Last week I had the pleasure of a visit from two of my favorite people in the world, Amy & Alex. (Photos, I’ll link to Amy’s when they’re up!) At last, I was given a chance to return the favor of playing host & tour guide. We spent Thursday evening at the California Academy of Science Nightlife. Sigourney Weaver guided us through the universe in the planetarium feature, Our Fragile Planet, an IMAX-like experience which lifted us from the planetarium location and took us around the Bay area before lifting us further and further away from Earth. It was quite spectacular. Since we missed out on the rain forest experience, we had plenty of time to explore the living roof and extensive aquarium. The DJ was great and the singles mixer vibe provided plenty of amusement. Expert tip: don’t hit on a girl next to the concave glass in the aquarium. Your awkward introductions are being amplified to the rest of us in the room.

The building was amazing but there were fewer exhibits than I expected. Still, it was a great way to spend a Thursday evening. We managed to escape before too many stiletto and mini-dress clad girls made their way in. We had an awkward encounter with a strange, middle-aged man at the bus stop on the way back to Haight. The bus just wouldn’t arrive fast enough. He was inquiring about our astrological signs, only to end each question with some insight in to his angry family. It was worth the trip down to Magnolia for dinner, where the three of us could finally talk in some peace. Such a happy reunion.

I had to spend the next day at the company picnic, which didn’t turn out as badly as I expected. It was at Kennedy Grove in East Bay. Despite lugging my SLR, I didn’t take a single photo. I spent the entire day sitting in the grass and enjoying the fact that it was cool enough for me to lounge in the sun. Ryan & I were pretty anti-social, but it had been a rough couple weeks. We needed the chill day.

Early Saturday afternoon Amy & Alex packed up and moved to my place in Marina for the weekend (from their highly-recommended hotel, Larkspur Hotel, in Union Square). We walked around Fort Mason and the Palace of Fine Arts, grabbed lunch at Pacific Catch (not sure which is better, the food or the service), and then hopped in my car to explore The Presidio and other spots. I took them to the awesome views I’d discovered and by aimlessly roaming, we managed to find some more near the Legion of Honor in Sutro Heights. If I golfed, that’s where I’d play. We looped around down Fillmore for more great views from Broadway. It was a fun little exploration. As we traveled down Geary for a bit, we kept encountering the same jogging man. It was suggested that we follow him, but we didn’t have to try. Every turn we made, he was there. We were impressed.

When we got back to my place, we hit up Safeway for some pizza-making ingredients. I was amazed that all three of us fit in my kitchen. From there, we proceeded to have what could be one of the best Saturday nights in the history of ever. Pizzas in hand, we enjoyed a Cary Grant double feature: Amazing Adventure & Holiday, breaking only to sample from the 6 or so flavors of ice cream I’d picked up. I played my Bill Cosby record about the hills of San Francisco while breaking out the air mattress. We had our own little slumber party on the floor, talking until we finally drifted to sleep.

After having some breakfast Sunday morning, we set off for North Bay. We traveled to Petaluma to take in one of my favorite spots before venturing over to the Chileno Valley Ranch, a spot I had taken the Swedes (The last of which has left forever. We bid farewell at Primo.) last year, only to find it closed. They were open & in business this time around. We walked around the orchard, sampling some apples and buying a few, along with some apple turnovers the lovely lady showing us around had made with some apples that had already fallen. She was delightful, sharing the history of the ranch and its family. She nearly threatened me about coming back. It was quite a gaze. I slept better knowing those 600 acres of ranch country were part of a land trust which ensured they would never be covered in housing developments. We stopped by the Petaluma Creamery to sample some cheese before continuing north in a quest for In-and-Out. Who would have thought that fast food would prove to be the toughest part of our day? It took some work but as we sat down with those burgers & fries in front of us, it was worth it.

We continued up the 101 before splitting east on CA-112. We traveled up Calistoga Rd, crossing by the entrance to the Petrified Forest. I’d passed by a few times. This time there was enough support in the car to rationalize a stop. We decided against going all the way in after doing a quick tour around the gift shop to gauge what it was all about. We looped around through Calistoga and headed down Silverado Trail before joining up with CA-121 and following it to 37. We rounded the bounds of San Pablo Bay before joining back up with the 101. Amy snapped photos out the window during this whole adventure. I’m looking forward to her shots. However, I will say, if I had to pick a time to visit Napa Valley, it’d be Fall. I’ve been there 3 of 4 seasons and that’s been the prettiest time.

We stopped by McInnis Park for a bathroom break and to enjoy our apple turnovers in a nice park setting. We were all beat. It had been a quiet ride, as we seemed to lack the energy to speak. Luckily, silence is never unsettling in the company of friends.

At Amy’s request, we set out to find a view of Golden Gate from the Marin Headlands. A good host would have known exactly where to go, but due to my mediocrity, I only knew where we needed to be, not how to get there. Needless to say, it took us a few tries to find the right spot. However, my road trip motto is evolving to, “There are no wrong turns, only unplanned (mini) adventures.” Our hopes weren’t high as we neared Sausalito and literally saw the fog rolling down the hills but we had to try. There were a few red flags as weaved along CA-1 toward Stinson Beach at 5:30pm. Flags such as floods of cars going in the opposite direction and seeing cars turn around ahead of us. The most telling was a man in an SUV who had this half-smiling expression which seemed to say “hah I don’t think so.” We rounded the corner where he turned around and in that 10 feet, we went from clear blue skies to a thick blanket of fog all around us. In fact, Alex started recording just in time to catch our reaction.

Our backseat optimist, Alex, pointed out that at least we couldn’t see the nothingness that existed off the edge of the road. We were literally snaking through the hills at this point and as the fog grew denser, we decided it best to turn around as well. It was a refreshing 60-degrees by now and with the sun-roof open, it was a nice break from the mid-90s of Napa Valley that afternoon.

So we back-tracked and tried again. We sat at a 5-minute stop light (labeled as such) for a one-lane tunnel. I did my earthquake prayer as we entered. We were deep in the Golden Gate Recreational Area at this point, traveling by barracks and seemingly abandoned buildings. With the fog draped around us and not so much as an Edge network signal, it made for an uneasy feeling that we had permanently left civilization. Eventually, we came across some parked cars. Alex pointed confidently that Golden Gate bridge should be riiiight there. We looked left & right and saw nothing but fog and the overwhelming diffused glow of the sun. Parked right at the edge of the cliff was a Volkswagon van like Mike & Olivia’s. We weren’t sure what the other people were doing up here. Something was off. My iPhone managed to pull enough signal to load one chunk of a map. We had a couple miles of fog between us & the bridge. Alex had gotten us closer.

Third time’s a charm. We rounded a corner, the Pacific stretching off to our right, beneath a blanket of fog, and ahead of us, we saw the very top tip of the northern bridge support. It was as we feared. The fog was blocking our view. We waited for thin portions of fog and snapped our photos. About the time we got in the car, we saw a massive clearing happening. Amy took off running. The girl was going to get her photo. We pulled on up around to an even closer spot. Like magic, the fog thinned and provided amazingly clear views of the bridge. We were either very lucky or that’s how it always goes. Either way, despite absolutely freezing, we were so excited that our meandering had paid off!

It was a sad goodbye as I dropped them back at their hotel. I was hopeful that I’d get to see them one more time before their departure. Well, thanks to a week of late nights at the office, I was still at work when they returned from Monterrey their last night in SF. I gave them the special 10:30 tour, which offered a surprisingly nice evening view of the city from the roof. Because they are kind souls, they gave me a ride home before dropping off their rental car, despite the lateness of the hour.

I couldn’t help but imagine how much more I’d love SF if I had such close friends as Amy & Alex living here, too. It was incredible to live out a little sliver of that dream. I’m barely in to my sophomore year, though, so I have to give it time. In the meantime, I’m so thankful to have gotten so many visitors in my short time here. Jenna will be back here in less than 2 weeks. So much planning to do! September is going to be a busy but amazing month.