Gambling in San Francisco

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Well....It was a gloomy day but as the rain had passed I decided to make an urban adventure. Natan was landing at the airport in 5 hours, so I knew I had enough time to do my old thing by pedals. Luckily, the Katz's daughter, Zora, had lent me her unused French road bike.

Throwing it in Natan's car, I headed to town, found the top of a hill, and parked. A good spot as there was only down hills surrounding me. I hopped on the old bike, and pedaled like a madman through town finding nice routes and eventually a quick tour of Golden Gate Park, featuring all sorts of sites I wouldn't expect in the USA from old gothic structures, to statues, and even a traditional Japanese tea garden. None of this much phased me, as I came to ride, and so I continued on, eventually finding my way to Baker's Beach, in the area of the Golden Gate. Finding another nice spot to read Hesse, I had a nice wet seat on the beach to enjoy the rhythm of the waves.

Moving on, knowing the sunlight is hardly liberal this time of year, I had a hard tough pump uphill to the mighty bridge. I took a picture, smiled at the tourists, and moved on, thus making my way down to the Marina: a long stretch of bicycle routes along the coast, followed by your standard Safeway. Getting back into the city, and doing some uphill madness again, I got myself lost heading towards downtown eventually arriving in Chinatown of some sort, as English was not the dominant language I heard. I found an ingenious hostel, The Green Tortoise, and spent time there helping in the kitchen, using the internet, meeting Germans, and asking questions as I hadn't seen a big group of travelers in a while. The sun had set, and I knew I had an unpleasantly long bike ride yet to get back to the car.

Once leaving Chinatown behind, I went through some crowded shopping districts, lights flashing, people buzzing, and tires spinning. I finally made it back to the steep hill and the car. Except the car was not there. After pedaling up the hill, I was a bit out of breath and was wondering if in my aggressive route, I had maybe mistaken the location. Thinking it over, I knew I hadn't. Also I noticed the No Parking sign near to where I was parking, as well as the garage I may have been in front of. So without further ado(or panic) I bothered the next friendly person I found(a woman carrying groceries into her apartment), and was aided to call the towing company, who easily identified an Iowa License Plate. The car hadn't even arrived yet, so it was a fresh pick apparently.

Getting the address, and knowing I still wanted to make it to the airport, I flew back down the hill, and across town finding the towing service eventually. I found the car quickly, and after dealing with some funny looks about my Iowan License, I hit the road jack.

Arriving at the airport surprisingly on time, I was forced to drive in circles and hide from the airport police, waiting for Natan. One could either pay the steep hourly parking fee or drive around the terminal, as you cannot wait without loading. Natan was quite late due to some lost luggage, and just before he arrived, one of the airport police man stopped me finally irate at my incessant cat and mouse game with him. He threatened me with a fine for the next time, and before he finished lecturing me, he asked what all those fines were on my windshield. Somehow I had failed to notice that before the towing, I was fined multiple times for as many excuses as the residents who called me in could find. That included being more than 18 inches from the curb, which I am sure they carry a tape measurer for.

So Natan and I enjoyed a nice gas station dinner(they actually have organics in some stops in California), and parted ways. He with the cursed car, and I with a bag of fines, a bicycle, and a BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit Ticket). I was happy to make it home without too much rain falling and before midnight.

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Photos

Inner City Peace
or so the ducks think...

Steep?
This camera doesn't have a realistic steep mode obviously....

The ride home
BARTing underground...