Chilly San Francisco, but warm hearts

[thrihyrne]

I'm here with verdenia and her BF! I got here yesterday afternoon and it was as though I'd switched climates, all by driving an hour away. I spent some wonderful time in their backyard chatting after having a nosh in the kitchen and I had to put on jeans and socks and a cardigan. It's such a dramatic change from my days in the Tucson desert to be in a place where the current range of temperatures is from 55 to 63 degrees. And it's nearly July! Apparently this is called the 'June Gloom.' I've been reminded a lot that Portland gets loads and loads of rain, though I'd been under the impression that it was mostly overcast, which I have no problems with. Eeks.


First, I should say, verdenia gives fabulous hugs. Her fingers rub into your back and they are infused with affection. I'll be in hug withdrawal when I head to my next stop! She came out and helped me park correctly on the street, which includes doing something called 'curbing your wheels,' turning them toward the curb in case one's emergency brake decides to quit. That way your car won't go hurting down the road, stopping only after it's crashed into a few cars along the way. Fascinating stuff, here. Anyway, she's very active in Burning Man events and has been for a few years, so I've been plumbing her for information and thoughts on that as events like that are totally outside of anything I've experienced. We've also talked fic and our friends, and then the three of us walked to a Hawaiian-style restaurant they frequent even couple of months. The food was delicious and the company just wonderful. They have a couple of cacti on their front porch, which surprised me since it's so overcast here so much. The houses themselves remind me of those in Charleston, SC in a way, though the colors aren't as bright as those in Charleston. There's huge variety in color and style, though; quite compelling and yet again, very different in style from where I've been along this roadtrip of mine. When we got home, one of my top all-time movies, Wargames, was on TV, so we watched that for a while until exhaustion caught up with me and I went to bed.

Today we'll hang out and I'll probably do research about where to stay next as I move on to Oregon, and I may find out what Pride events are going on here today. May need to try and take their public transport (and ride a cable car?!!) and get out for a little while. They're off to a wedding this afternoon/evening so I may well curl up on this totally comfy guest bed and do some serious writing and editing. I need to decide whether I'm staying tomorrow too, or if I'll get on the road. It would be fun to relax another day, but I do need to get onto Portland and get settled, so I'll see how the day goes and what my instincts say. There'll be pictures later, once verdenia and her BF are gussied up for the wedding and I've had a shower, lol.

In a somewhat unrelated element, my dear friend and fellow Wraeththu fan veloona took some fabulous pictures in Uigenna style with another Wraeththu friend of hers. The pictures and description of their photo shoot are found here at her LJ. For the Wraeththu fans on my flist, do go and give them a look-see!

Hope you all are doing well, especially those I've had the fortune to spend time with along the way. It's been such an amazing journey.

Comments

[stormwynd.livejournal.com]

Welcome to San Francisco! Wish I could have been in town to say hello. I hope you get a chance to check out the Gay Pride Festival downtown and the parade on Sunday. It's a blast.

And yes, you've discovered the wonderful San Francisco "summer" -- not one of my favorite things about the area, but at least I live in the Castro, which is a bit inland and therefore gets more sun than the neighborhoods by the coast.

*hugs you from Orlando*

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

I wish you'd been there too!! I'm belatedly replying, so you know I did get to the Pride festival. Summer in SF is like autumn. Goodness. So chilly!!

(((hugs you from Oregon)))

[kaalee.livejournal.com]

Have a wonderful time with her & BF. She does give wonderful hugs! I made sure to have many of them when I met her at Prophecy. :D :D :D

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

We had several exchanges of hugs, both for us and for others on various people's behalves! Behalfs? Anyway, many, many hugs. ♥

[canellaphile.livejournal.com]

From the next post and this one, it sounds like you're having a SF adventure. So cool! I am sad to have missed you though, like the wind... Still, Pride SF is not to be missed.

Oh, and, the cold up there always surprises me too. Brrr!

Have a lovely time. I believe you and Verdenia are exchanging hugs with each other for me. ;)

[verdenia.livejournal.com]

Yes, we did! *HUGS*

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry that I couldn't spend more time in the area to get to see you and LV. Being at the Pride festival was truly memorable, however.

Crazy cold! Like Canada. :P

She and I exchanged many hugs. :D :D

[snottygrrl.livejournal.com]

you're on my coast now. spent many a visit to san fran since my bro lived there for years. love that city. such good food. and yes, not so v. warm in summer.

and, er, portland has more days of rain than seattle (though seattle has more inches of rain), so you are talking about a bunch of rain. drizzly more than downpour. and you do realise that they are obnoxiously hot in the summer these days. it was 105F my last visit and i expect more of the same this yr. just to warn...

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

I'm trying not to freak out about the rain element to Portland. One step at a time… Then again, as I was saying to koshweasley this afternoon, even what could have been considered 'typical' weather in any given city is no longer a given. So who knows?! Southern Oregon is quite hot. Such a huge change from San Francisco. I don't think I was there long enough to get the vibes from it that others seem to.

[snottygrrl.livejournal.com]

the climate has changed. it never used to be so hot in the summers. the reason why it rains so much is because you're in the northwest and there's a frickin big river that runs through the centre of town. and then there are all those looming mountains around.

don't freak out about the rain, just learn to love it. people in the northwest have to. [*nods*]

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Hi! Just checking in to say that I have been following your trip. Elfscribe also raved at how much she enjoyed meeting and getting together with you. I envy you being in San Francisco. It has been hot and muggy on the East Coast for the last couple of days. Lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for a total of about ten years in two different time segments.

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're enjoying my travelogue. ;) Being with elfscribe was definitely a highlight of my trip, especially since she and I hadn't met before in real life. But there wasn't a bit of awkwardness, and in fact, I really enjoyed speaking with her on all kinds of topics, being a part of her household, and sharing a few days in her life. What a privilege!

I did enjoy SF, but I think I was just so stunned at the climate change and the grey that I missed some of the other compelling elements. Plus I wasn't there all that long, but my time was memorable. :)

[verdenia.livejournal.com]

Hee. I'm working on a post that is partly a response to this. :P

*HUGS*!!!!

*blushing at all the hug-love* ;p

It was such a delight having you here!

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Ah, lovely! (((mega hugs))) There's much hug-loving going on!! Thank you for letting me visit; what a joy to get to spend some real time with you in your space and city, and the timing was quite unbelievable. ♥