Golden Gate Park and Japanese Tea Gardens

When I wake up at 8:30 am Reena and Kate are headed out the door. I make myself an omelet, using up my remaining eggs, spinach, onion, and broccoli. It takes me two hours to inventory all of my gear, clothes, and food. I am sending back my GPS, water pump, camera accessories, 2 books, a green sweatshirt I bought in L.A., fushia fleece, spare socks, bandanas, and other random things. I barely manage the twelve blocks through the park and streets to the post office, with a black trash bag, over one shoulder, a white trash bag and a spare grocery bag in my left hand, and my day pack balanced on my right shoulder. I am sweating under the exertion and so I throw my fleece over my the strap of the bag resting on my right shoulder. Now, I have been carrying around a half used roll of plastic tape for mailing things home (thinking I would get the whim a lot sooner than I actually have). I FORGOT THE STUPID TAPE...so I buy a new roll after waiting in line behind 18 people in the U.S.Post Office. I grab the largest box the Post Office has and I start taping it and then I load it up. There is extra room in the box, so the man behind the counter gives me wads of brown paper to use as space filler. I pay for insurance on the box, but all I can think is about how mangled my belongings will be when they reach Maine, seeing as my GPS and water filter have plenty of space to bang around and get completely damaged. Only time will tell! This whole experience costs me $4 for the insurance, $6 for the box, $3.49 for the tape, and $28 for the weight of the box. It should all arrive in 8 days...at least I don't have to carry that stuff anymore. When I am done at the post office, I walk to Golden Gate Park and follow John F. Kennedy Drive to the National AIDS Memorial Grove. I walk through the grove, past the Music Conservatory, and into the Japanese Tea Gardens. I pay the $4 admission and take about 80 photos. After posing in front of everything, I leave the tea gardens, passing an Asian couple dressed in their wedding wear, who are taking photos in the garden. I head towards Stow Lake, but I am suddenly concerned about the time, so I don't take the time to explore the lake and the boathouse. I find where the Municipal Bus Line #9 bisects the park and I head towards Marina, via the Presidio. The bus stops at Mountain Lake Park, then the Golden Gate Bridge, and then heads to Fort Mason, passing the Palace of Fine Arts. I get off, before the bus reaches the fort and I transfer to bus #30, which I share with about 50 school kids who have just gotten out of school. A quick glance at my cellphone confirms this: 3:30 pm. I get off the bus and speed walk to the Wyndham Resorts Kiosk. I passed by this area yesterday and was invited to hear a 90 minute presentation on owning a time share. Now, I have NO interest in owning a time share. Why would I want to stay in hotels, when I can have all the fun I want in hostels? I wait in the lobby for the 4 pm presentation and spend 3 hours explaining over and over again to the agent that I am not interested. Eventually, I walk away happy...I receive a $150 American Express gift card to spend on anything my heart desires, just for having sat through the presentation. Let's see...$150 will buy a week worth of hostel accommodations...or lots of groceries and a new pair of sneakers, or pay for 100 days of public transportation...or any number of things. I get "home" at 7:40 pm and make spelt rotini with feta cheese, tomato, and tofu. I have cleaned out all of my food from the refrigerator and freezer now. I go to "my" room and call both the Pigeon Point and Point Montara hostels. Neither has space this weekend and I refuse to head farther north without hiking those missed miles and seeing those incredible hostels. I wonder what I should do?

Being paid $150 to look at travel photographs and discuss my passion seems like a great idea.