We had a wonderful weekend in San Francisco — clear warm sunny days, cool nights, great dinners out, and Dave got to swim in the San Francisco Bay!

The tri was Sunday, we drove down Friday afternoon and arrived a little before 9pm at the Cow Hollow Motor Inn (cheap large clean rooms very close to the start/finish of the triathlon).  We had some very tasty pizza at Amici’s, across the street from the motel.

The next morning we drove the bike course, visited the tri expo & picked up Dave’s packet & listened to the race brief.  We had take out lunch from the Blue Barn (shared a Rooster chicken sandwich, delicious) then went to Sports Basement to get Dave a drifit t-shirt for the race (he forgot his at home).

I’d made Open Table reservations earlier in the week for Saturday and Sunday nights.  Saturday we met Dave’s friend Cosmo at A 16 — very tasty Italian food, Cosmo had pizza, Dave and I shared a really good arugula and nectarine salad, I had gnocchi in a corn broth and a side of broccoli, Dave had swordfish and a side of potatoes.  We shared the aprium parfait for dessert.  I’d go back.

Dawn of race day was clear and cool.  I dropped Dave off at the transition zone then headed back to the room for a few hours.  By the time I got back to the tri area the first swimmers were heading to T1 — the current was wickedly fast!  I headed down to the beach by the yacht club and watched for Dave.  A lot of people were way overshooting the exit point.  Dave got out right where he was supposed to, yay!  He looked tired.  I got a couple pics then ran around to the spot where the athletes where putting off shoes etc for the run to T1.  I got to cheer Dave on as he went past the first water stop.  He ran on to T1 and I walked quickly to a spot where I could cheer and take pics as he rode by on the bike.

I cheered everyone on as best as I could.  Since I’m still getting over bronchitis, my voice wasn’t doing so great by the end of the race.  I was able to get pics of Dave on the bike and a pic of Dave as he started  on the run.  I didn’t get finish pics b/c Dave got a little misoriented on the run back — he ended up on the spectator side of the fence because some of the cones had been moved.

Afterwards Dave grabbed some cookies and we walked back to the motel.  He showered (another yay!) and we grabbed lunch at the Blue Barn (again), sharing a Rooster and a large salad and a Pellegrino.

Naptime then over to the California Wine Merchant for some pre-dinner, celebratory wine drinking!  Of the wines I tried I loved the Stemmler Pinot Noir.  Dave tried a Duckhorn Sauv Blanc and two different (one French, one Californian) Viogniers.

Sunday night we had dinner — a mix of small plates — at Laiola.  Absolutely delicious.  The  only dish I wasn’t as excited about was the Tortilla Española— I think it needed a bit more oomph in the garnish.  We also had the “Esquiexada” of Pacific Halibut (mostly for Dave, but I tried a bite, no hint whatsoever of fishiness, very light and tasty), Chickpea croquetas (very tasty olive aioli), Cigrons amb morcilla (chickpeas with blood sausage, very savory), Bacon-wrapped Medjool dates (our favorite),  and some ham-wrapped roasted peaches.  We would most definitely go back.  It was a lot of fun.

Monday we grabbed coffee at the Chestnut Street Coffee Roastery (actually our daily coffee fix, short walk from the motel) and headed out to Paso Robles for a bit of winetasting on the way home.  We visited Pianetta (nice!), Falcon’s Nest, and Tobin James (to whose wine club we belong).

And the knitting?  I finally finished my Drifting Pleats scarf (pattern from Knitting New Scarves).  Two skeins of Malabrigo silky merino (about 1 yard, if that, leftover).