i drove to sf the friday before last. i got an early start and hit the road at 2:30 in the afternoon. unlike the trip before that, when i left town after work and got awfully tired; i had to pull over and nap four times before i made it to sf. how i enjoy resting in a car that rocks with the passing traffic.
so, back to the friday before last, i was very happy to be driving in full consciousness, listening to podcasts, taking pictures. then, about an hour into the drive, i thought i saw the sky falling down.
101 north bound near los alamos, 11 march 06
sure enough, i was right
it was my very first sleet experience. people did all sorts of crazy things on the road, speeding up, switching lanes, come to a screeching halt, etc. i slowed down and kept on moving. the ice hitting the car was deafening. it went on for a good five minutes. i cranked the windshield wipers on max and there were moments when i thought i saw the paint being blasted right off the car.
101 at pismo beach
i drove in and out of heavy rainstorms for the rest of the trip. when i reached sf, i was stuck in an impossible traffic jam.
parking on 19th avenue
i took that picture out of boredom. in fact, i was trying to do a panorama when i noticed...
snow!
unintentional self portrait, i swear. anyway, the slush caused a lot of camera phone action which in turn caused a man on the light rail platform to shout, "yes! it snowed right here in beautiful san francisco! that's right..." he stopped when i turned my camera on him.
the shady shouter
saturday morning jg drove me to the dentist in san jose. it was pretty novel to see the mountains covered with snow.
280 at 101
by the way, i did not get a root canal as anticipated. i got a bleaching. the pain, it might very well have been a double root canal.
the rest of saturday jg and i made like tourists and went up to:
the coit tower
(please refrain from making jokes)
view from base of tower
jg studying the murals
we bought tickets and went to the top of the tower. i took a whole mess of pictures. i mean to create a flickr slideshow but i keep forgetting. for now i'll show you a few of my favorites.
jg at top of stairwell
looking through a window down at statue in parking lot
one of my favorite buildings
zoomed in
i tried for a panorama by taking a picture out of every window but it just didn't work out. the light was fading fast and some of the tourists spent entirely too much time at each window.
the new schmee did not give up, however. introducing...
