SwimFinsSF

Labor Day Hike

Originally uploaded by SwimFinsSF

On Labor Day Kevin and I took nina for a hike at the Sibley Volcanic Regional Perserve up in the Berkeley hills… Its a really cool and kind of quick hike but had plenty of room for nina to run around and romp… And amazing views of the area on the drive up and along the hike… On the way back we stopped at treasure island since i’ve actually never been there in my 16 years in the bay area (crazy huh?)

Indian Summer

For those of you who’ve never been to San Francisco in October – you NEED TO COME… The weather here is very odd – for the better part of the summer it is cold and foggy due to some strange weather caused by the city being planted directly between the Pacific ocean and the San Francisco bay.. But come September and October we get the most amazingly warm and gorgeous weather… The skies are this amazing blue, the air is fresh and clean… its really unreal… and today is no exception… I woke up to the sun streaming in the den and now i’m looking out my office window at this scene

I’m only gonna be here about 15 minutes more before we go meet Drew and Adrian for Brunch and then head down to the castro street fair… But I just had to share first..

San Francisco Street Fairs / Festivals

Thanks to the wonderful folks at JacksonFuller (shameless plug for Matt and Britton) below is a list of all of the various street fairs and festivals in San Francisco this summer…

Enjoy! 🙂

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Christmas things to do in SF

In my ongoing list of little things to do in San Francisco I’d recommend hitting the Hyatt on Market Street for dinner at Equinox. The food is actually reasonably marginal (expensive hotel food including things like prime rib) however it is actually really nice to have dinner in their rotating restaurant and have a view that switches between the bay and the buildings and lights of downtown. Kevin and I had dinner there the other night after his art opening and it was a REALLY nice time.. Sun had set and we watched the fog roll in as we looked out on the bay, ice skating at Justin Herman Plaza, and watched the lights of the buildings downtown.. Really nice…

However my FAVORITE part of the evening was standing in the atrium of the lobby and looking that the long strands of lights hanging probably 10 floors from the ceiling… SO DAMN COOl.. And you HAVE TO TRY THIS: Stand right under the lights so they’re all around you and then spin around. The people all around thought I was INSANE but it was SO COOL. 🙂

Have fun!: )

Another Adventure

To add to the list of things to do in the Bay Area for those looking for pointers – Mount Diablo. Kevin and I went camping up there this past weekend and had a great time. It is an EASY 30 minute drive from San Francisco and its gorgeous. Very warm California terrain and the camp sight we camped at was just below the summit with CRAZY gorgeous views of the bay area. Well worth checking out – either for camping or just for a day hike.

Few words of warning though. First – NO ALCOHOL.. We learned this the hard way – ranger found us hangin out by the campfire drinkin and made us pour EVERYTHING out.. Felt like I was in the dorms again.. it SUCKED.. (Especially pouring the bottle full bottle of Gin and Jack out. ugg..)

Second.. There are Rattlesnakes up there. They generally keep to themselves and steer clear of people – but Kevin managed to stumble into one on a hike. Bent down to tie his shoe looked up to see a rattler coiled and rattling 6 feet in front of him. And pop quiz – when you see such a thing do you a) stop and slowly back away quietly without making sudden moves or do you b) scream like a girl, turn and run, throwing sticks as you do, and fall and skin your knee. I’ll let you all guess which one is the correct answer and which one kevin chose! 😉

Anyway.. Worth checking out… If ya wanna see the pictures here they are:

Mt. Diablo Camping

Things to do in San Francisco

After spending part of the afternoon today exploring with Kevin I decided to add a section to my blog for ‘Things to do in San Francisco’. Every so often I spend the weekend or evenings doing things in the city that I’ve never done and figured I’d share…

So the recommendation for today involves a walk from the Castro up to the Randall Museum. This afternoon kevin and I walked up from our house to Courtney’s where we grabbed a couple of their handmade sandwiches, salads, and fresh squeezed juice. Courtney’s has to be one of the best kept secrets in the city – its a small privately run place where they squeeze their own juices from carrots, oranges, cherries, grapefruits, and all sorts of other things. They also make their own sandwiches, chips, salads and other stuff..

From there we went on a slow walk up Roosevelt street toward Corona Heights Park above the Randall Museum. Along the way we looked at the houses and the view. When we got to the park we hiked up to the top of the hill where the rocks are that overlooks the city. The views from there are AMAZING – you can see all the way from the Golden Gate Park Panhandle to Daly City. We parked ourselves up on a rock and ate our lunch and watched the view.

After we ate we hiked down to the Museum to check that out. The Museum is really a kids museum but I enjoyed it. They had lots of animals to check out – snakes, owls, turles, rabbits, frogs.. you name it.. The museum also had activities and lots of other stuff for kids..

At any rate.. made for a nice afternoon and something I’d never done … Worth checking out..