Cross-posts have been asked for!
And so Cross-posts you get. First, have a massive one to catch up!
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Woo, so it’s been a crazy two weeks since my last post! I continued to stay with that host until Wednesday, when the host of that game night, Edna, offered me her couch for a couple nights - so I packed things up and headed that direction! My first night there included awesome food (Edna’s an amazing cook!) and lots of company, musical improve, and chatter.
Thursday started out just as a nice, quiet morning of letter writing. Well…”quiet” here meaning with jackhammers, but it was quiet of people and that’s what I was needing. I can ignore jackhammer sounds. Then, in the afternoon, came an invitation I couldn’t refuse: a motorcycle ride to and through San Francisco! One of Edna’s housemates rides a motorcycle and offered to take me since I hadn’t gotten a chance to see much of the city. Dude, who can turn that down? Of course I’m going to say yes!
- Interlude of interesting note of interest. Apparently out here, San Francisco is referred to as “The city” or “SF”, not “San Fran.” By saying “San Fran”, particularly with the mid-western nasal-ish ‘A’, I’m outing myself as an outsider, which could get me looked down on by some people and groups. Iiiiinnnteresting. Interlude over -
So! After putting on the extra helmet and a quick lesson on how to lean properly on turns and not to put my feet down at stops, we’re on the freeway (if it’s not a toll road, it’s a ‘freeway’ out here. The word “highway” does not seem to be in common usage) heading into SF. We crossed the bridges - beautiful view - and turned right to head over towards the piers. I spent my time watching the water to my right (spotting Alcatraz!) and the potential tourist places I could apply for jobs at all around me. We drove along the shore and piers, through the Wharf and Marina, all the way over to the parks next to and under the Golden Gate Bridge, where we stopped and walked over for a look. It was a bit of a foggy day, as you can see, but that really just made the view more beautiful.
People here complain about the fog and not liking the fog, but I really kind of love it. It really gives an interesting and more mysterious atmosphere to places - to me it adds magic, making my imagination work. I like that.
From there we backtracked to Ghirardelli Square for some ice cream and hot chocolate (see next post for the photo! What? Did you think I was going to stop?) It was pretty crowded, but tasty!
The next stop was Nob Hill and the Mark Hotel at the top of that, but on the way we took a slight detour (Well, wrong turn, THEN detour) to make our way down Lombard street - sometimes called the ‘crookedest road in the world’ because of the section that’s a bunch of S-curve turns that go down a hill - on a motorcycle! I dubbed it Tourist Way because it was full of people going down it just to go down it…like us.
Anyway, we made it up to Nob Hill and the hotel and took the elevator straight to the top, which had the penthouse suite turned into a nifty, art deco style cocktail lounge, complete with jazz music and (especially later) swing dancing! That second set of photos there was our view, 19 floors below us, of the Grace Cathedral both during the day and after dark. We sat, had a couple drinks (They claim 100 different martini’s, but really they’re just calling any cocktail a martini to fill that claim. I had a “French 75” and a “Sangratini”!), chattered, and just chilled out for a while. Long enough for the sun to go down, at least. Then we hopped back on the bike and went back to Berkeley!
Riding on the back of that motorcycle, man, that was amazing. I’m not entirely sure how something can be both relaxing and exhilarating at the same time, but that definitely managed it. So awesome. Thank you again, couchsurfing.
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Then. . . hot chocolate. I don't feel like spamming this entry because it's pointless, so just have the link.
------------------------
I was at Edna’s until Friday when I hopped into my car and took a scenic drive down the gorgeous California-1 highway (freeway?) to Monterey to visit my wonderful friend, Meg, who had a Roller Derby Bout that weekend! I had the time and I couldn’t miss that, now could I?
These photos are from my drive down the highway - it follows the coast all the way down and so you get gorgeous drives through groves of trees, then others right along the shore, and yet others through and on top of hills where you can see the cliffs and ocean below them.
I swear the drive down was sunny as well as foggy, but I only ever seemed to stop for a sit and a look around the foggy parts. It was just so cool watching the fog just swallow up everything around me and create these eery silhouettes in the distance; shapes I could barely make out as human and waves that just seemed to come out of an abyss of grey nothingness. It was hypnotizing to watch, and if I looked in the right places, I could see the fog drifting inland, past me.
I got lost once I got down into Monterey, too. Google is not always so clear on the directions - I’m sure you all knew that, but it was an amusing reminder for me - but I got there, and that’s the important part!
----------------------------
So I made it down to Monterey, met up with my friend Meg and had an interesting and random afternoon waiting for her to get off work! Interesting and random including this photography studio, here, that made me laugh. I had to take a photo! That is the SAME NAME of the photography studio I worked at back in high school…IN KANSAS. Even better? That’s the same typeface used by both studios. Even more entertaining? Pearl is one of my sister’s names (The other one, not Cora, of the blog name). I just…I had to take a photo.
Then, more random, I got to the coffee shop Meg suggested for chilling out and waiting, and somehow I got stung by a bee under my sleeve in the shop. …What? I walked in, and was looking at the board to decide what I was going to get and felt what felt like a bite on my wrist. I look down and see a few fuzzy, black legs coming out from the end of my sleeve! I shake my hand and brush at the wrist, thinking I just got bitten by a spider, then look again and see the lovely stinger and venom sack from a bee! Thank god I’m not allergic? I got the stinger out mostly, there was still a sliver of it that I couldn’t get and got a warm/hot wet washcloth to put on it. No idea if this was the proper response, but it did make it sting less, so it works for me! No horrible swelling or anything, just ended up with a red, irritated triangle around the sting for the next few days. Still - So random!
------------------------------
DERBY TIME! This was Meg’s first bout with the Babes of Wrath, of Monterey. I had camera duty and was a proper shutterbug, and really enjoyed my time screaming and cheering for everyone in purple and green! Also, I’m super short, man. Oh yeah.
----------------------------
And that's the last few, they all went up today! If you want to see the ones before that, they're over at postcardstocora.tumblr.com
I'll be cross-posting these from here on out. Uhm. . .they tend to come in bunches.
-----------
Woo, so it’s been a crazy two weeks since my last post! I continued to stay with that host until Wednesday, when the host of that game night, Edna, offered me her couch for a couple nights - so I packed things up and headed that direction! My first night there included awesome food (Edna’s an amazing cook!) and lots of company, musical improve, and chatter.
Thursday started out just as a nice, quiet morning of letter writing. Well…”quiet” here meaning with jackhammers, but it was quiet of people and that’s what I was needing. I can ignore jackhammer sounds. Then, in the afternoon, came an invitation I couldn’t refuse: a motorcycle ride to and through San Francisco! One of Edna’s housemates rides a motorcycle and offered to take me since I hadn’t gotten a chance to see much of the city. Dude, who can turn that down? Of course I’m going to say yes!
- Interlude of interesting note of interest. Apparently out here, San Francisco is referred to as “The city” or “SF”, not “San Fran.” By saying “San Fran”, particularly with the mid-western nasal-ish ‘A’, I’m outing myself as an outsider, which could get me looked down on by some people and groups. Iiiiinnnteresting. Interlude over -
So! After putting on the extra helmet and a quick lesson on how to lean properly on turns and not to put my feet down at stops, we’re on the freeway (if it’s not a toll road, it’s a ‘freeway’ out here. The word “highway” does not seem to be in common usage) heading into SF. We crossed the bridges - beautiful view - and turned right to head over towards the piers. I spent my time watching the water to my right (spotting Alcatraz!) and the potential tourist places I could apply for jobs at all around me. We drove along the shore and piers, through the Wharf and Marina, all the way over to the parks next to and under the Golden Gate Bridge, where we stopped and walked over for a look. It was a bit of a foggy day, as you can see, but that really just made the view more beautiful.
People here complain about the fog and not liking the fog, but I really kind of love it. It really gives an interesting and more mysterious atmosphere to places - to me it adds magic, making my imagination work. I like that.
From there we backtracked to Ghirardelli Square for some ice cream and hot chocolate (see next post for the photo! What? Did you think I was going to stop?) It was pretty crowded, but tasty!
The next stop was Nob Hill and the Mark Hotel at the top of that, but on the way we took a slight detour (Well, wrong turn, THEN detour) to make our way down Lombard street - sometimes called the ‘crookedest road in the world’ because of the section that’s a bunch of S-curve turns that go down a hill - on a motorcycle! I dubbed it Tourist Way because it was full of people going down it just to go down it…like us.
Anyway, we made it up to Nob Hill and the hotel and took the elevator straight to the top, which had the penthouse suite turned into a nifty, art deco style cocktail lounge, complete with jazz music and (especially later) swing dancing! That second set of photos there was our view, 19 floors below us, of the Grace Cathedral both during the day and after dark. We sat, had a couple drinks (They claim 100 different martini’s, but really they’re just calling any cocktail a martini to fill that claim. I had a “French 75” and a “Sangratini”!), chattered, and just chilled out for a while. Long enough for the sun to go down, at least. Then we hopped back on the bike and went back to Berkeley!
Riding on the back of that motorcycle, man, that was amazing. I’m not entirely sure how something can be both relaxing and exhilarating at the same time, but that definitely managed it. So awesome. Thank you again, couchsurfing.
-----------------------
Then. . . hot chocolate. I don't feel like spamming this entry because it's pointless, so just have the link.
------------------------
I was at Edna’s until Friday when I hopped into my car and took a scenic drive down the gorgeous California-1 highway (freeway?) to Monterey to visit my wonderful friend, Meg, who had a Roller Derby Bout that weekend! I had the time and I couldn’t miss that, now could I?
These photos are from my drive down the highway - it follows the coast all the way down and so you get gorgeous drives through groves of trees, then others right along the shore, and yet others through and on top of hills where you can see the cliffs and ocean below them.
I swear the drive down was sunny as well as foggy, but I only ever seemed to stop for a sit and a look around the foggy parts. It was just so cool watching the fog just swallow up everything around me and create these eery silhouettes in the distance; shapes I could barely make out as human and waves that just seemed to come out of an abyss of grey nothingness. It was hypnotizing to watch, and if I looked in the right places, I could see the fog drifting inland, past me.
I got lost once I got down into Monterey, too. Google is not always so clear on the directions - I’m sure you all knew that, but it was an amusing reminder for me - but I got there, and that’s the important part!
----------------------------
So I made it down to Monterey, met up with my friend Meg and had an interesting and random afternoon waiting for her to get off work! Interesting and random including this photography studio, here, that made me laugh. I had to take a photo! That is the SAME NAME of the photography studio I worked at back in high school…IN KANSAS. Even better? That’s the same typeface used by both studios. Even more entertaining? Pearl is one of my sister’s names (The other one, not Cora, of the blog name). I just…I had to take a photo.
Then, more random, I got to the coffee shop Meg suggested for chilling out and waiting, and somehow I got stung by a bee under my sleeve in the shop. …What? I walked in, and was looking at the board to decide what I was going to get and felt what felt like a bite on my wrist. I look down and see a few fuzzy, black legs coming out from the end of my sleeve! I shake my hand and brush at the wrist, thinking I just got bitten by a spider, then look again and see the lovely stinger and venom sack from a bee! Thank god I’m not allergic? I got the stinger out mostly, there was still a sliver of it that I couldn’t get and got a warm/hot wet washcloth to put on it. No idea if this was the proper response, but it did make it sting less, so it works for me! No horrible swelling or anything, just ended up with a red, irritated triangle around the sting for the next few days. Still - So random!
------------------------------
DERBY TIME! This was Meg’s first bout with the Babes of Wrath, of Monterey. I had camera duty and was a proper shutterbug, and really enjoyed my time screaming and cheering for everyone in purple and green! Also, I’m super short, man. Oh yeah.
----------------------------
And that's the last few, they all went up today! If you want to see the ones before that, they're over at postcardstocora.tumblr.com
I'll be cross-posting these from here on out. Uhm. . .they tend to come in bunches.