Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates

  Well loyal readers, it's coming up on two weeks since we arrived in Surrey and we're finally getting out and doing stuff now that the car is fixed and most of our clothing has been replaced. It turns out we're located in South Surrey which is only a few blocks from White Rock, so we started our explorations at White Rock Beach, at low tide:

  White Rock is named for, wait for it, The White Rock (photo not mine):

  We continued our wanderings and happened upon Crescent Beach which is a ten minute drive from our front door. Bonus. We also happened upon The World's Best Gelato. Score. What a great afternoon!

  As promised, on Wednesday we saw Oppenheimer on the IMAX screen and it was terrific. We later found out we were part of a select few since there are only thirty theatres in the world capable of showing the film in its original 70 mm form. Apparently, tickets in California were being sold for as much as $500 each. The movie was very good but, if someone offered me $500 per ticket... SOLD!

  Later that evening we decided to go see some local baseball so we ventured to old Nat Bailey Stadium in the city to see the Vancouver Canadians, the Blue Jays High A level minor league farm team. On the way, Penny captured another in a series of Very Large Objects:

... then it was on to the ballpark.

  It's a great old time ballpark and the Canadians are having a good season so it was an entertaining time and, for some, very entertaining:

  We even guessed the correct answer to the trivia contest but some woman whose sister is married to the owner's brother's gardener won. Cheaters. Anyway, it was a good game (the good guys won) and a beautiful evening for a ball game.

  Thursday was reserved for golf and we had a very pleasant nine holes at a course also only ten minutes from our front door, right next to Crescent Beach. What a great neighbourhood 😉.

  Friday was back to the beach, with Makita in tow, for some walking and sunning. It was all good until some heathen decided it would be a good time to cook up some hot dogs on the hibachi. "Do you smell hot dogs?", I asked Penny. "Yep", was followed by, "How come we didn't bring food?", which was followed by, "Is there a hot dog stand around here?", which was followed by, "Nope", which was followed by us packing dog, chairs and bodies into the hot car and high-tailing it back home for lunch. We'll come up with a better plan next time.

  Yesterday we went with David and Michele to Canada Place, on the Vancouver waterfront, to see Fly Over Canada, which is an interactive multimedia attraction where the seats move to maximize the effect of the aerial photography making you feel like you're flying. We took the Skytrain into the city, finding it fairly cheap and efficient and a great alternative to traffic, stress and high parking fees, much like San Francisco (are you listening Toronto?). We spent some time wandering around:

  As we were at the waterfront we managed to see a couple of photo-worthy scenes, first, the Olympic Cauldron from the 2010 Winter Games:

... then there was the giant 3D orca which appeared to be made from Lego:

... and finally, representative of Vancouver's weather, the Giant Drip:

  Finally, it was time for the actual event. We were booked for two trips, Fly Over Canada and Windborne: Call of the Canadian Rockies. Now, those of you who know me know I don't get along with roller coasters or roller coaster-like contraptions. I have negative biological reactions to the kinds of things that cause most people to laugh, scream and experience joyfulness on such rides. My sister-in-law assured me this thing was not going to bother me although, to be fair, I'm sure she didn't know about my issues.

  We entered for the first show and, honestly, it wasn't bad. There were a couple of scenes where I had to close my eyes before my dinner surfaced but it was ok, overall, making me comfortable about the experience. That may have been a mistake.

  The second show was produced with the express purpose of making the viewer feel like one with the Rocky Mountains and, as we flew up, up, up to the crest of a 12,000 foot peak I just knew where this was going. Over the top into the Great Nothingness we flew and it was all I could do to keep dinner where it belonged. Okay, I thought, that wasn't too bad. Silly me.

  The next scene, which was only far enough removed from the first for my dinner to get partway back down, had us barrelling down into a river valley surrounded by glaciers then up over another peak into more nothingness. That was it. Eyes closed. Focus. Calming breaths. Grip the armrest as hard as you can. Think about something else like... not dinner.

  I think I managed to open my eyes for a total of thirty seconds. Not bad, considering the film took somewhere between twenty minutes and eternity to complete. By the time it was done I'm sure I was some unhealthy shade of grey but dinner did stay where it was supposed to, so that's a small victory. To my grandchildren, THIS is why I don't go on roller coasters.

  It was a beautiful evening, my digestive tract aside, and Michele finished things off by presenting me with her homemade chocolate and chocolate and chocolate and espresso brownies. I say "me" because they're full of sugar and Penny can't do sugar. Pity.

  Now, you may be wondering why this episode refers to a famous quote from Forrest Gump. This morning we met a very nice couple and their dog and they invited us to look after him and their house for three weeks. Of course, we met them on the Internet where young people like us make all our social connections. The connection to the Gumpian quote is, the house is in Alabama and the wife's name is Jenny. No, it's not in Greenbow, it's in Mobile and, if you've read the book you'll know that's really where Forrest Gump lived. It's also where Jimmy Buffett grew up so party time Parrotheads!

  Anyway, we're booked there from Oct. 20 to Nov. 11 and it sounds like a great area to see. Next, we'll try to fill the remaining month before we head north for Christmas.

Rainy Day Musings

   If you've been following our adventures you'll know we haven't seen rain since May 30. Dry, drier, driest. When we arrived in Surrey, BC we found this normally damp area hadn't seen rain in a month. Well, the spell was broken yesterday and we marveled at water falling from the sky. "What is this?", we said as we stared in awe out the window. Penny took it as a sign that the two months' worth of dirt the car has accumulated should be washed off so she took her umbrella and a rag and off she went. Rain again today so it's time to catch up.

  It's going on a week since we arrived and we've spent most of that time shopping for new clothes, getting the car fixed, getting to know Makita and the neighbourhood, etc. It's not like we've been doing nothing, just not much that was noteworthy.

  It turns out Makita is not the untrained dog we were led to expect. She's very intelligent and remembers a lot of the "failed" training the owners told us about. It took me two days before I had her sitting before crossing the road and going on runs with me in a very well-mannered fashion. Now, she's best buddies with Penny and I and, if it wasn't for amount of fur she sheds, I'd happily get a Bernese like her.

  On Friday we got together with David (Penny's brother) and Michele, whom we hadn't seen since they moved west three years ago. Penny and Michele went clothes shopping for the afternoon and we all had dinner when the stores were emptied. It was nice to see them again and I'm sure we'll visit a few times before we move on next month.

  As my kids will tell you I've always thought it would be cool to go to Walla Walla, WA and visit the Wal-Mart. I mean, who doesn't want to say they went to the Walla Walla Wal-Mart? Sad to say, Walla Walla was about 250 miles out of our way so that will have to remain a dream. When I was grocery shopping for Friday night's dinner I did happen upon this:

That's as close as I'll get this time around 😏.

  As part of our neighbourhood exploration we drove around White Rock and Surrey Saturday, checking out the local beaches. Crescent Beach looks like a nice spot to hang out, do some hiking, etc. and we'll explore that further when the weather improves. We did manage to have The World's Best Gelato there although they couldn't satisfy my craving for a corn dog. Bastards.

  Sunday was the date I'd long ago circled on the calendar -- the Blue Jays game in Seattle. We, along with about 30,000 other Canadians, flooded downtown Seattle to cheer on our heroes. They'd lost the first two games of the series Friday and Saturday so they were in desperate need of our support.

  With two-thirds of the ballpark wearing Blue Jay Blue the thunderous roar that accompanied their seventh inning rally sent chills through us. We'd experienced something close to this last year when we visited Pittsburgh with 10,000 other Toronto fans but this was something else. It was like being in Toronto... but not. I'm sure the Mariners' fans hate us for taking over their ballpark but I'll bet they like the money we spend there, just the same.

  Regarding the ballpark itself, in a word, disappointing. Architecturally, it's impressive in a sort of steampunk kind of way, all iron and rivets.

  It just seems like they shoehorned too many seats into it. The concourses were so tight it was near impossible to move at times and there was little room for food concessions, forcing many of them to locate beyond the centre field fence making for frustratingly long treks for eats. The food was nothing to write home about either, and very expensive. Anyway, it was a fun game and I knocked another ballpark off the bucket list. In September we'll hit the ballparks in Minneapolis and Milwaukee, leaving only ten ballparks I haven't visited.

  Tomorrow, we're off to see Oppenheimer in the IMAX theatre and the beach beckons Thursday. We expect to do another food tour in Vancouver and I'm sure we'll come up with lots of other interesting things to occupy us here on Canada's Left Coast. TTFN 😎.

Halfway

  Today marks the halfway mark of our trip. We left Newmarket May 29 and tomorrow marks Day 55 of our 110 day trip, so I figured it was a good time to review some highlights and answer the $64,000 question: Do we like this?

  First, here's an illustration of where we've been the past 8 weeks:

  According to the trusty Hyundai, we've traveled about 9,000 km so far... and we've got a long way to go. Along the way we've had many great experiences and, if you haven't read all the episodes, I'll point you to the highlights (the links will open new windows so you don't lose your place):

• US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH
• Uranus, MO
  
• All of New Mexico
• Exploring Prescott Valley, AZ
  
• Titan Missile Silo
  
• Sedona, AZ
  
• Antelope Canyon and Driving to San Francisco
  
• San Francisco on My Birthday
  
• Day 1 and Days 2/3 of the drive to Vancouver

  It hasn't all been wonderful, as you faithful readers know, but it's certainly been memorable. I think we could have missed out on the break-in and flat tire parts of the trip but the rest was all good.

  From the discussions Penny and I have had over the past few weeks I think it's safe to say we will continue to do this house sitting thing once this trip is done. It satisfies our need to roam and explore at a very low cost. It allows us to have pets, if only for a short time each. We get to experience places so much more fully than when we travel conventionally. There's no rushing to see the next thing on the list, no living out of a suitcase and a minimum of tourist rip-offs.

  It's been difficult being away from home for so long without seeing our family and friends but we still have another eight weeks to go on this trip. More adventures await us, new places to see and experience, new people and pets to meet. We're still excited for what comes next and eagerly awaiting the day we get home. It's all a bit bittersweet but I know you'll follow along for the rest of this long ride. As always, stay tuned!

And Then Another Thing Happened

   When we last spoke our day started off horribly and finished well; we were planning to hit a couple of Triple D restaurants in Portland on Monday. Well, with no dog to wake us we slept in Monday morning and didn't hit the road until almost 10 am so lunch in Portland was out. Instead, we headed up the Oregon coast and found some of the most spectacular scenery ever. Penny and I were seriously considering buying a house there, that's how beautiful it was. I know photos can't capture a lot of this stuff, but I'll try. These shots were taken near Brookings, OR:

  Around every bend for about three hours was another fantastic viewpoint. We were also constantly reminded we were in a volcanic/earthquake zone:

  One of the more spectacular sights was a place called Thor's Well, where seawater would boil up from underneath and drain just as quickly:

  We completed Monday's travels in Portland with the expectation Tuesday would be an easy day punctuated by some Atlas Obscura oddities and a return to Canada. Well, that was wishful thinking 😟.

  Tuesday started ok with a decent cup of coffee and a tasty breakfast. We had planned to drive east from Portland to see Multnomah Falls, which was hyped as a very impressive waterfall that we just had to see. We drove the twenty miles only to find that, jaded and experienced travelers that we are, it's just another waterfall. Scenic, but nothing to write home about... but I am writing home about it... anyway, we left.

  On the way back to Portland we searched out a good place to take a picture of Mt. Hood but that proved to be impossible since it was either blocked by trees or only visible while going 70 mph on a freeway. Penny managed to get this while I sat half on a road with traffic stopped behind me at a traffic light:

  After that, it was back to a traffic-choked Portland. Slow traffic everywhere and lots more homeless encampments which were more depressing than those we saw around San Francisco. Apparently the west coast attracts the homeless due to the pleasant weather. Anyway, we managed to get a couple of local oddities for our collection, like another Paul Bunyan:

... and a salmon... in a wall...

  We left Portland in the rear view mirror and headed to the Great White North. Once we'd crossed into Washington state we saw signs pointing to Mt. St. Helens so our curiosity took us off the interstate for a bit so we could do the tourist thing:

  The left side of the mountain is where the eruption blew open in 1980. We didn't get closer as it involved a fifty mile detour and we were aiming at Vancouver for late afternoon so we beat feet outta there back to I-5. That was the end of our fun for the day because, once we were on the interstate again Another Thing Happened (see the way I got the title in there?).

  Throughout our trip I've been saying things like, "No, we can't drive on that rocky road because our tires are wearing out and they'll break.", and Penny's been thinking I'm such a drag. So, we're driving on pavement and hit a break in the slab that results in a jarring thump and next thing I know I'm saying, "Does the road feel really rough here?" Well friends, the road was just fine, thank you very much. The right front tire? Not so much. The sidewall blew out on both sides of the wheel.

  There we were on a very narrow shoulder on the side of one of the busiest interstate highways in the country, unable to open a door and unable to drive. A call to AAA and a tow truck was dispatched but not before a nice highway patrol officer pulled up behind us to inform us we had to vacate that spot else she'd have us towed. So, we limped a couple of hundred yards along the shoulder to the next exit without breaking the wheel then had a nice chat with her.

  She was curious about our Ontario license plates, not knowing where that was. When we told her it was a Canadian province she was baffled. "I've seen lots of British Columbia plates and I thought that was all of Canada", she said with a smile. And this is from a resident of a border state. We would have expected this from someone in Alabama or Arkansas but Washington? Sheesh.

  Anyway, three hours and $880 USD later we had a new set of four tires from Les Schwab and we were back on the road. We arrived in Surrey, BC a few hours later than planned, but we're here. I'm booked into an auto glass shop for Friday morning to get the window replaced and we're waiting on the insurance company to approve a shopping spree to replace our clothing, etc.

  Finally, meet Makita:

  She's a Bernese Mountain Dog and the picture doesn't convey how big she is, about 24" tall and weighs about 100 lbs. This is a fat dog. And, largely, untrained. We're gonna have some fun here 😂. Stay tuned.

We Were Tired of Those Clothes Anyway

   So, you're probably saying to yourself, "He just wrote a new episode yesterday. Doesn't he have anything better to do?" Let me explain.

  As I wrote yesterday, we were hitting the road to Vancouver first thing this morning and I put our suitcases in the car last night so we'd be ready to go. When I walked out of the house this morning, this is what I found:

  Our suitcases, which had been in the back seat due to the trunk being full of golf clubs, folding chairs, sleeping bags and a bag of charcoal (don't ask), were gone. Of course, you curious reader were about to ask, what about the stuff in the trunk? Were our clubs gone? Was our camping gear gone? Nope and nope. The glovebox was undisturbed too. They broke the window and grabbed our bags and left the rest. Idiots.

  Now, they're lucky we did laundry yesterday else they'd be the proud owners of 10 days worth of dirty clothes. Instead, they'll be happily down in some tent city trading my freshly laundered underwear for a baggie of weed.

  Anyway, after a friendly chat with a police officer and some plastic and duct tape courtesy of our host we were good to go. Since it was Sunday I figured on waiting until Monday morning to talk to the insurance company.

  Our first stop was to find some emergency togs to get us through until we hit Canada. No point in replacing this stuff in US dollars. Costco was helpful, except neither of us needed 16 pair of socks. We picked up a few things and figured to hit a Wal-Mart for socks later in the day.

  We headed north through the Sonoma Valley, gradually angling our way to the Pacific Coast. Our first stop was at the famous tree you can drive your car through. I mean, who doesn't want to drive a car through a tree. Hands up anyone who's tried this except the tree didn't have a hole cut in it? Anyway, for only $15, I drove through it; cheaper than driving through the one without a hole I say.

  Our next stop was Eureka which, everyone knows, is what Archimedes screamed when he found socks in Wal-Mart. In we marched in search of hosiery when, to my astonishment, I found all the men's socks, underwear, jeans... you name it, under lock and key in glass cabinets. What fresh hell is this, I thought. First some asshole steals my socks then I'm going to be treated like a criminal because I want to buy new ones? Not this guy. Bu-bye Wal-Mart. Maybe we'll stop at the Walla Walla Wal-Mart (God, I love saying that) or I'll just go sockless until we get to Canada, like Paul McCartney on the Abbey Road cover.

  Of we went, sockless, leaving that despicable burg behind us. Now the Pacific Ocean appeared beside miles of untouched beach and beckoned us to dip our toes into its icy clutches.

Off came the shoes and the jeans got rolled up and off I went:

  Yes, it was low tide but apparently that doesn't preclude monstrous, jeans-soaking rogue waves.

  They're almost dry now, thanks for asking.

  Further up the road we entered the Redwood Forest National Park and Penny spotted these elk, just hangin' out near the road:

  It's strange how those roadside warning signs always show elk jumping onto the road but never do they depict them sitting around like a bunch of guys drinking beers around a poker table. Oh well. We hung around a bit to see if they would endanger us by jumping onto the road but nothing. Onward we ventured into the redwoods:

  Our last stop was required because... Paul Bunyan. Now, I thought ol' Paul was a Minnesota thing (see the Coen brothers' "Fargo") but he and Babe the Blue Ox seems to appear wherever there are forests. I know there's another in Oregon and we'll likely see him in Minnesota so here's the first in a series of Paul Bunyans:

  We finished our day in Crescent City, CA and had a wonderful Thai dinner so a day that started horribly finished in spectacular fashion. Tomorrow we're off to Portland, OR in search of a few Atlas Obscura oddities. We've also decided that, since it's one of Guy Fieri's favourite cities we'll try to eat lunch and dinner at Triple D places. If you're not familiar with "Triple D" look it up on the Google thingie. Until next time, here's hoping things are just a bit less exciting from here on out.

Birthday Stuff

   Hey gang. Just when you thought you'd seen enough of my lunatic travel ravings, I'm baaaack. Today is Saturday so what better place to start this than Thursday as it comes before Saturday and... well, it comes before Saturday. Sigh.

  For my birthday (thank you) the kids chipped in and bought us the night tour at Alcatraz so we headed down to the waterfront to spend the afternoon and grab a bite beforehand. We've studiously avoided the "touristy" parts of SF on this trip since Penny and I have been here before and thought there wouldn't be much that was new to us. Were we ever wrong! First, the wharf area has completely changed since the 1989 earthquake and it's a huge improvement. No longer is the area overrun with expressways and overpasses. It's bright and open and welcoming... and windy.

  The Alcatraz tour is new and improved since we were last there 30-something years ago and it was interesting, disturbing and illuminating. I know modern prisons don't resemble Alcatraz but the idea of being locked in a place like that should make anyone think twice before doing something that would land you there. Anyway, here's a couple of pics for those of you who've not seen The Rock:

Since the National Park Service took it over they've strived to keep it authentic, even recreating the signage painted by the Indian occupation in the early 70's.

  Friday, Penny set us up with a food tour in the Mission District. We agreed to meet in front of the Pirate Supply Store at 826 Valencia. Unfortunately, it was closed but we did manage to read the notices in front of the door while we waited for our guide (click on the picture and expand it to read them):

  A short while later we met up with Spud Hilton, a travel writer and long-time resident of the neighbourhood. Although we were supposed to be in a group tour, it turned out Penny and I were alone so we got a private tour, echoes of our time in the backcountry in Kruger National Park last year. Spud spent the next three hours leading us through a series of excellent Latin eating establishments and bakeries all while regaling us with stories of neighbourhood history along with personal experiences that kept us enthralled and smiling.

  A large part of the Mission's character is represented in murals. They're everywhere and, if you've spent time in Latin America, an integral part of these communities. There is a group that curates the murals, ensuring the creators maintain them to avoid these walls becoming repositories for random graffiti artists, etc. Many of them carry social and political messages, reflecting the deep social conscience present in this area.

... and this one of local boy Carlos Santana reminded Spud of an interesting story...

  Those of you who enjoy Mexican food are familiar with burritos and likely think of them as large and overstuffed with the kitchen sink. Back in the 70's they were much smaller because traditional tortillas will only hold a small amount of meat, beans and cheese. This restaurant, in an effort to satisfy their customers' demand for meals they could eat on the run, wanted a larger version that would hold more stuffing. Enter Carlos' brother, Jorge, who was hired to make a new, large tortilla and, poof, the modern burrito was born.

  If you know the SF street art scene you'll be familiar with fnnch who's become infamous for painting various versions of his honey bear around the city for the past few years:

  Well, it seems he's gone somewhat mainstream and here's one of his pieces, commissioned at a bar right across from the SFPD (note the swizzle stick):

  Anyway, our tour was over too soon and we bade a fond farewell to Spud. What a great host and ambassador to SF. A terrific time was had by all and we left knowing a whole lot more and feeling like we'd like to get to know SF a little bit better in the future.

  With a full afternoon of food and drink in us we went off to see the new Mission Impossible at the IMAX theatre Friday night and it lived up to the hype... a thrill a minute. On the way there we did happen upon this place:

... and these guys:

... another example of how you're never far from the movie biz in California.

  Today is our last day here so we're cleaning. The owner returns this evening and we hit the road for Vancouver first thing in the morning. Stay tuned for our next round of adventures!

Bits and Pieces

   Well, it's Wednesday. Penny asked me if I'd written anything recently and, well, no, so here I am. I had a look and saw my readership is down 40% this past week. If I was in a for-profit situation it would be time to shut the doors and lay everyone off. Alas, I'm not, so I'll assume a) people are off in the beautiful summer sunshine and don't have time to read, or b) there's a worldwide Internet slowdown and people don't have enough bandwidth to devote to my musings or c) I've become uninteresting and people found something else to look at. I'll assume c) so I'll try to liven things up.

  In that vein, rather than start off with the travelogue-y things I've been writing about I thought I'd discuss the more mundane house-sitting-y things we've been up to. For example, I've done  laundry (twice) since we arrived. The "pack everything you need into a carry on bag even though you'll be away 3 1/2 months" thing works well as long as you wash things regularly. Check.

  We've grocery shopped more times than I'm comfortable with although, as I mentioned earlier, we spent some of that time trying to find a supermarket where we didn't feel like criminals. Mission accomplished. We found a place called "Lucky". Really. I'm not sure if it's Asian-owned as "lucky" shows up in Asian-owned businesses frequently. It might be an homage to Dirty Harry ("do you feel lucky punk?") since we're in the San Francisco area. Who knows? What I do know is this market was everything we were looking for. Everything was priced. Yes. Previous experience around here says that's unusual. It's weird how special it can be to know how much the cheese costs. We're only here another three days so I'm glad we knocked that off our list. I hate unfulfilled aspirations.

  Then there's the dog. You've met Zoe in an earlier episode. She's cute and friendly and furry and smart and... so goddamned annoying. She and I formed a concrete bond the first day we met. I'm her human. Penny exists in her universe only when she gets food, otherwise, I'm her human.

  I follow all the owner's instructions to the letter. First thing in the morning, open the back door to let her out to pee. Check. Feed her once she comes back in. Check. Take her for a twenty-minute walk along a predefined route around 8 am so she can poop in the same place every day. Check. Walk her again late afternoon, same route. Check. Feed her after her walk. Check. At 10:30 pm move her crate from the office to our bedroom and she will go into it on her own, then close the door. Check. Wait. Uncheck that. She won't go into her crate for love nor money. That's where we were ten days ago.

  Since then, I tried putting the crate into the owner's bedroom. She went in and I closed the door. Ten minutes later the barking started. Out she came and I let her out for the night. An hour later she jumps on our bed, then she jumps off the bed. Are we awake yet? No? Back on the bed. Back off the bed. Awake now? Good. No sleep for you.

  Next night the crate stays in the office. She goes in and I close the door. Same result except no bed-jumping because I'm smart and closed our door. That worked until she started barking at 5 am. We've tried various permutations and combinations without success. Last night was the worst. I didn't bother with the crate and she went nuts, barking at raccoons at 1 am. I put her in the crate, closed the door, closed the office door, closed our door. There. Quiet... for an hour then more barking. Out of the office and barking again at 4:30. No sleep for you.

  Penny was talking with our granddaughter, Zoey (with a "Y"), and she suggested covering the crate with a blanket. Today's experiment. Otherwise, aside from this place having the world's smallest TV and no microwave and the weather being mainly windy and cool, this is paradise.

  On to travel-y things. Sunday, we went for a five-mile hike. Atlas Obscura said there was an old Nike missile emplacement on top of the hills behind us and that an artist had sculpted some large cats that he'd placed there. Sounded like just our kind of thing so off we went. Since we had to get to the top of the hills it was mostly uphill.

Crazy. Of course, returning was downhill. I love the way that worked out. It was a very nice hike but no cats. Just so you know what I'm talking about, here's what we expected to find:

  Yesterday we went off for an excursion to the Big City, having mostly avoided it since we arrived. We started by driving to San Anselmo on the west side of the bay north of SF. Why, you might ask. Well, it turns out George Lucas lived there in the 70's and wrote both Star Wars and Indiana Jones in that house. In fact, the first rough cut of Star Wars was screened in the local theatre. A few years ago, George, in appreciation of the town and its inhabitants, donated a small parcel of land which he called Imagination Park in the centre of town and commissioned these statues of Yoda and Indy:

  From there we made our way across a very foggy Golden Gate Bridge and headed west to Lands End. Those of you familiar with my travelling modus operandi know I can't resist going to the ends of the Earth. So we went.

  As you can see, the entrance to San Francisco Bay is dangerous and Lands End is known for the dozens of ships that have been wrecked along its rocky coast. Although a few wrecks are supposed to be visible at low tide, we didn't see them. We did see an unwrecked ship so that seemed like a good way to illustrate how foggy it was:

  After a brief drive south along the coast we turned our attention back to Atlas Obscura and found the 16th Street Tiled Staircase:

  Penny checked the grout joints when she took this picture and assures me it was done correctly and the stair heights are according to code. We ended our jaunt at Golden Gate park, spending a couple of hours wandering through the Botanical Gardens:

  Of note, during our day the temperature went up and down like a yo-yo. When we left Richmond in the morning it was 16C. San Anselmo, on the other side of the bay, was 21C. It was 12C when we crossed the Golden Gate and 16C at Lands End. We spent the afternoon at the park where it was 22C then we retraced our route north and east with temps going up to 28C north of the city and dropping back to 18C when we arrived home. No wonder it's always foggy here. Later.