San Francisco to Flagstaff

Most people think of visiting San Francisco and heading to the Wharf, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, Sausalito, or a ride on a trolley car. Not me! Thanks to one of my best friends, Mike, I've been able to visit San Francisco and knock off some of the touristy things over the years.

On this visit I was able to do something that most tourists will never see! Mike & Christi's beautiful baby, Ava, turned 11 weeks old.

After going full speed ahead for almost two weeks, I got to relax with the Morgan family.

Every time I visit SF I always feel right at home.

Mike and I did get a night out at the ballgame between the Giants and the Mets. We started with a couple of IPAs at the 21st Amendment Brewery,

...then off to AT&T Park.

Mike got great seats off of third base...

...and we enjoyed a couple of Lagunitas IPAs during the game. The "specialty food" at AT&T Park was apparently garlic fries. Passed on that and had a Polish Sausage instead. Not bad.

It was a good game, made better by the Mets losing 1-0!

After the game, we were treated to fireworks - though they had to stay below the fog layer!

I arrived in SF on Thursday night and recharged my batteries for a 767 mile drive to Flagstaff, AZ early on Sunday morning. I definitely made up for not driving for a few days.

The few highlights of the long drive - some guy outside of Bakersfield who was driving a new Chevy Impala thought it would be cool to add the letter "P" to the name of his car (Pimpala not Impalap). Classy. I had hoped to find an In N Out Burgers just off the highway in Bakersfield for lunch, but no such luck. After another two hours of hoping, I gave up and settled for Subway. No lettuce...makes too much of a mess while driving!

After crossing into Arizona, I was in need of another dose of caffeine. I stopped off to refuel and grabbed some lousy coffee. When I stepped outside of the car I was hit with a 116 degree breeze. Now I know how my car feels when it is goes under the dryer in the car wash! To those people who say "But it's a dry heat", I say Bah!

I spotted a Starbucks around 4 and dumped the lousy coffee in favor of an Iced Americano. I also drove PAST an In N Out Burger. Three hours had passed since lunch and I wasn't hungry, but was tempted to buy a Double-Double and let it sit in the car another 3 hours til I could eat it. But I didn't. And I won't see another In N Out on the trip....I'm not sure which is a bigger disappointment - not getting into a Yosemite campsite or only having In N Out once.

Spending the night in Flagstaff, AZ at the Sleep Inn. Nothing fancy, but apparently the Guest Room Amenities are quite popluar...

Too bad...I could really use a new bath mat at home!

Off to Santa Fe, NM on Monday morning. Next baseball game is Wednesday at 1 in Kansas City.