Mile 19 of 2570

Not only is San Francisco host today to some type of bondage parade where seventy year old men with dyed blue beards are towed behind flowery floats by leather whips, naked on rollerskates.. but it’s also the 57^th anniversary of some landmark in the history of Chinese independence, or so my attempts at reading mandarin billboards lead me to believe.

The streets of Chinatown spilling down into North Beach are staffed to the brink, as orchestras of mosquito-string instruments whine out of every alleyway, and kids release zip-lock bags of goldfish into the hot street. Hawaiian dancers shake it to Hawaii Five-O blasting out of a small P.A. system and everything smells like hair and feathers.

Despite my ipod-plugged ears and recently acquired Louis Vitton sunglasses from a five dollar knockoff stand at the festival, people are approaching me for directions. Which way to the wharf? I can point you there…

Daily Distance: 7.25 miles

Total Distance Crossed: 21.48

East of Oakland, California