We took a picture to post to Dan's blog- he's the owner of Hippo Hands- at the Donner Summit rest area. Temperature- about 25*. From there we descended into Auburn and shed a few layers. By shed, I mean our neck gators and heavy mittens. A stop for bike fuel and human fuel- mmmm- Jimboy Taocs!
We made a final push and pulled into the Travelodge on Lombard St. at about 4pm. Oddly enough, as I hit send texting Winn to let him know we'd arrived, he pulled in on the BMW. Uncanny, his ability to discern from our Donner Summit post when we'd arrive. We had a Buckbean Black Noddy (local brew from Reno), a shot of Cake and headed out to walk the Kew and decide on dinner. We saw Bobos next door... steak and crab... we are IN! Delish! Back to the room for a nightcap and swapping our cool iPad apps... what geeks!
Christmas I am up early. After unsuccessfully trying to post Talking Carl singing to all my friends, I head out with the Kew up Lombard St. And I mean UP! But we are rewarded with that crazy block of bricked switchbacks and a grip of foreign tourists. How odd it must be to live in a house on that block...
From there, we head to the Wharf and Ghiardelli Square in search of a good cup of coffee. I could go on and on about how deplorable it is that hotels do not usually have good coffee unless it is a REALLY expensive hotel... I mean really... how hard is a decent cup of coffee to produce? We do it every morning... But I digress... We will be successful if we wait around about half an hour. We wander the beach a bit...
Ghiardelli does not disappoint. I walk in and get a piece of peppermint bark, order a latte and get a chocolate croissant (which comes with a free cup of coffee- how will I carry all this home? I shove the croissant in my sweatshirt pocket, hook the Kew to my belt and away we go. Not too bad...)
The rest of the pack is sitting on the patio contemplating their navels. We opt for the egg special next door and it does not disappoint. Winn is correct so far- there is no bad food in SF. The potatoes are delicious and the chef comes out to yell, good-naturedly, at Gosh when he asks for ketchup.
And so we get geared up to ride. First, we head up Lombard St. ... Along with several million other tourists... Man! Starting and stopping on that hill is ABSURD! I roll back before I go forward and make Gosh nervous. Ha! I wasn't nervous... He says I rolled 4' backwards but I say it was more like 1-2'. Mind you, he was so concerned about me that he didn't mention anything about struggling his own bad self...
Lots more tourists now than earlier and now they are in cars, too. And everyone is taking pictures. We pretty much walked the bikes down the hill... it was pretty cool. And again, I wonder if I would like to be living in one of those homes...
Right, back to the ride... We take off to the beach and ride along all the piers, then off to Half Moon Bay. The ride along Skyline is really fun! Redwoods, the smell of eucalyptus, and twisty-turnys make me happy! We stop at Alice's Restaurant (closed), chat with a scooter gang a minute, and listen as Winn points out all the good rides in about 5 different directions. From there we head up the coast on Route 1. A beautiful ride!
Winn decides to take a break and we take Kew for a walk through Fort Mason and down to the Wharf. It is sunset and beautiful!
Winn promises the best Chinese food at The House of Nanking. We arrive to a very long line and Gosh runs over to the convenient store for a few beers to keep us busy and we make friends with the folks in front of us. They are all riders and we swap stories and laughter as we wait to be seated.
I have no idea what we order- I leave it to the boys. When it comes out, there are scallops, beef, chicken and sweet potatoes. We are not disappointed... this food is fabulous!
Our final morning, the Gosh, the Kew, Winn and I head back up Lombard St. and back to the Wharf. We pass the Buena Vista but can't take Kewpie in so we wander to Ghiardelli Square and Lori's Diner allows us to bring Kewpie in as a "comfort animal". More delicious food and we check out, head to the Buena Vista for an Irish coffee (OMG! This is a MUST!) and part company for our ride home.
Not a bad way to spend Christmas...
