Day 29: Millbrae to Foster City

Day 29:  Millbrae to Foster City

May 30th, 2017

13.92 miles in 6 hours 27 minutes

A lot of today's hike was through the hotel wonderland south of the airport.   As you can see on the map below this is really straight east of the airport, but it is always hard for me to think of 101 as running anything but straight north and south.  At the Embassy Suites I warmed up with some coffee from their buffet as I sat down to do some programming for the day.

Benihana's on the Bay

Coyote Point is the most dramatic outcropping of of hills reaching the bay.  When I walked through it looked like there was a landscape painters meet up, with each picking their desired combination of trees, landscape, harbor, and bay to render.

Coyote Point

One of the larger landfill hills I've come across is between Coyote Point and the San Mateo Bridge in San Mateo.  They have it covered with kinetic sculptures that oversee the wind surfers and kite boarders down below.  None were out today, not because of lack of wind, but because of low tide.

Kinetic sculptures on San Mateo landfill hill

I was somewhat surprised how far I got by the end of the day, to a suburban shopping complex on the bay in Foster City.  To celebrate my trek being all but over I brought family out to dinner for ramen right here, to give them a chance to stare at the bay a little bit too.

Going out for Ramen

Day 29:  Millbrae to Foster City

    Starting Balance                                        6.47

• Uber to Sequoia Station Caltrain                        7.29
• Starbucks Decaf and Sausage Egg Breakfast Sandwich      5.40  
• Samtrans Busses home                                    5.10

    Ending Balance                                         24.26

Kombucha of the Day -- Grape Cherry with Ginger Ale

Voice Notes:

At the bay today the wind dies away.

I don't have up-to-date knowledge of computing, I have future knowledge of computing.

I really think it was the high-voltage towers that go down the west side of the bay that turned me away from looking at it.

Week 7: San Francisco to Millbrae

 Week 7: San Francisco to Millbrae

May 24th, 25th, 26th, and 28th, 2017    

54.42 miles (340 Total)
23 hours and 32 minutes (157 hours 17 minutes Total)

Accounting: 

    Starting Balance                                        76.22

• Uber Earnings over the weekend                          (7.85)

    Ending Balance                                          68.37

Kombucha of the Weekend -- Sweat Tea

Voice Notes:

nada

Day 28: Oyster Point to Millbrae

Day 28:  Oyster Point to Millbrae

May 28th, 2017

10.98 miles in 4 hours 16 minutes

The first two miles of the hike today were half of the Bay Trail 4 Mile run put on by DSE Runners club. I had little choice but to join in (because I'm a member) and run the two miles out and two miles back in 46 minutes.  This section of the trail is as brand new as all the Genenetch buildings it goes by.  After the race I drove and parked at the halfway point and continued the walk.

DSE Runners Bay Trail 4M

The trail took me across the Colma Creek first (yeah I guess that creek could have originated all the way over in the high cemetery town of Colma), and then the San Bruno Creek.  These creeks and surrounding wetlands are almost completely obliterated by the development around the San Francisco Airport, but you can get a glimpse of what a beautiful Novato-like cove this must have been.  It is still beautiful, you just have to appreciate what it takes in infrastructure to allow people to fly around the world on wheels or wings.

San Bruno Creek

I took the time to walk completely around SamTrans Island.  Yes it is named after the county's public transit service.  And the middle of the island is filled with SamTrans busses.

SamTrans Island

The final stretch of trail today went along the backside of Caltrain and BART as they go by protected lowland between the airport and the tracks.  I hope the California red-logged frog still thrives there.  

Superstructure over BART tunnel

I-380 

Flight leaving SFO

Caltrain roaring by construction materials

Day 28:  Oyster Point to Millbrae

    Starting Balance                                       36.07

• Saturday Uber Eats Deliveries                         (12.43)
• Uber earnings to Oyster Point                         (14.19)
• Bay Trail 4M dserunner Member Entrance Fee              3.00
• Coffee and mints at 711 in San Bruno                    4.50   
• Uber earnings from Oyster Point                       (10.48)

    Ending Balance                                          6.47

Kombucha of the Day -- Pineapple with Ginger Ale

Voice Notes:

nada

Day 27: Heron's Head to Oyster Point

Day 27:  Heron's Head to Oyster Point

May 26th, 2017

18.29 miles in 7 hours 40 minutes

There is a lot of parkland on the north side of Hunters Point, including a brand new shoreline park constructed on the former site of a PG&E power plant.  To guard against graffiti, the park signs are all metal with pictures and words drilled in as a field of holes. 

Hunters Point Shoreline 

India Basin Shoreline Park

Another addition to this area is the latest mosaic tiled stairs in San Francisco, that leads up from this bayside shoreline to the peak of Hunters Point and a bank of rental apartments that haven't seen much landlord investment or other upkeep in recent decades.  Laura and I went searching for this stairs one day in an Uber, but the GPS was confused and we didn't feel like going by foot in the neighborhood.

Hunters Point mosaic tiled staircase

But this time I walked through the whole neighborhood, and discovered that the long planned Hunters Point redevelopment is underway.  There are enormous condominiums under construction on the crest of the hill, and below it you can see the almost completely abandoned Naval Shipyard.  When I tried to walk through the shipyard, a private security guard in a portable booth in the middle of the road stopped me and said I couldn't go any further.  I asked why and he said it still belonged to the Navy.  There was no signage, no permanent guard kiosk, just this guy saying please turn around and hike back up over that hill if you want to get to Candlestick Park.

Panorama from top of Hunters Point

Other than apartments on the ridge,  Hunters Point is made up of a grid of streets below the ridge that stretch from the bay to 101.  I realized I had been through this neighborhood several times before for Uber.  This seems like a neighborhood ripe for artistic settlers, if not outright gentrification.  Which will lead to the usual displacement of those who make their money providing services with those who make their money providing advertisements (it's not Silicon Valley anymore).

Remaining traffic sign for Candlestick Park

After walking by the torn down Candlestick Park, walking to the end of Candlestick Point, I crossed under 101 to traverse the western side of the landscape hill that is so cleverly hidden next to the freeway on this stretch of 101 built across Brisbane marsh.  The town of Brisbane seems completely lost behind the huge constructions of highway and railroad and recycling facilities of the city that sit in front of it on the former marshland.  It does have a marina.

San Francisco Recology truck in front of San Francisco landfill hill

I walked around Sierra Point (also known as the Brisbane Marina) where I've both ran and volunteered for a run put on by the DSE Runners club.  I parked the car at the turnaround of this Sierra Point 5K, a convenient Bay Trail parking lot.  I wondered where this week's run would be, looked it up on my phone, and discovered it was the Bay Trail Run 4M on Sunday at Oyster Point, a mere 2 or 3 miles farther on the trail.  So I pushed on to the Oyster Point Marina and took an Uber back to my car.  And just like I fit the Bay To Breakers in last week, I'll be incorporating this run into hike on Sunday.

Brisbane Marina/Sierra Point Marina

Day 27:  Heron's Head to Oyster Point

    Starting Balance                                       37.10

• Uber earnings to Oyster Point                         (15.78)
• Uber to Heron's Head                                   11.99
• Cappucino at new Hunters Point store                    4.50   
• Uber back to car                                        6.73
• Uber earnings from Oyster Point                        (8.47)

    Ending Balance                                         36.07

Kombucha of the Day -- Cranberry

Voice Notes:

Money makers and moneychangers are the false god he warned us about.

Something the driver of 101 never knows: Hunters Point and Candlestick Point are separate points.

I think the Sermon on the Mount is the best organizing principle for a future sustainable economy as any I've heard.

I found the landfill hill for San Francisco and it’s city sized.

Almost virgin tonic would be a gin and tonic with just a teaspoon of gin.

Candlestick Point looks like a candle stick, Oyster Point looks like the sphinx.

Day 26: Fisherman's Wharf to Heron's Head

Day 26:  Fisherman's Wharf to Heron's Head

May 25th, 2017

11.97 miles in 4 hours 54 minutes

The day began at the Cruise Ship Terminal in San Francisco, which had been taken over for a cloud computing conference.  This is also near where Laura and I saw Steely Dan as part of an America's Cup concert series.  With my laptop I was able to sit down and compose yesterday's blog post in the middle of the crowd on the wharf.  I had some inner confidence that I could belong if I wanted to.

Twilio Conference break area with Astroturf

I walked out to the end of Pier 7, then was delighted to find out there was a bayside promenade from that pier, all the way to Pier 1 next to the Ferry Building.  This includes Pier 3 where Hornblower Yachts has their huge excursion vessels for crowds of high school graduates.  There was extensive signage to let the public know that yes, they could walk by and gawk at these ships.

Pier 7

Pier 1

Ferry Terminal Expansion Project

The Ferry Building and the Embarcadero just look so great nowadays, an amazing improvement over when we moved to California in 1989, and an ugly double-decker freeway blocked the view of the Ferry Building from the rest of Market St., and imprisoned the Embarcadero.

The Bay Bridge

Walked around AT&T Park, and got a good idea for who was benefiting the most from Barry Bond's use of illegal medicine (the Giants), as the sidewalk has bronze plaques honoring the man each step of the way to his asterisk'ed record.  This was the finish line for my first half marathon in 2013, run with niece Erin.  I guess that says something about me if my biggest memory of the place isn't about baseball.

Made a fairly scenic detour around China Basin, technically not part of the Bay Trail, with a lunch break at a picnic area behind houseboats.  A stroll through the half-industrial, half-medical, half-hipster world of Mission Bay and the newly cool Dog Patch took me to a place I've never been, Heron's Head, a Port of San Francisco park with a model sustainable water treatment plant. 

Heron's Head Park

Heron's Head Park

Day 26:  Fisherman's Wharf to Heron's Head

    Starting Balance                                       42.53

• Uber earnings to Millbrae                             (17.65)
• Peets Decaf and Bacon Cheddar Egg B'fast Sandwich       7.55
• Uber to 22nd St. Caltrain from Heron's Head             9.02
• Caltrain to Millbrae                                    5.75

    Ending Balance                                         37.10

Kombucha of the Day -- Watermelon

Voice Notes:

Set down to write the blog this morning at the cruise terminal. It's been taken over by a cloud computing conference. I just don't know where to begin with finding work in cloud computing. Even though I deeply understand the ideas of scalability.

The amazing thing about cold windy wet weather is how good you feel when you get out of it.

As an educated computer scientist I'm starting to marvel at how little of the world at large I knew and understood. 

Hard to find a Scoot when hiking through Hunters Point.

Day 25: The Presidio to Fisherman's Wharf

Day 25:  The Presidio to Fisherman's Wharf

May 24th, 2017

13.22 miles in 6 hours 41 minutes

The Wave Organ

I took a lot of detours hiking from the Presidio to Fisherman's Wharf along the north coast of San Francisco.  I hiked all the way out to the Wave Organ beyond the San Francisco Yacht Club.  There is at least one pipe in the Wave Organ still powered by sounds of the surf. 

Working Wave Organ pipe

Then I walked up Webster thru Moscone Park to Union St. where I had a coffee and breakfast burrito and The Coffee Roastery.  I was reliving moments meeting with entrepreneurial artistic friends here, making plans for the future that didn't quite work out.  Though there still exists free software from that collaboration, and a few people have copies of the zines we produced.

Coffee Roastery at Union and Fillmore

I made a quick stop at 1999 Green St., where we first lived in California.  I walked around the back way where the garbage chute is, and rekindled memories of what it felt like to move into the heart of the city, garbage pickup 3 times a week.

1999 Green Street

The next detour was around the central pier of Fort Mason.  Walking there I passed the tree I used to sit under and meditate across from Marina Safeway.  At the suggestion of my oldest son I sat on the dock of the bay and wasted some time not thinking.

Tree of Meditation

View from end of Fort Mason Pier

Then I hiked to the end of the Aquatic Park pier that is slowly falling apart.  This park is the home of the Dolphin Rowers club and the South End Rowers club.  50 years ago a guy decided to draw on these two clubs to start a running club, the Dolphin South End Runners  Club.  This club initiated the Double Dipsea, and still put on a 5K or 10K most every Sunday, all of them located in some amazing stretch of San Francisco shoreline or park.

Boat pulled up to offload fish

For the first time I really explored the fisherman side of Fisherman's Wharf, finding the place where loads of fish are still taken from boats and sold.  But that didn't stop me from enjoying sea lions, and pretzels, and caramel corn at Pier 39.

Fishing boat at Fisherman's Wharf

Sea Lions at Pier 39

To wrap up the day I rented an all-electric Scoot and drove it back to the Palace of Fine Arts.  It was exciting to be cruising down Bay and Beach in the middle of the lane at 30 mph.  It's a fascinating addition to transportation options in the city, and seems to have an edge over bike rental, in that the scooter is to heavy to pick up and walk away with, so it can be parked on almost any city street.  They own the 5 feet of curve between two driveways that are all over San Francisco.

Day 25:  The Presidio to Fisherman's Wharf

    Starting Balance                                       68.37

• Uber earnings to Presidio                             (30.59)
• Coffee Roasters Decaf and Breakfast Burrito             9.70
• Pretzel at Pier 39                                      4.50
• Scoot Rental from Fisherman's W. to Palace of Fine Arts 3.20
• Scoot Credit for new Rider                             (3.20)         
• Uber earnings from Presidio                           (10.45)

    Ending Balance                                         42.53

Kombucha of the Day -- Lemonade with Margarita Mix

Voice Notes:

I had a timidness when it came to brackish water sports.

Funny I told my wife's 89 earthquake story to two different passengers this morning and here I am walking through the Marina today.

Taking a detour to see 1999 Green St. is kind of like walking around some original slough in the marina.

I wanted to live the Silicon Valley dream when meditating under the eucalyptus tree across from the marina Safeway back in the late 80s.