San Francisco

After falling in love with Lake Tahoe, Dave and I forced ourselves to leave before the huge Fourth of July crowds arrived. As we drove made our way down, down, down, out of the mountains on highway 50 headed south, we passed a seemingly endless line of cars headed into Tahoe. We were so sad to leave, but didn't want to deal with enormous crowds on the little two lane highway that surrounds the lake. We made our way even further west from there, excited to stop in San Francisco and catch up with an old friend of Dave's from AmeriCorps--Brooks Bruce, everybody! Brooks was an incredibly gracious host who let us stay in the extra room (what?!) that he and his two roommates have in their lovely San Francisco apartment.

Brooks Bruce, what a guy! Thanks for having us, friend.

What can I say about San Francisco? It is a picturesque city filled with historic Victorian-style homes, affectionately referred to as the "Painted Ladies" that are smattered along the it's famous hills. These hills are no joke! Dave and I were down-right scared driving and bicycling up and down some of these hills. It seems to me that whoever decided to form settlement at San Francisco wasn't really expecting it to become a large and densely populated city. Dave and I, hailing from the largely flat Midwestern plains, continually marveled at the determination and skill put into building homes on the steep hills. We would find ourselves laughing at the absurdity of it. I have to say, San Franciscans have tenacity!

Aside from the hills, the weather wasn't quite as pleasant as I expected. I now understand that summer is notoriously cold in San Francisco, but I wasn't prepared! The fog that rolls in each morning makes the air downright cold, and the wind is ceaseless. Some of you are probably laughing at me, because--duh--it's on the coast of the ocean which isn't exactly warm, serene water. All that talk about perfect California weather--nonsense! This Wisconsinite was chilly!

Here we are in winter hats and mittens (which you can't see but are there) watching the fireworks from the Fisherman's Wharf. Sorry it's so grainy, but, hey, it was dark!

All that being said, San Francisco is a very cool place. The hills and unpredictable weather actually add to the charm and seem to fit the variety of people who live here. Dave and I spent a good hour in Golden Gate Park watching the most wonderful display of humanity skate around what we called "the oval."  While the white oval painted on the cement is nothing special, it is transformed each day into a full on performance.  People gather in completely extravagant, weird, and entirely retro garb and skate, bike, roller shoe and dance their way around the oval. There is a speaker wheeled into the center on a bicycle cart and old school hip hop tunes fuel group dances, clapping from bystanders, and disco fever. Here are a few pictures that will fail, but try, to illustrate this scene for you.

Silver Wings

Synchronized Skate Dancing

A few of the many interesting outfits.

Watching people show off their skills with abandon and dance to their heart's desire was so heartening to us. There is nothing more beautiful than people able to be fully themselves in public, no matter how weird. Some of them were damn good! These performers were superstars in this place, tiny as it may be.  Maybe someday Dave and I will have the courage to get out there with them.

We also spent a little time in Berkeley, which is just across the bay and full of treasures as well. We met up with Glenn and Francesca, who you may have heard us mention in previous blogs. Glenn is also known as "The Grove Guy" (his blog) and provided the inspiration for Desy's conversion into a camper van. Glenn and Dave have been keeping in contact over email, and Glenn mentioned that they would be in the bay area and would love to meet up if we passed through while they were there. As luck would have it, were headed to San Francisco when the email came in, and we decided to meet up. Glenn and Francesca are wonderful people who we quickly connected with. Francesca grew up in Berkeley and Glenn spent some time there as well, so they were great tour guides! Francesca provided first hand experience of what it was like to grow up in Berkeley during the 60s, when there was a lot of political unrest, including the well-known riots and demonstrations. We went on what we like to call a "sensory tour" of downtown Berkeley, enlisting all of our senses as we tasted, smelled, touched, and heard the essence of this artistic, progressive town. It is a rare gift to bond with others so easily, and we are so thankful to have spent a little time with this lovely couple. We hope to meet them along the trail again someday.

I could go on and on about our time in San Fran, but I think photos are a little more exciting, so I'll let them tell the rest of the story. 

Take a ride to Tahoe

Hello everyone, Dave the van driver here (imagine a nice trucker hat, a man in need of a clean shave n' shower and sufficient amounts of caffeine pumping through his system).  I'm glad you decided to hop on the Des-mobile (listen closely and you'll hear NPR's "Wait, Wait don't tell me" in the background) where you'll enjoy a ride through scenic Lake Tahoe.  Everyone sit back, buckle up, or at least lay down so we don't get pulled over!  Here we go, yaow!

As we leave Reno, Des rides like a champ- blinkers blinking on cue, gas being consumed at a reasonable rate, transmission shifting like it was born to shift, basically kicking butt- even often being referred to as a "truck" which really tickles Des' ego.  As the passengers looked about we couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the sheer volume of casinos in Nevada.  Dave the van driver takes a long look at this casino, thinking to himself, I could really be a winner.

  Side Note: At one point on our trip we happened to stop at a casino for a free nights stay, only to walk away with $40 free money that we won from new membership promos. Nice, huh?

Hey there folks, we're heading down the hill to Lake Taco- 'er I mean Tahoe and I'd like to pull this van over so ya'll can take some pictures.  What do ya say? 

That's Lake Tahoe, in all it's glory

The van, Des, found it's way to a beautiful lake for the campers to enjoy.  All were happy for the night and the stars rejoiced.  Fallen Leaf Lake is a quiet and pristine lake only a few miles from the Lake Tahoe.  It connects to trails that surround Lake Tahoe- a great place to bike.

Fallen Leaf Lake

The next day, Dave woke everyone up, fed them some eggs n' bacon and whispered to them over the sound of kids running by.  Gather around, gather around, today you are going to see an amazing sight, a bay of emeralds (Dave sniffs) so blue you won't want to leave.  You'll want to capture it in one of those picture cameras, but you can't.  





Des ventured out, heading around the lake on the only road available that would take a few hours to drive around completely.  Des and Dave found some free camping at Blackwood Campground (score) and headed back on the road toward Emerald Bay.  This road is not for the faint of heart because it's curves are sharp and long are the cliffs that lead to the lake.  The many switchbacks and steep grade changes might make you a bit queasy, but vistas prove to be captivating, as Dave the van driver mentioned, and more.  At one point, we took our tour on a little mile-long hike to see the lake up close touch the cool, blue waters in person.

Well, friends, thanks for coming with us on the adventure, we sure do appreciate your company.  You can exit the van on the passenger side, don't forget to grab your kids, puppies and other merchandise. Thanks.