Reasons I Love the Sunset: A New Series

As usual, at the end of the year my posts waned despite the many activities logged in my calendar. Instead of trying to go back in time however, I'm hopeful that some of the end of year fun will be captured along with the new year vigor. Especially since the Bay Area Ridge Hiking Challenge continues (we have like 900 miles to go or something...). 

Just now, as I was walking home from one of my jogs through the park, I realized that I could kick-start this year with yet another new series: Reasons I Love the Sunset. Last September, I jotted down a few reasons why I enjoy my neighborhood so much but, there are many more! Therefore, like I did last year with all of San Francisco, in 2014, I hope to highlight some of the hidden treasures as well as those places that everyone knows about, in the Sunset. Like the rest of this blog, it is an ode to where I spend my time.

As a jumping off point, I will simply say that every neighborhood in San Francisco (and probably in most cities, for that matter) has its night navigators who pick through garbage cans for recyclables, the little independent coffee shop that makes the best almond milk latte on the planet, and maybe an indie video (or book) store that they can get lost in for hours. But, the Sunset is sort of like Madonna; it is constantly re-inventing itself. The avenues on the south side of the park have been home to one of the greatest health food co-ops in the Bay Area for decades (or as long as I've been alive) and for almost as long they have been host to a store with 90,000 DVDs and VHS tapes, many of them rare and hard to find. The Sunset also just opened San Francisco's newest Le Boulange and small, unique shops keep cropping up everywhere.

And so, along with Reasons I Love SF and Reasons I Love the Park, there are now Reasons I Love the Sunset.

Reasons I Love SF: Hanging Out in my Neighborhood

There are so many great things coming to the area around the 9th Avenue and Irving Street corridor in the Sunset. And, some of the coolest shops and restaurants from other neighborhoods in SF just keep coming. First it was Nopalito and Ambiance... then Martha & Bros. coffee.... and now, San Franpsycho.

These folks are hand screen-printing t-shirts, sweatshirts, and skivvies. Plus, they have live music on occasion in their cool space on 9th. Check out one of my new tees! I'm into it.

Burn Season

It's that time of year when San Francisco empties out. Burners have been building human-sized cat trees or gigantic flaming metal sculptures for months and are ready to transport them to Black Rock Dessert for the annual burning of the man. This year is no different. There are Burning Man virgins in my circle making the trek, pulling their costumes together and buying their goggles.

But, what is different about this year is that there is a real serious burn happening, too. The Rim Fire, as its been touted, is ravaging the Sierra Nevadas and wreaking havoc on my family and thousands of other residents of the area. While I remember many summers when fires affected the area - it is a dry climate after all - the fires never got so close. Scary.

Reasons I Love the Park: Dahlias

It had been awhile since I'd seen the Dahlias in bloom. The last few times I walked through the garden tucked next to the Conservatory of Flowers it was foggy and there were just green stems sticking up from the plot of land. So, drearsville. Not this time! On a walk home from a doctor's appointment in Laurel Village, I decided to take the Arguello Gate into Golden Gate Park and cut through the dell. What a marvelous surprise!!!

Bay Area Ridge Trail Challenge: And So It Begins....

My best friend and I have been doing hikes around the Bay Area for years. This year we concluded a challenge that she had set for herself, namely traversing every trail in Redwood Regional Park. While I did not hike every route she did for that challenge, I did the majority of them. This time, we have vowed to do the entire Bay Area Ridge Trail together. With 550+ miles, this could take us years...

We have already bumped up against the trails on some of our other hikes on the Peninsula and in the East Bay. Now, we will consciously follow the maps in our recently purchased book on the series of trails around the Bay. For our first foray, and in preparation for my friend's impending Mt. Shasta climb, we went to Tilden Park to do a hike starting at Inspiration Point, winding down toward Don Castro Reservoir, and back to our starting point. Unfortunately, it turned out that the Bay Area Ridge Trail requires hikers to have a permit to trek through the portion of our hike that would have taken us to Don Castro...

So, we didn't really get a chance to cover much mileage for our challenge... As in, 550+ miles still to go... But, we were able to walk along the ridge, curl down through Wildcat Canyon for a bit, and loop back. The ridge afforded amazing views of the Richmond area as well as San Francisco. And, at times we were walking in perfect summer heat and at others, we were bundled as the wind and fog whipped past. In other words, it was exciting! Plus there were cows. How cute is that?

More to come....

Reasons I Love SF: When the Sun Comes Out, it Means it

When all of July looks like this, in San Francisco (or in this case, Pacifica on the drive home)....

When it looks like this, it is more AWESOME than awesome! Thank goodness we had an evening like this, today. It compelled me to stop off at Ocean Beach, stare at the surf, catch a kite-surfer, and enjoy the warmth from the setting sun.

Reasons I Love SF: Woodside, Who Knew?

Woodside is a little town just next door to where my office is. And, while I spent some time there a few years ago dog-sitting, it is only since I started my job a year and a half ago that I've started to explore all that the super cute haven has to offer.

First off, tucked into the hills along Skyline Boulevard, it has Stillheart. Once called Skylonda, or something along those lines, this new age-y institute is a great spot for taking a weekend or week night retreat at a reasonable price. The grounds are beautiful, with hiking paths, native plants, a pool and sauna, and sprawling landscapes.

Second, there are some pretty great restaurants for only having a handful of options... Alice's at the top of Woodside Road and Skyline Boulevard, allows you to sit outside, check out the cyclists of all kinds, AND get breakfast for lunch. Who doesn't like breakfast for lunch?! Mountain House, going in the other direction on Skyline, doesn't look like much but, offers high quality fine dining in the midst of BIG trees. Plus, they have some really good Prosecco...

Last, the people are just so nice. For being so close to the heart of Silicon Valley madness and the Stanford brain-trust, the people feel like they are straight out of a town hundreds of miles away. It seems strange that one could just drive 20 minutes up a hill and feel like they are so far removed from the hub-bub but, it happened....