was just another (recommended) adventure we stumbled into without trying.  I think we have a knack for finding great things to do.  Come to think of it... Lefty's and the bus were both her idea.  Maybe I don't have the knack after all?

Getting our Science on

While we were in California for The Girl's most recent marathon, we got to spend an entire day (we were waiting in line when they opened, and left less than an hour before they closed, but I could have stayed longer and been quite happy) at the California Academy of Science, in Golden Gate Park.

The Borneo River Toad is the size of a grapefruit with legs, which still only makes it the second-largest toad I've ever seen.

Do you like science?  Do you like museums?  Do you plan to go to California, ever?  Then go to the California Academy of Science.  In fact, go right now.  Make that the reason for your trip.  If you plan it right (as we did), you'll get to see everything.  Planetarium shows are included with admission, but tickets are first-come, first-served, so get your tickets as soon as you're in the door.

The rain forest exhibit is swarming with birds and butterflies roaming free, and dozens of different insect, reptile, and amphibian species in tanks.

The planetarium is one of two huge spheres on the main floor of the museum.  The other is the phenomenal rain forest exhibit, with species representing several different rain forest environments.  The Girl got tired of me lurking at every terrarium, looking for all the brightly-colored frog species, but she's never been to a large reptile/amphibian display with me; she didn't know that that is my way.  But those tanks were at the top of the spiraling ramp that led us up through the rain forest layers; when we entered, we were at ground level, and when we crossed the first bridge, I looked down to see enormous fish below us, and people below them.  The exit from the rain forest's canopy was an elevator that took us below the biosphere (literally!  HA!) to the aquarium exhibits, including the tunnel that ran under the rain forest above.

Every kid in the place could identify three fish species: Nemo, Dory, and Gil.  Imagine what Pixar could do if they started making educational films!

The aquaria were as comprehensive as the rain forest: tidal pools, rain forests, coral reefs, swamps, and freshwater environments were all represented.  They had a small tank of jellyfish, which I like if only because I remember how much Mom liked the exhibit they once inhabited at the Columbus Zoo, and several varieties of sea horses and sea dragons.  I also found more frogs.

The Waxy Monkey Tree Frog is the most appropriately-named amphibian I have ever encountered, but I was more impressed by how much they look like people.  Creepy people.

We saw a talk on snakes and their varied reproductive methods (with live snakes), a presentation on swamps featuring Clyde the Albino Alligator (he was not the presenter, but he is pretty famous), a penguin feeding (live penguins, dead fish, live people), and a planetarium show on dark matter and dark energy narrated by the rock star of astronomy, Neil deGrasse Tyson.  Because it is California, there is also an exhibit on earthquakes that lets you stand in a house while two famous earthquakes are simulated (not simultaneously).

Clyde is a big deal.  You can buy a plush version of him in a stunning variety of sizes.

I had read a lot that morning about the building itself, and all of the sustainable practices that went into its construction.  The most obvious element is the green roof, which you can actually access to view closer, though of course I forgot to take any pictures while I was up there--I was just too darned excited at the time, I guess.

The large dome on the right is above the rain forest.  The matching dome on the left is over the planetarium, so it didn't need as many skylights.

airport security

SFO is a poorly organized airport.  Recently, while flying USAir for the very last time, ever, I had to change terminals in SFO which means going through security a second time, because they like to minimize your chances of making a connection.  On the way back from winter holidays, I carried two very full carry-on items, and I wore a vest Dad gave for Christmas, replete with pockets.  Stored within these various parcels I carried, among other, less interesting things:

• a titanium spork
• a queen-sized quilt
• a handful of Legos (this is actually more standard than you might believe)
• some dried fruit and a quart-sized Ziploc bag of deer jerky (in vest pockets)
• a climbing harness, climbing shoes, and belay device with carabiner
• a kite with a wingspan over seven feet. (these last two items are also more standard than you might believe)

However, the reason the screeners stopped me and went through my vest pockets was this:

"Are you carrying a frog?"  "Yes.  Not that pocket.  On the inside.  That one."  A blue-gloved hand turned, showed it to the young lady watching the monitor screen, and after they had both nodded, satisfied, the frog was returned to me and I continued on my way.  Must have been a slow night at SFO.