Time Flies, and We Still Have Fun (California Edition)

Post-Haiti life did not really calm down much for Lovehardstein crew. After I finally recovered from whatever bug had hatched its way into my system, it was time for a 24 hour non-stop packing party. Superman Ben spent days valiantly packing up every nook and cranny in our house. It was tremendously impressive. And to top it all off, he then drove across the country to move us out West. Meanwhile I was hosting my work colleagues from the UK who happened to be in town the one week I had to pack up my life and move out.

Ben and I wondered why on earth we decided to move OUT of our apartment rather than sublet it. Our thinking was a bit warped--we didn't feel we had enough time to find a subletter and we really wanted to do a 'deep cleaning' and purge some of our stuff. My, how we accumulate things'n'stuff over the years! In the end, it felt like the wrong decision to just pack up and leave. I had to find a place to stay for a few nights after we moved out, which ended up working out very nicely, but we will also likely have to find a place to stay when we get back to Atlanta! Oh me oh my. But that's a problem for the future, and these days, we can only focus on problems in the present.

Regardless, Ben headed out West a few days before I, and when I joined him out here, we reveled in the world that is San Francisco. The food, the public transit, the hills, the beauty, the views, the biking--it is a sight to behold! We began exploring by starting off with an old friend from high school on a bike ride. The bike ride was a 30 miler or so that took place (and takes place) every Wednesday night in any kind of weather. Luckily we got good weather.

This bike ride was spectacular and made us feel like we had moved into heaven. Not only do Ben and I love being a part of a solid crew of bikers, but the ride itself snaked and swerved through the city, and we went through a number of areas we had never seen. At various points, the group stopped and munched on oreos and beer. Throughout the ride there were booming speaker panniers playing all sorts of music.

"This is such a San Francisco cliche," Ben and I kept saying over and over, as we sped past the lady on the bike who was blowing bubbles and a number of hipsters on fixies. We were, of course, on our tandem bike, which allowed us to win a race of coasting down "cardiac hill" and onwards to the beach. What a moment of pride! We had hit our stride in the city.

Over the first week, we fell for San Francisco...and hard! Between a few great meals at Zazie, a neighborhood French Bistrot, and Little Star Pizza, who does deep dish pizza much better than they do it in Chicago, we ate very well. A few great lunch places and coffee shops as well. And we look forward to even more exploration.

We won't talk about the pain in finding housing, but we found a 2br place in the Mission. We hadn't been looking for a 2br, but it worked out that way, and so we're set up to host others in the city during our brief tenure here.

Now we're on vacation. Splitting this much deferred time of two weeks between one week in Yosemite and week on the coast in Northern Sonoma county. More on that to come.