What a day!

After a "slight" flight delay on our way through Vegas yesterday, we made it into SF in the early evening. We had decided to ride the BART into town from the airport, with the closest stop about 8 blocks from our hotel. But, what K did not realize when he put together this plan was that those 8 blocks were UP Powell street from the turnaround for the cable cars. Way up. Lugging our luggage behind us...and me in heels. I could have killed him. We're staying in a nice, historic hotel atop Nob Hill, which I guess makes it worth it.
I started today off with a great 6-mile run that turned into a 7-mile run which was a great opportunity to see some familiar and new sights. Here's a few pics from my run:

The Golden Gate Bridge hiding in the fog:
Fisherman's Wharf:
Alcatraz:
Cable car (on wheels):
Bay Bridge:
AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants:
Chinatown:
The weather was perfect for running too. Temps in the 50's, not too windy, sunny skies. With the summer weather in Austin, I had forgotten what it felt like to run so effortlessly. I saw paces on my Garmin that I haven't seen since the heat took up residence in Austin. It gives me hope for Utah in October.

I really enjoyed myself while running and exploring this morning. I kept asking myself "With Colorado last weekend and California this weekend, why exactly do we live in Austin?" The weather was perfect and the scenery was great. Don't worry, I know all the reasons we live in Austin. I just had a wistful moment...or two (or three...).

I came back from my run in great spirits. After a quick shower, we headed out for the day's adventures. We had a few hiccups as we were trying to get on our way, but we eventually ended up taking the cable car down to Fisherman's Wharf. From there we decided to rent bikes for a couple of hours as a way to get over to the Golden Gate Bridge, which was K's one must do for the trip. We stopped at The Palace of Fine Arts on the way. I absolutely love it there. It's so beautiful and serene.Naturally we hit a few hills along the way to the Golden Gate Bridge, and I tried to channel my inner Lance (with not much success at times). It was a nice ride though, but actually riding over the Bridge freaked me out a bit because it was so darn windy out there! It was a great experience though.
After dropping off our bikes, we had dinner at Cioppino's, an Italian seafood restaurant on the Wharf. Then, we headed over to Ghiradelli Square for a bite of chocolate. We were so cold walking around though!!! We picked up the cable car again and headed back to our hotel. I'm definitely pretty wiped out from all the running, biking, and walking. Not the best thing to do before a 20-mile run in the morning. Oh, well. The weather and scenery will get me through it.

So, what's on tap for tomorrow? Long run in the morning, Alcatraz in the afternoon, and fireworks of course in the evening.

I love this city.