We got up early in the morning and picked up Mr. Jefferson and headed to the Bay Area to see the Tall Ships come in. They were coming for California's Sesquicentennial, a great idea that got ruined by lack of money. Governor Gray just this week let the whole idea of celebrating die. It's a pity the world's 7th largest economy couldn't fund any birthday party. I'm reminded of Philadelphia in 1976: our whole country couldn't even come up with much of a birthday bash. Oh, well. The ships, all but the two Russian ones, came anyway, since they'd already gotten scheduled it.

We got to East Fort Baker, on the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge. First we went to see if we could find a spot right under the bridge, but unfortunately that's all fenced off for construction. Then Rich wanted to go to the point near the gun emplacements, and when we got there it was obviously right, so I grabbed a spot and Rich went back and moved the van up closer. He brought back my book, since we had a good two hour wait ahead of us. He and Mr. J. talked and wandered around and stood on the edge... I was convinced I was going to lose both "my men" at once. Mr. J. said he wasn't afraid, and I said I was, since I'd have to clean his house. I told Rich that at least I had the car keys.

We watched the Hawaiian Chieftain sail out of Sausalito to meet the ships, as well as a Coast Guard ship and the Victory ship, the Jeremiah O'Brien. (It was the only motorized vessel authorized to get into the parade.) There were hundreds of sailboats darting out. We had a couple from Sacramento sitting right behind us and we were talking about the Endeavor, which they hadn't seen. (Nor had they gone to RailFair. I was a little surprised that they would drive to the Bay Area for this, but not see anything local.) The wind began to pick up. WAY up. Occasionally I would have to just put my head down to keep my visor from sailing away, and at least two hats ended up in the ocean. I was glad we didn't have any small children with us!

The Parade of Ships was supposed to start at 1, but at a quarter to, we could spy the tall sails and the ship coming in. The first was a Coast Guard training ship. (There's a story here that says it sailed from Connecticut six weeks ago and through the Panama Canal, just like the original 49ers, which is pretty impressive of the original 49ers, I do think, if you consider when the Canal was built.) We watched it sail under the bridge and follow the fireboat along the waterfront, and then the next set of sails appeared.

Each ship was more impressive than the last. Once they got under the bridge, through the Gate (the Golden Gate is not the bridge, it's the strait into San Francisco Bay that the bridge goes over!) they would furl their sails, so we had one of the best views in the Bay. The Japanese Kaiwo Maru, #5, was a four-master and the prettiest of them all, but they all were magnificent. There were a number of "class B" ships, too, smaller sailing ships, in the parade. Sometimes it was difficult to see if they were actually visiting ships or just big local sailboats.

The wind kept picking up. The Sacramento wife went back to the car after about an hour, as she was cold. My legs were definitely gooseflesh. And the sunblock was in my kangaroo pouch, too... which was NOT the place for it.

The sixth ship sailed in, and we thought it was over. People were packing up, partly due to the cold and partly because it was, we thought, over. It was good, though, to see further fireboats spraying at the end, so we were sure we weren't going to miss anything.

It was amazing how much warmer it was out of the wind! The sailboats at the marina were swaying and the ropes hitting their masts sounded like wind chimes.

From there we went over to Rodeo Beach to eat our lunch. The Sacramento couple had had a little extra chicken and had shared, so we weren't desperate.

Then we introduced Mr. J. to the fine art of carnelian hunting. I was distressed because I had spotted one on the way, reached down for it, and missed it. Then it was thoroughly lost. Rich began to make a competition of it. I discovered that if I whined "Oh, woe is me, woe is me, ALL the carnelians are gone and I can't find ANY" that I would then instantly find one. At one point I went up to where these people had been "mining" (sitting still and scraping away in one area) and found a beauty they'd missed. Another time, we were all mining, and I moved back and proved to be sitting on a number. Mr. J. said I was laying them. Rich was sure I was getting more than he was, but in the end, I had 35 and he had 62. All together, this may be nearly an ounce.

When we were all sitting and mining, someone came by and asked what we were looking for, and we said "rocks." Then we told him, and he asked "what's a Cornelius?" When we'd shown him and his daughter, they wandered on down the beach, but later they brought us 4 they'd found.

Rich was telling about the carnelian the woman up in Crescent City had, with "conclusions." (He misspoke, he does know they're "inclusions," but sometimes this happens. I was reading a newslist posting where they were talking about someone "crimping in a mirror.")

We spent about 90 minutes there, and then Rich and Mr. J. wanted to look at gun emplacements and use up film. This is easy, San Francisco is very photogenic when it's not foggy. One of the tunnels has cave paintings in it. Now that's imaginative graffiti. We saw a man who said "Haildew" to us, and I finally translated it into "How y'all doin'?"

On the way home I saw a Smirnoff billboard: "The first time I had a Smirnoff, the earth moved. (beat) You gotta love this town." I also saw a first for me, a Guam license plate. I've seen the plate frames ("where America's day begins") but not the actual license plate itself. Rich assures me there are roads on Guam.

We used an Entertainment Book coupon on a nice Mexican restaurant in Dixon, and so home. Roni had forgotten about tall ships and called to find out about kittens. She also wrote and said she'd told work about the Mojave phone booth, and they called and were #169. And I'm told the Haleakala shirt starts with "Yea" which I swear I had in my notes, just not on the page. Oh, well.

I'd been eating sunflower seeds while watching tall ships, and had caught three shells back behind my last tooth, which was really bugging me. Finally I could go after them with floss and both hands and get them out. Ow. That, and the sunburn.

Kitten Update: The cats had spent the day in the hall and our bedroom, and were fine. Fitch likes to eat by sticking his head way into the bowl, one paw atop the food (Crombie doesn't get a lookin then) and sucking the bottom of the bowl, kneading. I could hear the odd crunch so knew he was getting some nourishment. (THEN I read the food directions, and it's still to be moistened for awhile.) He is not a finger-sucker. though I did try. That was Gummitch's big thing.

Well, now that Kosovo is turning out not to be such a victory, after all (we didn't hurt Milosevic, the number of atrocities were a lie (gee, Clinton lied?? Stop the presses) and it really looks like Montenegro is next, what next for the Legacy of King William the Rapist? Why look! Here's a trillion dollars we just happened to overlook! (Clinton said it, I checked my pockets.) Just ignore that creative accountant behind the curtain over there. Above all, ignore that Chinese spy thing. So far he's had a war or two to distract us from that, but some people keep coming back to it. (569 days left.)