The White Automobile

San Francisco.

Two weeks ago today we were still on our way northwest than south towards NOLA. Today we are as far west as we go. San Francisco is a beautiful city, but the cold windy weather and the lack of sun have dampened my spirits a bit. It seemed weird to be wearing hooded sweat shirts (over 3 layers), scarves and gloves on the 4th of July. Perhaps it's our nonstop schedule that has really affected me today. Of course I'm still thrilled to be doing this and excited of all that waits ahead for us, but the wailing of the wind outside our 6th floor hotel room is a little off putting.

Yesterday we went to City Lights Bookstore where I was quite satisfied to finally be. We also took a boat ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz.

We planned to watch fireworks from the top floor restaurant in our hotel, but after an hour and half wait and being somehow bumped down the list by two groups, we bailed. Instead we headed to the nearest corner store, grabbed some Fat Tire and sat on the side of a street where our view of the fireworks was this:

Today we rode a cable car to the Haight and walked approximately 49 blocks to Haight-Ashbury. We shopped, stopped at a local pub and walked through Golden Gate and Alamo Parks before heading back to our hotel via taxi.

While in City Lights, I sat reading one of Allen Ginsberg's poems that seemed especially fitting (minus the undertones) for this trip, called The Green Automobile. In it Ginsberg writes:

We'd pilgrimage to the highest mount

of our earlier Rocky Mountain visions

laughing in each other's arms,

delight surpassing the highest Rockies...

Tomorrow we head to Napa via Berkeley, where the temperature will hopefully hit 70.