We woke up in El Portal mostly well rested. Our next stop was San Francisco to meet up with friends, so we thought- hey, that's so close, we don't have to rush! So we packed our things and went on our way. The road to SF was unremarkable, except for the traffic. Oh my goodness, did we meet some traffic! It was odd to be stuck in gridlock in a maze of highways after days of open road and the Eastern Sierra surrounding us.
We got to SF later than expected, but I would say late afternoon. We found a parking garage close to our friend's apartment, which was great, but as it was a public parking lot we were worried that someone would steal our stuff. To prevent that, we trashed our car. Our tarp was still dirty from the last time we camped, so we placed the tarp, dirty side up, across the car seats. All of our empty plastic water jugs from camping and such were put on top. Burned CDs went across the front seats. We thought we were finished, but then realized that with our out of state license plates we would look like an easy target...so we took off our front plate and backed the car up alllllllll the way to the wall. We probably went a bit overboard, but better to be safe than sorry! I wish I took a photo of the car, because it was a "work of art."
Finally, we were ready to see our friends Ліда and Ярема. They introduced us to SF in the best way possible- pack some booze, and go to a popular park. I want to say it was Dolores Park in the Mission, because it was under construction. Wow, what park! There were all sorts of people- techies walking dogs, cosplayers, homeless, punks, and people high off their minds. Lots of people casually selling weed and shrooms and what have you out of coolers. Lots of public drinking. In short- it's a different world. We kept to our libations and people watched.
We wandered around the Mission, and eventually grabbed some dinner. That burrito was so delicious, I don't know if I'll ever have a better one! We stopped in some vintage/thrift/antique stores and found a few pieces that I would've loved to take with us (if we had the $ and the room in our car!). It was a wonderful night out in the Mission.
Now, Олесь also has a friend in SF- one from his Rochester days. After getting in contact with him, we found out that he just ran a race...with another friend who was visiting from Rochester! We all met up at The Beer Hall on Van Ness. The Rochester friends were tired from the race, and half of the people didn't know each other, but it was nice to chill with all of the friends together. The Rochester friends bid us goodnight, and we went towards the apartment.
We decided that our night wasn't over, and stopped by a wine bar that Ліда and Ярема frequent. I wish I remembered the name of the place, because it was a wonderful experience. Олесь and I are not into wine that much, but the servers were very helpful in choosing something tasty. We went up to the second floor...and then played Bohnanza. Yup, Ліда and Ярема had purchased the game Bohnanza and wanted to play with us. The students because the teachers! It was a while since I played, but it was so much fun playing in the swanky bar. And it was wonderful to know that someone else loves playing Bohnanza ;)
