Utes & Us in San Fran

Wade & I took our annual road trip to watch the Utes play an away game a few weeks ago. We pulled out the football schedule months ago and decided that San Francisco in October sounded grand. Here is our Hotel Monaco in the heart of the city. Notable quote from the concierge. "When you leave the Hotel, always go right. Never go left, left is bad very bad."


Upon our arrival we hit the Fisherman's Wharf. First stop... Boudin Bakery for the original sourdough bread. Holy shitake it was delicious.


We wandered the waterfront, stumbled into the nickel arcade with all it's refurbished puppet shows, peep shows, and games. Here's Wade trying to get a peep at the Triple XXX show. Sorry kid, built around 1950 the only skin was a bit of knee.


When the hunger pangs returned, we stepped up to the crab bar and got us some fresh Dungeness. Fresh off the boat and dropped in the steamer just for us.

The next morning we caught the morning boat to Alcatraz. A lifelong dream of Wade's! It was creepy, historic, and fascinating. We took the audio tour, and then spent some time wandering around the Island.

Amazingly there is a very active botanical group that nourishes several indigenous plants and flowers. A strange backdrop for such beauty.

It was also game day so we caught the F-train to Bart to Giants Stadium.

As has become tradition, the Utes took a beating. I'm starting to think we're a jinx. We had a great time at a beautiful stadium though and It was nice to be around some friendlies.


Customarily a day of Football is followed by a day of shopping. Give and take. We had fun exploring Chinatown and Union Square. Found a few treasures and trinkets. My fav? $35 silk robe and pajamas.

Rode a trolley car.



We were in need of a real adventure. The next day we rented some mountain bikes and unknowingly set off on a 14 mile bike ride. Almost got hit by a bus, Almost died of exhaustion, Almost didn't find one of the biggest bridges in the world! We had peddled for hours. Saw a lot of beautiful things....

The painted ladies


The Observatory in the Golden Gate Park...




The Japanese Tea Garden...

Floral Delight in the form of my favorite, Hydrangeas...


Glorious Redwood...

and then finally there it was... sneaking out of the fog... like a magnificent sunset...

It is 1.7 miles across the bridge and the wind speed had to be about 50 mph.

We gorged ourselves on lunch in a little seaside town called Sausalito then found the nearest Boat back to the mainland. Look out baby, that birdie might just poop on you!

Some leftover photos from the trip that made my short list of favorites!



Until next year....