Hiking in Oakland
Saturday was a beautiful day in the Bay Area, and that combined with the fact that I was not working meant that I wanted to go hiking somewhere. Working within several constraints (Pete hoping it was in the East Bay, and dog friendly and short and shady for Nicholas' sensitive skin) we settled on Redwoods Regional Park.
As we got out of the car, Pete said, "You couldn't ask for a nicer day." Being my usual contrarian self, I was thought about how the day could be nicer, and realized I really couldn't come up with any ways to improve that day. It was bright sunshine, w/a slight breeze, probably 75-80 in the sun, 65-70 in the shade. We were in a valley w/stands of redwoods with the dry, grassy hillsides surrounding us.
As we started our hike, Pete made an assertion that I had heard many times before, that GM had bought up many municipal rail lines and had run them into the ground to force more people to buy automobiles. Now that I have a moment, I found two sources of further information on that topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_335.html
Overall, it seems the evidence is mixed. The conspiracy theory is a good story, but it doesn't seem like the evidence supports it...
The hike was short but sweet, with one section that was steep uphill, which seemed much steeper carrying a baby and baby formula/diapers/etc. After the hike, Pete and I had differing opinions about which way would be faster back to his house, so we took separate paths (I won).
That evening we went out to Pete and Glen's favorite cuisine, Korean. Sadly, I haven't found a Korean restaurant in SF that's great, and this restaurant only got to good. But overall, a day spent with friend, w/a little exercise is always a good day.
As we got out of the car, Pete said, "You couldn't ask for a nicer day." Being my usual contrarian self, I was thought about how the day could be nicer, and realized I really couldn't come up with any ways to improve that day. It was bright sunshine, w/a slight breeze, probably 75-80 in the sun, 65-70 in the shade. We were in a valley w/stands of redwoods with the dry, grassy hillsides surrounding us.
As we started our hike, Pete made an assertion that I had heard many times before, that GM had bought up many municipal rail lines and had run them into the ground to force more people to buy automobiles. Now that I have a moment, I found two sources of further information on that topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_335.html
Overall, it seems the evidence is mixed. The conspiracy theory is a good story, but it doesn't seem like the evidence supports it...
The hike was short but sweet, with one section that was steep uphill, which seemed much steeper carrying a baby and baby formula/diapers/etc. After the hike, Pete and I had differing opinions about which way would be faster back to his house, so we took separate paths (I won).
That evening we went out to Pete and Glen's favorite cuisine, Korean. Sadly, I haven't found a Korean restaurant in SF that's great, and this restaurant only got to good. But overall, a day spent with friend, w/a little exercise is always a good day.
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