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Day: 102+2 (Not a travel day, but too funny not to share with the world)
(Turkey April. 2006, I needed some picture)
So yesterday I was riding a bicycle in the parking lot of REI just minding my own business (test riding a replacement for Moanahh), when some guy in a Tahoe quickly backs out about three feet in front of me and I slam into the side of his car moving at a pretty good clip.
Needless to say I cleared the handlebars of the bike, crushed the lower half of my body against the back of his car/bumper and landed using my shoulders, elbows, knees and right pinky as brakes on the pavement.
Think Waynes World where Waynes ex-girlfriend hits the car while Wayne and Garth play hockey.
When I came to my senses there was a rush of people coming out of Chick-filet to see if I was alright, all gathered around me like squaking hens asking me questions over and over like my adreniline that was throbbing through my veins would let me think anytime soon.
“Are you all right?”
“Should we call 911?”
“You OK?”
“Anything broken?”
“Are you all right?”
All I could say is “Could you guys be quite for one minute? Just give me a second…”
It took me a minute, but my self inventory quickly resulted in nothing seious; a little blood, some scrapes and bruises, and possibly a broken pinky.
“I think I’m ok…”
“Are you sure? We could take you to the hospital.”
“Hell no.” I replied. “I don’t have insurance, and I dont want that hassle.”
I staggered to my feet head spinning and laughed a little laugh, which I think stunned those around me. I had just spent the better part of the last 3 weeks riding a Bicycle 500 miles to San Francisco with no problems, through winding mountian roads and windy windswept beaches up PCH with cars wizzing by and now I get hit. In front of a Chickfilet, ten minutes from home…
The Chick-filet manager helped bandage me up and I took the driver of the Tahoe into REI to help explain the situation of their brand new bikes front end looking like it had just been run over. The front rim and the forks were all out of wack. They took it into their bike shop and took a look at it , came out and told the driver and I not to worry they could fix it. I’m starting to love REI. The absolute best part was the salesman who wanted me to try out a few more bikes. I thought about it, but instead told him: “I don’t really think it’s my day to buy a bike.”
The world sure has an odd sense of humor.
The adreniline kept me giggling all the way back home, I couldn’t believe a car had just hit me. I think Moanahh must have laid some bad mojo on me.
Bitch.
Day: 102
We Packed our bags and left them with the bellboy, having about three hours before we needed to get on the BART to head to the San Francisco airport we decided to make our way towards the Wharf on foot. We made it to Northbeach when we started to notice the massive 10 block streetfair complete with beer gardens on every block. Sarah and I immediately realized we’ll never make it to the Wharf this morning.
On top of the “Northbeach Streetfair” the world cup match of Italy vs. USA was about to start! Northbeach being a heavily Italian area, the crowds seemed divided over who should win. The streets were throbbing with this energy. We quickly found our first beer in the beer garden just after ten thirty, starting to be a little bummed we only had a few more hours here, but ready to make the most of it. A few beers later we got out of the sun and into one of the bars that was literally overflowing into the streets, and the game hadn’t even started!
Beer, Beer, Jager shot, Beer, Lunch. Oh shit! Ten more minutes and we have to get a cab back to the hotel to grab the bags and jump on the BART.
On the train to the airport I start to do that thing were you start to fall asleep but at the last second you jerk your head back real quickly and look like an ass. Over and over.
We made it to the airport, found our plane was going to be a little late, and sobered up in the waiting area.
Thus ends another leg of The World Tour. My next adventure is me, and a carload of three friends, chasing after the classic American roadtrip from one coast to the other. I leave on July 5th, so no real post between now and then, but in the next few days I will be putting up a page with some of my favorite pictures that you can buy prints of to help support my wanderings. Hopefully I can fund a few more days this way. Check back soon!
Oh, and to you Riverside(rs?) and Corona(ns?); If anyone wants to hang out in the next couple of weeks, send me an email (Robertcpaetz@yahoo.com). I don’t really have any grand plans (except sitting by my mom’s pool) for the next couple of weeks.
Day: 101
WOW! Was I ever hung over this morning! It was a great night but felt like It’d be a rough day to come as I rolled out of bed today. Sarah finally got up a while after me, looking well rested (I assume because she threw up all those drinks and awful Jack in the Box last night), and wanted to go explore San Francisco.
We made it to Union Square and Chinatown where our tourism lasted about two hours before the nights events and the sun cought up with us. We headed inside for Mojitos and lunch in the air condition.
Naptime.
We finally woke up again aound five, but still weren’t hungry so we postponed our plans for Ruth Chris (a spectacular steakhouse) and headed into the movies to see Nacho Libre instead, then made our way to have a slice of seared dead cow. mmm….
Day: 100
Day 100! Time to celebrate the fact that I was able to keep the world up to date for this long. I hope I still have a few readers and I haven’t chased you all off with my plate throwing antics, drunken nights and bad grammar.
Sarah, my sister, showed up in San Francisco today to take a two day hiatus from her children and pretend that she could still drink like she did years ago. When she arrived I had already checked into the tiny hotel room on the other side of town, near Union Square. Here’s the real reason my sister and I get along so well; before she got here I went across the street from the hotel to Rite-Aid and bought a bottle of Ketel One (vodka) and a couple of mixers to start our night off right; When Sarah got here she opened her suitcase and what was in there? Another bottle of Ketel One! As siblings we kick ass! We said our hellos over cocktails and prepared ourselves for the night by ironing our clothes and drinking half a bottle of Ketel One.
Feeling quite nice, we made our way to a nearby sushi bar to enjoy some raw fish, Sake, Japanese beer, and Sarah talking to load about the people around us. We even thought it’d be a good idea to order the giant squid tentacle, seered, that the girl next to us was enjoying. We powered through all its chewiness hoping that it wouldn’t try to swim its way back up later. Stumbling out of there we headed into Union Square to go over to an Irish bar I had been to a couple of years back that was pretty badass. As we struggle to make our way to the bar to order a couple of pints of Guinness, Sarah leans over to me and asks:
“Is that singer a guy or a girl?”
“I believe “Trans-gender” is the P.C. word.”
She gives me a quizzical look…
“It was a man at one time, now s/he is on his/her way to womanhood.” I replied.
“Oh.”
Nikki was actually a great singer, but we couldn’t stop looking at her little, genetically enhanced, titties poking through her white shirt. Sarah and I had a great time drinking beer and doing whiskey shots (which in retrospect may not have been the best idea) until we couldn’t feel our faces and we started our stagger back toward our hotel. Sarah “had” to find some drunk food, so we set out on a mission to stagger our way towards Jack in the Box.
After another ““fantastic meal”” we found our tiny room and the world started to spin.
Three minutes later Sarah jumps up and runs around, finds the window and sticks her head out.
“I just threw up…”
I crack my eyes, completely oblivious, and say “That’s some funny shit…”
World goes to black.
Day: 99
I’ve had it with this chick, she keeps causing me problems. This morning I headed into REI to see what could be done about her. I went in with the possibility of taking advantage of REI’s complete satisfaction policy, and being rid of all her, and all her baggage once and for all. After all, I had already booked a plane ticket to fly home on Saturday so not having to transport a bike that was falling apart would be sweet. I got to San Francisco’s REI just after eleven and told them everything I had been through with Moanahh (although I didn’t refer to her by her name, I thought it might confuse them), and they said they would be happy to exchange it with a new bike or a full refund! I opted for the refund so I wouldn’t have to ship the new bike home, promising myself to buy another bike in Southern California because I have come to really enjoy riding. Although the mental aspect of riding alone for extended periods of time is taxing.
Thoroughly impressed by REI’s service I bought a duffel bag to pack my stuff in for the flight home and walked out onto streets of San Francisco to see what I could see. I wandered around for a few hours, ate a tuna melt for lunch, and jumped on the cable car for my obligatory ride back up to the Fisherman’s Wharf area. In the late afternoon I headed back to the hostel to do some blogging. A side note; for some reason this hostel lacks the spirit of travel friendship that I have found in most ever other hostel in the world. Any other hostel I’ve been to has people who all want to make friends, go out, and are interested in learning whatever there is to learn. Here everyone seems quiet and reserved and every time I try to talk to anyone, no one shows any interest (and I don’t think it’s me because my clothes don’t smell anymore because I got “pimped out” with new clothes yesterday). They all seem to sit around and read all night, not even talking to those around them; I find it weird.
I wanted to make myself dinner, I have been spending to much money eating out and know it’s only going to get worse when Sarah shows up tomorrow, so I headed down the hill to the Safeway to buy myself something to cook. I bought some Pad Thai noddles, shrimp, curry and mushrooms; and headed back to the hostel kitchen with hopes that cooking with some new people might help to make friends.
No such luck, everyone still wanted to be left alone, but my dinner was amazing and I just resigned myself to an sunset walk along the Wharf. I wandered about taking pictures and headed up to Ghirardelli for a $7 sundae that I’m sure ran somewhere in the 2000 calorie range (so much for all the exercise I got on my bike).
Future Plans: I get back to Southern California on Saturday (So much for this bike touring, next time I’m buying a motorcycle) and on July 5th I was invited to join three of my friends for a five week North American road trip, to the east coast and back. After that I’ll probably go down to Costa Rica for a few weeks. I have 10 days of work (everyone gasp!) in early Sept. that will bring my budget back up, then in Oct. Ill most likely make my way to South East Asia. I know, I am not really one who keeps to any plan I make, but I am sure having fun.
Day: 98
To Do:
Ride Moanahh across the Golden Gate bridge.
Ride Moanahh into town and do a little shopping to pimp myself out in San Francisco.
Eat lunch on the roof of Macy’s in the Cheesecake Factory, who by the way, makes the best dirty martini’s, complete with blue cheese stuffed olives.
Actually buy clothes.
Ride Moanahh back to the Hostel in Fisherman’s Wharf.
Blog.
Wander into a bar hoping to make it to the A’s game but instead get really drunk on $2.50 Happy Hour Anchor Steams and have to settle for a trolley ride across town to the movies.
Run across the street (quite sauced) at dusk to get to the theater, step on a sprinkler head in the median and almost brake my ankle.
Watch the only movie I hadn’t seen that the theater was playing, Cars.
Get up 10 minutes into the movie to pee, to much beer.
Watch the rest of the movie.
Limp from Market St. back up to Fisherman’s Wharf to my hostel.
Limp in for a chile verde burrito somewhere in North Beach.
Get back to the hostel with a throbbing ankle and hope it won’t be to sore in the morning.
Sleep.
I accomplished everything I’d planned today! I rule…
Day: 97
I found out yesterday that the last stretch of PCH to San Francisco was currently closed due to a landslide, which meant I was going to have to take the route through the hills (although they seemed like mountains) and add 7 miles to today’s ride. I was up a little earlier than normal, around six, to get a started up the hills and into SF where I had a reservation at a hostel tonight. The ride wasn’t exceptionally difficult, and had a beautiful 10 mile stretch along a bike trail on top of the San Andres fault, next to a couple of lakes. After a few hours of riding I settled in next to one of the lakes for some leftovers from last night for breakfast.
I made it to the outskirts of SF by eleven and into Fisherman’s Wharf, where my hostel was, by noon. I checked in, showered, and went down the street to get some blogging in at this blocks Starbucks. After getting caught up on everything I needed to do I feeling like I was ready to wander. I set out to see the Wharf area of SF and find a crab cake sandwich for lunch. Washed that down with a couple of beers, found out about a $10 comedy show tonight at the Cannery, and headed back to the hostel for an afternoon rest.
I took a nap and finished reading Veronika Decides to Die, then went out to try some sunset shots of the area before I went to the comedy club. I wandered around and took more pictures in the great evening light, ate a crab sandwich (which had so much mayo that it gave me a stomach ache), and went to the club’s bars for a martini before the comics started. There were seven comics, all beginners, and I was disappointed with about five of them. I am normally a huge fan of comedy clubs, but after the first hour where I knew I could be funnier than these guys, I was starting to get aggravated. Fortunately the last couple of comics were able to pull the show from the gutter, I guess I only get what I pay for and $10 is $10.
Day: 96
I decided to chill out a today when I peaked my head out of my little yellow tent and the rain and grey skies. I snuggled back up I my sleeping bag for another couple of hours until I started getting hungry and motivated myself to go find some breakfast. I had seen a sign yesterday that said “Sunday Brunch”, and to me nothing says Sunday like all you can drink Mimosa’s!
Unfortunately upon reaching my desired goal I found out they only do the brunch during tourist season, which to my dismay doesn’t start until next weekend.
Bastards! I’ll have to have a sober morning.
I just found a diner and ate some Eggs Benedict sans Mimosa’s, and spent the rest of the morning wandering up and down the five blocks of mainstreet looking at all the little tourist and antique shops. The day was passing slowly but I spent a good portion of it readingVeronika Decides to Die and blogging, then just walked along the beach to the grocery store to find myself a dinner feast of a roasted chicken (1/2 of which I ziplocked for tomorrow), some cheese, bread, carrots and an orange. I washed it all down with a couple of German Beers.
Moanahh is falling apart to my dismay. She lost a spoke yesterday, the brakes are giving me problems, and the shifting is slipping. When I get to San Francisco I’ll have to take her into REI for a check-up.
I finished my night with the last 40 minutes of my movie from yesterday on my laptop and was asleep before the sun was fully down (around nine), trying to prepare for my ride into San Francisco tomorrow. It looks like I’ll be there for about 5 nights, the first three in a hostel, then my sister is flying up and we have a hotel for the next two.
Day: 95
So leaving Capitola this morning someone had told me there was a campground at Pescadero, about 40 miles north into the wind. It was a rough ride with gusts in my face the entire way but finally made it after about five hours of riding, I was exhausted.
Hmmm… this campground looks empty. Where are all the tents? And whats that no camping sign doing where there is supposed to be campsites?
Freakin Damnit!
I checked my camping map (which I hadn’t done before) and guess what? No camping for 15 more miles…
I called my sister to bitch for a minute on the side of the rode and jumped back on Moanahh. Perturbed that I was going to have to ride another 15 miles, at least the wind had died down, but the rain was just starting to come down! Lightly at least. I pedaled through the mist/light rain for a couple more hours and arrived, beat, at Half Moon Bay (30 miles south of San Francisco) to pay my $3 and set up my tent. I took a much needed hot shower and set out to find some lunch/dinner and somewhere to connect to the internet. I ate a burrito and spent about 2 hours at the local Starbucks just to be out of the weather.
I made my way back to camp with the intention of reading until dark then watching my $1 copy of Pirates of the Caribbean (from Charity and Spooners “Estate Sale”) until my battery died on my laptop 30 minutes from the end. I didn’t actually do any reading, I ended up talking for a couple of hours with an English guy who is on his way south on his Bike from Vancouver. I did watch most of my movie though after that, Ill have to recharge tomorrow and watch the rest then.
P.S. Sorry about the blah picture… it was a rather dreary day. I was barely motivated to take my camera out for this one just to prove how dreary I found it.
