April 29

Someone that Len works with told him that we should drive up to Muir Woods (http://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm) while we were in San Francisco. It is located 11 miles north of the Golden Gate bridge. We decided to make a day trip up to see it. We had breakfast at the hotel - and it was very good. It took a while to get the car from the valet parking garage - started to push Len's thermostat up - but we loaded up our day pack, filled our water bottles, and headed off. We picked the day that they were demolishing a bridge next to (near?) the Golden Gate, which resulted in crazy traffic, so it took us over an hour to reach Muir Woods. It was National Parks Week, so admission was free - and the park was very crowded. There is a short wooden boardwalk trail that gives you a feel for the redwood forest. It was packed with people in flip-flops and other inappropriate outfits for hiking. We decided to head up one of the longer trails. I agreed to one that was about 2 miles and said it was a moderate hike. We headed off. We hiked for over 2 hours - magnificent trees, magnificent views, the silence is lovely, the scent of the redwoods is mesmerizing. For about an hour, we hiked up and up and up and up, millions :) of stairs carved into the hillsides (mountains!). Len gave several lectures on the merits of a healthy lifestyle and a fit body (he works out every day - I do not). I had to stop now and again to regain my composure (and breath). He was as patient as he is able to be. We went up one trail and crossed over to another on a trail named "Lost Trail" which was the hardest (all uphill) part of the trek. I didn't have significant problems with the brace because the trails are mostly level, it was difficult in spots, but we did it. We celebrated with lunch in the on-site cafe which was serving local organic and vegetarian options. We had grilled cheese and vegan tomato soup (I have no idea what that was made with - tofu? not bad though). We took an alternate route back to bridge, the traffic had died down some, and took an afternoon nap. For dinner we headed out to an upscale vegetarian restaurant called Millennium (http://www.millenniumrestaurant.com/restaurant/index.html). It is located in the lobby of a Best Western Hotel. We found it fascinating that a vegetarian restaurant was packed with people of all sorts; an older couple, a yoga instructor and a woman who looked like she would be having dinner with a yoga instructor, a multi-generation group that looked like a family celebrating some life cycle event. Toto ,we are not in NJ any more! We opted for the $40 fixed price option (next time we will do the $75 tasting menu with wine - the couple next to us did and I was envious). The food was imaginative, fresh, and tasty, with complex flavors and multiple ingredients and spices. The only disappointment was my dessert - I opted for the nightly special which was a vegan strawberry cake - the cake was too heavy and there were not enough strawberries.