Bay To Breakers

This year, we decided to do the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco. It was our first time ever. We all did it, me, Gordon, Aisling and Gordon's nephew Robert who had come in from Omaha for Nan's birthday. The Bay to Breakers is a San Francisco race that goes from the bay side of the city out to the ocean. It's 12K, always crowded and is a lot of fun, complete with interesting costumes.

The race starts at 8 a.m., so we left at about 6 to catch the Bart. There was actually a group of us going from work, so we connected with some friends on the Bart and some at the starting line. The weather had been very hot in San Francisco, record highs in fact, the week leading up to the race, so we were a little worried about how it would feel. However, it cooled down a lot, and it was so early in the morning that it felt really cool. We got into San Francisco and headed to the starting line. It was packed! Before the race, apparently there's a tradition of throwing tortillas into the crowd. I don't really know why that is, but it was hilarious. We were right behind a group that had a shopping cart with a keg of beer on board, and tons of tortillas, and they were throwing them everywhere. Aisling and Robert really got into the tortilla thing. They caught them or picked them up and re-flung them. It was great. I am pretty sure my hair was full of tortilla crumbs! I figure that the seagulls had a field day with the tortillas when the crowd moved out.

The starting time was 8 a.m. They obviously sent the serious runners off first, and then the rest of us. The crowd was so big, it actually took us 15 minutes to get to the starting line after the race started! Gordon and Robert took off ahead of me and Aisling, as we really planned to do a combination of walking and running. We really enjoyed taking in the scenery. There were so many costumes! We saw lots of brides, hula dancers, vikings, Star Wars characters, Santa Claus, and of course, the naked people. There were so many naked runners! After a while we sort of stopped noticing them. There were only two that really were memorable. One was a naked guy all painted blue. The other was a naked guy who was also barefoot. I mean, the whole race is on pavement. You need shoes!

The race goes through downtown San Francisco until it comes to Hayes Street at about the two mile mark, where the infamous Hayes Street Hill has to be climbed. Man is it steep! I really felt it on my legs. There are lots of spectators along the Hayes Street Hill, sitting outside of bars and homes. There were lots of spirits being imbibed both by participants and spectators. Aisling and I made it up the Hill and kept on going. We continued to more city streets and headed into Golden Gate Park. There was lots of entertainment along the way. I especially enjoyed the Elvis impersonator on the steps of the DMV. Most of the other bands were rock bands. There was also a jewish Beach Boys-type of band that I thought were pretty great.

It got cooler and cooler through Golden Gate Park as we got closer to the ocean. It was hard to believe that there had been record heat during the week! There were lots of spectators in the park too. One group was drinking mimosas, and had delightful snacks. Aisling stopped there and they gave her quiche and a custard pie!

All along the way, there were mile markers so that we always knew how close we were getting. Getting past the four-mile marker was a big deal, because we knew we were more than halfway through! We passed the six-mile marker, but somehow missed the seven-mile marker, but when we saw the ocean and the finish line in the distance, it seemed to give Aisling a boost of energy and off she went. It felt great to cross the finish line! After that we headed down to Kezar stadium in the park for the party following the race, and to meet Gordon and Robert. I don't know why they put the finish line so far away from the stadium! But it felt like a long walk. We ran into Gordon and Robert when we got there, and also into some other friends from work. We were starving, I guess that running 7 and a half miles in the cold will work up an appetite, so we got some food from some of the vendors there. It was really pretty cold, so we headed home.

The absolute worst part of the race was getting home! The Muni had buses going from the park back into the city. For only $7, we got to wait in line for about an hour to get on a bus that then took the most circuitous route back to the Bart. The bus took over an hour to get back. it was terrible. Maybe next year we can figure out a better way home.

All in all, it was a great time. Aisling and I did a pretty slow time because we walked as much as we ran, but we liked taking in the events, so it was fun! All the photos (at least the appropriate ones) can be seen on my flickr site here.

Nans 80th Birthday

Nans 80th Birthday

Gordon's mom Nan will turn 80 in June, so we wanted to do something special to celebrate. Because so many people had to come in from out of town, we picked this Saturday in May, the 17th, and did a nice event at a restaurant in Albany called Six Degrees. It was a good turnout, Ken and Robert came out from Omaha, and Bonnie, Nan's stepdaughter, and her husband Dennis came in from North Carolina. Of course, all the local family members and even some friends of Nan's from school showed up so it was a good crowd.

The food was great, and Ken invited the guests to tell an anecdote or a story about Nan. Gordon told a story involving Nan showing up at a greek restaurant on a motorbike. Dara talked about Nan coming to help her take care of the baby when we were in the Bahamas, and Aisling talked about taking Nan shopping and just wearing her out! It was a lovely evening. Photos can be seen here.

Mother's Day

Dara & Helen

So Sunday was Mother's Day, well, in America anyhow. It's a different day in Ireland, earlier I think. Since it was Dara's first Mother's Day as a mother and since the wedding, we decided to go over to her house. Gordon and Zach cooked breakfast and we drank Mimosas. There were lots of mothers there, including Zach's mom and Nan. We ate and played cards, and also the kids played Xbox. Nan joined in on the Xbox game. I think it was her first game.

Also, on Mother's Day, Gordon and I went to see Les Nubians at Yoshi's. It was a great show. I like the Nubians music, so I really enjoyed getting to see them live. I have to say, I can't give the Yoshi's food a great recommendation, although it was okay. Just expensive for what we got. But we had good wine and it was a great show.

When we got home, we caught the end of Survivor with Aisling. I just can't believe that Parvati won. Oh my god!!!

Dara's Wedding

Daras Wedding,
originally uploaded by Helen Norris.

So after lots of planning, Dara and Zach got married on April 18th. The wedding was at the Rockefeller Lodge in San Pablo, a very nice place. There were lots of guests, Zach is from a large family, and there was a great turnout from Doug's family also. Dara looked beautiful, she wore my dress. Aisling and Dara's friend Emily were bridesmaids and wore lovely green dresses. And Aidan was, of course, the cutest baby around. Gordon officiated, so the ceremony was brief. The food was served by the catering company at the Rockefeller, Partytime catering, and I highly recommend them. The food was good, and the service was excellent. We brought the drinks and the cake ourselves, and Dara decorated and prepared flowers. All in all it was a lovely day. Photos can be seen here.

We had several out of town guests, including my mother who came over from Ireland and Gordon's brother and sister-in-law from Omaha. We did some sightseeing and other things after the wedding. Aidan had an accident at Dim Sum on Saturday, they may never let us back! Aisling insisted on taking my mother to various thrift stores, her favorite, and we also did some of the tourist haunts in San Francisco. Unfortunately, the Boudin museum was closed. We also went to Figaro at the Berkeley Rep - opera, not exactly my cup of tea! All in all, we had a good visit with my mother and she seemed to enjoy it.