Always talked about doing a Flaherty tour of Daly City and San Francisco. The old stompin grounds. Yesterday we got our chance. Bro John and Sharri came down the night before and yesterday we hit the road early. Over the Dumbarton and up 101. Then 380 to 280 and into Daly City. Our first stop was actually in Colma to see dad over at Holy Cross 
Cemetary. Nice way to start the day. Early morning sun shining down upon us, we were back in the car and heading to the hallowed halls of OLPH. Top of the Hill Daly City, and our old elementary school. It was morning recess when we showed up. After getting permission from the principal, we roamed the hallways, stairwells, and even peeked in a couple of classrooms. Really a blast from the past. Made our way to the old cafeteria, where we ate lunch every school day, and where all the school plays, talent shows were held. Today its called “alumni hall.” Class pictures of every graduating class dating back to the 1940’s. Very cool. 
We found the grad pictures of all the Flaherty kids. 
A great visit to OLPH. Our ride down memory lane then continued as we made our way down the hill and towards the coast to Westlake. Cruised around Westlake Shopping Center and amazed how it has changed. As we pulled onto Fairlawn Ct, (our old street) We happened to see one of the few people that was still living on the block. Had a nice (but short ) visit with John Rezzonico. It was a very surreal walk down our old street. The houses, pretty much the same. The apartments across the street, that we played in while they were being built, and I never paid much attention too, loomed. We peeked into our old backyard. My clubhouse, an 8×8 shed (called jimsjoint!) that my parents had built for my 10th birthday, was still in the backyard. There were also (after all these years) iron bars on one the downstairs side windows that John had made in metal shop at Westmoor! What a great visit. Even knocked on Mr and Mrs Niduaza’s door and surprised the heck out of them.
We were going to have lunch at Joe’s of Westlake to finish up our tour of Daly City, but instead decided to eat at the Cliff House out at Ocean Beach. Cruised half way around Lake Merced, then out the Great Highway to the Cliff House. The same place that I had my 1st communion breakfast back in the 60’s. Before we stopped for lunch, we walked a trail down to check out the ruins from the old Sutro Baths. Very cool. 
Lunch was good. Window seat. Million dollar view of Ocean Beach. Bowl of chowder and a green salad. So good. I should mention here that it was one of those rare days on the coast. Sunny and clear!! Anyone that has lived in Daly City knows that sunny days are few and far between. We lucked out and got one of those rare days. Zero fog and sunny skies. Yes !
After lunch we cruised up Geary then on to Park Presidio and onto the Golden Gate. We were going to hike down to Kirby Cove but we got in our hiking at Sutro Baths instead. We parked, got out and took tons of pictures. Like I said, Crystal Clear. The mighty Golden Gate with the city skyline in the background. Drove further up the road and parked again and enjoyed the views. What a spectacular day!
It was the end of our day, but not the end of our “Daly City experience.” On the way home we stopped at Toto’s Pizza in Belmont and picked up a couple of pizza pies to go. It was an action packed day, full of memories and excitement. We talked a lot about the old days and re-lived some of the old times. Check out the pictures by clicking here.
Got in a couple of late afternoon rides this week. A couple of walks too. The ride out the creek trail yesterday was great. Zero wind. ZERO! No wind is huge, especially for Fremont in the afternoon. Vandenbusch and I took advantage and made our way out the creek trail to Coyote Hills and the end of the trail and the stillness at mile marker eleven. There is a small lagoon that sits between Coyote Hills and the Creek Trail. There are hundreds of birds just kicking back here. I guess its where they hunker down for the night. Looked like hundreds of pelicans, ducks, mud hens, and who knows what else. So quiet, so peaceful. ITS NATURE BABY!! And right here in our own backyard. A picture is worth a thousand words. A video is priceless. Look here at what mother nature has bestowed upon us, a mere few pedal strokes from our own front door. 
