km 4013

Hi there all you out on God’s awesome planet! It’s been a while since my last blog entry and I’ve quite a lot to tell you

As I told you I stayed in Fort Bragg for one night and then went on to Sacramento. Going through the mountains inlands from the coast was a great experience again – an awesome windy road with lots of ups and downs for miles and along some beautiful lakes. In the evening I arrived at Dave’s house in Sacramento. He was tidying up for the days I was there, but still provided me with a comfortable couch to sleep on. We then went out the evening to meet some friends at a close bar who gave me some advice what to do and see in Sacramento. Dave seems to be a funny guy and he was searching for a new roommate that evening as well – I would describe him as a mixture between musician/actor Jack Black and Fat Mike from NoFX.

The next day I went to see the Capitol (Arnie’s office) in Sacramento and made a walk through downtown and “Old Sacramento” which is a kind of old western town near the centre. I also watched a movie @ the mall -> Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler, which was hilarious the next day I left early towards San Francisco. I went down highway 160 to Antioch and then west to the Bay Area. I arrived there around noon and decided to drive around (south to San Jose and back up to SF) the Bay Area to San Francisco. As there was time enough I decided to go to Golden Gate Bridge first (AWESOME BRIDGE!!!!!) and then along Lombard Street down Russian hill and up to Coit Tower. In the evening I then perfectly hit rush hour again to arrive in Walnut Creek around 7 p.m. where I met Brian and his house-mates Stephen and Dave.

The next day I followed Stephen’s advice and went up to Mt. Diablo which is near Walnut Creek – again a windy road was there for Gergi’s joy The view from the top was awesome – you could see all of the Bay Area in the west and to the Rockies in the East and far to the North and South as well. In the evening I went to the movies with Brian to see “Gran Torino”, a film with Clint Eastwood which was really good.

On Saturday Brian, Erin (a friend of his) and me went to San Francisco and they showed me around the city. We started our trip with BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in Walnut Creek and went to Embarcadero and Pier 33 where we hopped onto the ferry to Alcatraz. We spent the morning there doing the self-guided audio-tour and getting interesting details about the former prison and military base on the island. From there we also had a tremendous view to San Francisco. At noon we went back downtown to have Clam Chowder (mmmmmmmmm) for lunch. We then went through Chinatown’s markets where we had a pork bun. Arriving at Union Square we made a short break for coffee to walk back to the Harbour building, where we caught the perfect moment when moon was rising above Bay Bridge. Back in Walnut Creek we went to a new Sushi place for dinner which was also great.

On Sunday I went to church with Brian and Erin and afterwards us 3 and Amy (another friend of Brian) went to Santa Cruz, where Brian grew up. We first met his parents at their house and then did a walk through the local Redwood forest with huge trees and some tales told After organizing some sandwiches at a local store we went to the beach @ Santa Cruz to watch some surfers there which by the end of the day where reinforced by dozens more. Brian and I had a ride with a roller coaster @ the amusement park and afterwards we got some ice-cream before going home again.

On Monday I decided to explore San Francisco on my own – I again went to Golden Gate Bridge, cause the weather was even better and then strolled around in Mountain Lake Park. In the evening I went to Coit Tower again to see the awesome sundown over San Francisco and enjoy the view to the downtown’s skyline. On Tuesday I went to Berkeley to see the University of California, which actually has 7 Nobel laureates on staff (!!!!). In the afternoon I explored downtown Walnut Creek, which is a really nice place (they also have an Apple store

The highlight of the day was definitly in the evening when Brian, Dave, Stephen and I went to San Jose to see a NHL game of the San Jose Sharks. They are currently the best team in NHL and played Tampa Bay Lightning that evening. It just took them some minutes to gain momentum and then gave short shrift of Tampa Bay and sent them home with 7:1. It was a really great experience to be at a NHL game as it is a perfect show from the second you enter the arena. Funny trivia: most of the sponsors of the Sharks are from computer industry as San Jose is somehow the heart of Silicon Valley, e.g. their arena is named “HP Pavillon” for Hewlett-Packard.

As we got back home I said good bye already to Brian and his house-mates as they had to work the next day and had to get up early. I left at 10 a.m. this morning and went down to Santa Cruz to catch highway 1 there. It was a great drive again all the way, as most time the highway leads along the coastline. Some miles before Cambria I watched the sun drowning in the vast expense of the Pacific Ocean. Then I checked in @ the hostel, made some dinner and took a walk around the town centre, which also seems to be a nice place. I had a beer @ a bar and went back to the hostel, where I’m now.

Well … that was my last 9 days in short! Hope you enjoyed reading it.

Feel hugged & be blessed,
Gergi