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"Do you know the way to San Jose?" aka Day 2
Posted by Angela Dawn
on
Sunday, June 07, 2009
in
San Francisco
I'm still on Columbus time. I woke up this morning at 4am (7am OH) and felt refreshed, but still went back to sleep for another 2 hours. From there I leisurely got ready, had breakfast (oatmeal & fruit), and watched a bit of tv while double-checking train schedules. I made my way around 8:30 to the CalTrain station. It wasn't until I started walking that I thought it might be an outdoor station. I'm used to Millenium in Chicago, and that's indoors (but the train in Dunes Park where Lauren and I board, is outdoors). Well this was kind of an indoor station. It was shielded from rain and such, but not technically indoors. No matter, it wasn't cold. I talked to my mom for a bit on the phone and then started reading. When it was time to board the 9:15 train I went on and was pleasantly surprised to see it had comfy chairs (well the ones I'd suppose you'd find on a good tour bus) and an upstairs. I went up and chose a seat. It was nice as it was the only one in the row and I didn't really have to have anybody sit across or next to me. I pulled out the book (which I'm considering being my choice for the next book club). It's called My Sister's Keeper, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's definitely one that there will be lots to talk about (and that's what a book club is for, right?).
Anyway, I arrived in San Jose at 10:51 (right on schedule) and Joel arrived shortly after to pick me up. We drove to Santa Cruz via (okay I'm not certain about this one) Boulder Creek or Los Gatos. It was scenic drive through a tree-ridden region and lots of curvy road (which seemed like they could only fit one car at a time to me, but I guess people manage). Once in Santa Cruz, we went down to the beach. I wasn't sure what to expect here. I knew it would be cold, and knew I probably wouldn't be swimming, but I was at the beach, so of course I had to go in. So after some hesistant back and forth I finally was able ot get water to about shoulder-level and then I chickened out and went back to the beach towel and laid out for a bit. Something about being at the beach is just nice. Joel played a quick volleyball game while I was getting some sun (I chickend out on this one too, really didn't want anyone to see how terrible I was at it). After that, we went to a diner down the street for some lunch (though we ate breakfast - I had my iHop usual (though it wasn't iHop), the pancakes, french fries (which tasted like Arby's curly fries) and ice cream. I also had apple pie. I didn't quite eat everything, but I managed to get to a pretty good chunk.
Once done with lunch, we headed up Highway 1, making several stops along the way at beaches or overlooks where you could walk down to beaches. Here are a few of the pictures (some are courtesy of Joel and his nice Nikon camera - which I think might be the same on my brother-in-law Mike has):
Nearing San Francisco (and also about an hour or two away from sunset) we headed near Ocean Beach/Lincoln Park area and drove to a place where we could get some good pictures of the bridge. Yes, I know there are lots of bridge here - but the best one has to be the Golden Gate because it's just so iconic:
Some intake of the breath-taking views and some good pictures later, we drove to the other side of the bridge (not the other side as in driving across, but as in we were on the left and we moved to the right). Some more pictures were taken here, including a few facing downtown - here's a fun shot of me holding the moon, blocking the beautiful architecture that is the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts (and yes, I'm a little cold):
Next up, we drove a bit around the city, including along the Embarcadero and back to the loft. Joel came up for a bit mostly to transfer his pictures (which are much higher caliber than mine) to my computer. Then off he went since it was 10:30 here and he had church in the morning.
I had a glass of wine and a shower, changed and now I'm making some last minute decisions for tomorrow and then heading to bed. I'm tired! :)
Tomorrow is supposedly the Golden Gate Park, cupcakes (yum - and yes I'm looking forward to this), shopping (yay for Lululemon!), and I'm going to try to fit in some other things along the way - if I have time. The only constant tomorrow (which is probably what I'm most looking forward to) is Wicked. I'm soooooo excited to see it. I'd only be more excited if Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel were in for the night an reprising their originating roles. And to see the musical where it actually first had its start is even more amazing. I'm going to try to get autographs after the show, as well, we'll see how that goes. Off to bed. Loves!
Anyway, I arrived in San Jose at 10:51 (right on schedule) and Joel arrived shortly after to pick me up. We drove to Santa Cruz via (okay I'm not certain about this one) Boulder Creek or Los Gatos. It was scenic drive through a tree-ridden region and lots of curvy road (which seemed like they could only fit one car at a time to me, but I guess people manage). Once in Santa Cruz, we went down to the beach. I wasn't sure what to expect here. I knew it would be cold, and knew I probably wouldn't be swimming, but I was at the beach, so of course I had to go in. So after some hesistant back and forth I finally was able ot get water to about shoulder-level and then I chickened out and went back to the beach towel and laid out for a bit. Something about being at the beach is just nice. Joel played a quick volleyball game while I was getting some sun (I chickend out on this one too, really didn't want anyone to see how terrible I was at it). After that, we went to a diner down the street for some lunch (though we ate breakfast - I had my iHop usual (though it wasn't iHop), the pancakes, french fries (which tasted like Arby's curly fries) and ice cream. I also had apple pie. I didn't quite eat everything, but I managed to get to a pretty good chunk.
Once done with lunch, we headed up Highway 1, making several stops along the way at beaches or overlooks where you could walk down to beaches. Here are a few of the pictures (some are courtesy of Joel and his nice Nikon camera - which I think might be the same on my brother-in-law Mike has):
Nearing San Francisco (and also about an hour or two away from sunset) we headed near Ocean Beach/Lincoln Park area and drove to a place where we could get some good pictures of the bridge. Yes, I know there are lots of bridge here - but the best one has to be the Golden Gate because it's just so iconic:
Some intake of the breath-taking views and some good pictures later, we drove to the other side of the bridge (not the other side as in driving across, but as in we were on the left and we moved to the right). Some more pictures were taken here, including a few facing downtown - here's a fun shot of me holding the moon, blocking the beautiful architecture that is the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts (and yes, I'm a little cold):
Next up, we drove a bit around the city, including along the Embarcadero and back to the loft. Joel came up for a bit mostly to transfer his pictures (which are much higher caliber than mine) to my computer. Then off he went since it was 10:30 here and he had church in the morning.
I had a glass of wine and a shower, changed and now I'm making some last minute decisions for tomorrow and then heading to bed. I'm tired! :)
Tomorrow is supposedly the Golden Gate Park, cupcakes (yum - and yes I'm looking forward to this), shopping (yay for Lululemon!), and I'm going to try to fit in some other things along the way - if I have time. The only constant tomorrow (which is probably what I'm most looking forward to) is Wicked. I'm soooooo excited to see it. I'd only be more excited if Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel were in for the night an reprising their originating roles. And to see the musical where it actually first had its start is even more amazing. I'm going to try to get autographs after the show, as well, we'll see how that goes. Off to bed. Loves!
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