An Appointment in San Francisco

On Thursday the Geek had an appointment with the German Consulate General in San Francisco. We decided to make a day trip of it.

We left early because you never know how traffic is on 101 - it can be a smooth ride, but it can also be a never ending traffic jam. We were lucky and arrived 90 minutes before his appointment at the bay. Not eager to hang out in front of the consulate, we took the last exit before the Bridge and drove down to Fort Baker. I had always wanted to go here to the water front because it offers you another great view of the Bridge. Since it was a rather gloomy day - typical Golden Gate summer weather - my photos of the bridge are quite gray - but I can't help myself still thinking they are so characteristic of this area.

I probably mentioned several times on this blog how much I love the Golden Gate Bridge. After all these years and the many times I crossed this bridge I still get goose bumps. No wonder it is such a tourist attraction, albeit a very cold and windy one.

We walked along the waterfront and onto the old pier. I liked the look of the weathered dock pilings.

Then it was time to get into the city. We were done with the appointment at noon and were debating how to spend the rest of the day. Originally we had thought walking out to Land's End Lookout, but changed our minds and drove back North across the Bridge and onto the Marin Headlands. I had read about the coastal trail from Rodeo Beach to Tennessee Point and we both thought this was the day we're going to hike the trail.

The day was still overcast when we arrived. Immediately after we had arrived we saw the first of flocks and flocks of Brown Pelicans. They're common here along the coast and I never tire of watching them. (Since we were going to the consulate, I hadn't brought my good camera. These photos are all taken with my phone.)

There were so many! I think we saw 200 to 300 Brown Pelicans that day.

They seem to prefer flying in flocks and they are completely silent. Look at that graceful gliding flight!

They kept us company for our entire hike. First we climbed up a steep incline to the cliffs and then more or less moderately on top of the cliffs with beautiful views across the ocean - despite the gloominess of the day. In some places the trail was fenced off because the ocean had taken a part of the land (or the wind, who knows). In others we saw beautiful flowers and plants.

Sticky monkey-flower

Fennel

The trail was well kept and soon we could see Tennessee Point.

It looks closer than it actually was, but eventually we were almost there. The trail led through a small cypress grove that gave way to a stunning view.

California sure has some dramatic coastline.

We turned to the left and there it was - the Tennessee Point labyrinth!

All the way I wasn't sure whether we would see it. I had read that it had been destroyed, but obviously it has been restored and I was very happy about it. It gave a nice touch to the barren flat top.

It is a rather small labyrinth and it took less than two minutes to walk to its center. It was a bit too windy to do it in a meditative way. The Brown Pelicans were always with us.

Eventually it was time to walk back to the parking lot at the beach and drive home. We stopped at a Turkish restaurant in a neighboring town for a very late lunch/early dinner - the Geek had a Döner wrap and I chose the Köfte kebap wrap. I remember having delicious Köfte in Turkey and these weren't bad either.

It was a wonderful excursion!

I'm linking to Rain's Thursday Art Date.

Passing of Summer

Last Monday, after almost eight weeks of summer break, I went back to work. In all honesty I was not looking forward to it. The summer had been just too beautiful to say goodbye to these almost carefree weeks easily. But the new school year starts next Wednesday and there is a ton to do in the library before that.

At the beginning of the summer break I had made a list of things I would like to do during those weeks. I was afraid that I would just waste my time and by the end of the break would look back on missed opportunities with a lot of regret.

Instead, I look back on eight delightful and fulfilling weeks - without having touched each and every item on my list.

Hardly a week into my break the Geek and I went to San Jose to meet with Kaefer who was about to buy her very first car, a used VW Golf with a manual transmission. She is so happy about it since it gives her a bit more independence even though she is still riding her bike most of the time.

After this first week of mainly doing nothing I started to "work" on my list. I spent a day in Sonoma where I visited the mission and the old barracks;

I spent a morning in the beautiful lavender gardens of a winery:

Many mornings I took long walks around my beloved lake;

I re-discovered the laguna with its interesting plants, crooked trees and beautiful birds (can you see the California Quail?);

And I walked along the beach, something I do way too seldom even though the ocean always calms me and gives me inner peace.

Kaefer came home for the Fourth of July week since this was the only week she didn't have to work (she had started her summer job right after finals in June). We didn't do much - once we went champagne tasting (she turned 21 in April), but apart from that we just hang out, watching British mystery shows, playing games and drinking traditional German Erdbeerbowle.

I spent a lot of time reading and knitting (this is the start of a little dress for our newest family member in Turkey) and I even painted a bit!

Before the summer I got back into the habit of journaling. I had lost my ability to write my journal after the fires and I couldn't find a way back to it. It seemed like something was completely blocked in me. I hated it. Over winter break I had taken a free writing class which was like a little teaser; it motivated me to take a more in-depth writing class in the spring and it eventually helped me to get back into writing my journal. This is one of the things that makes me unbelievably happy.

I said one of the things... the other is photography. Somehow - even though I was still photographing a lot - I had lost my "flow" with photography. Sure, I still took a lot of pictures, mainly with my phone (I got a new phone this year with an excellent camera which is wonderful but also involves the risk of becoming lazy), but it wasn't the same passion. However, I have experienced these "waves" more than once during the more than four decades of photographing, so I wasn't too worried; but I did want to find my old passion again.

And I did. Since I spent so much time on my own this summer I could right dive back into my photography and I enjoyed it so much. I tried different takes of the same motif and it felt so darn good. I don't know WHY photography makes me so incredibly happy, I only know that it DOES.

The last weekend in July the Geek and I spent in Gualala, just two hours up north from where we live, at the coast. I had rented a cabin that was in the redwoods, but right across the water - we could hear the ocean on our little deck. We enjoyed sunsets over the ocean, walked on the cliffs, ate (too much) peanut butter cheesecake and just delighted in the beautiful scenery.

During my last week of break I wanted to have one more day at the ocean and went down to the Point Reyes National Seashore where I walked out on the spit and back along Limantour Beach. It was one of those typical Northern California summer days - sunny and warm, even hot, but the moment you come to the beach fog envelopes you and the temperature drops by 20 degrees. Ah, Northern California, how much I love it!

And then break was almost over - one last Sunday spent in San Francisco with our favorite girl. We spent several hours in the Exploratorium (I hadn't been there since they had moved to Pier 15 from their old location at the Palace of Arts), rode the historical streetcar of the F Line, ate fish and chips near Fisherman's Wharf and walked along Crissy Field Beach.

It was a beautiful summer.

San Francisco Pride

June is Pride month and last weekend the Pride Parade took place in San Francisco. Kaefer wanted to go, and so we took her and a friend of hers down to the city and watched the parade and the festivities.

It was a joyful affair. Of course it was crowded which I don't particularly like and even tend to panic, but the "panicky moments" were fortunately only few and most of the time I could simply enjoy this colorful event. It was rather cool in the morning with a chilly wind - rather typical for San Francisco - but it warmed up eventually and became a sunny day.

The mood was joyful and I felt a very positive vibe. I loved people watching, taking in the creativity many people showed. Of course it was colorful, rainbows everywhere!

The parade was fascinating, full of great music and laughter.

Here are some more snippets that represent the color and joy of this festival:

I especially enjoyed these two guys with their colorful dogs!

Even some of the police officers carried pink handcuffs. I loved this little detail.

While the girls enjoyed the parade on their own, the Geek and I strolled around the Civic Center where all the booths (and the food!) were until we ended up near the dance floor. The dancing was fabulous, and we even ventured onto the dance floor ourselves and learned some line dancing. How fun!

This definitely was my favorite part of the day!

After we had met up with the girls again it was late in the afternoon and we decided to bring the day to a tasty end by visiting our favorite German restaurant in the city, the Suppenküche (soup kitchen). The food is very authentic here and absolutely delicious.

We had Wiener Schnitzel mit Bratkartoffeln and the Geek and I enjoyed some Erdinger Hefeweizen - the dark one was mine. Their selection of beer is so good - you can check it out here. Prost!