second half rewrite

Wave Organ + Palace of Fine Arts

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I have created a little routine that on Tuesdays, which is street cleaning day, I go grocery shopping during the cleaning time slot (8 a.m.). Once that task was completed, I decided Pete and I would find the nearest post office to mail a package and then cross some must-see items off my list. Today was Wave Organ and Palace of Fine Arts. It ended up being a six mile walk and Pete got a romp on the beach, too.

Wave Organ was a bit of a hike, out onto a jetty by the yacht club, and a very interesting concept. I did not hear the “music” since the waves are just too loud. But I suspect that if I stayed for a few hours I might be able to pick up on the nuanced sounds. Pete was more interested in rolling around on the beach next to the “organ” so we spent the majority of our time doing that.

We then walked to the Palace of Fine Arts. It is a beautiful piece of architecture with its Greek-style colonnades and soaring central rotunda. It is larger than you would think, too. It is quintessential San Francisco and is now used for events and lots of wedding photos!

Day Four of Wandering

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Today should be called the day of driving. I drove from Mendocino to Bodega Bay. It took about three and a half hours to drive there and the first 30 miles were hairpin curves. Bodega Bay was a bit underwhelming. It’s tiny and really no central downtown area. I don’t think it was really worth the drive but now I know. At least I found some good fish and chips (day three in a row)!

I considered driving to Point Reyes National Seashore (which is what I should have done instead of Bodega Bay) but frankly Pete and I had enough of driving so we drove straight to San Francisco which took about an hour and a half. I have to admit that while I was driving over the Golden Gate Bridge and saw the city in the distance I got a little emotional. I got emotional for two reasons. The first reason is that I realized this was the longest drive I have done by myself (except for two weeks in Portugal). Secondly, arriving in this city marked the beginning of my second half journey. The house is sold, my six weeks of being a nomad across Portland is over. I’ve left my cocoon of familiarity. This is truly the first step of formulating my second half rewrite.

My short term rental was easy to find but parking was not! Fortunately my host was very helpful. I unloaded the car and then headed a block away to a fantastic dog park. Pete was shy at first but then he jumped right in with the 30+ other dogs. It was fun to watch all the dogs run, sniff and get along. I look forward to investigating San Francisco.