Biking in San Francisco, Part 1

A few weekends ago, we went biking in San Francisco! We've been wanting to do this for a while now, but it always seemed a bit intimidating -- traffic, tourists, those crazy San Francisco hills... Luckily, we had an awesome tour guide! Don did a great job at navigating us around some of the best sights of the city.

Beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean, from a lookout point in the Presidio! The weather was absolutely perfect for a bike ride.

Tour Guide Don also took the role of History Don, explaining the background of the Presidio and its purpose in World War II. We biked up to the old battery ruins, which once housed gigantic cannons, and stood on top of what used to be a cannon base. It was neat to climb up and explore a piece of history!

We got some pretty great views of the Golden Gate! It was so windy, I almost felt like the wind was going to blow me off my feet. It's good the wind blows inland from the sea, and not the other way around...

The next item on our agenda was to bike across the span of the Golden Gate Bridge! I've walked across the bridge before, but never biked it. On busy days, bicyclists are restricted to one side of the bridge, while pedestrians get the other side. It works out well, and means less tourist-dodging for all of us.

I didn't get many shots of the actual biking part, since it's hard to bike and take pictures at the same time!

A punchy glamour shot of my beautiful bike! Mattics kept trying to take a glamour shot of his bike as well, but his fixie is so lightweight that the wind kept blowing it over... much to the amusement of Don and I.

From there, we went through the Marina District to the Palace of Fine Arts. I can't believe that, in all the times I have been to San Francisco, I've never been here! The buildings are stunning, and the whole lakeside scene is just beautiful.

I felt so small inside the giant rotunda!

I also wanted to capture the beautiful ceiling, so we got creative with our selfies :D

We were pretty hungry at this point, so we went to a small wings restaurant (tried duck wings, that was a first!) and then biked up some pretty intense hills to get back to Don's place. We definitely worked off the wings in the time it took to bike back.

Next time, I'll try to get a few pics of the hills... some of them look pretty easy, but it's quite deceiving once you are actually trying to mash your way up!

Thanks for the tour Don, and we will definitely be back to explore more of the city!

DIY: Replacing a Clock Mechanism

A while ago, I bought a beautiful clock at a thrift store! It's made of real wood, stained and glazed, and I just thought it was a really unique piece. However, even after I cleaning it up and replacing the battery, the actual timekeeping function was just completely busted. The clock sat neglected in a corner of my room for a few months... until I decided to try replacing the clock mechanism! It was a lot easier than I thought, so if you're curious about fixing up a broken clock, here's how :)

The tools you'll need for this DIY, as shown in the above pic, are:

- An awesome clock that you want to actually work
- Clock mechanism (I got this one at Michael's)
- AA battery
- Craft glue, wood glue, or glue gun
- Slip joint pliers, or some kind of pliers
- Ruler
- Pencil, marker, or some marking tool

Here is the clock! It's gorgeous, but it's nonfunctional because it doesn't move at all... on top of that, the hands were all bent as well. Time to take it apart!

The back side of the clock, which shows the natural wood color, plus the carved part that houses the mechanism.

First, I removed the hands and put them aside. They're bent, but since the material is so thin, I was able to straighten them out a bit by hand.

Using your pliers, remove the hex nut carefully!

Once the hex nut is removed, you can just pop the old mechanism out and put it aside.

You need to know the width of the clock face in order to buy the correct size mechanism. Since the hole is too narrow for a ruler, I used an unsharpened pencil and marker to see how long the screw needs to be.

When you go to the craft store, you'll likely see many different models of clock mechanisms -- some with ornate hands, some with simple hands, and all in various sizes. The size is printed on the package, and refers to the length of the bolt that will go through your clock face. The mechanism I bought was the 3/8 inch measurement, but I probably should have bought the 5/8 inch version for more allowance.

Your mechanism will come with these components! Before attaching it to the clock, I did a test assembly just to make sure everything worked. Here is the order of assembly:

1. Clock mechanism
2. Rubber ring
3. Clock face
4. Washer
5. Hex nut (the old hex nut I removed didn't fit the new mechanism, so I omitted this)
6. Hour hand
7. Minute hand
8. Nut
9. Second hand

I chose to use the original hands, because I was able to straighten them out so they weren't bent. However, if they had been damaged beyond repair, the new hands would have worked as well! I just wanted to keep as much of the original aesthetic as I could :)

Gluing the mechanism into the wood. I used a combination of craft glue and a glue gun around the edges, to make sure it was really secure.

At first, I thought I was doing it wrong, but it turns out that the hour hand is just very snug and you really do have to use some force to attach it to the bolt. It might feel like you're about to break it, but that's just how it's supposed to work. The minute hand is much easier, and it just slips on.

After the minute hand, you have to carefully and tightly screw this teeny tiny little nut on top of it!

Press the second hand on top of the bolt. Like the hour hand, you have to push down slightly harder for this component as well.

Then, all you have left to do is pop a battery in, turn the dial to the current time, and watch your new clock start ticking away!

Hike Review: Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

Hiking is one of my favorite weekend activities! After spending five workdays sitting in front of a computer screen, it's so refreshing to get outdoors and enjoy nature. 

This past weekend, we ventured to HENRY COWELL REDWOODS STATE PARK for some adventuring. The park is off highway 9 on the way to Santa Cruz, and is pretty easy to reach by car. True to its name, the park does boast some really beautiful redwoods!

We started on the Pipeline Road, and from there we went on the River Trail. I'm sure the river is beautiful during non-drought season, but unfortunately, it was looking pretty dry. 

Michelle, Mattics, and I! Michelle took some of these pics :)

The park is also home to the Roaring Camp railroad, a tourist-friendly, slow-moving train that runs through some of the most beautiful parts of the forest. We kept hearing the train whistle from afar, so we knew it must be nearby. Eventually, the trail intersected with railroad tracks! 

This rickety wooden bridge is not for those who fear heights! 

After venturing down the track a while, we went back to the main trail to see more of the beautiful redwood trees! You could see where "parent" trees once stood, because there would be a ring of smaller young trees growing in a circle. Despite how dry the river was, the deeper parts of the forest trails were still very lush and green. 

We didn't really follow the trail too strictly -- this hike was more of an exploration than an actual structured plan. Eventually, it joined back up with the railroad tracks, which we walked along until we saw graffiti-covered signs. We figured that it had to mean something, so we followed the trail downhill until we found a swimming hole! 

There are actually a few different swimming holes on the map, so I'm not really sure which one it is, but Mattics said it's the Big Rock Hole! A few people had already set up camp there with towels, swimsuits, and full picnic gear. We weren't prepared for that, so we just admired the scene and made a mental note to come back later in the summer.

We left at just the right time, because as we were walking back to the trail, the Roaring Camp train came rolling by! It's a pretty slow train, so we waved to all the passengers and joked about hopping onto the train and hitching a ride back :p

Our hike back to base was just as scenic as the way there! Instead of wandering on and off the trail, we chose to just follow the railroad tracks all the way back to the trailhead. It was a beautiful and relaxing walk, and we even found a tiny teepee!

On the way back, we also stopped by the Redwood Loop, which is a short trail near the Visitor Center that highlights some of the most interesting trees and plants. One of the main attractions was a giant redwood, one of the largest in the entire park! You really feel so small when you are among these majestic trees...

Overall, this was a nice preview of Henry Cowell Redwoods! Next time, I would love to do a full loop trail and explore the other beaches along the way. Just looking at this map, there are at least 4 different trails to try. Who wants to come with us?? :D Adventure is out there!

Image Credit: Boulter.com