Day 2: San Rafael to Oakland

Happy Halloween!  Today we played a fun Halloween game as we biked among the often-strange denizens of San Francisco: everyday outfit or Halloween costume?  We saw cowboys and Indians (probably their daily norms), devils and angels (probably their Halloween costumes), and so many more that left us guessing! 

Today was another day of beautiful weather for riding.  We visited two missions: San Rafael “the most obliterated mission” (the entire building was a replica), and San Francisco – called Mission Dolores – which had a fascinating cemetery.   
But first, we visited the Marin civic center, built by Frank Lloyd Wright.  As with all of Wright's buildings, it was definitely worth the stop.

The mission at San Rafael was extremely small, and the "museum" was only a small corner of the gift shop.   

Due to some technical difficulties, we got off the route near Mill Valley and had to find our way back to the correct path… luckily a good sense of direction and my great guide book got us back on track with little extra mileage.  The next stop was in Sausalito, for lunch at Sausalito Fish and Chips (what a creative name! But it was actually very good food).  We also saw the “Have a drink on Sally” fountain (of whose biography is highly entertaining but too long to include here).

Riding across the Golden Gate Bridge was, as expected, the highlight of the day.  Having driven across it before, I can definitely say that the experience of slowly biking across, and being able to stop and look over the edge, and take photos, was so much better.  It was packed with tourists, and it was a real pleasure to see such big smiles on their faces. 

We spent several hours riding through San Francisco – my second favorite city in the world, and my favorite in the country hands down.  It is such a colorful, vibrant place (and I never describe anything as vibrant – it just fits this city).  I love the varied architecture, the many faces, the different flavors of the neighborhoods.  We rode up Fillmore, with its closely packed and brightly colored houses.

And then the hill from hell… As with so many of the famous hills in San Francisco, Pacific Heights is steep and long.  It was so steep in places the sidewalk had stair-like notches cut into it.  We walked up that part, and even that was a challenge at times.  

Down the other side of the hill, we passed JapanTown with its pagoda, and many other neighborhoods, and rolled up to the Mission with literally 2 minutes to spare before they locked the front doors for the night.  Whew! 

After the Mission, we cruised over to Dandelion Chocolates – the other highlight of the ride.  Yesterday was wine tasting, and today was chocolate tasting! Dandelion is a nifty little store and factory for “small batch” chocolates.  They actually make their chocolate from scratch: they start with raw chocolate fruits, extract and roast the seeds, and grind them up with sugar to make the bars.  Customers can taste roasted chocolate beans, and sample single-origin chocolate bars of beans from different locations in the world.  Like wine, they all have very unique flavors.

By the time we reached the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero, it was after sunset.  The ride took longer than expected, but luckily we had the sag wagon, driven by Mom, to carry us the last few miles of the day once the ferry pulled into the eastern harbor.  I’m sure if we were riding this in the summer, it would have been fine, but it sure gets dark early at this time of year!   

Today's route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2836368