Playin' in the Rain

Greg, my brother, came to visit Thursday and stayed through Sunday night. At work on Thursday, I, being semi-OCD (I should not joke, but it is kind of true) that I am, could not concentrate on any work until I had our "itinerary" in place. Meaning, I had to have directions to the major sites--what buses we would take, or our route if we should walk, what other sites were around, and where to go to eat. Once I finished, I felt much better. I could finally work...! I am an intern, it's ok...

Greg and I went to see Spirit of the Marathon, a documentary that follows several runners (some professional, some veterans, some first timers) through their training for the 2005 Chicago Marathon. The movie was being played Thursday, one night only, one showing only, across the entire US. The movie was so amazing, inspiring, tear-jerking; people in the theater were clapping by the end. I am a runner though...it is hard to explain to non-runners. I told a few of my coworkers what Greg and I had planned for that evening, and they were like...."Ohhhhh," with that slow head nod, puzzled look, trying to understand, but really did not. It was fantastic. Dick Beardsley was in it...he is one of my favorites...I'd see it again...maybe twice...I might be able to too! I heard there is an oncore showing!!

Friday during the day, it rained...a lot! I mean inches of rain! People who lived here last January say it rained only about 5 days the entire month...since I have been here it has become semi-tropical! I am not complaining...I can't; I can run outside in 2 thin shirts and capris in January...pretty awesome (Just last month, I ran in -17 in Fargo...I did not realize until it was too late...that's another story though). Anyway, I worked part of the day, so Greg explored a bit on his own. When I finally met up with him, he was at the library...tired of being soaked. SF has a beautiful library! The architecture of the entire city, really, is quite stunning.

I usually try to walk everywhere I go in the city...and sometimes it does not work--like when it rains or at night or if it is a long distance I am traveling. Nonetheless, I have gotten really good at navigating/walking by landmarks, and not really very good at catching the buses. I had pre-purchased tickets for the Friday Alcatraz night tour, which is supposed to be really amazing. But Greg and I missed the bus or actually, it never came...we never really figured out why either. Or it could have been my poor bus-catching skills. It was a bummer, but we went to see a movie...inside, dry...instead.

Saturday, Greg and I rented a car and drove to the highest point in SF--Twin Peaks--pretty cool views of the city and surrounding areas! We then drove to Santa Cruz along Highway 1. It is a beautiful drive; the roads follow the ocean and are very curvy, through foothills, or I guess, what I would call foothills...The boardwalk was closed when we got to Santa Cruz. I am not even sure if it is open this time of year. But we walked around along the beach and along a pier.

I guess I have to back up. Saturday morning, Greg and I went for a run, a hill run. He asked for it...he was daring me...so I took him out around my apartment...I just about died...he, on the other hand, seemed to be just doing fine, though. Naturally.

Sunday, we had the car for a few hours in the morning, so we drove to Muir Woods (John Muir--founder of Sierra Club). Again, a winding, curvy road, where 25 MPH felt fast! San Francisco is really amazing in that there are so many different environments, landscapes, elevation-changes in such a small land-area. We had to drive over both bridges--Bay and Golden Gate. Greg, being the engineer that he is, marveled at the construction and magnitude of the bridges--which are absolutely amazing when you think about the materials, the time period when they were built, the fact that they are over an ocean, and miles in length...

Greg took the "red-eye" back to MN on Monday morning, so we had the entire day on Sunday. We also walked through Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Union Square, the downtown Mall--several times throughout the weekend, actually...it was dry and warm...and I knew what bus to take from there!

We had a really great time. I actually really miss the kid...not that I am surprised...