JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

I left the Mission via Valencia Street, stopping into book stores with comfy couches to rest my feet. The blinding facade of the thrift store shown above drew me in...and I walked out with 1960s issues of The Atlantic , Harper's and Ramparts . It was inevitable I'd wind up taking a trip on a cable car. Since my feet were aching, I sat on the inside, which reduced the number of photo ops. C'est la vie. *** Day three took me to Berkeley, where I arrived in the midst of graduation ceremonies. The campus and downtown were filled with students wandering around in gowns and mortarboards. One set of scholars made repeated attempts to capture their joy mid-air —I couldn't tell if the photographer wanted a pile of shots to work with or if the perfect ledge jump was proving elusive. Outside the Free Speech Movement Cafe, I was able to check out what was happening back home. The Globe and Mail was among that day's front pages on display. Until that mom...

By this point in the trip, the relaxed vibe of the west coast was sinking in, as I didn't feel an urgency to rush across the bay. I had settled into a pattern of processing photos, writing pieces of blog entries, reading the local papers and waking up to a steady diet of Norman Lear shows on cable (the final season of Good Times gave way to the first, The Jeffersons appeared to be near the end of its run, etc). Any tensions and stresses I felt before the trip had long evaporated, apart from occasional worries about how to park the Grand Marquis in compact lots. Day two in San Francisco started with a trek to The Mission to check out the neighbourhood's murals and sample some Bay-style burritos. The parade of art began upon exiting from the BART station at Mission and 16th, with a piece based on 1940s Wonder Woman comics greeting me at street level. Near the station were the murals of Clarion Alley (example shown above). SF Weekly's "Best of" issue...

1,564: TAPE FROM CALIFORNIA 6: TOWERS, NOVELTIES AND SUSHI The walls of the interior base of Coit Tower are covered with Depression-era murals created by two dozen artists as part of a government-funded program during 1933 and 1934. The project proved controversial due to the influence of Diego Rivera in injecting political commentary into the scenes. Mixed into the celebrations of the city's culture and industries were contemporary headlines and a library featuring not-so-hidden tomes by Karl Marx. An elevator was the only means to go up to the observation area. The operator dashed off a summary of the building's history at 125 mph, but slowed down his diction to ask for tips to be placed in a plastic bracket. A sampling of views from the top. This was my opportunity to glimpse sites like Alcatraz that I wouldn't have the chance to see up close during my stay. Another landmark taken from a hazy distance: the multiple switchbacks of Lombard Stree...

1 Day five was the first of three full days in the Bay Area. Rather than find lodging in San Francisco, I chose the East Bay for several reasons: Cheap accomodations. A little hunting turned up a Comfort Suites in Castro Valley (south of Oakland) for under $70 US/night. Parking alone in San Francisco could have eaten up to $40 US/day. No desire to drive up the hills in San Francisco. Waiting for a red light in the middle of a steep incline does wonders for my nerves. Easy access to public transit. The Castro Valley BART station was a short drive from the hotel, with plenty of cheap parking ($1 for entry between 4 AM and 3 PM). Comfortable, roomy seats made for relaxing rides into San Francisco and Berkeley, along with an opportunity to catch a few Zs on the way back. Previous success using these tactics, at least for cheap sleeps and public transit, in cities like Boston and New York. First stop in San Francisco was the Ferry Building Marketplace , home to an assort...