I left my calf muscles in San Franciso

We made it California, by the way.

We spent our first full day in California doing absolutely nothing. Sarah and I got to hang out with Andy, Karen, and Nickolas (Sarah's Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin) for the whole day. It was great timing for a break.

On day two, I (jason) accomplished a very coveted tourist achievement. In one day, I saw the Pacific Ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge, and a Redwood Tree all for the first time. This is a feat that has only been acomplished 345, 646, 211 times in the past four years by other tourists to California. Yay for me!





The Golden Gate bridge was quite a thing to see. It was much bigger in person than I thought it was going to be. I couldn't believe how enormous it is, or how hundreds of oblivious, self-absorbed tourists could all exist on the bridge together without pushing someone into the Bay.

After leaving the bridge, we promptly got on the wrong bus, went all the way downtown, got off the bus just as it was about to turn around. Then we walked 8 or 9 blocks to a bus stop, and ended up on a city bus with approximatley 120 people on it at one point. It was a real taste of San Francisco. At one point, I thought there was going to be a gang war between some Elderly Ladies and some surfer kids who didn't want to give up their seats for the ladies. Luckily, the surfers gave up their seats before it got ugly.

On day 3 we decided to go downtown on purpose. We saw Fishermans Wharf and the Cable Cars and all that stuff. But the highlight was the San Francisco Bush Man. Basically, this guy's schtick is to hide behind a bush on the sidewalk and scare people as they walk by. A huge crowd was gathered around him, but most of the people walking didn't seem to notice before they got scared. It was awesome. We'll get some videos of it up as soon as we know how.

Day 4 is the motivation for today's title. We decided, with much vigor to complete a stairway walk through the northern SF Marina Neighborhood, walk Haight street, and climb to the top of Coit Tower, all in one day. While the former and latter walks provided cool views of the city, and the second provided cool views of hippies, our calves wish we had decided differently.

Thanks so much to Karen and Andy for all of their hospitality. We ate great and really enjoyed out time while we were in San Fran. We are currently in Fresno and will be leaving for Yosemite early tomorrow, so we'll be out of touch until next Tuesday or so. Be sure to check out the album for the latest pictures.

Jason and Sarah