USA – Week 3 - San Francisco to Yosemite.

Yosemite Falls

Bob Bear Grub Store

The stars of pier 39

Famous bends on Lombard Street

Cell Block

Locked up!!




 

California Street Cable Car

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

The Bridge

Downtown skyline

Monday 4/6 – An early start down into the city to sort out the Budget car mess. We managed to get there OK despite accidentally walking through one of the most seedy areas of town. The staff were very good and half sorted us out but we now have to ring Budget on the 19th June to renew our contract, yet another farce. We then had a coffee in Starbucks, cup size, coffee type, milk shade, sugar type, water temparature etc – so much choice you’ve lost the will to live by the time you get it!! Then the train back to the digs in order to check out andhead across town to our 4 night digs up the Mission Road. Clean tidy but not as handy as the first we stayed. However, we got the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) into town for the evening. BART is a kind of underground that runs above ground too. Very quick, economical and comfy way of getting about.


We seemed to walk miles, down to the harbour building, around the business district, up to California Street where they hang on the cable cars we were goosed. We eventually found a bar – like you do – and sat and had a couple of drinks and some food. Very nice but the tipping lark is so complicated you end up tipping everyone who goes by just to make sure you haven’t missed anyone!! We then headed back to the digs via the good old BART.

Tuesday 5/6 – BART to town again, the a tram to Pier 39. Listen up – Pier 39 is the 2nd most visited place in California after Disneyworld!! What a joke it’s like Blackpool with sunshine set in a strange place full of weird accents (sounds familiar actually.) Well we weren’t impressed, it was full of tacky shops with same old sh**t* in every other shop. All the usual suspect food chains including the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Can’t imagine it in August!! I’m sure lots of people love it as it’s obviously popular but it wasn’t for us miserable old gits….The best thing about it was the seals which live there undisturbed and unknowingly entertaining the crowds with their antics.

We managed to get a tram out of the place back to the pier we we wandered some more through the streets and saw the shoe shine guys, lots of trams and other modes of trqnsport. The thing that hit us the most is the homeless problem there. We were both shocked at how many people were living on the streets and how widespread it was. Apparently the city throws lots of money at it building shelters etc but the problem seems to get worse not better. Very difficult to understand. I guess there is a lot more to it than the small snippet we read, it was very sad. We BARTed ut of town back to the Mission Inn. We stopped off for Burritos on the way back, very nice.

Wednesday 6/6 – Now today is Alcatraz day, we booked our trip back in May in the UK. We BARTed into town, tried to use our city tour bus ticket to get across town but failled so we had to get a tram to the Alcatraz ferry pier. Very well organised, very well done and a fantastic day out. The prison is as it was. Looks overbearing and not like somewhere you want to be for a long time. Apparently it was the only Californian prison with hot showers. Why I hear you ask, it was so the inmates didn’t get used to cold water and try to get out for a swim across the bay to freedom. It was an audio tour read by former guards and covered all the things you wanted to see. Al Capone, the Birdman, the attempted escapes and its subsequent closure. An excellent tour if you ever manage to get out there.

We then had to get the bus back to town because some fool had cut a power cable and the trams were off. After a bit more wandering we found a 50’s style diner where we ate and drank before BARTing back home.

Thursday 7/6 – Today is our hop on hop off bus tour off the city. Well we did the city tour on open top us and hopped off and on all over the place. We saw Pier 39 again – no escaping the place. We then hopped off at Lombard Street – the steep windy one in the movies. We then walked to Coits tower for an elevated view over the city. We then hopped on the bus to be dumped off again at Pier 39, aahhh!!!! We had to get a tram and a train back to base for the last night. We were lucky with the weather in San Fran as the famous fog often rolls in. We didn’t see any ‘til today and when we got back to our digs we couldn’t see anything!! Other weather news, the Oregon coast, beautiful as it is was cool, cloudy and damp in the main. Tomorrow we are heading inland where temps are set to climb.

Friday 8/6 – Drive to Yosemite today, super drive arriving at our campsite in Crane Falt – which was far from flat around 4.30ish. Our campsite was at 6000 feet so it was cool nights surrounded by more trees. We were camped 17 miles from the famous Yosemite Valley which I was looking forward to seeing tomorrow. We are now in Bear country so we have to lock all our food and cosmetics and pretty much anything that has a scent in a huge steel bear proof box. We had to sign to say we would and the fines as well as the bear problems for non-compliance were huge. We were also in mountain lion country and more info and rules. The main advice that caught my eye was that if we were attacked by a mountain lion we had to fight backl!! Just call me Tarzan!! After a quick scout round for Bob Bear and Leo Lion we finished the night with a wee dram of malt and a camp fire – we know how to live!!

Saturday 9/6 – After a good nights sleep with no wildlife activity to report we headed down to the valley. A mega WOW day, El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, Centinnel Dome. The list goes on and on. The park offers a free shuttle service around the various sights and to the trail heads (walk starts to you and me.) We sat and watched some guys climbing on El Capitans vertical face. A local guide was telling us that they take from two to five days to make the climb and the record stands at just over 2 hours and this is free climbing!! They actually sleep on the face, how does that work?? After so much jaw dropping we headed back up to base for some more grub n camp fires. The facilities were a bit grim on this site with no showers and only cold water. However you have to take what you can here because they are booking now for October camping!! We should have been booking for sites here back in January as they fill so quickly. No sign of Bob Bear or his lion associates again.

Sunday 11/6 – Today was our ‘big walk day’ in Yosemite. We were heading up to Nevade Falls via Vernal Falls. It was a superb walk with a steep climb and rewarding views of the area throughout. We stopped for lunch at a superb vista to find our butties contaminated with stove fuel and uneatable. Even Bob Bear wouldn’t have them! We struggled on after coffee and biscuits, awfully filling you know and finished the walk hungry and weary. We showered in the valley facilities, got a few beers and headed back to camp for some food and another fire. What a place, a very close second to what our favourite New Zealand has to offer on the scenery front.