mybigadventures.com

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!

So not much of a lie in; we woke up, around 7 AM, ready to start the day. Despite the early wake-up we didn’t leave the hotel until 9.30 AM. We decided today that we would do a walking tour of San Francisco, to check out some of the main sites. We started by heading over to Union Square. It’s about a mile from the hotel, so it took about 20 minutes. We both wore jeans today as it was pretty cool out and I was wearing a jumper, and Dani, a coat. At Union Square, we headed into Macy’s department store to get some breakfast from the in-store Starbucks. I had a cup of tea and a chocolatine and Dani had a cinnamon roll with a vanilla latte. It was $11, which we thought was okay. After breakfast, we had a look at the cheesecake factory on the top floor (Rhi had told us about this). We didn’t have any cheesecake, but we had a look out from the balcony over Union Square and took some pictures. We didn’t spend much time looking in the shops, but we did see a flat pop-out tram (the pieces pop out and slot together to make 3-D model). We didn’t get it but thought it might make a good present for someone.

We headed out from Macy’s to start our walking tour. First, it took us through Chinatown. It was really colourful; there were people playing traditional Chinese music and at one point, a van pulled up full of watermelons, which was quickly surrounded by lots of people. Next, we headed up to Lombard Street (the most crooked street in San Francisco). I think it’s because the incline is much too steep to be straight, so it wiggles all over the place. It looked really colourful, with big hydrangea plants planted all the way up. There were lots of people taking photos - including the people in the cars, driving down! There was also an amazingly vivid pink bougainvillea growing up a striking blue house, which was stunning.

We trekked up the 250 odd steps and admired the views for a while. From there, we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf. We had a wander among the historic ships and then went to Pompeii’s Grotto for lunch. I had a clam chowder in a sourdough bowl and Ben had a BLT with fries - with a local beer each, called Anchor Steam. It was really nice - about $35. It was starting to get sunnier as we had lunch and the mist seemed to have cleared.

We carried on walking along the wharf, stopping off at Pier 39 to look at the local sea lion populace. We then headed up to Goit Tower, up a great many steps - we had to ask two different people how to find our way up, as it wasn’t marked. So, exhausted and hot, we admired the views when we got to the top, although it took us a while to recover from the climb! We decided not to go up in the tower itself - the queues were epic and the observation level seem to be enclosed in glass, so we weren’t bothered. Wandering around the outside, we saw a hummingbird - quite exciting!

From there, we headed back towards Union Square. We were going to get an ice-cream on the way, but didn’t see anywhere. We were getting very weary and were keen to find somewhere to sit! On the way up to Starbucks in Macy’s, we had a look at the pop-out tram, but it was $14 which seemed quite expensive (it’s by some designer). Once in Starbucks, we discovered it was packed - no seats and people standing. We tried a couple more Starbucks that were nearby(they are quite literally on every corner!) before settling in an Irish pub. We had a couple of drinks, which were surprisingly expensive ($7 for a pint!)

We had a look in our tourist booklet for places to eat, and settled on Lori’s Diner, which was nearby. It looked like a proper American diner, complete with a cut out car on the front! We sat at the counter next to some other Brits. You could see the food being cooked as we waited. Dani had a Lori ‘signature’ burger and I had a Big Bopper (bacon cheeseburger). We also had onion rings to share, and a couple of cokes. As it turned out, the portions were massive! I finished my burger, but Dani didn’t, and there were lots of onion rings left. It cost $40 with a $5 tip. From there, we headed back to the hotel, feeling shattered. We watched a bit of TV and looked at some photos before nodding off. Alcatraz tomorrow!

Got up a bit late, after our late-night pizza! I went down Starbucks to get tea and, despite having to relay my order several times to different people, managed to get two teas and chocolatines. They still seem incapable of leaving any room for milk, despite being asked!

Got all of our stuff packed up, and toddled down to check out. Had a two dollar bill for the local phone calls (the pizza) - last of the big spenders! Made our way down to the car park to retrieve the hire car - a fairly easy-going walk downhill from Van Ness Avenue to O’Farrell. A friendly parking attendant helped us out, with the pay machine and indicated where the lifts were, and we were away! As we drove out of San Francisco, we happened to pass the car rental offices and, low and behold - a massive queue. No surprise there really! Poor things.

Left San Francisco via the Bay Bridge, which has some intermittent views, but the walls were too high to see over most of the time. The route east was painless and we reached Berkeley easily. Used the SatNav to locate some parking, but found one on our own, just opposite the US Post Office. It was $2.50 for the first two hours, which seems reasonable. Interestingly, there was the ongoing protest outside the post office, to say no to the privatisation of the post office. Quite interesting, given the same question being raised back home. It turns out that the building is being sold, rather than the actual service, but people want to preserve the historic building.

We began to have a little wander, nipping into the post office to buy some stamps. We then found the high street, almost immediately stopping to buy an ice cream from Papa John’s Ice-Creams - we thought we’d start lunch with dessert. Tempted by the promise of a scoop for a dollar, we both had one! Ben had choc’ chip and chocolate, in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone and I had avocado and ube (sweet potato and yam apparently) in a small cone - I’ll be honest; I picked mine for the colours! As the ice cream dripped down our hands, we pottered on. Went in a couple of bookshops, looking for an American Atlas and eventually happened upon a deli, where we bought some huge sandwiches - roast chicken and cheese, which we kept to eat a bit later.

Having returned to the car, we drove out of Berkeley, passing through the University. We were trying to find a renowned beauty spot called Grizzly Peak, but it turned out to be elusive. We drove around for at least an hour, suffering from the distinct lack of British brown signposts to send us in the right direction. Eventually, happened upon Lakeview car park. Sounded promising… But not a real view of the lake, more of a car park. Sat and ate our sandwiches in view of a very symmetrical portaloo! The sandwiches were very nice, however!

Drove on, seeing some spectacular scenery. Ironically, all the places you can stop along the way have views of nothing but trees, whereas you can only drive past the fantastic panoramas! They need a bit of National Trust input!

Travelled on towards Yosemite and our motel in Mariposa. As we went, we couldn’t help but stop along one of the straight, seemingly never-ending roads, with barely any cars. There was nothing to see for miles, apart from pistachio trees and wheat. Stood in the road for photos! The whole journey didn’t take as long as we might have expected and we arrived in Mariposa. Check-in was easy and we had ourselves a room with two queen beds - room for a party! Had a little sloth around and then headed to the Miner’s Inn restaurant. An hour later and we were stuffed. We shared potato skins as a starter, although there were four, which was quite vast, and then I had meatloaf and Ben had southern fried chicken. We were baffled as to why the main courses came with either soup or salad and opted for salad, as a lighter choice! Nevertheless, the portions were massive and we didn’t eat it all. Good value at $45, but huge! How do American people manage this?