I walked over to the California Academy of Sciences building just across the way to wait for my bus back to the apartment where I packed my last few things and headed out the door. Erin and I had devised quite the sneaky plan for returning her keys. I placed them in a pair of shoes and left those just outside her locked apartment door. When she returned home, she was able to call herself and buzz her way into the main entrance then retrieve her hidden keys to get into the apartment. Brilliant! I made my way to the BART station and got to the airport just as the flight was boarding. I was glad to find out that the flight home was almost an hour shorter than the trip out due to the air currents. Back in Minneapolis, I took the lightrail and then the bus home, quite appropriate for all of the mass transit travel I’d been doing in San Francisco.

I’m glad to be back in warmer weather, but I am already looking forward to my next visit to the Bay Area and giving Erin another opportunity to host me. For my first trip, I think I accomplished all of my to-dos, but I know I won’t have trouble finding more things to see the second time around.

After hiking back down the hill, I decided that I had enough time to bike over to the Palace of Fine Arts.  I’m glad I did.  The PFA was built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in celebration of the completion of the Panama Canal.  How fitting having taken the Panama Canal cruise five months back.  The PFA actually consists of a towering dome supported by columns, and colonnaded walkways.  The sight is so massive and grand that it feels as if you’re stumbling upon the ruins of an ancient Roman city.  Absolutely magnificant and perfect for photography.  A man-made lagoon graces the area in front of the structures, so kids were happily feeding ducks.

I would have liked to spend more time there, but I needed to return my bike and hop on the BART to Berkeley.  In Berkeley, I met the wife of a family that my parents and I befriended on our Alaska cruise last August.  I was sad the husband and son couldn’t make it, but work and school kept them from joining the wife who works in Berkeley.  She treated me to lunch at a Thai restaurant and we had a good time catching up and chatting.  My two cruises have blurred together that I had thought they were on our Panama cruise.  I was so confused when she kept asking me questions about Panama, thinking to myself, “well, you were there, weren’t you?”  It’s too bad we couldn’t chat longer, but she pointed me in the direction of the Berkeley campus saying I should go to the top of its campanile for a great view of the whole Bay Area.  Wouldn’t you know, the campanile was under construction as well.

After returning to San Francisco via the BART, I hopped on a bus back to the apartment.  A lady in a motorized wheelchair got on at the next stop.  A couple of stops later, she was ready to get off.  I think the bus driver was preparing to raise the chair lift at the front of the bus when a woman of perhaps 30 and a little girl got on.  I could never hear what the bus driver was saying, so I can only assume that he asked this woman didn’t she know that she wasn’t supposed to step on while he was preparing to let the wheeled lady off?  The woman was really offended by what must have been a rude tone in his voice to which she replied that no, it wasn’t common sense that she would know this because in her country, the wheelchairs exit out the back door.  I guess the bus driver kept egging her on, saying that she had no common sense, and she was very loud in replying that no, he was being very rude.  Neither of them wanted to give up the fight which continued for another stop when all of a sudden the driver decided to decommission the bus right then and there because the woman was causing trouble.  So we all had to get off the bus and wait for the next one while he called the police.  They both should have let it go, but I think the driver went too far to kick everyone off.

Finally back at Erin’s apartment, I lightened up the load in my backpack, changed shoes and got on yet another bus, this time headed for Golden Gate Park.  My initial plan was to visit the de Young Museum, but it was scheduled to close pretty soon.  Instead, I headed for the Japanese Tea Garden and had 45 minutes to walk around.  What a beautiful place planted with Japanese maples, bamboo plants, streams and ponds, and even a pagoda.  The acreage is quite small, but they made perfect use of every inch, hiding what was around the next corner with strategic landscaping.  When the garden closed at 6pm, I bused back to the apartment to meet Erin who had gotten off of work.  We ate some leftovers for dinner and relaxed for a bit.  That evening, a friend of Erin’s was having a pre-wedding party with his fiancee and all of their friends in town.  Erin wanted to stop in and at least say hi, but she didn’t think we’d have to stay too long since she didn’t know any of the groom’s other friends.  As it was my last evening in town, I suggested we go out for dessert afterward.

Quite a lot of people showed up for this party.  The hosts had put candy (Nerds, Starbursts, Pop Rocks, York Peppermint Patties) on the bar and tables.  Erin said her hello to her friend, and then we sidled up to the bar for a drink before going for dessert.  Well, it happened that we were excited about the candy, so we stood there with our drinks and indulging in sugar.  Turns out that Starbursts but not Nerds go well with beer.  This pairing ended up being a pretty satisfying dessert, so we decided to walk it off instead.  Erin took me to a couple of spots to see some nighttime views of the city before we made our way back to the apartment for some sleep.

Around noon, we headed back to the apartment for some lunch before Tom came over.  While I watched TV, Erin prepped herself for the engagement photo shoot with make-up, hair, and a couple of outfits.  Once they both had their acts together, we headed down to Huntington Park next to Grace Cathedral for the first round of photos.  The three of us had fun figuring out various poses and options.  I’m glad I was the photographer, because the couple definitely had a small crowd of onlookers from people sitting in the park.  When we were done, Erin and I went into the cathedral, another place she hadn’t yet visited, and looked around.  Chairs were set up for an evening service which happened to be the inter-faith service put on by the gay community prior to the next morning’s state supreme court decision on the Prop 8 appeal.

After a wardrobe change, we walked down the beach near Ghiradelli Square for some more photo fun.  A boy was playing in the sand as his grandmother looked on.  When it came time for them to leave, she washed the sand off by pouring water from a bottle on him.  Although the sun was out, it was still chilly down by the water, so he was making quite an entertaining scene by shivering and quivering loudly as he was coldly bathed with only his underwear on.  I got some good, natural photos out of the Erin and Tom as the smiled and laughed at this.  We also went out onto the pier where Tom proposed.  I’m glad the sun was out to counter the rainy and confusing situation of the engagement a few months back (one which Erin will never let Tom hear the end of .

With photos all done, we walked back up to Ghiradelli Square for a free piece of chocolate.  Tom headed off afterward, and Erin and I proceeded to Blazing Saddles bike rental.  Erin had wheeled her bike around the whole afternoon, so I rented a bike to accompany her.  With helmets on and a map to point us in the right direction, we pedaled off to “bike the bridge.”  This bike ride was more physical than either of us had thought.  Even on the level parts, the wind was against us.  It soon came apparent that although Erin has the walking muscles, I dominate in the biking ones.  We encountered fog the closer we got to the Golden Gate Bridge, but we were still able to see things in the distance pretty well.  While biking across the bridge, the wind was fierce but we kept it up.  Once over, we made our way downhill (yay!) into Sausalito and found a place to park and lock our bikes.  We walked around a bit before camping out in Starbucks, each with a hot drink.  Erin had changed into shorts for this excursion, so she got pretty cold.  I was in my running tights but I was soon cold too, and we were both wishing for a hot tub.  At 7:30 p.m., we boarded the last ferry back to San Fran.  We had a nice view of Alcatraz at dusk.  Back in the city, we were planning to mount our bikes onto a bus and ride back to the apartment, but we decided otherwise last minute.  Needless to say that with the steep hills and the pushing of bikes up those hills, we came home hot and sweaty.  We were glad to be back and immobile.

Piling back into the car as the crowds were arriving, Tom kept driving us north into Sonoma County where wine was awaiting us. At noonish, we made it to Wellington Vineyards, a very tiny but intimate estate. After eating our packed sandwiches, we headed inside for some free wine tasting. We each tried about five varietals, all quite fantastic. I was disappointed that I can’t carry liquids onto the airplane, otherwise I would have bought a couple of bottles throughout the day. Instead, I took a few of their extra and free bottle labels with plans to turn them into coasters. I took some time walking around the vineyard, noticing how tiny the grapes currently are, smaller than the size of Nerds. Their plants are grown in a gnarly fashion, in which the vine grows naturally rather than in straight rows. The lady who attended to our tasting said that the rows came about when tractors were invented, so that they could plow the fields between without bumping into the vines.

Afterward, we headed basically next door to another small winery. Loxton Wines gave us a good idea of how small its operation is. Inside the warehouse where tasting takes place are about 40-50 barrels of wine, all of their production for the year. The owner is originally from Australia, so he has Australia tourism posters decorating the place. The vines out front gave me a chance to see the thin rows different from the natural growth of the neighboring vineyard. In both of these wineries I tasted some flavors that I have never come across in the seemingly “plain” wine I usually drink.

I should mention that the sun was out the whole time, and I was finally wishing I had capris on. It was lovely! After departing the wine-making countryside, we drove to Healdsburg, a small town where Erin had purchased a dessert wine from Rosenblum Cellars a couple weeks back. When she uncorked the bottle, it did not taste as it should have so, we returned so she could make an exchange. Out of the three wineries we visited, this was the only one to charge for tasting, for which we were actually quite lucky. The winery had a few options for wine flights; Tom went with their more traditional flight while Erin and I both chose the dessert flight. Wow, are those dessert wines tasty. Again, I tasted wines so diverse from anything I’d tried before. We enjoyed reading the wine maker’s description of each wine, especially when words like “meat” and “leather” were used. We met some people who are originally from Minnesota, so we chatted with them for a bit. By the way, both Erin and Tom are native Minnesotans. In fact, they went to the same high school and just happened to reconnect while at UC Berkeley.

With wine tasting done, we enjoyed the warm weather with some gelato and then browsed an antiques sale going on in the town square. I wasn’t interested in much, but one venue caught my eye. They were selling original, vintage posters. Oh, these were beautiful posters back when graphic design was so simple yet vibrant and eye-catching. I would have loved to buy one, but the cheapest were being sold for at least $100. Someday perhaps…

After an emergency run for gum at the local Safeway (gum psychologically helps me to sober up; don’t ask me why, it just does), we headed back to the Bay Area. Thanks to Tom for driving because Erin and I needed naps. After dropping us off, Erin and I relaxed for a bit before walking to a local pizza joint for some tasty pizza and more wonderful conversation. I think Erin and I were lucky to be roommates during our first year in college. Although we never really hung out outside of our room, we were great roommates. We respected each others’ space but kept each other company and shared many funny moments. Visiting her in San Francisco is the longest we’ve hung out since 2000-2001, and I’ve been observing that we can just keep talking about anything and not get bored.

But I digress. With satisfied tummies and yummy leftovers, we rested our feet that evening and got sucked into watching hours of “To Catch a Predator” produced by Dateline NBC. Thank goodness it ended at midnight, otherwise we probably would have stayed up to keep watching.

After that we embarked on a steep climb uphill to a block of Lombard Street famous for its winding road.  Car after tourist car drove down while dozens of tourists took photos (yes, me included).  We walked over to the Ferry Building afterward, a very nicely renovated large building along the Embarcadero that houses various specialty food stores and an outside farmers’ market.  Many of these stores give out food and drink samples, so we snacked our way through before giving in to purchasing an actual lunch.  We had time to kill before our Alcatraz Cruises boat departure at 3:20, so we headed over to Pier 39, not to partake in the touristy Coney Island-like atmosphere but to check out a section of the wharf taken over by stinky, lounging sea lions.

Finally it was our turn to boat on over to Alcatraz.  Upon arrival, we first watched a video on the history of “The Rock,” before embarking on a guided audio tour through the facility.  I was quite impressed with the tour; it’s very well done and engaging.  The National Park Service had former employees and inmates tell stories which was enhanced by sound effects of cell doors slamming and guns being shot, etc.  Erin and I had fun taking the instructions to “walk slowly to the far cell” seriously by creeping along.  I would have liked to look around and take photos a bit longer, but I think we were both a bit cold and my feet were tired.

Tom, Erin’s fiancé, drove in from Berkeley and saved us by picking us up and driving us to dinner.  My friend Mike, who flew weekly to San Francisco for over two years, had raved about Punjab Kebab House restaurant, so we ate there.  Excellent food at a good price.  It was great to finally meet Tom and find out who my friend is marrying.  They both made good catches.   After dinner, we rented “Slumdog Millionaire” and vegged out for the evening.

My first-year college roommate, Erin, lives in San Fran and she has always prodded me to come out for a visit.  In February, she got engaged and then turned right around and made a proposal of her own to me.  She wondered if I would like to come out and take her engagement photos in return for a plane ticket.  Well, heck yes, I would love that!  So three months later, I’m finally there!

I got in to SFO around 8:45 p.m. PDT and found my way to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station.  Forty-five minutes later I got off at the Powell station and was greeted by Erin.  We talked during our 20-minute walk back to her fourth-floor apartment which is located in Pacific Heights and conveniently across the street from a Whole Foods.  I think we stayed up until 11:30pm talking until my body, still on Central time at 1:30 a.m., was ready for bed.

Erin’s got a very nice apartment.  I slept on her couch, but my what a comfy one it is!  Traffic is pretty loud on the street below, so I had to adjust by putting a pillow over my ear.