Pete's Revised BLOG - Day 23

Today is Saturday, March 31, 2012, the 26,032nd day of my life. This morning I did my yoga, my exercise ball and walked 54 minutes = 3.0 miles - my March total is 60 miles. I just made my goal of 60 miles a month. I weighed 166.4 pounds. I weighed 163.4 when I went to California and weighed 168.4 when I returned on Thursday, a five pound gain. That's what happens when a person drinks three beers before breakfast.

Here are some of my thoughts about our six days in San Francisco and California.

We stayed with brother John and wife Lorna in their time share at 750 Sutter Street. It was about four blocks from Chinatown and two blocks from Union Square, One morning I walked up to Chinatown and three times I walked around Union Square.

SURPRISES for me.

One surprise was how hilly San Fran is. I knew it was hilly but I didn't know that practically every block was a hill. I'd get in better shape if I had to walk those hills every day.

Another surprise was the number of homeless. On my morning walks I counted 3-4 homeless sleeping in the entryways of buildings and some were begging for money. In Chinatown I gave a dollar to an Asian woman who was begging outside a church on Sunday morning. I gave another dollar to an elderly man who wanted a cup of coffee. I watched to see if he went into a coffee shop - he did. Most of them laid newspapers down to sleep on - it must be s little warmer to do that. It has to be so cold to sleep outside every night - but most all of them did wear winter jackets. They all had backpacks or black plastic bags to carry their meager belongings. I wondered how they decide every morning what they are going to do that day and where are they going to sleep that night. Man, what a life - it is pretty sad to see this in the U.S. of America.

A third surprise was the cost of renting an apartment in the city. We asked several people what we could expect to pay for rent if we moved there. They said you could expect to pay $1900 a month in the poorer sections and up to $3700 a month in the nicer neighborhoods. Most were around $2700 to $3,000 a month. I think I'll stay in Anamosa and pay $220 a month for our mobile home lot.

A fourth surprise was to see a lot of little mom-and-pop businesses. They were mainly restaurant/bar combinations and pizza shops. It seemed like there were 2-4 on every block. We frequented two of them, realy liked them and the employees were so friendly and helpful. And the prices were not much more than we would pay right here in Anamosa.

More tomorrow.