Life on a hill... We have arrived in San Francisco

Up one flight to get to the apartment, up another flight to get to the laundry, up 3 flights to get to the mailbox or front door (assuming visitors could ring our nonexistent bell - I think you need a phone plugged in to hear the door bell, and our name isn't on the directory anyway...).  I'm definitely learning about life situated on a hill.  

Can't see the water?  It is there, it just blends in with the gray sky.  I'll get a better picture soon, this was just our first realization that we live very close to the water.

It all feels rather urban and perhaps even sophisticated, although we're actually in Daly City (Never heard of it? I hadn't either!), just south of the San Francisco.  But, that little difference means there is a private garage spot for one car, and (usually available) private lot parking for the other. (Obviously we're not true city people, since we can't even make do with one car, let alone no cars.  But, then again, we just came from Dallas, Texas, where Mike had no choice but to drive 15 miles to work and back, and Gavin and I needed to drive over 20 miles to get to our congregation center for our volunteer ministry work.  And you can't exactly drop/pick up someone at work when his shift ends in the middle of the night and you have a small child.  Excuses, excuses, I know!  Here's one more: We don't even own one of the cars, it's borrowed from a family member with a company car.  Okay, enough on that already.)

(Gavin displays the view, a la Vanna White...)

But, I love the view - lots of trees overlooking the city as we peer down from atop our hill, and I'm already learning what a convenient spot this is - 1 mile to Trader Joe's and a regular grocery store, a mile in the other direction to Target, Sprouts and Bed Bath and Beyond (needed when you just moved!), only 2 miles to our congregation, and just over a mile to the post office, and a pharmacy just down the hill (which you'd think we could walk to, but .....  4 year olds.  Drama.  Sigh.).  Now if there is just a library nearby, I'll be in small-world heaven!  (Oh, and maybe a thrift shop really close.) My only complaint is that everything is close enough to bike, but living at the top of a hill adds a whole other element to trying to bike somewhere, especially with a 4 year old either riding his own little push bike down a giant hill (AAAHHH) or with his super-heavy trailer bike (20 lbs plus his 40+ lb self) up the hill.  Whine, whine, I know.

I knew it would be cooler here, so I was thinking it would be the perfect blazer weather, but I guess it's a bit cooler than normal here, so it's actually more like coat weather (I've seen down and wool winter coats being worn all over the place!).  And that wind is no joke.  But, I'm told that it's just the Bay area, and that a 10 minute drive from here, there's a spot that's almost always sunny and warm, even when it's cool and overcast here in the city.  Should be interesting to see. ( And my fashion posts may end up being a bit regional, what with the rest of the Northern Hemisphere experiencing late spring/early summer weather....  But I'll try!)

So, stay tuned for the Bay City report.  We plan on riding the BART into the city this weekend to tour around (Bay Area Regional Transit - just one of the many transportation system abbreviations, along with MUNI, SFMTA....).  I love that there's a train station just at the bottom of our hill, less than a mile away - so it would seem we are poised for some adventure, one way or another.

(Plus, I still have lots to post from our Ecuador trip and road trip from Texas to California...  Now that I finally have internet access, we can make this happen!)