matt&nicole part 1: riding the bridge

one of my favorite people in this world is nicole downs poulton.
she and her ah-mazing husband, matt, flew up for the weekend from arizona.  with such little time and just oh so much to do here, it took careful planning...and knowing nicole, a day that would require a lot of physical activity and energy.

our saturday looked a little like this:

we started early.

picked our bikes up (amazing deal $20 for all day rentals & free parking) and then took off for the golden gate bridge

seriously though, the way the bridge just peaks through is so exciting.  you know you're in for an eye treat once you break around the bend.  

PLEASE NOTE: with every hill, and there were a number of steep ones, my bike gang was a machine.  the inclines meant nothing to them and they just passed by everyone like it was no biggie.  they rocked those hills.  i stayed futher back to take pictures, uhemm (clear throat and look around), cause someone needed to take it a bit slower up those hills and capture the view.

overlooking alcatraz

 riding across the bridge consisted of a lot of WaHoo's and fist pumping.  you would too if you were surrounded by that gorgeous panoramic view, wind blowing past you, and a smile from ear to ear.

Vista Point

 

the ride into Sausalito was through the forest and down a fun hill.  too fun to stop and take a picture.  sometimes you have to put the camera away and live in the moment and take it all in.  you then ride along the wharf as you enter.  thanks to google images i found a picture of what we would've looked like coming into the town:)

sausalito is adorable.  we locked our bikes at the bike rack, walked around and got some delicious ice cream (which is a must after the ride, @Lappert's) across the street from the ferry before it came to pick us up.  

for only ~$10/person you can take a ferry ride across the bay, past alcatraz to Pier 1 or Fisherman's Wharf.  we got off at Pier 1 to see the tail end of the farmer's market there (darn!  have to go back another day for that) and enjoy the ferry building.  

in back of the ferry building.  Pier 1

i layered up a bit.  the weather was beautiful but from san fran to sausalito the weather went from cool to hot back to cool and then windy.  

*i got a lot of help by going to this bloggers site.  this girl is rad and i love her passion for life, exploration and adventure.