mybigadventures.com

So the website just told me that Lorna graduated 10 years ago today! Time certainly has flown since then!

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I still had to go to school today - until 2:30 PM, at least. So, I left Ben at home with a tiny little list of jobs to complete…

Arriving home, I discovered Ben lolopping on the sofa with the laptop - ‘surfing the net’. Prompted into action, he leapt (slowly) up and we got on. We did some last minute printing, some last minute shoving-things-into-bags, and created some contact details for our neighbours. After a brief chat with Pete and ‘her in doors’ (next door), we made ready for the taxi. Having arranged a pick-up for 5:30 PM, we assembled ourselves and all of our baggage on the drive, ready for the off. Because we are slightly OCD, we took pictures of ourselves setting the alarm and locking up, for peace of mind and, obviously, for posterity.

Bundled into the taxi, we made it to the train station a full hour before our train, so we had a bit of time to people-watch. Dani bought some chocolatines from Sainsbury’s local for tomorrow’s breakfast, along with some Maltesers, so we sat and scoffed while we waited. The train was marginally late and it took us a little while to get settled (what with all our baggage), but otherwise the journey was fine.

Upon arriving at the airport, we skipped the queue for the shuttle (to transfer) and got a taxi for the same price of £7 to the airport TraveLodge. After check-in, we did have a few issues with the key card for our room, so we ended up moving rooms. The hotel is undergoing a refurb, so the decor was a little bit rubbish. Nevertheless, the room was fine and we settled in our room to eat some  sandwiches and crisps. After watching a bit of TV, we headed down to the bar for a pint. Headed back up to the room and settled into bed - the room had been pretty warm, but had cooled a bit by now. We had pre-booked the shuttle bus booked for 9:00 AM tomorrow (for the big adventure to begin, so probably time to get to bed. Cheerio, ta ta!

As we had got in late yesterday, we had a slightly more leisurely morning. We did wake up quite early, but dozed for a while. I went down to Starbucks next door and got tea (I keep forgetting that you have to order ‘hot tea’ here, and you need to ask them to leave ‘room for milk’ as they don’t drink it like us Brits!) and chocolatines - they had even warmed up the chocolatines, so they were extra-tasty, chocolatey goodness! We had showers and then had a chat with Lorna, Audrey, and mum and dad via Skype, catching up and telling them about our activities.

We headed out, planning to withdraw some cash for the day. Started to use the cash machine, although found out that it would charge us a flat fee of $5, so changed our mind. Then changed it back again - instead, we decided to withdraw more, to make the fee more palatable. So, we nipped back to the hotel to leave the extra cash in our room safe.

Then, we headed out properly. We got the tram to the Ferry building and switched onto the F-line around Fisherman’s Wharf, getting off near the bike rental place we had seen before. Stopped to use the restroom on the way, only to end up waiting for 10 minutes as they had closed them for ‘cleaning’ and they were the only local loos! Some American bloke and his kid also tried pushing in, but an loquacious American woman started on him - quite a bit of excitement so early in the day!

Went to the bike shop and got hooked up with a tandem and snazzy helmets! The lady chatted on about some directions, but there were quite a few and, by the end, I couldn’t even remember which way we were supposed to leave the shop! Dani decided she would take the back seat, so I took the helm though I did find it quite difficult to get my leg over the bike frame - I blame the jeans - clearly, not biking gear! So, we set off on our ride - somewhat wobbly to begin with.

We cycled around towards the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping for photos a few times. We used the gorilla pod to take one of us and the bike, and a lady offered to take a photo when we got to a pier just before the bridge. Whilst at the pier, we had a little sit and a hot dog from ‘Let’s Be Frank’, a hot dog stand - it was very tasty. We then began the cycling part of the journey again.

There were some steep bits to get up to the bridge and, once there, there were lots of people in the bike lane, so Ben kept ringing the bell. A little further along, we got stopped by a bridge man, who told us that we were supposed to be cycling on the other side (pedestrians on one side, bikes on the other). I think the lady at the shop might have mentioned this - oops! So, once on the right side of the bridge, we got up some big speed. There were a few hairy moments, but we managed not to crash - result! It was a bit windy on the way across and, when we got to the other side, we decided to cycle back again, rather than waiting for the ferry. On the way back across, we stopped to take some pictures of a tall ship that was sailing under the bridge. We kept on zooming on, after a ‘Kodak moment’ and sped back down - it was distinctly warmer off the bridge!

We rode back towards Fisherman’s wharf, stopping at a Safeway (of all places!) on the way - Ben looked after the bike whilst I went in, getting some muffins, crisps and water - a mini crap run! Were planning to go across to the Golden Gate Park, but we realised that it was still a good distance away and it was already gone 5 PM. So we continued along, back to the bike shop - there were a few hairy moments when Ben zoomed downhill at super-speed, but I just closed my eyes! Returned the bike, suffering slightly from saddle bottom. It had cost $60 for the day.

Having dropped the bike, we decided it was beer o’clock - we went to Applebees for a drink, sitting on the balcony, under a heater - nice! After, we strolled to the F-line stop, having figured out where it goes now! Except the tram was packed when it came past! Managed to find a different stop by following the tracks to a different point. Made it back to Union Square. We looked around for somewhere to eat, but places seemed quite expensive. Decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory in Macy’s - but it was absolutely rammed! Totally rammed! As our feet were tired, we made it down a level, to Macy’s ‘Burger Bar’ and settled in. We had a pitcher of Budweiser and three mini-burgers each, with fries and onion rings - about $70, including tip. A little pricey, but we walked away - stumbled, might be more accurate - very stuffed! And so, to bed!