Fog City

Ah, to blog again! Since writing last we have completed the northern californian leg of our itinerary and I am currently sitting, typing and eating my cream cheese bagel in the lobby of our kitschy 1950's hotel. We spent a good deal of our time in san fran (apparently the locals HATE abbreviations, but that ain't going to stop me) commuting between the city and the abode of our good friend Mr Riley Harrison's abode in Santa Rosa, about an hour further north in the sonoma valley. I also spent a good deal of time in san fran wondering whether the lovely hale pua, a 1982 camper with automatic transmission whose performance in cold weather could be best described as "gutless", would make it up those steep city streets. Cold weather, you ask? Well, yes, much to our surprise San Francisco, even in summer, is a pretty chilly place - shrouded in fog for much of the day and constantly defying my attempts to keep warm (admittedly my only winter clothes are jeans, a hoodie, and a crows scarf). Methinks some warm clothes shopping may be in order pre-montreal! Thankfully santa rosa was kinder to us with her dry heat and south-australia like parched environment, and thus my golden cairns hue is slowly returning.

Despite her cold, san francisco was a lovely place, full of charm and umpteen houses which I could have gawked at day in and day out. Stunning views (admittedly hazy at times) were a dime a dozen, and golden gate park was a lovely touch to the inner-city urban environment. So much so that one arvo when spud and i decided to abandon hale pua roadside and have a little kip in the park, we awoke, heavily disoriented, about 2 hours later. The other noteworthy occurence in golden gate park was our musical interlude at outside lands festival - Radiohead, Regina Spektor and Primus being the standouts. I think, however, that most of my elation was reserved for when Riley's housemate - non-english speaking and newly arrived from france - actually turned up at our 'meeting point' at the agreed time, having strode confidently off from the fold to see manu chao (sp?) It seems that all his blank looks and vacant stares were nothing to worry about after all.

The food situation has been an interesting one. We have, on the basis of others' recommendations, tried a couple of take away outlets which have been ok. Taco Bell, Carl's Jr, Wendy' and Jack in the Box proliferate, far moreso than macca's. There are mexican options EVERYWHERE (often along with down-on-their-luck mexicans loitering nearby) and we each had a delicious burrito in santa rosa which was about the size of a newborn baby. We have also had some reasonable indian and italian, but by far the most exciting dining choice has been perusing the aisles of local supermarkets which are OVERLOADED with options. My favourite is the "whole foods market" which has a huge make-your-own-salads section, tables and free wif-fi. But to its credit, we rocked up to a newly-opened safeway yesterday and almost devoured a full meal via product tasting stations. Spud has thus far shied away from alcohol post-illness, but it is mega cheap - regular 750ml-1lt bottles of spirits seem to retail at less than 20 dollars each.

Off to a driving overview of Santa Monica/Bev Hills/LA today (having had a quick gander already, much of central LA holds little appeal on account of cheesy tourism and/or slummish apearance), then we head to the much-heralded, fluorescent-lit plastic world of (adult) pretend - Vegas!

Tonk xxx

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