WEDDING, REDUX IN SF

Summer finally over, almost, so it’s time to hit the road for our Fall trip.  The rig has been sitting in storage for several months now, and the first order of business is washing and polymering it.  This is a major piece of work as you first have to clean the roof thoroughly to avoid having dirty streaks run down whenever it gets wet.  The wash and coating took all day, but it was worth it.

Besides getting it looking good, the polymer coating does a great job when it comes time to clean off the various bugs, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. that we murder as we cruise along.  Mostly, I can get away with just a wet sponge and they come right off.  As I write this, much after the fact, we’ve had some horrendous splats that have washed right off.  It also rids us of another nuisance: wasps and yellowjackets.  They seem to love feasting on the splatty bodies. 

Our first destination was San Francisco for a couple of days to attend John & Meghan’s stateside reception after the wedding in Puerto Vallarta in June.  At 60mph, it’s a long day’s slog up the scenic I-5.

Sorry, California, I know it’s the end of summer, and this area isn’t irrigated, but this has to be the ugliest terrain we will travel on our entire trip.

We made it in about 8 hours or so, and, ignoring completely the deranged routings of our Garmin, we checked into our stealth RV park adjacent to SF.  Nope, I’m not spilling the beans.  I don’t want it clogging up!  First order of business was to be a Giants game that night.  Younger son Mike picked us up as we were staying at his place rather than in the rig, for convenience.  Even though the Giants are having a mediocre season, the fans are true fanatics.  Like NY, Boston, or Chicago, which all have functioning mass transit systems and compact areas, SF enjoys a sense of community identity that LA can’t match.  Riding the BART to the stadium was a hoot.  It was packed with fans wearing home team orange.  The only thing missing from the experience were the Tokyo pushers who pack riders into the cars like sardines.

The BART runs above ground in various areas, so we can see the sights as we motor along.  This Friday night happened to be Critical Mass ride night, the last Friday of the month.  Thousands of bicyclists take to the streets to “assert their rights to the road.”  While perhaps originally undertaken with noble intentions, it seems to have degenerated into an ignore-the-rules-of-the-road free-for-all that simply clogs traffic and angers everyone not on two wheels.  Here, it also is opportunity for, ah, free expression.

Yes, he’s totally in the buff, and he wasn’t the only one.  Sorry for the blurring (or maybe we should be grateful for it), but this was taken from the moving train.  I think this is something that would have warmed the hearts of the old SF columnists, Stan Delaplane and Lucius Beebe.  Anyway, we got to the park and gathered to await the arrival of the other guests.

L to R:  Meghan’s sis, Ashley, Alia, Meghan, John, Mike, M’s mom, Janet, Loni, the twins, and Kevin, A’s hubby.  We eventually had another ten or so.

All ball parks are beautiful when you first come up out of the tunnels or ramps and see that bright green field.  Of course, SF’s park looks out onto the Bay, so it’s even prettier.  However, SF is the yin and yang city par excellence, and that lovely atmosphere can turn on a brass monkey’s dime.

Oooh, baby, the coldest winter you will ever spend is a summer night in San Francisco!  We ate pretty good ballpark food, including garlic fries(!), got great Gordon Biersch beer, and the home team won in a thriller.  An excellent evening, enjoyed by the newlyweds and all.

The next evening was the reception, held in a fancy bar setting down in the city center.  The gals had visited the flower mart earlier in the day, and made bouquets for the do.

The bride and groom posed for some pics on the grounds, and then made a strolling entrance.  Think they’re happy?

The venue was a glass atrium bar that did a bang-up job.  I’d hate to see the tab, and I didn’t have to!  This is early on, before most of the guests arrived.  It was packed later.

Last time we saw Mike, he was clean-shaven and sporting the same close-cropped hair he has had for years.  Well, things change!  Here’s young hirsute with Alia and her folks, Lynne and Bill. 

The cake was quirky and cool, and the spread was scrumptious.

The cutting of the cake was accomplished without any mashing in the face, etc.  It was as good as it looked!

Everybody partied until long after dark, when the management had to, um, “suggest” that the evening was over.  A great time had by all.  Now, they’re old married folks, off on their five week honeymoon to Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and Greece.  Somebody is sure living right!