K2: Mommy, why do cowboys always ride west?

I had to think about this for a minute, and was about to offer a geography lesson to this clever question when Brian popped his head in and answered, "That is because cowboys are always riding off into the sunset, and the sun sets to the west."

We caught the sunset coming out of San Francisco on the ocean side yesterday. Sunset over the ocean in California is beautiful in winter. The colors are brilliant. This is the rainy season so there are often clouds making it all the more spectacular, and there is nothing like the sun setting into or coming up from the ocean.

Adventure day was San Francisco to the Randall Museum, a small museum set close to the top of one of the hills that overlook most of San Fran, and give a breathtaking view of downtown, the Golden Gate Bridge, and other parts as well. It is between the Castro and the Haight district, so after the museum, and a hike up to the highest point on the hill to drink in the view, we headed down to Haight St for lunch. The luncheonette recommended by our "Fodor's Around San Francisco with Kids" (thank you Trish!) had a line out the door so we headed down the block soaking in the ambiance of all sorts of cool and eclectic shops, from a Himalayn store, 3 or 4 smoke and head shops, a stained glass place, and more "vintage" stores than you can shake a stick at.

Our wanderings took us to a South African restaurant (think Addis Red Sea in Boston) for some amazing finger food cuisine that even Kieran gobbled up (yummy). Afterwards, I headed back to the car to have Kiwi nap for a while, and Brian and Keiran headed back toward the museum to climb up to the top of a second hill-top park, and reported even more amazing views. Kiwi fell asleep while nursing so I walked with her in the sling and wandered Haight St. As I walked into and out of various vintage stores, I thought it would be great to come back as there were lots of cool and offbeat clothes to check out. After a few blocks, I spotted a Goodwill. Someone once said that a thrift store can tell you a lot about an area. There is one a few blocks from where we are that is always hopping, but I can't understand why. One quick look in will tell you that its thoroughly picked over and the chances of finding something worth the time is close to non-existent. On Haight St., SF, the Goodwill is all about designer labels. Its fun to walk through the store - its clean, well organized, well let, and well stocked. I picked up a little knit sweater for $3.49 (a fancy french label), and $1 for a beautifully beaded purse for Akira (probably $100 in Nordstroms if it was a dime), and a skateboard helmet for Kieran. Total under $10. This is a place where you could dress in style for $9.99 or less (OK maybe more if you actually wanted shoes and a coat). Kiwi slept through the whole thing. I'll have to go back someday when I can actually try stuff on!