The good, the bad and 'the bay'

The thought of paying a visit to my former 'hometown' had me shuffling through pages filled with mixed feelings...most of them being excited ones. My experience living in the Bay Area had been a memorable one. I always love the chance to re-visit someplace that I am fond of so it didn't take much to convince me to make the trek out of the mountains and into a seriously civilized and hip society. I went straight to work, visiting some key players in my life's script and rushing around to some of my favorite places I had grown to love throughout the eighteen months that I spent living in that crazy place. The people (lots of them), the setting, the beauty, the familiarity of it all even while squinting to see past the layer of culture shock...I gasped for air through the perception of my senses while attempting to take it all in; oddly enough it was extraordinarily enjoyable. I spent time hanging on the Marin coast, in classy coffee shops, running around ring mountain, tasted some California rain, saw countless beautiful women, fancy cars, rad hangs, had to pay to cross bridges, went shopping, wandered and ran down endless trails, and even dared to go climb in a gym. The fun to be found is endless if you have enough time and money to go look for it...

 

My mornings in Tahoe 

 

 

My mornings in 'the bay'

 

 

En route to the big city...see the psyche in those eyes?!?

 

Turtle Rock, in a field, atop Ring Mountain

 

Kinda pretty

What a foreign place for having resided within its walls for so long. It felt as if I were a tourist with a dulled and more relaxed impression of the places I felt I knew. I'm in awe of cities like these, and smile at the thought that they are frequently, even by myself, lumped together and referred to as one place...'the bay'.

 

Artwork at the Presidio

 

 

Beach time in the city

 

 

Tourist-ing about

 

 

Coffee is good for the heart and the soul

 

Had a blast paying a visit to and climbing at the brand new Dogpatch Bouldering Gym!

 

The gym is HUGE with towering 17' walls, every angle imaginable, and lots of top out boulders...HIGHBALL

 

Breaking the rules and heel-hooking in the gym

 

So many situations and events have added up and left me knowing and loving two very different styles of California life...After all, that IS life right? It's interesting to observe and reflect on how and why people choose, and/or live such drastically different realities with such drastically differing ambitions. The fire for life seems to be ignited and kindled in countless ways depending on an unending list of factors that fit in to each individual's background and personality. I'm happy to be alive and in it, watching, learning, refining, and in search of what's next. What good clean fun taking time to explore the adventure and uncertainty found inside this life continues to be. Now, back to the rocks!!