California Adventure: Day 1

We arrived in San Francisco around 4 p.m. on Saturday, which made it a long day already, given the time change. Got to our hotel and freshened up before heading out for our first look at the waterfront. We stayed in the Fisherman's Wharf area which, while touristy, was also centrally located to everything we wanted to see and do. A big plus.The water was just a couple of blocks away so we headed down for our first look at Alcatraz! Hmmm... that doesn't look so far... (Of course, the race course was not a straight line back to shore!)We stayed along the waterfront as we headed to Sports Basement, which we had to hit prior to 7 p.m. when race check-in closed. It was about three miles so we didn't get there til close to the end. But, we were taking our time, checking things out... like the famous hills......and the random oddities that you see in a liberal city like San Francisco......and our first views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Not very visible against the setting sun, but exciting to spot nonetheless.We checked in at the Sports Basement and then... headed back. Only inland a little, for a change of scenery. Up and down some hills that seemed large but would prove to be nothing, relatively speaking, in the days to come! Back to the Wharf...... where we bypassed the whole boiled crabs being sold on the street - how do you eat that kind of thing when you are standing up?...... and instead slurped down some clam chowder and sourdough bread bowls. Not exactly the dinner of champions on the night before my swim, but again - I wasn't anticipating the possibility of leading the race!By that point the time change was really starting to catch up with us, so after a brief detour along the waterfront to Pier 39 and the infamous sea lions, we went back to the hotel and hit the sack. The 4:30 a.m. wakeup call would come all too soon.