From goats to horses: john and leigh ann's final day
John and Leigh Ann's last full day here, so we
wanted to make it count. Here's a
rundown:
1.) Drive Skyline Blvd. over to Berkeley and Telegraph Ave. On the way, notice large herd of goats on the side of the road. Stop to, um . . . smell the goats-es. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
The goats are actually a mobile fire-prevention team. There are like two hundred goats in this herd, and they are moved around to different areas of the Oakland Hills for a few days at a time. While they are in place, they are given strict orders to eat every piece of vegetation in sight. They swallow up all of the dry grass and make Oakland and Berkeley safe from raging firestorms. That'll do, goat. That'll do.
1.) Drive Skyline Blvd. over to Berkeley and Telegraph Ave. On the way, notice large herd of goats on the side of the road. Stop to, um . . . smell the goats-es. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
The goats are actually a mobile fire-prevention team. There are like two hundred goats in this herd, and they are moved around to different areas of the Oakland Hills for a few days at a time. While they are in place, they are given strict orders to eat every piece of vegetation in sight. They swallow up all of the dry grass and make Oakland and Berkeley safe from raging firestorms. That'll do, goat. That'll do.
2.) Proceed to Telegraph Ave., soak up some
Berkeley culture, and eat lunch at Smart Alec's.
Smart Alec's is a really good little cafe-restaurant with a mostly-vegan menu. Great soups, salads, sandwiches, and smoothies. Telegraph Ave. is kind of the main drag next to UC Berkeley. Lots of colorful shops (and people) to see.
3.) Drive to Muir Woods.
Busy day at Muir Woods. As it turns out, the walk from our parking spot was longer than the trail itself. And no gigantic trees to look at. The park was beautiful, as always, though. We took lots and lots and lots of pictures. Leigh Ann wore her floppy straw hat (I'm told it's because she was on vacation, and it's not officially vacation unless she wears the hat. Or goes on a boat. Or flies in an airplane. Or gets up early every day and goes to bed when it gets dark. Or eats at nice restaurants. Or . . . well, you get the picture.)
4.) Head for San Francisco. Try again to look at the Golden Gate Bridge.
Sigh. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. This time. we drove over the bridge, and still couldn't see it. I mean, we could see the road beneath us, but not much else. John and Leigh Ann both agreed that they had seen enough of the bridge to piece together in their minds what it must look like.
Here's the best view we saw:
5.) Drive through the city to Haight-Ashbury. Look at the hippies.
Not much to report here. Mostly window-shopping. I do believe we saw some hippies, but they are harder to pick out of a crowd nowadays. I especially liked the little Jerry Garcia dolls you can buy. And did you know that the corner of Haight and Ashbury -- once the center of free love in this country -- now sports a Ben and Jerry's scoop shop and The Gap? My, how times have changed.
6.) Drive to the Castro. Explore. Eat dinner.
The Castro is really a wonderful place to visit. Like I said before, everyone should see it. It's kind of the center of gay and lesbian expression in this country. Maybe even the world. Rainbow flags everywhere. Lots of beautiful and tasteful shops. Great restaurants. Bars, clubs, etc. But most of all, it's a great chance for straight people to feel like a minority for once in their life.
By this time in the day, Corey had finished with work and was able to meet us. We walked around for a bit, then found a nice place for dinner. It was really nice finally having him there. I had started to feel a little like a third wheel, not because of anything John and Leigh Ann were doing, but well, because John was getting to share the most important person in his life with me, and I wasn't getting to do the same. We'll definitely need to fix that next time.
7.) See Seabiscuit: the movie.
It was a nice way to cap off the day, but I suspect it was pushing it a little for all of us. It was already very late, and we were already very tired. (Still haven't figured that part out, but I suspect it had something to do with all of the walking and climbing and driving and eating and shopping and goat-watching and tree-staring and house-ogling we did all day.) Anyway, I wrote a review of it, which you can find here.
8.) Sleep, sleep, sleep. Have nightmares about the first day of school.
And that about covers it. Taking them to the airport today at about noon. Then, I'll spend the rest of the day working on a sermon for tomorrow.
Talk to you later.
-Doug
Smart Alec's is a really good little cafe-restaurant with a mostly-vegan menu. Great soups, salads, sandwiches, and smoothies. Telegraph Ave. is kind of the main drag next to UC Berkeley. Lots of colorful shops (and people) to see.
3.) Drive to Muir Woods.
Busy day at Muir Woods. As it turns out, the walk from our parking spot was longer than the trail itself. And no gigantic trees to look at. The park was beautiful, as always, though. We took lots and lots and lots of pictures. Leigh Ann wore her floppy straw hat (I'm told it's because she was on vacation, and it's not officially vacation unless she wears the hat. Or goes on a boat. Or flies in an airplane. Or gets up early every day and goes to bed when it gets dark. Or eats at nice restaurants. Or . . . well, you get the picture.)
4.) Head for San Francisco. Try again to look at the Golden Gate Bridge.
Sigh. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. This time. we drove over the bridge, and still couldn't see it. I mean, we could see the road beneath us, but not much else. John and Leigh Ann both agreed that they had seen enough of the bridge to piece together in their minds what it must look like.
Here's the best view we saw:
5.) Drive through the city to Haight-Ashbury. Look at the hippies.
Not much to report here. Mostly window-shopping. I do believe we saw some hippies, but they are harder to pick out of a crowd nowadays. I especially liked the little Jerry Garcia dolls you can buy. And did you know that the corner of Haight and Ashbury -- once the center of free love in this country -- now sports a Ben and Jerry's scoop shop and The Gap? My, how times have changed.
6.) Drive to the Castro. Explore. Eat dinner.
The Castro is really a wonderful place to visit. Like I said before, everyone should see it. It's kind of the center of gay and lesbian expression in this country. Maybe even the world. Rainbow flags everywhere. Lots of beautiful and tasteful shops. Great restaurants. Bars, clubs, etc. But most of all, it's a great chance for straight people to feel like a minority for once in their life.
By this time in the day, Corey had finished with work and was able to meet us. We walked around for a bit, then found a nice place for dinner. It was really nice finally having him there. I had started to feel a little like a third wheel, not because of anything John and Leigh Ann were doing, but well, because John was getting to share the most important person in his life with me, and I wasn't getting to do the same. We'll definitely need to fix that next time.
7.) See Seabiscuit: the movie.
It was a nice way to cap off the day, but I suspect it was pushing it a little for all of us. It was already very late, and we were already very tired. (Still haven't figured that part out, but I suspect it had something to do with all of the walking and climbing and driving and eating and shopping and goat-watching and tree-staring and house-ogling we did all day.) Anyway, I wrote a review of it, which you can find here.
8.) Sleep, sleep, sleep. Have nightmares about the first day of school.
And that about covers it. Taking them to the airport today at about noon. Then, I'll spend the rest of the day working on a sermon for tomorrow.
Talk to you later.
-Doug
Posted: Sat - August 2, 2003 at 09:52 AM
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Published On: Jan 02, 2005 10:40 PM
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