Sausalito

Our craziest friend on the planet has to be Charles. He is a voice actor for numerous cartoons and most famously for the game series Mario. Going anywhere with him, you will end up bent over in laughter most of the time. He came and

whisked me away from El Cerrito for a stay at his 'Pink House' (yes it really is a

pink house). The house was built in 1879 in Austria for the Frederick Schiller family. Schiller wrote the words to Mozart's 'Ode to Joy'. The house was dismantled and shipped around the horn to Sausalito in the 1890's. It was then brought up the hill piece-by-piece on horseback. Just an amazing bit of history for this old pink house.

Charles is an old AIDS Ride buddy of mine, so we really enjoy taking drives around Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino counties on many of the roads we used to ride our bikes on. It's so invigorating to smell the sea air and be surrounded by the lush green hills on this side of the bay.

Sausalito is such a wonderful town to walk around in. So many spectacular views of San Francisco from just about anywhere. The boats in the harbor are just fantastic and the fresh sea air intoxicates me. Food! How can I NOT talk about food! The best burgers on the planet come from Hamburgers (yes, that's what it's called) on Bridgeway Blvd., just down the street from Charles house. Every beefy, cheesy bite is like being in heaven. Especially when it's eaten looking at this view of San Francisco in front of you. We haven't skimped on the cooking front either. Our other good friend, and AIDS Ride buddy, Kevin Young has been hanging out with us to enjoy our eating adventures too (see photo below).

Kevin and his partner Wayne joined us for dinner one night and we couldn't resist a silly moment photo. Of course, no visit to Charles house would be complete without someone wearing the lampshade as a hat. I am usually the one to do it. So, here it is! :o) It really is fun to never lose the ability to act like 12 year olds. What fun!

Stay tuned for more later..............