SAN FRANCISCO!!!

between the art, the free music, and the insanely delicious food- san francisco has found a special place in our hearts. at about this time each year, we get the itch to hit the road, drive one billion miles across the dry nevada desert, and watch live music while wandering through one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

this year, we decided to visit the san francisco art institute for the first time. we went to see the huge mural by diego rivera, and eat at the vegetarian cafeteria which has rave reviews, but mostly we liked just wandering the halls, looking at the amazing art and views of the bay, and imaging what it would be like to take some art classes there. maybe someday.

next, we hit the park. one of the greatest things about this city is a free little festival at golden gate park called hardly strictly bluegrass. well, technically the festival is not "little" per say (actually about 1/2 million people attend each year), and technically the festival is not strictly bluegrass, but instead a great mix of folk, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, country, and punk. you might ask yourself, what do robert plant, social distortion, bright eyes, john prine, the aquabats, and emmylou harris have in common? the answer is hardly strictly bluegrass.

so, believe it or not, but it was actually hot and sunny throughout the entire festival- just glorious san francisco blue skies. it was beautiful in the mornings and evenings, but in the middle of the day we would start to bake. after turning red like a lobster the first day, we decided to spend the majority of our time in the shade.

which is why we started hanging out with these people- tree people. most of the stages are surrounded by forested rolling hills, so if you don't mind a few spiders and loads of pine needles in your bum, you can watch most the bands through the trees.

^^^jared enjoying some sweet sweet tunes.^^^

a gorgeous few days at the park.

this trip was some much needed r&r. coming back to the real world was really really hard...and we're still trying our best to keep that mellow california sun in our workdays. it was good to get away...and now i can't stop craving the amazing vegetarian chinese food we ate and the lazy days listening to music in the park. we'll miss you san francisco, hopefully we'll see you again soon.