gone phishin'

Oh!! Where to begin on our latest adventure?  A long while back, Tom and I played the lottery in order to win some hard to come by Phish tickets for five different shows - three in Berkeley, CA and two in Telluride, CO.  We both applied for all to increase our chances and amazingly enough!!!! We each won one! Tom won the three for California and I got Colorado.  Lucky Day!

We stayed at the Kensington Park Hotel right in Union Square. It was the perfect location.

 

We could walk everywhere and the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) was just a few blocks away.  This train took us to and from the airport and also to and from the concert nightly - so this was key.

Day One.

We arrived and were off to lunch.  We walked for blocks and blocks looking for the Rogue Brewery only to arrive and it was not open. :( We wandered further to the Fisherman's Wharf and found a little seafood restaurant and ordered ourselves some cheeseburgers :) 

I got my fill of crab outside. 

I noticed three very slow moving crabs and inquired about their health (they were sadly set out, just awaiting their death...). The guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted to hold him... Why would I? But I did... And I was terrified.

and then the huge crustacean moved its claws toward my thumb and although close to death.... I had a major freakout and said, "I'm done!!!!!" and set the poor thing down to meet his destiny.

And it was time to meet our destiny... Off to Berkeley!

Night One.

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Day Two.

Japanese Tea Garden in the Golden Gate Park

(which is nowhere near the Golden Gate Bridge).

So there we are, enjoying our walk through the gardens when all of sudden we hear a child SCREAMING!!! The little guy had fallen off the below stone path and into the pond. Tom re-enacting the situation but in no way is he making fun of the boy. Parents please watch your children in such places?!?!?!

Up and over...

From the Gardens, we made a brief stop at the former home of Jerry Garcia. We happened to arrive while an ol' hippie lady was leading a tour.  Turns out the new home-owners (not Grateful Dead fans) got a killer deal on the house because it was trashed and the Hells Angels used to lived directly across the street.

Happy Tom!

Night Two.

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Day Three.

Double Decker Tour Bus Day.

So much fun!

So much to see and we hadn't even taken off yet!

Lombard Street - the curviest street in the world.

Alcatraz below.

Golden Gate Bridge.

Fishermans Wharf.

Alioto's - where we ate our delicious cheeseburgers and I was almost eaten by a crab.

Tommy's Joynt :)

This tour was soo worth it. 

It took us everywhere.  A person could simply buy a two day pass on this bus for $28 and not have to take a taxi anywhere.  It drove right by our hotel and went to almost everywhere a person would want to go.  You get on and get off as you please.  A quick and easy way to see the sights of San Franscisco.

Night Three.

(the lady's shirt reads "Gingers have Soul" with a pic of Trey on it)

please note the cardboard sign on the back of the stop sign :)

 

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Day Four.

Off to Colorado!

I got to spend the day with Valecia and Matt and soon Shannon came to hang out as well!! Shannon drove me down to Monument to meet up with schleepy Tom and his family.  Turns out Tom's mom had helped Shannon pick out a dress for an interview two years prior.. small world.

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Day Five.

We woke up bright and early and made our way to Telluride - a quick 7 hour drive to our beautiful campsite.

The sights of Telluride's streets.

Phish in a store window above and the glorious mountains below.

Night Five.

During intermission, Tom and I are standing in the very long, compact lines for the port-a-potties, I look up and think to myself "what an amazing moon" - I chat a little, look back at the moon and realize its a big light-up balloon. So thankful I took some time before throwing that statement to the crowd :)

Later. I told Tom.

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Day Six.

We woke up in our cozy (meaning meant for one, but we fit two), dry (meaning it rained, thank you rain tarp) tent and decided to head up the mountain.

The Gondola is FREE.  What a rarity!

America the Beautiful. 

The gentleman who took our picture left us with a "Jesus loves you." - What does a person say in return? Thanks? You too? Regardless, Jesus must love us because this place is amazing.

Tom fit right in (below).

Not long after we arrived at the top it started to rain which was perfectly okay because we bought new raincoats for that very reason.

Did you know??

Night Six.

Tom's twin (in the suspenders).

The real Tom + me.

The sun finally set on our latest escapade.

We had soo much fun.

the city. the moutains. the music. the friends. tom.

just some of my favorite things all wrapped into one very perfect week.

 

 It doesn't get much better than this.