June Trip-part 4

Day 7 - California (San Francisco)

It was decided early on in the planning of this trip that we should spend two days in the San Francisco area, due to all the sights there are here to see. So early in the morning, we got up, dressed and headed into the city on Hwy 101. This route takes in one of the most spectacular sights of the city, the Golden Gate bridge. Ever since I walked across the Brooklyn bridge during our New York City trip, I had a desire to do the same on this equally famous bridge.

We figured the best way to see the city was on one of those double-decker tour buses that can be found in most major cities. San Francisco was no different and we decided on a bus with the most stops and places visited for the money. For this we made our way to the Union Square parking garage to await our bus, only to find a number of competing tours at the same location. We finally were able to determine which bus was ours and once it arrived we were on our way.

I had read extensively on weather conditions in this city as I wanted to be sure I had the proper clothes to keep me warm. My attire for the day included a pair of thermal underwear, a pair of jeans and warm long-sleeved shirt. A heavy jacket and my Nike cap, complete with ear flaps!  I may have looked strange on the open topped bus, but at least I was warm.

It was decided early on that we would ride the complete tour first and then make a determination on which way we needed to proceed. Unfortunately, the bus tour took longer than we thought and so we decided to move the car to a parking lot closer to the pier where we would catch the shuttle to Alcatraz later that afternoon. Once we got back to Union Square, we paid the parking fee there and went off in search of a more suitable lot.

Our search eventually led us to a parking lot directly across from the Alcatraz boarding pier and as luck would have it someone was leaving the full lot as we drove in. We parked the car and a lady came up to Jim and told him it was his lucky day. She gave him the paid daily $30 parking sticker to use and so we got to park close by for free!

We decided to make our way to the Fisherman's wharf, where we could have lunch and the girls could shop a bit. We located a suitable place to dine and after lunch the girls went off to shop while Jim and I took in the sights, including the sea lions at the right. Not being used to walking I had to stop every now and then at a bench for awhile, but eventually we made our way near the sight where we would catch the shuttle ferry to Alcatraz. The location we chose was positioned so that we could see the girls when they made there way there. Sure enough, shortly thereafter, we saw the girls headed our way.

After we arrived at the Alcatraz dock, we were able to sit and wait a short time for the 3:55 PM tour, which had been booked in advance, and so the actual standing in line waiting time was very short. Once we boarded the ferry boat, the ride over took about 15-20 minutes and was fairly pleasant because I could once again sit. Once at the island, we listened to the the welcome speech given by the rangers before everyone was turned loose to explore the island at their own pace.

 My pace was very slow, I found a suitable bench (indicated by the red arrow at the right), and waited there for the others to explore on their own. Just making it to the island was enough for me, I can read more about what happened there on the net than any tour will ever show me, so that is all I needed. The time went by quickly, people watching is far more interesting anyway. And there was every kind of person you can imagine on this tiny island in the San Francisco bay. Among others, I distinctly heard people speaking german, english (british), french, spanish, japanese, chinese, arabic, and possibly korean. Yep, no shortage of international visitors here!

Once the call was given for the last ferry boat back to the city, I finally saw my companions coming down the hill. Once reunited we made our way back onto the ferry and as the water slowly churned we headed back to the city. The trip was pleasant again as I was sitting, and once we docked we quickly made our way back to the car and began what had become the nightly ritual to find a suitable hotel room for the night.

Here are a few other pictures of interesting stuff in San Francisco, the colorful historic trolley cars which run along the Embarcadero, as well as the famous cable cars which traverse the hills of the city.

One of the sights I most wanted to get is the beautiful 4 tower bay bridge, but it's mostly impossible to get a picture of the entire span from San Francisco. At the left is the best I could do, with a picture of the entire bridge taken from the island at the right which I found on the web.

The plan called for us to stay in south San Francisco (near the airport), but due to the lack of inexpensive rooms, we decided to press on a bit further in hopes of finding a place to sleep. I even called my friend Peter, who we were supposed to meet the next day for brunch, to see if he could recommend a place. Unfortunately he didn't answer, so we continued on southward. On south we went, past the place we were supposed to meet him at and even further where we finally found a place in a small town called Watsonville. I decided that the meeting would not take place being as we were so far south and Peter had not answered.

The need for sleep was evident as we decided not to get up quite so early the next morning being as we had nowhere to be at any given time. A good nights rest after a big day in the city was just what the doctor ordered, zzzzzzzz.