On friday, I decided to treat myself to some sleep. I normally don't like to do this on a vacation, but after a 36-hour day, I needed it. My knee ached all day Thursday, and I finally determined that it wasn't running or walking, but the bending of my knee in a seated or kneeling position that inflames it. I'm sure it has to do with running, but that's no longer the catalyst for discomfort. I woke up in pain, but it wore out later during my long walk (which I'll get to in a second)

The hotel room, while still kind of crappy, proved to be okay for the night. I'm not in fear for my life or anything, but it's definitely below my standards. Anyhow, I left the place at noon to start my day, with no plans. Actually, I had one plan- I noticed that I had passed an AAA building on my way to the Wharf the day before, and since no one on the east coast had the Los Angeles map, I figured I'd come in to get one now before I end up in LA without one.

Once I got my map, I also asked about Yosemite. That'll most likely be one of my roadtrips later in the week. I got all the maps I needed and left the building...with no plans.

So, like Forrest Gump, I just started wandering without any particular goals or ideas. I wanted to see more of the city, so I just started walking. I ended up walking more than 40 blocks until I hit the bay. The streets were quite hilly, as I expected. I got quite a workout. There was a public beach area, with the Golden Gate bridge off to the left and Alcatraz directly ahead. The piers were to the right.

I was pretty hungry, so I went for some clam chowder at Boudin's. (It comes in a Sourdough bread bowl, which was delicious.) After lunch, I walked around the shops there, including some art galleries and a Navajo shop (with one of the most pro-Bush San Franciscans I've seen here) most here aren't pro-Kerry, they're just anti-Bush. And I don't know this from conversations, I know this from the BUSH SUCKS tshirts and the "Not MY President" bumper stickers. Friggin' hippies.

Anyhow, I saw more sights and then got a sundae at Ghirardelli's chocolate shop while I took a break from walking. I toured a few more shops and then stood in line to catch the cable car home. I only had a few days left on my pass, so I was willing to stay in line for what turned out to be an hour. I didn't realize that the street cars only go one way, so at the end of the lines, they rotate the train to face the correct way once again. That was interesting, but not worth the wait to see.

I finally ended up on the right part of town, and walked another 10 blocks to my place, changed clothes, and walked 5 more blocks, which was all my knee was willing to give me before it finally crapped out. I arrived at The Lion King at the Orpheum Theater with 10 minutes to spare, and took my seat. I was in the balcony where I could see everything with no one in front of me.

The show was amazing. It was unbelievable what they could do with costuming and choreography to look animal-like. The dialogue was almost straight out of the movie, and the music was similar as well. I expected that, but since the story was translated to stage from the screen, I had no idea what to expect. This was an incredible show.

I came back to the room to work on some homework. Pretty nice Friday! With no plans for Saturday, I called it a night and decided that I'd just wander out again like I did before.