Tidbits.

There are no major walks here, but I did find a few awesome street stamps when I was out and about the last week of January (on streets I've already walked no less!)

For your viewing pleasure....

A few extra consonants.

And a missing one.

The Hills Are Alive With "Whadijudo?"

Walk #47

Ahh the sweet sounds of Kevin and Bean . . . .

I was super behind in my K&B podcast and today I caught up on three days worth of morning shows with one long walk. It was a bit of an overload, but a pleasant one. You all know, of course, that listening to that much K&B can only mean one thing: I was in fact laughing out loud while I was walking around by myself. A lot, actually. Good times. My favorite segment though, was one where they talked about Ricky Gervais being interviewed by Piers Morgan. And Ricky Gervais had the best quote ever: "Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right." Amen!

And with that, the walk!

I strolled through Richmond along Arguello and continued along into the Presidio to make my way to meet Mrs. McEnoy for some much needed yoga.

After yoga, the fun began. I decided to take Divisadero home which looks a little something like this

from the bottom

and this from the top

Suffice it to say, it was a bit of a hike.

Luckily for me, there were rewards for my efforts. I don't know if it's because I stare at too many street stamps or because the brain works on auto-correct, but I had to stare at this one for a while before I knew it was wrong. And even when I knew it was wrong, it took me a minute to figure out why. Maybe it was lack of oxygen at this crazy altitude. Now, I can clearly see that it's DivisadEro not

I continued along Divis and took a left onto Sacramento. There have been several Sacramento blunders to this point. (You can revisit them here and here.) So I sort of appreciate this effort: There's not really enough room, our spelling is shoddy at best, let's just abbreviate...

Then the A went missing, but it was easily substituted with a 'V'. No one will know, except the crazy red head ...

And not long after, the N went missing so instead of Cornwall we get:

Rounding out the walk we return to another old favorite.

The which way does this crazy underused letter go again?

Quick hint street stampers: Not that way.

Total mileage: 9.11

I Scream, You Scream

Walk #46

Today was quite the day of physical activity. 10 mile run, hour and a half of yoga and walk #46. Luckily, all of it was worth it!

I started after yoga, so naturally I was at the Sports Basement. There were a few more streets to weave to check of the whole section between So Van Ness and Potrero, so I decided to check those off. Also, with a little creative planning, I could make my way to Humphry Slocombe, which is exactly what I did. Cross Shotwell, Folsom and Treat streets between 14th and 24th of the map.

Deserving a treat after all this exercise, I got in the crazy line for ice cream. This is one popular ice cream shop! It was about a 15 minute wait and when it was finally my turn, it looked like they might be out of Open Hand FlufferNutter!! As the Fluffer Nutter, made from none other than Project Open Hand's own peanut butter, was the purpose for the ENTIRE EXCURSION I started to panic. I'm super glad it's popular but this is the second time I've tried to get it and I was starting to panic. Luckily, my sad face helped a new carton appear. It was an excellent combination of sweet and salty and neither the peanut butter nor the marshmallow fluff was over powering. It was a very mild flavor but really yummy!

After enjoying my two scoops, I began the long trek home. By this point I was feeling all of the days activities and was about to quit and hp on a bus. But as street stamp errors began to appear I decided to keep on course. And I'm pretty glad I did.

First, there was this:

Then things started to get turned around:

and again:
Now, many people have tried to argue that the reason for the street stamp errors is the potential street stampers might not speak English as their first language. Which is a valid hypothesis. However, I think the backwards letters/numbers help prove my hypothesis of street stampers not taking much pride in their work and just not paying attention. Or they're amusing themselves which I think is awesome.

Along the way, there were many other sights to see. A plea from a home owner which I can totally sympathize with, as our porch was also once used as a urinal.

And I was in the Mission, so of course there were some colorful murals. My favorite thing about this one is the man pushing the ice cream cart because twice while I was in line at HS he came by. I almost gave up on the Fluffernutter for an ice cream sandwich, but I stayed true. Next time, this guy totally gets my business.

And finally, a tribute to the hills of San Francisco. This is partly to show you the awesome bruin themed home,

and partly to show you the poor woman struggling to push her stroller up Castro.

And this was just awesome. The sign says "Abrupt Grade Change" as the street just drops off. Lots of squealing brakes here.

Total mileage: 8.16

Roots

Walk #45

I just took an elongated walk home from work. I basically took Bush home. It was wholly uneventful with one tiny exception. This is Trinity Church.

Trinity Church is none other than the birth place of Project Open Hand! The kitchen is actually dedicated to Ruth Brinker. Those Episcopalians are good folks.

Total mileage: 3.04

Happy Birthday to Matt!

Walk #44

I had some time, after work before dinner, so I went back to Parkside/Sunset. I took the L Taraval out to the SF Zoo.

The majority of the walk looked like this. Foggy and wet.

I took 45th from Sloat all the way to Lincoln and 44th back down to Ortega where things got fun.

Let's get started. First, I love the superscript. And second, the awesome upside down V.

Then there was the 2 / Z phenomenon ... twice!

But then the Ortega Street fun began . . .

I was pretty sure that the 'R' in Ortega was a really a P. It was a few blocks before I got proof, but you can be the judge.

In the end, they forgot to complete the R all together.

Then there were both of these awesome blunders. I like when the street stampers start haphazardly throwing around vowels. (For reference it's ORTEGA.)

Things were quite deceptive because of the fog. Ortega St kept going up. I was pretty certain there wouldn't be any stairs. Then I was pretty sure the first stair case was it. Then the second appeared.

In the end, it was stairrifically sweaty. At least I got a bit of a workout . . .

The walk ended with a bang on FredErick Street.

Thank you street stampers. It was an exceptional day for you!

Total mileage: 7.52

Happy Holidays

Walk # 43

Heading to SB, I walked up Buena Vista West and down Upper Terrace. I cut down a staircase called Monument Way. It was steptacular!

From there I crossed Market and took 21st Street all the way across town. Though correct, this was visually stimulating to me:

Through the Mission, there's always something fun to see. Today it was this:

After free yoga at the Sports Basement, I ran to the train station to head home from Christmas dinner. Better late than never!

Total mileage: 6.19

Hello? Deep Thought?

Walk #42

I hope this walk was not the answer to the ultimate question, because if it was, I missed it.

After a lovely weekend with the McEnoys including but not limited to Go Dog, Go, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, Bananagrams, trains in my boots, kisses (aw, nice), yummy meals and yoga, I walked home from the Presidio Sports Basement (yes, AGAIN). It seemed simple to take Baker all the way from the Marina to the Haight, but holy cannoli there's quite a hill in the way:

Then Baker Street got all British on me:

Maybe you go to the bakre before you go to the theatre. Or maybe the street stampers don't pay attention to their work. Either way.

Total mileage: 3.54

Progress?

You can definitely tell that I've focused more on the running then on the walking by the progress in GG Park. Cruising the Carribbean, Daylight Saving Time and rain also put a crimp in the task. But I'm still going. . .

p.s. Did anyone else sleep through New Year's?