NEW HOME!!!

Okay, so this post is coming a day late, but we've been busy getting settled into our NEW HOME!!!  In any case, let's go back a day...

After leaving San Francisco yesterday afternoon, we stopped to pick up a new bike rack for Alie's car and then headed for the highly recommended California Coastal Route 1 for the journey south.  After passing a sign just south of Monterey that said "CURVES AND HILLS NEXT 63 MILES" we knew we were in for a treat.  This is what most of our drive looked like:

You can see the road up ahead in that photo just carved right into the side of the mountain.  It was slow driving for a few hours, but absolutely worth it for the breathtaking scenery.  Pictures do it better justice than my text, so check out our album of photos linked here. We even caught the last sliver of sunset here:

After arriving in town last night a few hours later than we expected, we settled in, met our new roommate Jared, and our other four "roommates":  Moo, Chotchke and Tooky, and some other cat that is too elusive for either a photo or a name, so far.  So our house is pretty sweet, complete with a lovely living room, a big kitchen, and our cozy bedroom.  

We spent today doing some grocery shopping, building up bikes, and exploring in town.  A tasty dinner at home rounded out the day, and we are so excited to see the country tomorrow on our first bike ride of the season!!! 

Miles Ridden Today: 0, unless you count a lap of the driveway.

Miles Ridden 2008: 0; expect this to go up soon!

Travel Day

...and too tired to post! but, we've arrived safely at our new home!  check in later for a more detailed update...

Last Day in San Francisco

The city of San Francisco has decided to send us out in style with one last rainy day.  No worries, tomorrow's weather forecast for our new home south of San Francisco is 54 degrees and sunshine!!

Today's task was to get Alie a State of California driver's license.  On our way to the DMV, we began to discover some of the intricacies of Alie's new car - specifically, the speakers... they need a little kick to get going!  We also saw this guy on our way to the DMV:

We arrived at the DMV late this morning, and promptly left after finding that a passport is required to get a license.  Who knew?  Not us.  For consolation, we decided to go shopping.  Shopping alone wasn't enough for Alie - she needed a hug.  and a kiss.  and I needed new shoes, and a jacket, and a haircut!  haha ok so this is really me about to get a haircut.  And why I didn't bring a raincoat to california is a mystery to me, hence, the new jacket.

Tomorrow we head out of San Francisco to meet up with our dear bicycles.  Oh yes, I said bicycles.  We're out here to ride bikes, remember??

Miles Ridden Today: 0

Miles Ridden 2008: 0

Happy Monday

We woke up to bright SUNSHINE this morning! Hellooooo sunny california! After a leisurely Monday morning breakfast (thats right, we did NOT have a case of the mondays), we each went our separate ways in the house to click away on our computers. Amy made another YouTube short while I dealt with insurance agents and lots of time spent on hold. After settling on an auto insurance plan, I couldn't wait any longer to get outside. Because we were left at the house without keys, we had to each run separately. I escaped first, and ran on the beach to Golden Gate Park...IN SHORTS! I passed the baton to Amy who was very excited to see her shadow for the first time since we'd arrived. Exercise finished, we headed over to pick up my new old car!! Title in hand, we hopped in and drove to West Portal for some tasty lunch at a small cafe. We then navigated over to 1 DNA Way in south San Fran where my sister works to pick up the house key she'd forgotten to leave us. The nice thing about having an ALW sitting shotgun is that there's really no need for a GPS at all. After feeling very underdressed and young in Marina's office, we headed back home to cook dinner (stay-at-home-guests are pretty good at that) and play a few games of Hand and Foot before calling it a day. Tomorrow, we're off to the DMV to get the car registered and a CA driver's license for moi. 

Miles Ridden Today: 0

Miles Ridden 2008: 0

A brief clip of San Francisco

... as seen through the eyes of amy

Day 4: Fitness, Food, Movies, Food

After the success of purchasing a car yesterday, today we were free to relax, break free of the shackles of our laptops, and get out of the house!! While the sun still has not made an Official appearance since we arrived in the Sunshine State, it pretended to come out briefly today. Alie chalked it up as our first sighting of the sun ball, but atmo it didn't really count because it was under a sheen of clouds.

We got out of the house by ten thirty with Marina and Kim and headed for the 24 Hour Fitness gym... I can't even remember the last time I went to a gym, but there I was, and out of my element without a bike!  After the gym I was led to the car, fatigued from hunger and needing sushi like now.  After a big lunch of seaweed salad and miso soup and a few sushi rolls, we filled the dessert compartment with ice cream sundaes and then made a run to Target to pick up a few things.... holy crap.  I was so overwhelmed by the hordes of people at Target, I thought I was in one of those scenes you see on the evening news of Black Friday.  Most of the aisles looked like this, and I nearly panicked when I realized i'd left my phone in the car and i'd gotten separated from Alie and Marina in the store.  The craziest part about the scene in Target was the fact that there was a second identical Target store just across the street from this one.  Where do these people come from??!

We wrapped up the afternoon with a matinee viewing of There Will Be Blood.  While Alie and I agreed that there was some very good acting in it, we were otherwise very confused, wondering where the not-very-interesting plot was headed, and did not enjoy the movie!!  After the movie we ate our third meal of the day at Burgermeister, and headed home...  

That's it from San Francisco tonight.  Back to playing Rummikub for us... for the record, Amy is not smarter than a fifth grader.

Miles Ridden Today: 0

Miles Ridden 2008: 0

Car?...check.

After sorting through literally HUNDREDS of cars on Craigslist, I have finally found 'the one.' Sadly, we have no photos of the actual car yet, a dark charcoal colored one, but rest assured, they will come. Ironically, it was not a car we had originally found on the internet. After getting stood up by one private seller, we drove over to a friend's house for consolation. Across the street from his place, we spotted a '91 Honda civic with "For Sale" signs in the back window. After some test drives and jewish bargaining skills (thanks genes), I am the happy owner of "The Night Rider" ala Marina's suggestion.  FINALLY!

As for the party last night, we were lame and pretty much went to bed before the action started. So much for being the young whipper snappers that we're supposed to be. As any good 25 year olds would, we were in bed by 11:30 on a Friday night. Yeah. That cool. The party continued into the wee hours of the morning and was a mega success according to all the normal kids who actually partied. 

On a bike-related note (what?? bikes?), tomorrow marks the final day of cyclocross season for the real pros, with the elite men's and women's cyclocross world championship races in Treviso, Italy.

Miles Ridden Today: 0

Miles Ridden 2008: 0

Cars Bought: 1

... and the rain continues

The rain continues to fall today in San Francisco and Alie and I are starting to get a little stir crazy without any promising leads on the car purchase.  We did a little shopping with Marina to get ready for her 30th birthday tonight, and then decided we should get out of the house and go for a run despite the downpour.  We psyched ourselves up and headed out for a 4.5 mile jog, and that was the highlight of our day -- so far!!!  Stay tuned tomorrow for the rundown on tonight's birthday party...

Miles Ridden Today: 0
Miles Ridden 2008: 0

Day 1: Welcome to Rainy California

After a luxurious flight from east to west, we arrived fully rested at SFO last night. We were on an almost completely empty airplane which allowed us to get plenty of horizontal rest. Along with this much needed rest and a little caffeine, we were ready to take on the 'best' coast.

This morning, we woke up to cold rain and after a leisurely breakfast and brief time at the office, we decided to do some cross training instead of riding. (Our bikes are on route to SLO anyway.) After cross training, we walked to the bus stop, where we waited forever for a bus to take us (and a zillion teenagers) to BART. We then somehow got off BART approximately 24 blocks too soon and by the time we reached Union Square we were soaked and famished. After a yummy lunch and some shopping, we headed back home...

Miles Ridden Today: 0

Miles Ridden 2008: 0

Last Weekend in Boston!

To celebrate Darcy's upcoming birthday and our last weekend in Boston, the Brian Hayes and Emily Welles came to town for a meaty dinner in Arlington on Friday. 

On Saturday the five of us took a trip to the Institute of Contemporary Art on the waterfront in Boston. We decided on the ICA for several reasons - one, they've got a new building which is really big and neat, and two, I didn't want to go to a "museum" and I felt much better about going to something called an "institute" instead.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so here's a view of the sailboats out playing in the harbor on this windy cold freezing day.

Two more days!!!

Something More

theme song #1 atmo

four more days!

SEVEN MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!