It was time to go to California again. I headed to San Francisco for a few days, then down to San Diego, then back to San Jose. Nothing too exciting here. If you're one of the friends that I blew off on this trip, I apologize. I tried to keep it very simple, and did not rent a car, so I was just hanging out.

In San Francisco, I stayed at the Hotel Union Square. It's my favorite place to stay out there. I really like staying in the corner rooms, which are kind of big. They are good for days when you just want to sit and read, or do a little work, and don't feel like being in a cramped little room.

This is one end of the room. It's got nice high ceilings and huge windows.

This is the other end. The light is fantastic. One of my favorite things to do is to sit with the windows open all the way and listen to the cable cars, and feel the cool air blow through.

Unfortunately they put some hardware on the window to prevent it from opening all the way!

So I went to the drug store across the street for some basic items. Water...

A toothbrush and toothpaste...

And some screwdrivers so I can dismantle the stupid hardware.

There it is. (I saved it and reinstalled it at the end of my stay.)

MUCH better!

Now I can see out the window clearly and hear the cable cars properly.

January is a great time to be there - there were very few tourists.

Some two-wheeled content.

A shot down the cable car track in china town, looking down the hill towards the financial district.

There is a sign for a tea room run by some Chinese from Boston. It's the "Hangar Tea Room" but I think they spelled it Boston-style. ;-)

Obligatory shot of the Transamerica building. (my camera is dirty.)

This is where I like to go for dim sum. On my last trip here, I went three days in a row. On the first day, the guy did not speak any english, and did not offer me a napkin or anything. On the second day, his english was better. On the third day, I guess he decided I was a regular, and not a tourist, and he spoke perfect english, gave me lots of napkins, and even offered to heat up my food in the microwave. It's funny...

Folks out buying fruit.

Obligatory shot of Coit Tower.

This is the restaurant where I ate dinner, all three nights. I love this place, and when I'm in San Francisco, I eat here. Louis, the manager, is a great guy and always finds me a table. I've been there often enough that I think he remembers me now, which is nice when it is crowded.

I went to the cable car museum. The cable cars are powered by a cable that runs under the street. The cables are driven all from this one location. It's really cool.

This dog is funny - he looks sad, like he can't come outside.

Neat bay window.

With a view of Alcatraz.

People eating freshly boiled crabs down by the waterfront. These people were hilarious, the guy was yelling at the workers, "I've been coming here for 30 years! I want some melted butter and a fork goddamit!" He and his wife got a TON of food. Watching them eat it made me hungry...

So I got some.

It got dark and I headed up to the house for dinner again. This is the St. Peter and St. Paul church, with Coit Tower lit up in the background.

This time I took a picture of my food before I ate it. This was a chicken breast with truffle oil, veggies, and potatoes. Fancy, but also a big portion and very filling.

I was there another full day but didn't really take any interesting photos. On to San Diego.

I met up with Olaf in Oakland, and we flew to San Diego. It has been a long time since we've spent any time together, and I was looking forward to seeing him again. He currently doesn't have a residence on land in Coronado, so when he is there, he stays on his sailboat. It's an amazing boat.

This is the view from the stern.

Coronado Cays is a nice neighborhood.... (duh!)

We weren't sure, but that sailboat there seemed to have a mast that was taller than, or almost taller than Olaf's. We took that as an insult, and vowed to plan a night mission where we would sneak over there and sink his boat, so the mast would drop. ;-)

Here is Olaf doing something.

Olaf assures me that Opus One through Five did not sink, but this still seems like too high a number...

Nice.

We went for a walk on the beach.

There were cool patterns on the sand.

And sand dollars everywhere. It was incredible. There were easily over 100 on the small stretch of beach we walked along.

Shells and sand dollars all over the place.

We headed back to the boat.

It's a big boat. Fifty feet long.

This is the Yacht Club. They had showers inside that we used.

I had forgotten my shampoo and soap, and I asked Olaf if he had any to spare. He said he had to check...

Then he said, "Ok, but you can only take one!" Look at that big pile! Can you tell that he spends many nights in hotels?

That's it, the trip was great. On the last day I went back to San Jose and we went and flew in Joshua's plane, but I didn't take any photos. That was stupid, it was a beautiful day, and we had a nice flight over to the Watsonville airport. Oh well, next time. Thanks for looking.