San Francisco, here I come!

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I emerged from my huge California King bed, which could have had a whole family in it, and packed up to head up the final 300 miles to SF. Before I left the Apple Farm Inn, which was the best place ever and would definetly advise you should stay there if you travel up the coast, I put to use the $5 voucher they gave me on arrival to buy an asortment of baked goods for breakfast. I then grabbed some fuel which was a bit harder than I had expected due to the pay befre you pump system here! I couldnt decide how much i would need for the journey and then couldnt get it to pump! But eventually it was all sorted and I was on the road. One of the first "cities" Ito came was Harmony, which the sign noted had a population of 18 people! Its weird but they call everything a city here on roadsides.

When I got towards the coast I noticed the thick fog that covers this coastline on a regular basis and knew it wouldnt be as clear as the previous days drive. The fog was weird and hung over the bays and up to below the tips of the mountains but when you got low enough and high enough it was clear and sunny! The coast road I took this day was the highway 1 which wound its way along the cliffs, similarly to the west coast of NZ. A lot of the time I was covered in fog but on the occasions when it was clear the scenery was amazing! At one point the road went over a bridge that crossed a bay which had a national forest on the inland side with trees going up the mountains. It was a weird contrast to the barren coast. Along this coast there were lots of beaches and bays and at one such bay I had the priveldge of having a flock of pelicans flying alongside me, quite majestic!

Somethiing I noticed on this coast was that everyone was driving Mustang Convertibles! On my next trip up this coast, and there will be another one, I will be driving one of those with the top town and music blaring. I stopped off around lunchtime in Monterey but couldnt find somewhere to stop without the risk of getting lost so went up the coast a bit and had a brief walk on the beach. I then headed up to Santa Cruz where I found the first and only roundabout I have driven around in the USA! I also had a brief drive along the cliffs there which was great before blasting up to Half Moon Bay. It was late afternoon by now and I was famished so stopped here at Sam's Chowder House which a sign noted had was awarded a top five "Best Sandwich in USA" in 2007 for its lobster roll. The waiter suggested i get it so i did, along with a bowl of chowder! They were both scrummy and I was very very full afterwards, I wouldnt need to eat tonight!

The final 30 min inland to SF was easy enough but the highway was rammed and luckily I had printed directions to get to the Enterprise depot. However even though I managed to get to the address the entrance was no where to be seen so I had to drive around the one way system twice more before working out how to get into the car lot, which was under a hotel and had the entrance on the other road!!

My hotel, the Larkspur on Sutton St, was only 5 blocks away so managed to get there very easily and checked it. The staff were very friendly and gave me free Wifi access! YAYY!!! I chilled out all night watching TV before crashing out very early...

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