Alaskan Trip Journal

Date: Thursday, July 31, 2003

Starting Location: San Francisco, CA

Destination: San Francisco, CA

Trip Description: Today, we rented a car and drove to various sites around San Francisco. We drove into the city and stopped first at Fisherman's Wharf. We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the bay and Alcatraz Island. We wanted to take the Alactraz tour, but the passenger ferry was sold out. We walked around Pier 39 for awhile, before returning to the car. Our next stop was the world-famous Lombard Street. It is considered the crookedest street in the world. It is a long, steep street, with a small section that has steep, tight curves. I'm glad we did not drive down it in the RV.

We drove around to find a place to park near a cable car stop. We bought our tickets for a cross-town trip on San Francisco's unique cable cars. The line was long, but we were rewarded with a standing spot on the front of the car. By this time, you should have a mental image of the Rice-A-Roni ® commercials. It was a really cool ride. It was a tight fit between the cable car and parked automobiles. Many times, my rear was inches from passing vehicles. Laura clung tightly to me, as the car lurched back and forth. We came to the end of the ride, then had to get in line again for the return trip, because they place the empty cable car on a turntable to turn it around. On the way back to our car, we rode inside. It was a different experience.

Our last mission in San Francisco was to photograph the Golden Gate Bridge in daylight. We got close to the bridge, but fog moved in and obscured our view of almost everything. We decided to find a geocache instead.

Our geocaching trips usually take us to places that we would not normally visit. Today was no exception. We went to the ruins of the city bath house. It is located on a point of land on the ocean, near the Golden Gate Bridge. The terrain was steep and rocky. There is a path down to the ruins, a tunnel through the rock, and a wave-battered cliff near the geocache. We took some pictures and then headed for the RV park.

One thing we noticed during our stay in the bay area is that people's driving habits are very different from ours. The freeway between San Francisco and Pacifica is a raceway. I am no slow driver, but this was a bit much for me. Downtown, cars are zipping up and down steep hills and barely stopping at the numerous 4-way stop signs. It's quite different when compared to the Alaska Highway!

Photos:


new wheels

Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf

Lombard Street

cable car

Laura is thinking about Rice-A-Roni ®

a cable car, viewed from passing traffic

o top of the cliff, after geocaching

the view from our RV
Links:

JOETINKER.COM HOME | TRIP JOURNAL INDEX | PREVIOUS DAY | NEXT DAY