2nd day in SF

9/29/11

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We woke up and decided to continue our tour of San Francisco. We went to -The Haight- an area made famous in the 60's because it was the geographical center of the hippies movement. Specially in 1967 namely the -Summer of Love year- many college students converged here to participate of the this growing counterculture. A subculture characterized by peaceful dogma, cultural tolerance, drug use, psychedelic music, anti war beliefs and sexual freedom. Psychedelic bands like The grateful dead and Janis joplin lived in the area. I should mention that indeed The Greenwhic village in NY was another focal point for this movement, but many of the bands that played in Woodstock 69 (greater NY) came from the SF area. 

In the Haight of 2011 you can see the remains of that movement but unfortunately clogged by the branding/spending/capitalistic way of living of today.  First, we visited the Red Vic a bed and breakfast known for it's peaceful dogma and art. We had breakfast there. Next, we walk around and  I happened to stumble upon a Puerto Rican Restaurant appropriately named Parada 22, I had to take a picture. Next we walk around and had coffee. 

We then moved on to visit Castro, a historical gem for the LGBT movement in the 70's. Indeed The Castro is the largest gay village and one of the first ones to have formed. It all started when Harvey Milk opened his camera store at 575. He store grew to become a social center of acceptance to those with homosexual orientation. This led him to become a leader in gay activism and run to eventually be elected the first openly gay official in USA. His story is fascinating and I encourage everyone to read about him. There we walked and looked around and just absorbed the feeling of freedom in the place.

The last place we visited was the Fisherman's Wharf because we knew it was going to be super touristy but we heard it was a place to eat fish. Son we dwelt to the Codmother and had fish and chips for lunch. The we stroll a bit more and left to camp at the beach in Big Sur.

When we arrived to BS there were no campsites available so we had to go to another campground close by. We cooked an excellent meal, using an aluminum pouch and opened a bottle of wine called monogamy, rightly title to commemorate the start of our 7 year relationship the last weekend of September 2004. 

:)

San Fran's Forefront society

9/28/11

As you approach San Francisco, you can't help but to feel elevated to the highest states of what a human should strive to be ( or at least has been thought to think it, should be) I know it sounds a bit much but it is certainly true. The city has pioneered much of what is today's standards for green living and cultural tolerance. Furthermore, access to probably the best crops in the world and diverse demographics makes it a culinary  melting pot. Of course, I can't leave out excellent public transportation. 

So pretty much all I love (m)  culture, food and nature's ways. Unfortunately our pockets are too small to afford this city. The median salary of a family in SF is ~89,000. We learned that renting a room from a house where you live with other strangers in other rooms is $~850.

So, at the advise from our friend Drew we decided to explore the following parts of the city In 2 days,

Fillmore St.
Mission Neighborhood
China Town
Haight St.
Castro an
Fisherman's Wharf

Originally we meant to have breakfast at Fillmore St. but a typing mistake in Yelp (highly used in SF area) sent us to the ultra popular Mama's in Filbert St. It was Wednesday at 10am and there was a line. This place was well worth it. We shared there egg Benedict's and their Swedish cinnamon pancakes. Their benedict's are the best I've had in a long while. A spicy papricky kick at the end of the hollandaise sauce and the real deal runny poached eggs. 

Next we actually went to Fillmore street to do our laundry. We did it at the Royal Cafe which had laundry and a coffee shop. Paul describes this part of town as sophisticated. For example, the retirees at the coffee shop were discussing -heart of darkness- and -apocalypse now- . We also learned that San Franciscans are promoters of lowering the waste produce by embalming and body burring using natural preparations and cardboard boxes instead of coffins. BTW, tossing your coffee paper cup could be confusing in SF because they have 3 trashes namely, composting, recyclable and landfill. Something I liked a lot, but it takes a second to do it right. 

We drove to Mission, the up and coming Latino neighborhood. There we ate tacos at the taqueria, served by a Nicaraguan cook. They were really good. I could not avoid noticing that there they did not separated their trash into compost, landfill and recyclable. 

China Town was one of the places I really wanted to go, hence, we headed there at the end of Wednesdays. Just to give you perspective, 1 out of 3 people in San Francisco is Asian so this China town is a big deal. That, plus having had  Benton, a SF born Chinese at my thesis lab talk about it for years, built my expectations.  Once we arrived we stroll the streets and serendipitously met Uncle Gee. We heard "Get in here,  RIGHT NOW!!!" . It was startling but somehow we obeyed. He sat us in -Vital Tealeaf- tasting bar and we sampled more than 10 teas ( to my entire happiness) as we heard Uncle Gee discuss tea knowledge with some Brits that turned out to be -self-made locals- and very helpful. Unknowingly we had stumble upon a Chinatown celebrity so we would have been happy with that experience by itself but we kept going. 

Here is a link to vital tea leaf and Uncle Gee FB page 
http://www.vitaltealeaf.net/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Uncle-Gee/103767649924?sk=wall&filter=12

Next we sample steam buns and noodles from stores where we saw only chinese clientele, hoping to catch the right places. I think we did. The last streets we walked before leaving, led us to a small plaza were a bunch of Chinese/Asians were gambling at.  They were mostly men but also some women had their separate groups. It looked like serious matter. 

Then lovely Drew called us and we went to dinner with him at a Latin restaurant called Pasion. There we talk about family and salary. We stayed with Dre and decided to visit the rest of the neighborhood tomorrow.

Redwoods are tall

9/27/11

We pulled into Redwood Park late at night and had to wait for the morning light to reveal the giants towering around our campsite. The Redwoods had stood here for hundreds of years, but our visit would only last part of the day.  We began the day with breakfast of eggs, sausage and pancakes cooked at the campsite on the portable stove. The Redwoods at our campsite were impressive, but not the largest that we saw. 

After breakfast, we visited a nearby ranger station and got information on a local hike. We then drove to Stout Grove where we were told that we could see some really magnificent specimens. We learned that Redwoods are the tallest living organisms on the planet, reaching more than 300 feet. We spent a half hour at Stout Grove, taking pictures and looking up in awe, and then proceeded further down the road to the Damnation Creek Trailhead where we embarked on a hike to the coast.

The trail at Damnation Creek started at 1000 feet above sea level in an old growth Redwood area. Over 2 miles, the trail descends to the edge of the Pacific. The hike to the coast took about an hour and gave us a great opportunity to take in the magnificence of the trees. For nearly all of the hike, they blocked our view of the ocean. The view upon arriving at the ocean was spectacular. Twenty foot waves were crashing on the rocky shoreline and creating a mist along the coast. There was a rock outcropping at the end of the trail with a narrow natural bridge to climb out on. We sat on the outcropping and watched the waves and ate a snack before heading back.

The way back was more strenuous, but we made good time by completing the 2 miles in about 45 minutes. We then began the 6 hour drive from Redwood Park to San Francisco. Arriving at San Francisco, we could tell that it is a cool city. We met with Drew for Sushi and he gave us great advice for attractions around the city. We then went to his sister Erica's apartment were we spent the night. Although Erica was working the night at the ER, her husband Justin welcomed us in. He was very helpful in giving us advice about other outdoor excursions around California. We then took our first showers in 3 days and got a good night rest.

About the Prius Hybrid (17hrs on the road)

9/26/11

Today we drove 1000 miles from Grand Teton to Redwood National Park.  We left at 5:30am and arrived at 11:00 pm. It took us 17:30 hrs to get here.  We passed Idaho and  Oregon  before arriving to Cali. Idaho was uneventfully, although when passing by, we recalled Napoleon Dynamite which was mostly
filmed there in 2003. Oregon was unexpectedly dry but had a beautiful mountain range.

What you do when you can't shower

For this post we decided to talk about the Prius Hybrid.

We are really pleased with the Prius hybrid. To the people who suggested the car was not going to be adequate in space and power we are sorry to disappoint.

A hybrid car has 2 power sources,
1. the gas engine+gas tank
And
2.  the electric motor+battery

The gas powers the gas engine and the battery powers the electric motor. Both electric motor and gas engine are able to turn the transmission on, at the same time or individually in a -parallel hybrid- which is the Prius design. This allows flexibility for the Prius to either perform as an only electric, only gas or Eco mode. Eco mode uses both at the same time. 

The way the Prius saves money is partly by having a smaller engine compare to gas cars. These engines have smaller parts, are lighter and only hold 10 gallons. Since the -turning on - of the transmission is shared the car uses less gas. 

The battery of the Prius is also different to a normal gas car. These batteries have been design to have a dual job. One is to serve as a generator to power itself and the other to turn on the electric motor.

The way the Prius leaves a smaller carbon footprint is by using less gas, therefore is green and good for the environment. 

We rented the car for a month, a longer rental would fall into a lease contract and be much more expensive.  Renting cost 1,000 for the month and 0.10 cents after 4k miles. Our trip will be around 8,000 miles so you do the math. 

So far we have gone  2724 miles at an average of 45.2 mpg. Therefore we have used  60 gallons of  gas which at a $3.60 rate would be around 216 dollars payed in gas. We expect our average milage will change as we drive, for example, on the parks we go at a optimal fuel efficiency rate of 55mph which pumps the average mpg up. In the highways where you can go more than 85 miles or so the mpg goes down at about ~33 which is still better than 20, the mpg our Grand Vitara gives. If we had driven the GV we would have spent $490 so far.

I'm going to describe some features of the car that are cool and practical.

Keyless ignition
You just have to push the button and have the sensor "key" on you. It took some getting used too and sometimes we still leave the car on because it does not make the traditional on/off sound of a only gas car.

Effortless gear shift (automatic)
The gear shift does not require any force to move and does not require to be kept at a certain position. Instead you shift it and it immediately bounces back to main position. When in reverse it makes a noise like if you were backing a huge truck a feature Paul dislike.

Well thought layout
Although the car is small the layout inside is really comfortable. Look at pictures.

In addition, it comes with satellite radio which pleases my husband.

Grand Teton in 21 hrs

9/25/11

Awesome day today.  We awoke at 5:00am to drive from the Madison campground in Yellowstone to Grand Teton (GT) which lies just south of Yellowstone. The range at GT is truly breathtaking and our decision to get an early start to make an all day hike appeared to be a good one. We arrived at the Jenny Lake Campground in GT at about 8:30am, set up camp and then got information about hikes at the local ranger station. We decided to do the 9 miler Amphitheater Lake hike and arrived at the trailhead at about 9:30.

The hike was directed towards a pair of lakes, Amphitheater Lake and Surprise Lake, high in the Teton Range. It was a 4.5 mile trail that ascended about 3000 feet. We were prepared for a 6-8 hour, strenuous hike. The hike up was certainly strenuous at parts. We made good time by reaching Amphitheater Lake, the farther of the two, by about 12:00. The view there was nothing short of spectacular, a PRistine mountain lake surrounded by impressive peaks and glaciers. As we sat there to eat lunch, we even spotted a bald eagle soaring above.

After an hour rest at Amphitheater lake, we began the journey down.  We briefly stopped at the second lake which also had great scenery. The journey down the mountain was less demanding than the way up and we were able to really take in the beautiful scenery, including a great view of Jackson Hole below. The trail along the mountain alternated between open grassland and pine forest. In addition there were deciduous shrubs throughout that had begun to change colors for the fall, adding spectacular yellow, orange and red colors. There were also numerous lakes at the base of the mountain.

We made it back to the car at about 3:30, making for about 6 total hours of hike time and bout 9 miles roundtrip. At that point, our legs were tired and we headed to a nearby town for beer and pizza. In town we serendipitously met David again.

Elk encounter, last night in Yellowstone

9/24/11

Today we over slept. Thanks to that we saw the horses that came to roam at our campsite.  We went to do the Beaver Pond Trail hike which was marked in the pamphlets as a 5mi loop. Unfortunately at about 1/5 of the way the trail ended. We decided to turn around. Before we headed back we found a pleasant surprise. An elk bull was resting in the forest, he stood up before us and did his mating call. As we headed back we looked at the trail sign which marked the hike as a 0.5mi. We never asked if there was a typo in the hikes pamphlets but we suspect so.

We did the harlequin hike at the Madison area where we were able to find campground, unaware the hike was in crowded forest, a feature to avoid when avoiding bear. We sang in and out so bears could be aware of our presence. I enjoyed (m) this hike a lot because it was different from what we had seen. This area was -landlocked pine forest- that had just started to grow and some pines were shorter than us. The forest is "short" because 22 years ago a massive fire happened at the Madison area which is still recuperating from it. 

We went for the short hike because we needed to go into Old Faithful area to prepare for the Grand Teton tomorrow. In town we got food and were lucky to see the famous Old Faithful geyser go off. On our way back we stopped at the Midway Geyser Basin to see the spectacular Grand Prismatic Spring. 

Today we came to the realization that even though there are hundreds of people in the park most of them have not gone and will not go for a hike. We were surprise to see most of the hiking trails have 0 or very few traffic of people. We reason this could be good for the preservation but also wonder how can people come here and not experience the beautiful hikes. 

2nd day at Yellowstone

9/23/11

We started today with a hike at Yellowstone River Picnic area. The hike was a 4 mile loop that took us along a  ledge that overlooked the river about 5 to 8 hundred feet below. There were some really spectacular views. We saw a buffalo from a large distance but otherwise did not see much wildlife.

After the hike we spent a while trying to find a campground with space and finally decided on a place outside of the north entrance of the park located in Montana.

After setting up camp, we returned to the park to explore the swimmable hot springs at Boiling River. Here there is a remarkable site where people can bath in the hot tub like conditions where the scalding geothermal water mixes with the frigid river water.

While we were in the park, we also went through Mammoth Springs which is sort of like a small town on the northern edge of Yellowstone. At this time of year, the elk are in their rut and they descend upon Mammoth Springs to gather. Apparently within the town they are out of the reach of predators such as wolves. As we were passing through, we saw a magnificent bull following a cow through the middle of the town. It was a very bizarre scene.

At camp site we met a Harvard trained particle physicist turn journalist for NPR. He could not get his stove to work so we offered our fire.

Arriving to Yellowstone

9/22/11

We woke up at Bighorn and realized the temperature was in the 20's. We  packed and drove to Yellowstone taking route 14 which passes throughout Cody. At Cody we stopped at their impressive first ever concrete dam 

It was ~120 miles from Bighorn to Yellowstone, therefore, we arrived by lunch time at Yellowstone. Once there, we drove from the east entrance to the fishing bridge RV camp and paid $3.25 each for using their showers. We had not shower in 2 days. 

We continued driving to find the nearest information center at fishing bridge. By then we had started to discover why everyone raves about Yellowstone. Wildlife thrives and its easy to see while driving. Animals seemed to have gotten used to the cars driving around. We saw tons of bison, 2 coyotes, a fox and  4 mule deer  2 meters away from us at the camp site. Disappointingly the Rangers said we have a better chance to see wildlife while driving. Our plan so far is to rest today and stay a couple of nights to cover various hikes across the eight shape loop at the center of the park.

Although they said September was the better and less crowded time of the year to visit, the Rangers have told us than a larger than normal amount of visitors are here this time.

Next we wanted to find a site to camp but a bunch of the campgrounds had closed for the season and the ones left were pretty crowded. The campgrounds filled up by 5pm therefore the Rangers recommended to set camp soon. We settle for  a less than desirable campsite.  At camp we met a Chech duo and aThai family who asked us to share our campsite with them. We agreed after making clear we didn't want them smoking. After Paul was done cutting wood with a  hatchet and had sat to rest, the  Chech guy approached him pointing a saw at him. For a split second it looked like a Freddy Crogger movie, but he was just offering his saw to Paul, little we knew he didn't spoke English.   

At night we cooked , played cards, sang songs and drank whisky. Before going to bed, we went for a short drive to see the stars. It was at this time that we saw the fox crossing the road. when we got to bed we realized our mattress was leaking so for the fist time we had to sleep on the floor. This was good for Monica who finally slept the night after 3 days of restlessness. 

Badlands (SD) to Mount Rushmore to Bighorn Forest (WY)

9/21/11

Today we woke up at the foot hills of the Badlands. We arrived at 2am of the 21st. It was pitch black therefore we could not see the landscape. We could only see what the long lights allowed us, which looked like formations you see on the moon. We quickly set up camp and went to bed, the temperature was in the 40's F. In the morning we were looking forward to see were we where and we woke up to the pictures you see above.

Next we decided to go and see Mount Rushmore in our way to Yellowstone. We learned Borglum was the artist behind the project. Learning about the sculptor allowed us to see this not only as a monument but also a piece of art.

We arrived to Wyoming and decided to camp in Bighorn Forest

Road US 14 took us to Bighorn Forest which is half way between Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone. This route is by far the more scenic road on the trip. We were in such awe that we forgot to take a picture. Luckily we found a great campground there. Unfortunately the weather was below 30 degrees F so we had to seriously bundled up for sleeping. We were at 8,000 feet of altitute which explained the beautiful scenery and the low temperatures. This allowed Paul to try his new scoth flask he got as gift at Cooney's wedding.