Friday we kicked-off our shoes after a long workweek, and watched the movie 'Winter's Bone', about a family of meth dealers in the Ozarks. An unusual topic to be sure, and fairly depressing, but it was really good. (We never seem to find time to watch movies, which is why our finally doing so is at all noteworthy.)
Saturday morning we went for a bike ride- a first for us. Road biking is a real craze here in SF, and on weekends the suburban roads are overrun by hordes of weekend-warrior bikers clad in sponsor-festooned spandex. Gentle snarkiness aside, it's undeniable that the Bay Area is full of quiet, undeveloped areas with great views, and swooping around on a bicycle is a tempting way to enjoy the outdoors, see new places, and get some exercise, sun and fresh air. So, long story short, on Saturday we borrowed a fancy road bike for P and went for an inaugural ride with some more experienced biker-friends. We rode up into the Berkeley Hills (not so much swooping; mainly a lot of panting) and were rewarded with some spectacular views of the city and bay. Unfortunately it then started raining, which made for a hair-raising descent into Berkeley, especially when P realized that her brakes were poorly positioned and thus difficult to grip with her small hands. All in all though, it was a good first ride, and we're definitely intrigued enough to consider doing it again.
It was still only noontime though, and we hustled back home after our ride in order to go shopping, as we were having friends over for dinner. However, during our shopping we were overcome with pangs of hunger, so I whipped out the Yelp app on my iPhone to find a nearby place to eat. To our delight, we discovered that a new cafe had recently opened up in our neighborhood, unbeknownst to us, and everyone seemed to love it. A few minutes later we were sitting there ourselves, and sharing a fantastic pizza and veggie burger. (Yes, I know- veggie burgers are almost always unappetizing... but this one was awesome!) How did anyone live before smartphones? How did newly-opened restaurants located on out-of-the-way streets ever attract any customers? It's a mystery. In any case, there's nothing more delightful than unexpectedly finding a good nearby eatery, so this alone would have made our weekend.
Back home, after a quick shower and nap, we had a great dinner with friends from Boston, then an early bedtime.
Sunday we once again got up early, in order to go hiking with friends in Point Reyes, a beautiful peninsula located about a hour north of the city.
The weather was gorgeous, and we hiked to the northern tip of the peninsula (Tomales Point), and admired the waves crashing against the cliffs, the fields of wildflowers, and the large herds of elk that were recently reintroduced there.
After the 10-mile return hike we were famished, but luckily P's aunt and uncle have a beautiful house nearby, and had invited us over for a BBQ. We stuffed ourselves with fantastic grilled lamb, oysters and other delicious foods, then rolled sleepily back to the city.
Monday we slept late, puttered around the house a little, each went to work for a few hours in the afternoon, then met at the gym to do a killer crossfit workout. Afterwards we grabbed a take-out pizza from a place in the Mission that we'd been meaning to try for a while. It was very good -definitely the best pizza we've found in SF thus far, although that's not necessarily saying much. For all its charms, SF is not a great pizza city.
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