The 12-Mile day of Many Stairs

Today's Route

Another wonderful walk with the Warming Hut Hotties! If today's walk had a theme, it would have been "Stairs". We conquered many. Wish I would have thought to count them (or even take photos of all of them) because it was quite an impressive amount.

We started with the always beautiful (and steep) Lyon Street Stairs. The Lyon Street Steps consist of two levels, each with 120 stairs. So, that's 240 so far!

We continued through some great trails in the Presidio, before walking most of the length of Clement Street. Somewhere before our break at Fresh N Easy, we passed by these two dinosaurs!


Dinosaurs in San Francisco!

After a quick food break at Fresh N Easy, we walked onto Geary/Pt Lobos and eventually at El Camino del Mar. Here, we marveled at the gorgeous mansions (and I really do mean mansions) and caught glimpses of the spectacular views that some of those homes have. I could spend all day looking at those houses. :)

We walked along then UP the stairs of Land's End Trail (UP, UP, UP!) made our way to Baker Beach. From there, we climbed UP and DOWN the many, many, many stairs of the Batteries to Bluffs Trailhead. It was spectacular!


this really doesn't give you a sense of just how many stairs were in this trail. If you look at the photo, and see the many houses in the background, you'll see just how far we walked in a little more than an hour.

We had many lovely views of our beautiful Golden Gate Bridge along the way today. It made for many photo opps!


Tanzeem & Monica

We eventually walked under the Golden Gate Bridge (always cool) and made our way back to the Warming Hut.


The underside of the Golden Gate Bridge

As we came back to Crissy Field at around 12:30, the sun was just starting to peak out. It was a really nice day for a walk. :)


Today's Stats

Tour of SF City Hall

We had a 45 minute delay from jury duty this morning (due to Muni delays) so I took advantage of our location and took a quick walk through City Hall.

It's been a few years since I've been in City Hall. I have been meaning to go in to see the bust of Harvey Milk that was erected a couple of years ago.

I also went into the Chambers room where they hold all of the meetings for the Board of Supervisors (among other things, I'm sure.).

Such an amazing building. So glad to have taken the time to visit it again. :)

36-mile Weekend

WOW! What a walking weekend it was!!

I was too tired to post about it last night, and am a bit rushed to get this out before heading out to jury duty, so I'm just going to put in the bare-boned basics. :) For some reason, the maps from my GPS software didn't export well, so I took screenshots of the maps from my phone. It's smaller than usual, but still shows the route.

We walked 20 miles on Saturday, which turned out to be one of my favorite routes yet! We did a HUGE 20 mile circle around San Francisco. From Crissy Field, down the Embarcadero, through Mission Bay, up Potrero Hill, down to Dolores Park, UP 17th Street, through Golden Gate Park, and back into the Presidio. We went through so many microclimates, and saw so much great architecture along the way!


20-mile route



Sunday's 16 mile was was also pretty awesome - fewer people made it out, but we did have a lot of new people, too. We were all pretty tired from the day before, but everyone persevered through, and made it through the entire walk!

Special thanks to Judy, Alycia and Linda (and their husbands, too!) for the remarkable and always-appreciated route support this weekend. They were amazing and spoiled us with their delicious treats!


16-mile route



As always, thanks to Linda and the rest of the Warming Hut Hotties for planning and organizing such beautiful and thoughtful routes for us.

Update:

I almost forgot the funniest picture from Sunday!
Our Grand Poobah Hottie, Linda, noticed and made sure to point out to me:

Jury Duty Follow-Up

So, as I mentioned before, both Dick and I were summoned for Jury Duty this week.

I was instructed to go to the Courthouse on Tuesday morning, and was eventually selected for the jury on a Civil Case. We were told to plan on 2-3 weeks or so. (not too bad, and an interesting case.)

Dick never had to report in person, and only had to call in each evening this week to check his status. This evening, he was told that he did not have to report in tomorrow, and that he had performed his civic duty for the year.

Double Jury Summons

Double Jury Service Summons

Dick and I both received Jury Service Summons for the week of July 18th. It's not quite as much of a coincidence as it may seem. We had both received notices for earlier dates (both while he was in the earlier stages of recovery from his broken patella) and we both postponed. I don't know if he knew that he had selected the same date as me.

Ironically, mine is at the Civic Center Courthouse, and his is for the Hall of Justice.

This would've been a whole lot more interesting (and possibly fun!) if we were reporting to the same location.

We both called in Friday evening, and neither of us were instructed to report in today.

I'll be checking again later this afternoon to get information about tomorrow.

Today's 12.5 mile Training Walk

Today's Route

Well, for once, I think my GPS app was fairly accurate. Today's walk was planned out to be 12.5 miles, and I came in at 13.6. Still off by a mile, but at least that's closer to what was planned, and also possible. :) I never turn off my GPS during rest stops, or during our lunch stop, so the info is always a little skewed.

It was a cold, foggy Summer day here in SF. I usually shed my many layers while we walk (usually a tank top, short or long sleeved shirt and a light-weight jacket) but today, everything stayed on the whole time. It was actually quite nice to walk in this weather - never got hot. :)

The excitement for the day came from the new grocery store stop on our route - the new Fresh & Easy that only recently opened in the Richmond District. Overall, it seems like everyone was pretty happy with it. They had a really nice selection of prepared foods (the chicken curry salad that I had was particularly yummy!) and the prices were good. They also had self checkout, and a microwave to heat up food. On the downside, there weren't any tables or benches for us to hang out/eat at, and the bathrooms were less than great. (two stalls, and not particularly clean apparently, considering that they should be new.)


Fresh & Easy


I also wore my second pair of shoes for the first time today to break them in. (the 3Day suggests that you have 2 pairs of shoes for the weekend, with the second pair being at least 1/2 size larger since your feet will swell.) I've worn them a couple of times for my daily neighborhood walks (2.5-3 miles) but this was my first training walk in them. I liked them a lot, which is great, and my feet didn't rebel at all (no blisters, etc.,) which is even better. However, now that I looked them up online to get more info, I see they are sold out. Too bad. (I bought mine at the end of March, but didn't start wearing them until this month. Don't want to wear them out too much before the event in September.)


Today's Stats

Coolest Movie Theater EVER!!

Harry Potter, Movie 8! (or 7.2)

I am SO excited!!

Reeves and Paula had told us these great theaters in Redmond a couple of years ago. You can reserve your seats (which I did last week), the seats are large and recline, and come with a blanket & pillow. Popcorn and unlimited refills of sodas. You can order cocktails or food to brought to your seat during the film.

What a great theater experience!!

Funny Virgin

Our flight this morning was on Virgin Air out of the new SFO Terminal 2.

This was the information sign at our gate.

:)

Sweet Suite!

I'm in Seattle/Bellevue for a couple of days - visiting friends while Dick is up for work.

We're staying at the Westin Bellevue. The very nice lady at the registration desk upgraded us to a suite when I checked in! (She said I looked so happy when I checked in (which I was) so she thought it would be nice to upgrade our room.) Sweet!!

She told me that the suites have especially nice bathrooms and that the room has 10' ceilings. Very nice!

We even have a nice balcony to boot.

Thanks to Lisa for taking care if our house and kitty while we are away!!

Hottie Walker Stalking

The Susan G Komen 3Day walk that I'm training for isn't until September 9-11, but the Avon Walk for the Cure is this weekend in San Francisco. Many of our Warming Hut Hottie teammates are walking this weekend. Several people from our team who aren't participating in the Avon walk are "Walker Stalking" this weekend to cheer the walkers on. I was able to join them for a few hours yesterday afternoon in Marin. SO much fun!!!

How great is our group? They decorated three cars the night before (complete with deeleeboppers!) and drive around in a convoy along the route both days. Everyone wears their deeleeboppers and butterfly wings, and cheers on the walkers while blaring music from the cars! They also pass out fruit, candy, and chilled baby wipes to the walkers to help keep them refreshed.

It's a whole lot of fun, and having walked in an event last year, I can say that the cheering groups really do help motivate you as your walking all day.

I won't be able to make it out again today, but you can be sure that the Warming Hut Hotties are out bright and early today, cheering on all of the beautiful Avon Walkers!!

WoooooHoooo!!!!

The Dick Report - Week 9

Today marks 9 weeks since Dick shattered his patella into 4 pieces. He had a follow-up appointment with his surgeon this afternoon, and got some good news - he no longer needs to wear is brace, and he is allowed to drive again!! Yay!! Very exciting news (for both of us!).

Dick's knee has been quite swollen for several weeks now. Much of the swelling was due to fluids building up around the knee, which we had hoped would go down over time, and with physical therapy. The doctor offered to drain it for Dick when we last saw him three weeks ago, but Dick held off in hopes of it going down on its own. Today, he was ready to have it drained - the extra swelling was causing extra discomfort when walking or bending his knee.

Of course, I was there taking photos. The doctor drained about 40cc of fluid, which looked like an awful lot in the syringe.

Dick was a real trooper throughout the whole process. For someone who shies away from needles, he managed well, and was happy that he had it done.

There's no guarantee that the fluids won't build up again, so we'll see how the next few days go. Worst case scenario, he can always go back in to have his knee drained again.

The doctor was very happy with Dick's progress so far. He'll continue with the Physical Therapy (and go in for that twice a week), but he won't have to see the surgeon again for another couple of months.

Warning
Graphic images


Dick's swollen knee


The doctor checks the knee and fluid location with an ultrasound - check out that needle!


Draining the fluid from the knee


Post-drain - still swollen, but not as much as before


40cc of fluid out! (yuck!)

Happy 4th of July!!

We were so excited that we can see the SF fireworks show from our new home!! So cool!!

Hope everyone had a nice and safe Independence Day! :)

A Walk in Concord

No official Hottie Training Walks this weekend due to the Holiday weekend. One of our teammates has not been able to join us on any walks since April due to personal reasons, so a few of us decided to carpool over to Concord to take her out for a walk and lunch! :)

Walking around Marsha's neighborhood in Concord was lovely, and a nice change of pace and scenery. But boy, it was HOT! It was in the high 90s, which is much hotter than those of us who live in San Francisco (or Pacifica!) are used to, but we came prepared, and sweated it out. :)

I'm sure we were quite a sight - We wore our deeleeboppers for extra morale and spirit. It drew a lot of attention when we walked around town and through the Farmer's Market. :)

We took a few photos in some of the picturesque spots along the walk:





After our walk (which was only 3 or 4 miles, but felt longer in the heat) we cleaned up a bit at Marsha's house then headed on out for a Mexican lunch!!

The staff at the restaurant were so awesome. They cheered us on as we walked through the restaurant with our deeleeboppers, and one of the waiters even fashioned his own martian-hat (made out of aluminum foil) to join in on the fun.







It was a really nice way to spend the morning and afternoon. Hurray for the Hotties for always bringing the support, love and friendship when in need. I'm so lucky to be a part of this amazing group.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!

Today is my Mom's Birthday!! "Happy Birthday, Mom!!"

We had a very nice day together to celebrate.

My Mom, Dad, Sis, Graham and Grandma all had lunch together at House of Genji. It's one of my Mom's favorite places to go, so we usually go on her birthday. They used to give free Birthday meals, but it's now $10 off your meal. :)


The family at House of Genji


the volcanic onion


Birthday Girl ice cream!

My sister brought one of my Mom's new favorite cakes. It's a layered chocolate cake with real whipped cream from a Danish bakery in Downtown Oakland. My Mom and Sis discovered it a few weeks ago, and love it! It was yummy!


Birthday Cake

We topped off the afternoon by playing a round of miniature golf at Golfland. If you're from Milpitas, you know the one - right off of 680 at Jacklin. We haven't played miniature golf as a family for years (decades?)! Was very fun. Very HOT (90 degrees) but very fun. :)


Mom, excited after making a great shot!

Happy Birthday, Mom!! We all love you so very much!!! xo