Browse Category: friends

8 Mile Tour


View Larger Map

This morning I went for my 8-mile Long Run.  To help me get through it, Vyl met up with me at about Mile 4 (right by her house) and took me up the hill and through Presidio.  I took a photo with my Crackberry at each mile just to keep me entertained.  Let’s go on a little tour of SF, shall we?!

mile-01

Here’s Mile 1: The Bay Bridge!  Yay!  Almost at the Ferry Plaza too.

mile-02

Mile 2: It’s Coit Tower!!

mile-03

Mile 3: I’m in the middle of Fisherman’s Wharf and past Pier 39.

mile-04

Mile 4: Ah, made it over the Fort Mason hill and to the Marina Green.  Time to look for Vyl.

mile-05

Mile 5: We’re at Crissy Field.  I can see the GG Bridge!

mile-06

Mile 6: The GG Bridge is getting bigger.

mile-07

Mile 7: Phew, I made it up the hill.  We’re in the Presidio now.  Lots of trees!

mile-08

Mile 8: All done!  Hello, Palace of Fine Arts!  Now it’s time to hit the Starbucks.

As you can see, the run was very scenic, had two hills to climb, and almost no street lights to stop me.  Thanks to Vyl for getting me through the last half of the run.  That was fun!

Snow Day!

snowman

Saturday turned out to be a day of playing in the snow after all. It just didn’t involve skis. Ryan and his sister made an enormous snowman.

koa&horses

Koa got to hang out with the horses, smell the chickens, and run off-leash in the snow.

Vyl and I made a snowboard ramp and a bunch of snowballs to throw at Bang. Ryan and Bang tried out the ramp but it was kinda of a dud considering the snow was super slushy by the time it was ready.

napping

In the meantime, Jes took a super nap with the heater on in the apartment and Jack wasn’t having a very good day, which made Ryan’s supposed day off a little stressful.

messy face

Little J was super clingy and grumpy, didn’t eat very much, and didn’t appreciate the snow either.

crying viking

Poor little guy must have really missed his mommy ‘cuz he got all worked up and ended took 2 monster naps that afternoon.

Once Jes woke up from his nap, he tried the X3 chains on our tires and they sorta fit. It will just have to do. The afternoon ended with a really yummy ribs dinner made by Ryan’s mom complete with pasta salad, potato salad, and corn bread.

clear road

At 5 pm, it was time to head out. Ryan drove ahead of us with his mom’s truck and we made it out of the rough spots with a couple slips but the chains really saved us. We lucked out on the weather (no snow or rain) and got home by 8 pm. It’s a good thing we left when he did because it started pouring overnight and today was blustery and stormy as well. I guess we’ll just have to try again next time.

Here are the photos from the trip.

Snowed In

snowy road

We drove up I-80 last night in the rain and then eventually got some snow as we entered Auburn.  We planned to stay at Ryan’s mom’s house for the night and drive another hour up to the mountain this morning.  Well, things didn’t exactly go as planned.  Last night, we drove the 330xi through 6-inches of snow all the way through the windy narrow roads to the house and thought we were home free.  Then it happened…Ryan’s car (also 4WD) got stuck in a ditch and then we got stuck behind him because we stopped. It took a good hour to tow, push, and rev the cars out and up the driveway to the house. This is just a gratuitous photo of our car in the driveway with the racks installed.

330xi

We slept in the barn, which has a cute little 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment inside.  We brought the Aerobed and the Bangs brought their sleeping bags that I think held up in the cold better than our comforter.  Koa didn’t get much sleep last night b/c he couldn’t find a warm spot to sleep…that was until he wedged himself between Bang and Vyl’s sleeping bags.

sniffin the tractor

This morning Koa had a good time running with the horses, sniffin’ the grounds, and peeing on the snow.  We got up early and piled into one car and headed out.  We didn’t make it past the first hill outside of the driveway and got stuck again.

towing

Oh boo….so Ryan’s mom’s truck towed him out and now we’re hanging out in a warm toasty house watching Cars.  We had friends driving up this morning and ended up stuck on I-80 with a 4-hour wait only to turn around.  So, I guess things could be worse.  I’m not sure how or when we’ll going home but we’ll sit here for now.  I guess it’s a good thing I got Monday off after all.

It was a happy Friday.

Happy Chevy's

At work, our Happy Hours are usually on the East Bay but this time it was going to be across the bridge in my neck of the woods.  It’s been a while since we’ve had a Happy Hour so we were happy all day long in anticipation of $3 margaritas. With a quick drive through the carpool lane, we were extra happy at Chevy’s by 5:30.  They’re special margarita was pineapple coconut this time around and it was tasty.

Here are the photos.

Taylor's

Afterward, I met up with Jes down the street and we had dinner at Taylor’s Automatic Refresher.  I snacked on the chili cheese fries while Jes inhaled his bacon cheeseburger.  Doesn’t it look tasty?

Oxtail for the Year of the Ox

vyl_cny09

It’s the Year of the Ox, which brings us a hard-working year and will require diligence and patience.  I guess it’s appropriate considering the crappy economy and that Vyl spent these past two days preparing a Chinese New Year feast for us.  Ryan counted nine dishes today: braised oxtail, roasted duck, turnip cake, lotus root salad, Chinese broccoli, steamed fish, Chinese sticky rice, pork-stuffed bittermelon, and chive boxes.  They were all so yummy and Vyl really outdid herself this year.  Michelle also made a mochi cake with red bean so we all went home totally stuffed.

jack2

jack

Jack is walking around independently now and had a great time at the dinner table too.  I think he ate about 4 or 5 lotus root slices! So, Happy New Year and I hope all the hard work this year pays off!!  :)  And thanks for cooking, Vyl!!

Here are photos from our dinner.

Making the Reverse Move

Kel&Rob

A year and a half ago, we moved from Irvine to SF.  In a couple weeks, Rob and Kel will be moving from the Bay Area to Irvine.  Go figure.  After 8 years, they’ve decided to say goodbye to a life of fog, bridges, and BART and hello to life of sun, look-alike houses, and plenty of driving…and they’re looking forward to it!!!  I’m very excited for them and there’s a part of me that’s envious of their new life.  There are lots of things I miss about living in Irvine and Southern CA in general.

lotsadogs

So, on Sunday afternoon, we had a BBQ for them at Jimmy and Eleen’s, which was filled with Hawaiian food and doggies.  Jesse almost burnt down the grill but all the food was pretty yummy.  Thanks to Susie for all the marinated meat!!  J&E’s house was also recently renovated so we finally got to check it all out.  It was fun to hang out with friends and I think Koa had just as much fun socializing with Boudin, Mika, Diesel, Brando, and of course Smush.

Have a great time in Irvine, Little Masayas!  We’ll miss you!!  I’ve updated my OC List on Yelp just for you guys!!  Here are photos from the BBQ.