Two weeks ago, we drove to San Francisco to support Lindsay's friend from graduate school, Cheryl, as she ran the Nike Women's Marathon. Cheryl hadn't run for a month due to an IT band injury, so we knew she could probably use all the cheering she could get.
We left Portland on a Friday morning and began the first part of our 11 hour drive, which we decided to split over two days. Since we actually wanted to get to San Fran, we opted to take I-5 instead of the more scenic route along the coast.
The drive from Portland to Eugene (where the University of Oregon is located) was mind-numbingly boring. Flat, straight, miles and miles of farm land. On a clear day, however, Mt. Hood is visible in the east (I'm still getting used to seeing actual mountains--topped with snow--on the horizon).
After passing Eugene, the landscape became far more scenic. Vast forests of pine trees spanned for miles and miles east and west. To the east, we passed Deschutes National Forest followed by Umpqua National Forest. To the west, Rogue River National Forest. We drove some serious inclines and descents while weaving through mountains and forest.
Southwestern Oregon
The whole time we were there I kept thinking that my parents would LOVE this town. The main street is full of little shops- pottery, antiques, other artisan crafts-, tons of restaurants and some bed and breakfasts. We also came across a relatively small and tame Occupy Ashland protest, which was the first time I'd experienced an Occupy protest outside of a major city. (According to The Daily Beast, Portland was named the 2nd "most angry city" based on the number of protesters per million, behind Denver.)
Ashland
View from the road
After lunch, we hopped back on I-5 and continued the drive towards Shasta Lake, in Northern California, where we camped for the night.
Mt. Shasta from the south (14,179 ft )
Shasta Lake from our campsite
We arrived in San Francisco in the afternoon on Saturday and checked into the place we stayed for the night. We didn't want to spend a fortune on a decent hotel room and didn't want to spend money on a crappy airport hotel, so we investigated other options. We could camp, but that would require us to stay at least 50 miles outside the city or hike in (and with Lindsay recovering from knee surgery, that wasn't feasible).
Lindsay came across Airbnb.com online so we investigated. Basically, people rent out their homes or rooms for a night or up to weeks. We found a room available for a reasonable price at what looked to be a very cute house in Southern San Fran. The hosts were very well-reviewed on the site, so we went for it. It was great! The hosts, Lori and Thad, were very welcoming and hospitable.
Bay Bridge
Later Saturday night, we met up with Lindsay's friend from childhood and his girlfriend for drinks and dinner. We managed to come across a Pittsburgh bar (which reminded me of the Primanti Bros.) so we watched the end of the Sabres/Penguins game (go Sabres!). After, we ate dinner at the Stinking Rose (known for their heavy use of garlic) and had a lot of great conversation. It was wonderful meeting them, and we're actually going up to Seattle to spend Thanksgiving with his and Lindsay's family.
On Sunday, we woke up bright and early to head down to the race. We parked close to Golden Gate Park and walked into the park to catch Cheryl around mile 15. There, I jumped in with her and I ran with her until about 100 yards from the finish line (right on the ocean near the park's entrance). She did an incredible job, and I give her so much credit for fighting through intense pain from the beginning of the race. (Go Cheryl!) I'm glad I could support her by running the much of the last half with her.
After a great weekend in San Francisco, we headed home.
Mile 15
2 miles from the finish
Success!
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