This was my last weekend in San Francisco, for the time being. I'm suspecting I'll be back in the bay area early next year, once the Google office reopens. Probably for a similar time period, and not sure if I'll be staying in the city proper or not.
This weekend I bought myself a shiny new (to me) bike! Since I've used my bike as my primary method of transportation for about a year now, I figured it was time to upgrade from the entry-level Trek to something nicer. San Francisco has a huge cycling community, and so there's also a vibrant secondhand market.
Aside from that, I went road tripping to a few different places that I've been wanting to check out, went out to lunch with some friends and checked out the California Academy of Sciences.
My new bike! It's a 2019 Specialized Diverge Comp E5, and it fits all the bills for what I was hoping to find. I snagged a great deal on it. Unfortunately I'm also recovering from an ankle injury, so I haven't been able to really take it out yet.A literal garage band! I was walking down the street and heard music playing. These guys were having a casual jam session in a garage. The opened up the doors, and a small crowd of people had wandered their way in. They were pretty good!In Pacifica, sort of near Point San Pedro. The weather was kind of gloomy with all the fog obscuring the sun, but still a surprisingly high number of surfers out there!Went out for some lunch with friends in Japantown. The mall here was so awesome! Lots of cool little restaurants and shops. I'm hoping to make it back there next week to go shop.The skull of a blue whale near Half Moon Bay. Apparently a fisher in the early 20th century had this specimen get tangled up in their net. They donated it to the city, which placed it here.A couple glass frogs hanging out at the Academy of Sciences.Captured this neat photo of a jellyfish at the Academy of Sciences as well.Final photo from the exhibit (although I have tons). This was an actual alligator skull that was carved with these really intricate designs.
September 19th, 2021
Some highlights of this week were driving and then hiking up at the summit of Mt. Diablo, the highest peak in the bay area. Me and a couple friends also went down to San Jose for the ¡Silicon Valley Bikes! event. It was a non-profit fundraiser event, and really neat. They had closed off a bunch of streets in and around downtown, and we took a 20-mile tour around the city with hundreds of other cyclists. Really cool to see the variety of people!
I went into the Google office one day this week, and got to meet most of my team in-person! It was super strange going back to my old desk, like stepping into a time capsule. Anyways, Google has a dog-friendly office and this is Pancake, my coworkers puppy. She had a fun (but clearly exhausting) day playing with all of us :DOn the way up Mt. Diablo. Really scenic, I can never decide if I enjoy the rolling brown grass of the dry season out here or not. It's beautiful in its own way.From the bottom, looking up at the peak and observation deck of Mt. Diablo. You can drive right to the top, and there's also tons of trails to explore in the surrounding state park.On top of a peak right next to the Mt. Diablo summit! This involved a minor bit of scrambling up some rock faces, but was worth it. Away from the major crowds at the observation deck and even a superior view, if you ask me.Another shot of the view from the top of Mt. Diablo. It was really cool watching the clouds form and disperse as they rolled in and collided with the mountain range.And here's a static shot of the summit of Mt. Diablo.At the Silicon Valley Bikes event. Tons of people, from unicyclists to custom choppers.A woolly mammoth statue while out riding bikes. It turns out that there was a mammoth bone found in the Guadalupe River back in 2005. Wild to think such creatures were in this part of the world, and that their bones were so recently discovered just...hanging out.A custom KISS bicycle from the event. Such creativity!Per request, taking photos of my food. This was a spicy chicken sando from World Famous HotBoys, and honestly was the best fried chicken sandwhich I've ever had.
September 12th, 2021
Alright, all settled into San Francisco! I've been pretty busy with moving, working and catching up with friends. I also had some technical difficulties getting my server back online, and took the time to upgrade some stuff and rework the site.
I'm staying right across the street from Alamo Square Park and it's a great area! Central to a lot of things, and the park itself is beautiful. I'm exploring the city and decided to do #SoberSeptember to give my body and mind some time to refresh after partying in Hawaii for so long. It's a bummer I'll miss out on all the good bars and local craft beer, but I felt like it's what I needed.
I have a lot of photos to share from my exploration so far:
At Alamo Square Park, right across the street from where I'm staying. Great views, and it's an "off-leash" dog park so there's always tons of cute puppies running around :DLive orchestra at the park! They were really good!I spent the better part of one Saturday in Sausalito last weekend. I originally was just going to grab some coffee on my way to a hike, but found it so pleasant I ended up staying for most the day. Lots of cute little shops, and the weather was perfect.An absolutely amazing view of the city, Golden Gate Bridge and bay while out hiking.Another nice view while out hiking. A whole other kind of beauty from the hiking in Hawaii. Definitely less technically challenging hikes, and longer ones. I believe this was Point Diablo.Seeing the city and Golden Gate Bridge from so high up was very picturesque. The fog rolls in from the sea and from this vantage point you can see it forming. Really wild!Went out to a classic American BBQ joint with some friends. Reminded me of Georgia!Catching up with some friends! Left to right is Jani, me and Phelix. Mine is a mocktail, still honoring #SoberSeptember!The historic Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park.Looking onto Seal Rocks. I saw no seals, but I did see rocks!This was up near the Golden Gate Overlook. I biked through the park, and there were lots of cool little side trails that I'll probably come back later to explore on foot.Really amazing view at the Crissy Field Overlook. This one took me by surprise, as I was cycling around Golden Gate Bridge and didn't expect much after passing the bridge itself. Literally turned around a corner and was immediately hit with this view!Took a quick detour to walk around the Palace of Fine Arts. A really strange history to this one, as the entire thing was originally just made as part of a temporary festival. It's had some weird usages and history since then, from storing military vehicles to motorcades.
