Kentucky and Tennessee

From the title of this post, you can tell that I strayed a bit from my new home on the West Coast. In mid-March, I returned to my native region to attend my grandfather’s funeral outside of Fort Knox, Kentucky. Several portions of his Army career were spent in the Armored Divisions; Fort Knox is home to the U.S. Army Armor School and Armor Center. This was the first military funeral that I’d attended, and the twenty-one gun salute, taps, and flag folding ceremonies were very moving in person. Bagpipes were played at the end, and that was the most emotional part for me. It was altogether a nice memorial. After the services, my family went to a restaurant to eat and socialize. Unexpectedly, the bagpiper stopped by and played a couple of festive tunes. That’s the first, and probably will be the last, time that I’ve heard bagpipes in a Mexican restaurant.

My immediate family stayed overnight in Kentucky, and we stopped by Mammoth Cave National Park the next day on the way back toward Tennessee. It’s a pretty neat place to see—billed as the longest cave system in the world. No one that we wanted to keep got lost in the dark; so we resumed our journey home. The last stop was to pick up some pulled pork barbeque, cuisine that I’ve missed living outside the Southeast.

I spent a couple of days at my parents’ place before returning to California. The weather was pretty cooperative, and mom went with me one day to visit Fort Pillow State Park. The Confederates built a fort in our county to help control the Mississippi River during the Civil War. We used to have school and church outings at the park regularly when I was growing up, but I hadn’t been there in 12-13 years. We hiked a bit and defended the fort against a few invaders before retiring to the house. After a couple days of eating large quantities of mom’s home cooking, it was time to return to the land of high gas prices. On the way to drop me off at the airport, we drove through the towns of Frog Jump and Green Frog. Where else can you get that but Tennessee?





This wasn't quite the grand entrance to Mammoth Cave that I expected (it's not the only entrance).

I tricked mom into testing out the bridge first under the ruse of having her picture taken.

I was ready for anyone who tried to steal my barbeque.

The mighty Missisippi River was on the verge of flooding some of our county's farmland.

San Francisco

Thankfully, the sunny California weather that was in my brochure has arrived! Now I just need to figure out how to get more days off work to enjoy the outdoors. Hmm…I think my last fortune cookie had some lottery numbers in it.

My interest in visiting San Francisco finally coincided with good weather on a weekend. Walking up and down the hills of the city tired me out, but my initial assessment is that the place pretty much rocks!

My first trip over to the city got off to a slow start. I’d been told that parking in the city can be hard to find and/or expensive; so I packed my backpack and decided to take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). I found the nearest BART station with no problem and parked on the lowest level of the attached (or so I thought) parking garage. After climbing a few flights of stairs in the garage with great anticipation, I became suspicious of not finding a walkway to the BART station. On the 6th floor, I heard a train arrive and leave somewhere below me, decided I was an idiot, and retraced my steps. Later in the day, my legs did not appreciate the unnecessary morning stair climb. After leaving the garage, I finally managed to find the adjacent, but not connected, station entrance. I bought a round trip BART ticket and was on my way.

I got off the train at the first stop and headed over to Chinatown. Along the way, Barry Bonds tried to sell me a fake World Series ring and some steroids. I passed, since I needed my money for chicken feet and $2 tee-shirts. I read a few weeks ago that beef and broccoli is not an authentic Chinese dish. However, they serve it in Chinatown, and it’s good; so I didn’t feel any less Asian for having some as part of my lunch. Afterward, I dodged the cable cars and merchants on my way over to Telegraph Hill. The views from the top were definitely worth the climb—the city, the bay, Alcatraz, and the big bridges are all good to see from there.

Next, I went down the hill and over to the water at Pier 39 and Fisherman’sWharf. These areas were pretty popular, with lots of restaurants and shops. My favorite part was watching the sea lions. They liked playing “king of the dock” and would try to push one another into the water. After enjoying the sea lion show, I continued walking along the waterfront toward Golden Gate National Recreational Area. I passed Ghirardelli Square, a beach, a fort, a park, a marina, and some people riding Segways before giving up on reaching the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ll have to cross it another day. The stupid bridge didn’t look much closer than it did when I started toward it. Along the way, I think I stumbled upon the recreational capital of California. Everyone seemed to be outside doing something—jogging, biking, flying kites, playing Frisbee, volleyball, etc. I found a place to sit and people watch while reenergizing with a Snickers.

While slowly making my way back to the BART station, I meandered past Lombard St. (the curvy road), Washington Square, and the Port of San Francisco. At this point, I was plumb tuckered out, and I gladly had an uneventful journey home. Hopefully, I’ll get to make a return trip to the city soon. Enjoy the pics:


Golden Gate bridge from Telegraph Hill




Alcatraz







This crab cracked me up for some reason.

Oakland/SF Bay Bridge--part of the top roadway collapsed during the 1989 quake

This is where I ate lunch.

They supersized the fire hydrants after the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire.

Shell knows how to encourage carpooling.

Time for me to go home...

Mt. Diablo

Perhaps I was justified in celebrating the gasoline under $3 per gallon. The next time I filled up, it was up to $3.40! Maybe it's time to grease up the bicycle chain--although the hilly terrain around here is a bit tougher to navigate than what I'm accustomed to.

The February weather continued its rainy tendency last weekend; so I was forced to house hunt with the realtor some more. I think she may be ready to string me up for lack of enthusiasm, but these prices still seem obnoxious to me. We did find a nice place that I made an offer on. However, I don't think we'll be able to come to an agreement; so I'll continue looking.

The rain also drove me indoors to join a gym last weekend. I signed up with a 24 Hr Fitness in a local mall. It's very convenient to have clothing stores near the gym for when you pull an "Incredible Hulk" and the bulging muscles tear your shirt. My first visit to the gym was on a Saturday, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the place wasn't overcrowded. Sadly, when I returned on Monday evening, the gym was like a beehive. I had to clothesline a lady so I could beat her to the open elliptical trainer. These folks are serious about fitness. However, I have noticed that all of the people in this part of California are not beautiful and super fit. Unfortunately, some of these observations that were unintentionally made in the men's locker room may have caused mental scarring.

This weekend rolled around, and the weather forecast for the area looked pretty good. I was leaning toward visiting San Francisco for the first time, but a couple of people mentioned that it was supposed to rain there Saturday morning. I also failed to get up early as originally planned; so I decided to visit Mt. Diablo State Park instead. The first picture in the first blog posting is of Mt. Diablo, which is the highest point in this area (~3800 ft). I made it over to the park after lunch and saw some nice views from the peak. I hiked around a bit, and I was impressed by the number of bicyclists riding up and down the mountain.

Here are a few pictures from the park: