I confess, I am a total planner. Before any big undertaking I tend to draw up numerous lists, do all sorts of internet research, and yes, there are usually even spreadsheets involved. I love a good plan. The funny thing is, as much as I agonize over making the perfect plans, there are times when I delight in breaking them just as much. This is one of those times. But first...the desert!
So I left San Francisco on Thursday morning and headed out to Los Padres National Forest. At first, the campsite seemed not all that impressive. It was kind of small and really close to the road...hard to lose yourself in nature if cars keep flying by..and they did. Also, it seemed the only other inhabitants at this campground were a hippie couple living out of their van who liked to run their generator late into the night and an older gentleman named Bob who seemed to live there permanently in his RV(he functioned as the camp host and collected all of the fees and reminded people of the rules, etc). He seemed friendly enough but I remember thinking as I set my tent up that if I were writing a murder mystery about this campsite, he would totally be the secret murderer that nobody suspects until it's too late. So anyway, at first I was a little grumpy about the campsite. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something furry pop out of a hole in the ground and scurry away and I was instantly delighted. I asked Bob what was living in the ground over there and his answer was 'ground squirrels', which was not the exotic prairie dog/kangaroo rat type thing I was hoping for, but I was excited to see wildlife nonetheless. I watched the ground squirrels for a while and attempted to get a good picture of them but they were very good at disappearing into their burrows when I got close enough for photography. Later that evening I also saw a fox (!) down by the road.
Los Padres was definitely growing on me because of the wildlife, but it was the stars that completely won me over. I had been sitting outside reading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey all evening with the help of the book light Mom and Dad lent to me (thanks!) and when I started to get sleepy, I just happened to look up and was just struck by the number of stars in the sky. It was incredible, just incredible...a moment that begged to be shared with someone. Unfortunately the only people nearby were Bob, the hippies, and some late-arriving frat boys with their own generator and a giant cooler full of beers. So I enjoyed the stars by myself and then went to bed.
The next day I got to experience even more Los Padres wildlife as I came upon a couple of ant hills on my way to the bathroom that hadn't been there before. I always find it fascinating to watch great numbers of ants as they scurry around on top of each other getting their business done. I soon noticed that a lot of these ants had wings, which creeped me out a bit. Later I saw a million tiny specks flying away from the anthills, so I guess they had business to attend to. Luckily it wasn't the business of attacking me and consuming me from the inside out (I may have seen too many ant-based horror movies as a kid). Los Padres also had its fair share of other bugs, that had all decided to cling to my tent in the night. I hadn't experienced this with either of the other campsites I had been to...must be something specific about that climate that brings out the little bugs. Anyway, I shook off the tent, packed up the car, and headed down to Los Angeles for supplies before going to Joshua Tree. As it turns out, I needn't have bothered to stop because you can get anything you might need in the town of Yucca Valley, less than 20 miles before you get to the park. But I didn't know that, so I ended up getting off the freeway and going to a supermarket in Tarzana for water more sunscreen and other supplies (I had a craving for Pepperidge Farm Milanos for some reason...not the most practical desert food, but okay!).
I finally got to the park, paid my fees and headed off in search of a campsite. The vast majority of sites at Joshua Tree are first come first served, so I had some anxiety that I wouldn't be able to find a good site at the campground I wanted, but it wasn't necessary as there were several good sites left when I got there. The only thing my site didn't have that some of the other occupied sites did was natural shade. Kind of important in the desert. So it's around 3PM, I've just gotten to the park and claimed my site, and naturally the next thing I do is haul everything out and set the tent up. It didn't even occur to me to wait until later when it had cooled down...I was full steam ahead on getting everything squared away. Well, as you can imagine, I was freaking exhausted and roasting by the time I was done. All I wanted to do was get out of the sun somehow. So I pulled the chair into the tent, put batteries in my portable fan that I hadn't even had to use until now, and attempted to relax and read a little. There was a nice breeze outside but I had situated the tent next to a rock in an attempt to hopefully take advantage of natural shade at some other point in the day so the air inside was heavy and hot and not at all breezy, even with the fan.
Eventually I decided that I needed to cool down back to normal before I could be remotely comfortable at my site, so I hopped back in the car and drove around exploring a little bit. Thank god for air conditioning, seriously. Finally I was cooled down enough and enough time had passed to give me a little patch of shade on my site, so I dragged my chair into it and sat down with my book and a giant bottle of water. I read for a while, looking up when other campers drove into the area in search of a good site. Eventually the air was cool enough for me to get up and do a little exploring on foot. In situations like these, I find I'm constantly bumping up against things I believed were entirely off limits to me and realizing those beliefs are entirely false. Case in point: rock climbing. Now I'm not saying I'm going to go buy some crampons and rope and scale the tallest peak in the park (though instantly i'm thinking 'why not?' and wondering what kind of shape I would have to be in to take rock climbing lessons), but I'm certainly capable of doing a little simple climbing. There was a medium sized bank of rock behind my campsite that had a shady ledge that interested me. I thought it might be nice to climb up there and sit on the ledge and read my book some more. I couldn't readily see how to get up to the ledge from where I was at so I walked around the structure to an unoccupied campsite and climbed up from there. I think that's what I liked about it, the systematic problem-solving aspect of it. When I got to the ledge I felt elated and powerful, a big change from how defeated and weak I had felt when I was worn out from the heat. On the way back down I slipped a little and had to catch myself with my hand, giving me a little gravel indentation pattern on my palm for a few minutes. As I sat back in my chair I marveled at it and realized I hadn't felt that particular sting since I was a kid. It was an exhilarating feeling. I climbed up even higher a little later that day and again on the next.
The campsite on my right was occupied by an older couple with a complicated tent and a whole lot of gear, and the campsite to my left seemed like it would remain empty until a whole pack of extra testosterony guys pulled in around 8PM. They were...not quiet. They had also brought with them some kind of gun-type thing (expressly forbidden in the park, btw) that they kept shooting off, well into the night. Some of their conversations were definitely not for the faint of heart (there were a lot of drunk stories and sex stories and drunken sex stories) but they were such caricatures of men I just had to laugh at a number of boneheaded things they had to say. They didn't really quiet down much or stop shooting their gun-type thing all night but luckily the desert heat had wiped me out enough that I was able to sleep through most of it.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
San Francisco
One of the cool things about hostels, at least the two I've been to so far, is that they give you free continental breakfast. Apparently here continental just means toast, bagels and coffee, but it was free so it was perfectly fine with me. This hostel used to be a hotel and they do the breakfast in a little restaurant off the lobby so there's limited seating. About halfway through my first piece of toast, a total stranger (!) asked if she could sit at my table. I'm trying to stop being such a timid mouse around new people (and also, what am I going to say? Leave me alone so I can eat my toast in peace?) so of course I said yes and she sat down. I got up for more toast and coffee and she got up to get her breakfast arranged but finally we were both sitting down and had no choice but to talk to each other.
I'm pretty sure she talked first, maybe asked me where I'm from, I don't remember. Anyway, we had a nice discussion about where we were each from, what brought us to the hostel, etc (her name's Kelly, she lives in nearby Stockton, CA but she takes classes in SF and the commute is too much to make several times a week so she stays at the hostel in between). I mentioned I was thinking of going to Golden Gate Park today and she pointed out the free day for the science museum she was planning to go to and suggested we head over there together. So yes, I met a complete stranger at breakfast at the hostel and we went and did something fun. That actually happens. Crazy.
So we took the bus over to GGP, which I enjoyed immensely because it seems no matter where I go, taking the bus is pretty much the same. For a moment, I felt entirely in my element. :)
When we got to the park we found that the line for the science museum (California Academy of Sciences, to be technical) was genuinely, literally, a mile long. Clearly folks in San Fran enjoy their free museum days. Kelly had a class in a few hours so waiting wasn't an option. We headed instead to the nearby de Young art museum where we did have to pay to get in but at least there was no waiting. We saw just about everything on the main floor which included the Art of the Americas and the Collection of Contemporary Craft (which contained several beautiful glass pieces by Dale Chihuly). There was another floor and a half of art to see, but at that point I was getting tired of looking so we found a bench to hang out on while Kelly figured out how to get to class from the museum. Soon afterward she took off to her class and I headed next door to check out the Japanese Tea Garden.
I had read great things about the Tea Garden but maybe I was too tired to appreciate it or maybe there were just too many people. I kept hoping I could find a quiet corner and relax and think about things but there weren't any quiet corners. I took some photos and found a bench outside to figure out my next move. I had seen some information about the Conservatory of Flowers online but I didn't quite know where it was in the park so I just started walking in what I hoped was the right general direction. I like to think I have a pretty good sense of direction, so it was gratifying to see the conservatory roof peeking over the trees before long.
I was hoping for a giant room overflowing with gorgeous colorful flowers that you hardly ever get a chance to see in nature, like a Portland garden times 100, but it turns out when they say flowers, they really just mean plants. Bummer. Still, there were some interesting plants and a handful of beautiful flowers for me to see so I enjoyed myself anyway. The rooms had to be sweltering and humid to provide the right environment for the plants to thrive, but at the same time the humidity sucked all of the energy right out of me. When I got to the gift shop (which they must plan somehow) I was all worn out and ready to buy things :D Somehow the voice of reason chimed in to remind me that no matter how many lovely seed packets and growing pots I bought, I was still likely to kill these plants too, so I should save my cash. Good advice, especially since I'm about to go to the desert so anything that might be alive now would probably not thrive there regardless of my influence.
At that point, I was all out of juice so I figured out where the stop was and caught a bus back to the hostel. If I had more days here I'd go see more things, but tomorrow I'm off to Santa Barbara and the Los Padres National Forest. It may be July before I have internet access again, so until then...
xo,
C
I'm pretty sure she talked first, maybe asked me where I'm from, I don't remember. Anyway, we had a nice discussion about where we were each from, what brought us to the hostel, etc (her name's Kelly, she lives in nearby Stockton, CA but she takes classes in SF and the commute is too much to make several times a week so she stays at the hostel in between). I mentioned I was thinking of going to Golden Gate Park today and she pointed out the free day for the science museum she was planning to go to and suggested we head over there together. So yes, I met a complete stranger at breakfast at the hostel and we went and did something fun. That actually happens. Crazy.
So we took the bus over to GGP, which I enjoyed immensely because it seems no matter where I go, taking the bus is pretty much the same. For a moment, I felt entirely in my element. :)
When we got to the park we found that the line for the science museum (California Academy of Sciences, to be technical) was genuinely, literally, a mile long. Clearly folks in San Fran enjoy their free museum days. Kelly had a class in a few hours so waiting wasn't an option. We headed instead to the nearby de Young art museum where we did have to pay to get in but at least there was no waiting. We saw just about everything on the main floor which included the Art of the Americas and the Collection of Contemporary Craft (which contained several beautiful glass pieces by Dale Chihuly). There was another floor and a half of art to see, but at that point I was getting tired of looking so we found a bench to hang out on while Kelly figured out how to get to class from the museum. Soon afterward she took off to her class and I headed next door to check out the Japanese Tea Garden.
I had read great things about the Tea Garden but maybe I was too tired to appreciate it or maybe there were just too many people. I kept hoping I could find a quiet corner and relax and think about things but there weren't any quiet corners. I took some photos and found a bench outside to figure out my next move. I had seen some information about the Conservatory of Flowers online but I didn't quite know where it was in the park so I just started walking in what I hoped was the right general direction. I like to think I have a pretty good sense of direction, so it was gratifying to see the conservatory roof peeking over the trees before long.
I was hoping for a giant room overflowing with gorgeous colorful flowers that you hardly ever get a chance to see in nature, like a Portland garden times 100, but it turns out when they say flowers, they really just mean plants. Bummer. Still, there were some interesting plants and a handful of beautiful flowers for me to see so I enjoyed myself anyway. The rooms had to be sweltering and humid to provide the right environment for the plants to thrive, but at the same time the humidity sucked all of the energy right out of me. When I got to the gift shop (which they must plan somehow) I was all worn out and ready to buy things :D Somehow the voice of reason chimed in to remind me that no matter how many lovely seed packets and growing pots I bought, I was still likely to kill these plants too, so I should save my cash. Good advice, especially since I'm about to go to the desert so anything that might be alive now would probably not thrive there regardless of my influence.
At that point, I was all out of juice so I figured out where the stop was and caught a bus back to the hostel. If I had more days here I'd go see more things, but tomorrow I'm off to Santa Barbara and the Los Padres National Forest. It may be July before I have internet access again, so until then...
xo,
C
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The journey begins...
I'm at a hostel in San Francisco! I'm only three days into the trip but I've already had some pretty great experiences. Here's how the past three days went:
Of course I stayed up late Saturday, packing and stressing, so Sunday morning I was pretty beat. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 9 and headed for the bus to the car rental place. When I got there, they actually had the nerve to try to rent me a Yaris and say it was a mid-size (the class I had reserved and paid extra for). Oh hell no! They didn't have anything else "mid-size" available but apparently because I'm renting for such a long time, I have the option of swapping the car out one time if I'm not satisfied. Well, I won't lie, I really tried at first to be satisfied with the Yaris. It must be my inborn people-pleasing gene that doesn't want to make a fuss. But I sat in it for a little bit and thought about how far I was going to have to drive this thing and how uncomfortable it would be around mile 6 (much less mile 6000) and I knew I had to swap it out. So I went to the airport where they apparently have the giant car selection. I was completely prepared for them to give me trouble but it was a piece of cake and they swapped it out for a pimpin Corolla. Not only is it a bigger, cushier car, this one had an aux jack in the stereo so I could just plug in my MP3 player. Score!
So anyway, finally I got the car home, loaded up all of my crap (there was a LOT of it, if you can imagine, despite my attempts to minimize my load) and got on my way to my parents' house only about two hours late. A quick lunch and some hugs later, I was on the open road! Woohoo!
I pulled into Honeyman State Park around 6pm, found my site and unpacked the tent. It took me a little while to get over the awkward feeling that everyone around me was staring at me. Of course they were all busy with their own camping business and weren't worried about mine, and finally I was able to just relax and do my thing. There was one other solo camper in the site next to mine. He rode in on a motorcycle (I bet Mom and Dad are excited to hear that!) and instead of a tent was using one of those camping hammock thingies. He seemed friendly enough and kept to himself just like I did. The rest of the campers were families with small children...lots of them. They were not quiet, but I expected that so it wasn't a big deal.
After dinner (made flawlessly on Mom and Dad's camp stove. Thanks guys!) I grabbed my laptop and ducked into the tent to relax. No wireless access, as expected, but I knew I had some episodes of House plus the entire 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries on there, so I thought it might be nice to check out for a little while and watch something. It was such a nice feeling, to be totally out of my element but have a little bit of normal in the middle of it. It really made the first night a lot less stressful.
That night I did not sleep well. I don't think my sleeping pad was fully inflated, plus it's hard to adjust to sleeping in a sleeping bag since you can't really toss and turn unless you're planning on taking the whole thing with you. On top of that, I can't use my CPAP at campsites that don't have electrical hookups, so that made it harder to sleep as well. But, you know, it's camping. It's not supposed to feel like a four star hotel. I woke up pretty early in the morning, had some cereal, then got packed up and ready to go.
Day two was a nice drive. I took the 101 down to Redwood National Park (just north of Eureka, CA) and there were an unbelievable number of scenic points and overlooks and viewing sites. I managed to get photos of a couple of them but there came a point where I had to decide between documenting and driving. I felt guilty about it though...here's all this beauty and I'm not even taking pictures of it! But you know, I'd still be on the road right now if I had stopped as much as I wanted.
I got to Redwood NP around 3. My campsite was just gorgeous. Not only was it surrounded by these incredible redwoods, there was a giant one right in the middle of my site with this huge root structure sticking up out of the ground, just begging to be played on. Also the site had these giant prehistoric-looking ferns. I drove around a bit and looked at the other sites and honestly, I think I lucked out with the best one. If you ever go camping there, get site 20.
It was a little chilly out so I bought some firewood and built a fire while I put up the tent and cooked dinner. It took a little while for everything to catch but finally it did and I had a fantastic fire going. I was sitting in a folding camp chair and couldn't seem to get close enough to be warmed by the fire, so finally I gave up and stood right next to the firepit and got toasty. I had brought this Pema Chodron book, one of my favorites that Brian and Margaret gave me at some point last year (thanks guys!), and since I was feeling a bit aimless, disconnected and lost, I figured it might be a good time for some Pema. So I had a fantastic evening of warming myself by the fire, reading Pema Chodron, and cultivating my own fearlessness. Awesome.
The next day (that's this morning!) I headed out pretty early, maybe 6 or 7 am. The first cool thing I saw was a family of elk in the field across from the campsites. There was also an elk with antlers chillin by the 101 on ramp. Clearly they're used to cars and people. Redwood to San Francisco was about a 5 and a half hour drive. Interesting sites on the way included the Avenue of the Giants which was an incredible scenic route. There were also several sites where you could drive through a tree, which sounded so much more exciting than it actually was. Yes, I paid five bucks to see this marvel. I was picturing this enormous too-big-to-be-believed tree that the highway pavers couldn't in good conscience move, so they had to cut through it. I expected a giant roadway through this behemoth tree. In reality, it was just a normal-sized redwood (which is still pretty big) with a space big enough for an SUV to squeak through. It wasn't even on a road. Bah. So if you're ever in the area and you see signs for a Drive Thru tree....don't do it. You will regret it.
The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful. Oh, except for Golden Gate Bridge! I didn't even realize when I was planning my route that it would take me right over the bridge but it did. Luckily I had noticed this on the map about halfway there because Golden Gate is a toll bridge and I had to get some more cash to pay for the toll ($6!). Anyway, going across the bridge was just breathtaking. It is enormous and beautiful and exactly as you would expect. Well worth $6 for that experience.
Finally I found the hostel, got parking squared away, got up to my room, took the most satisfying shower of my entire life, put on some clean clothes and headed out into the neighborhood in search of dinner. It turns out the hostel is in the middle of the Little Saigon neighborhood which is...well, a little shady. The hostel itself is very nice (especially for only $30 a night in San Francisco) but, let's just say I'm not planning on doing much exploring on foot around here. I did have a creepy guy on the street call me beautiful though, so maybe I'm judging too harshly (This happens to me frequently in Portland. I don't know what it is about down-on-their-luck gentlemen everywhere but they've got a definite type and I'm it). For the most part, I just tried to affect my best tough-guy, don't bother me, I'm headed somewhere in particular and I know exactly where it is and also I have a knife look and people left me alone. There are (surprisingly, right?) a whole lot of Vietnamese restaurants around here but I managed to find a couple of decent-looking Thai places. One of them had a picture of Keanu Reeves eating there in the window, so that just made the decision for me. If there's one thing I love about Keanu it's his impeccable taste in Thai food, probably.
So that's where I am now. I'll be staying the whole day tomorrow in San Fran. As of yet I have no idea what I'm going to do with the day. I'm sure when I figure it out I'll tell you guys all about it.
xo,
C
PS: Photos
Of course I stayed up late Saturday, packing and stressing, so Sunday morning I was pretty beat. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 9 and headed for the bus to the car rental place. When I got there, they actually had the nerve to try to rent me a Yaris and say it was a mid-size (the class I had reserved and paid extra for). Oh hell no! They didn't have anything else "mid-size" available but apparently because I'm renting for such a long time, I have the option of swapping the car out one time if I'm not satisfied. Well, I won't lie, I really tried at first to be satisfied with the Yaris. It must be my inborn people-pleasing gene that doesn't want to make a fuss. But I sat in it for a little bit and thought about how far I was going to have to drive this thing and how uncomfortable it would be around mile 6 (much less mile 6000) and I knew I had to swap it out. So I went to the airport where they apparently have the giant car selection. I was completely prepared for them to give me trouble but it was a piece of cake and they swapped it out for a pimpin Corolla. Not only is it a bigger, cushier car, this one had an aux jack in the stereo so I could just plug in my MP3 player. Score!
So anyway, finally I got the car home, loaded up all of my crap (there was a LOT of it, if you can imagine, despite my attempts to minimize my load) and got on my way to my parents' house only about two hours late. A quick lunch and some hugs later, I was on the open road! Woohoo!
I pulled into Honeyman State Park around 6pm, found my site and unpacked the tent. It took me a little while to get over the awkward feeling that everyone around me was staring at me. Of course they were all busy with their own camping business and weren't worried about mine, and finally I was able to just relax and do my thing. There was one other solo camper in the site next to mine. He rode in on a motorcycle (I bet Mom and Dad are excited to hear that!) and instead of a tent was using one of those camping hammock thingies. He seemed friendly enough and kept to himself just like I did. The rest of the campers were families with small children...lots of them. They were not quiet, but I expected that so it wasn't a big deal.
After dinner (made flawlessly on Mom and Dad's camp stove. Thanks guys!) I grabbed my laptop and ducked into the tent to relax. No wireless access, as expected, but I knew I had some episodes of House plus the entire 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries on there, so I thought it might be nice to check out for a little while and watch something. It was such a nice feeling, to be totally out of my element but have a little bit of normal in the middle of it. It really made the first night a lot less stressful.
That night I did not sleep well. I don't think my sleeping pad was fully inflated, plus it's hard to adjust to sleeping in a sleeping bag since you can't really toss and turn unless you're planning on taking the whole thing with you. On top of that, I can't use my CPAP at campsites that don't have electrical hookups, so that made it harder to sleep as well. But, you know, it's camping. It's not supposed to feel like a four star hotel. I woke up pretty early in the morning, had some cereal, then got packed up and ready to go.
Day two was a nice drive. I took the 101 down to Redwood National Park (just north of Eureka, CA) and there were an unbelievable number of scenic points and overlooks and viewing sites. I managed to get photos of a couple of them but there came a point where I had to decide between documenting and driving. I felt guilty about it though...here's all this beauty and I'm not even taking pictures of it! But you know, I'd still be on the road right now if I had stopped as much as I wanted.
I got to Redwood NP around 3. My campsite was just gorgeous. Not only was it surrounded by these incredible redwoods, there was a giant one right in the middle of my site with this huge root structure sticking up out of the ground, just begging to be played on. Also the site had these giant prehistoric-looking ferns. I drove around a bit and looked at the other sites and honestly, I think I lucked out with the best one. If you ever go camping there, get site 20.
It was a little chilly out so I bought some firewood and built a fire while I put up the tent and cooked dinner. It took a little while for everything to catch but finally it did and I had a fantastic fire going. I was sitting in a folding camp chair and couldn't seem to get close enough to be warmed by the fire, so finally I gave up and stood right next to the firepit and got toasty. I had brought this Pema Chodron book, one of my favorites that Brian and Margaret gave me at some point last year (thanks guys!), and since I was feeling a bit aimless, disconnected and lost, I figured it might be a good time for some Pema. So I had a fantastic evening of warming myself by the fire, reading Pema Chodron, and cultivating my own fearlessness. Awesome.
The next day (that's this morning!) I headed out pretty early, maybe 6 or 7 am. The first cool thing I saw was a family of elk in the field across from the campsites. There was also an elk with antlers chillin by the 101 on ramp. Clearly they're used to cars and people. Redwood to San Francisco was about a 5 and a half hour drive. Interesting sites on the way included the Avenue of the Giants which was an incredible scenic route. There were also several sites where you could drive through a tree, which sounded so much more exciting than it actually was. Yes, I paid five bucks to see this marvel. I was picturing this enormous too-big-to-be-believed tree that the highway pavers couldn't in good conscience move, so they had to cut through it. I expected a giant roadway through this behemoth tree. In reality, it was just a normal-sized redwood (which is still pretty big) with a space big enough for an SUV to squeak through. It wasn't even on a road. Bah. So if you're ever in the area and you see signs for a Drive Thru tree....don't do it. You will regret it.
The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful. Oh, except for Golden Gate Bridge! I didn't even realize when I was planning my route that it would take me right over the bridge but it did. Luckily I had noticed this on the map about halfway there because Golden Gate is a toll bridge and I had to get some more cash to pay for the toll ($6!). Anyway, going across the bridge was just breathtaking. It is enormous and beautiful and exactly as you would expect. Well worth $6 for that experience.
Finally I found the hostel, got parking squared away, got up to my room, took the most satisfying shower of my entire life, put on some clean clothes and headed out into the neighborhood in search of dinner. It turns out the hostel is in the middle of the Little Saigon neighborhood which is...well, a little shady. The hostel itself is very nice (especially for only $30 a night in San Francisco) but, let's just say I'm not planning on doing much exploring on foot around here. I did have a creepy guy on the street call me beautiful though, so maybe I'm judging too harshly (This happens to me frequently in Portland. I don't know what it is about down-on-their-luck gentlemen everywhere but they've got a definite type and I'm it). For the most part, I just tried to affect my best tough-guy, don't bother me, I'm headed somewhere in particular and I know exactly where it is and also I have a knife look and people left me alone. There are (surprisingly, right?) a whole lot of Vietnamese restaurants around here but I managed to find a couple of decent-looking Thai places. One of them had a picture of Keanu Reeves eating there in the window, so that just made the decision for me. If there's one thing I love about Keanu it's his impeccable taste in Thai food, probably.
So that's where I am now. I'll be staying the whole day tomorrow in San Fran. As of yet I have no idea what I'm going to do with the day. I'm sure when I figure it out I'll tell you guys all about it.
xo,
C
PS: Photos
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