The Windmill Posts

Zero day, no driving. Except I think I drove 100 miles, easy. And all of those miles WITH THE TOP DOWN! It was wonderful wonderful! I think the day started around 60 but got up to 75 at one point. Wind in my hair indeed! I’m feeling my depression more than any other day on the trip today and it’s frustrating. I just want to have my trip.

I drove down the twistiest street in the world – though not as fast as might have been fun. Golden Gate bridge (or not) and a trip to Oakland to meet a longtime penpal who I had never met in real life before. We email about our mental health, and have had some important conversations. She’s a very valuable friend. She was just about exactly as I expected, and we went for a drive and then a walk (they have redwoods in Oakland! Who knew?) and then we came over to the city for a walk in Golden Gate park. It was a longish walk and I spent a ton of it telling stories, but we had good conversations too. Off to a fish based restaurant that was casual but really nice, and I ate very good food and didn’t hate doing it. So there’s something.

At one point in Golden Gate Park, she found some stairs she hadn’t seen before, and we did a whole exploration by a waterfall and a lake. At the top of the hill was loud music playing, and we eventually found the source. It was someone’s 30th birthday, and they all had silly hats and we think they were pharmacologically entertained, as well. Sun was setting, so they had lots to look at.

It was a good long day and I’m tired enough I’ll hopefully sleep. I brought in the bins from my car and reorganized them and what I’m packing in my suitcase, things feel much lighter. Week or two on the road and I figured out some ways to streamline and optimize. Did not really take any pictures except one of my favorite poisonous plant, first time I’d seen it live. Did not sample or take any with me.

Tomorrow I’m going to try the Golden Gate Bridge again, and then it’s off to Monterey, which has a whole other collection of reminiscences.

Deets

• License Plates:NM!
• Weather: Glorious, top down the whole time!
• Budget: Food below, Hotel below
• Food: Latte, but the best part was dinner, Pork mini sandwiches with pineapple and coleslaw on them.
• Music: George Michael

Observations

• Got up luxuriously late, don’t remember what time, don’t care
• I got stressed about getting up after 8, so I practiced mindfulness as I lay in that decadent bed that was so comfortable and chilled out. All good.
• Drove Rocinante down Lombard street – see below
• I’ve never seen tourists so dense at the bottom
• Tried to walk the Golden Gate bridge, too many tourists no parking, will try tomorrow on my way out of town
• Hadn’t even noticed the palm trees until I got to Oakland
• The “Golden Gate” everything is named after refers to the Golden Gate straits, which the bridge spans. They were named that because so much gold had been discovered here.

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