American Adventure 7 - Flower Power in San Francisco

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Day 16

We woke up today knowing that this would be the last full-on day of our road trip, so we got started fairly early (after another nice breakfast in the Victorian Rooms downstairs of course). We were pretty tired from staying up the night before in the casino, but Las Vegas is certainly more enjoyable in the evenings. We headed out of town, where the landscape slowly became far more desert-like than we had previously seen it. Sand dunes started to appear & it was clear that this was rattlesnake country (as well as dead wolf, & general roadkill territory). We pulled over at a service station near a large aircraft test site, which looked completely bizarre being in the middle of nowhere! Although there were still hills, they had become far more rocky (grey rock, not pretty red canyon rock), & they were surrounded by grey dirt, only broken occasionally by a cactus or Joshua tree. We were definitely in the Mojave Desert! The air conditioning in the car was still broken so we really noticed the heat - having been over 40°C for the past 3 days or so, we were starting to get a bit grumpy with the car. Combined with the hard time we had given the cruise control, the vehicle had done some hard miles, & we decided that all we could do was laugh about it in the end. At least it wasn’t our vehicle! Shortly afterwards we made it into California - it was already quite smoggy, even out in the middle of nowhere, but it did become populated quite quickly, & the traffic definitely increased. Immediately we found the drivers to be quite rude & dangerous - it’s not possible to travel even a little over the speed limit (this is too slow), or indicate where you’re going (this takes too long), with most drivers preferring to undertake people rather than letting the slower drivers actually get into the slow lanes. With all the bobbing & weaving (which we eventually undertook ourselves), the trip was actually a lot slower than it might have been if people drove more reasonably. There were loads of winnebagos & u-haul trucks here especially, & with only two lanes on each side of the highway at that point, it took us quite a while to make it towards Los Angeles, where we turned north before hitting the city, & heading up to San Francisco.

The drive up to SF is quite nice - the desert is now mostly yellow grasslands, so it’s clear that something grows here. There are sometimes loads of orange trees, & also quite a few cattle (not in the same place). It is really busy, even out in the country, but the distance to SF from outside LA is far further than I had imagined. Vaughan had a big sleep in the car while I kept driving - at least in the USA we were able to listen to some much-missed rock music on the car stereo, especially after all the boy/girl band music in the UK, which is not really our kind of thing. Eventually it became really quite congested as we headed towards Oakland, the port area of San Francisco. SF itself is on the end of a peninsula, with the Bay Bridge heading from Oakland (the mainland) across to the peninsula, & then the Golden Gate Bridge connecting the peninsula to the mainland up north. I found it a little confusing geographically until I spent a little time looking at a map. We got stuck in heavy traffic for a while as we entered the toll area for the Bay Bridge, which is a double-decked bridge of massive proportions - very impressive! On the other side of the bridge you can see the financial district down by the water, so it was certainly a nice drive into the city. Reaching the city side of the bridge I found the roads quite difficult to negotiate - there were lots of one-way streets, strange stopping areas for trams/streetcars, & those really hilly streets you see in the movies, which are flat at each intersection but difficult to see over the top of to check what’s coming. Sometimes I didn’t even know who was on a stop or give way sign & whether I was meant to be actually be pulling out into traffic - it was kind of strange, but we managed to sort it out in the end with our Google Maps getting us to the hotel. Parking in the city was difficult but we managed to score a spot just a block or so away, which was free on weekends (nice!). We checked into the hotel & then had a look at the maps for the city, not sure where to start. We ended up walking 2 minutes to the closest cable car, & going for a ride up the hill & over to Chinatown, which is meant to be one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. After a bit of a hiccup at a restaurant that seemed to be closing, we took our business elsewhere & ended up at this great Chinese place on a large corner intersection, where we could see loads of people milling around, looking at all the restaurants & bars, & listening to the music pumping out of some of the clubs that were already open. It seemed to be quite a bright & colourful, active area, even after dark. The food at the restaurant was fantastic & really reasonably priced, & we got to eat vegetables for the first time in days, which we actually something we had both looked forward to for a while. After a wander around Chinatown (which was great as the shops were all open late), we went back to out motel & just relaxed in front of the TV, full from our awesome Chinese dinner!

Day 17

Today we had quite a lot to do for the time that we had, but somehow still ended up just messing around for a while in the morning. We had initially wanted to get on a tour to Alcatraz, but discovered that we needed to book some time in advance, so that will be something to look forward to & a reason to come back to San Francisco another time. We took a nice walk down Powell Street to Union Square where we bought a day travel pass each, which allowed unlimited use of all public transport, including the cable cars. From there we made it down to Market Street, where many of the main stores were - I found this area really, really useful for a central city - there were ‘high street’ stores combined with convenience stores (pharmacies, etc), combined with restaurants & museums - it was all together which was really useful for finding what you needed, rather than having to travel from one section of town to another just looking for something simple. At Market Street we caught a scenic tram out to Fisherman’s Wharf, a large area with various piers & things to do - it was really, really busy with both locals & tourists, especially at Pier 39, a special area with all kinds of entertainment - loads of restaurants & cafes, art galleries, a movie theatre, aquarium, pottery stores - all kinds of stuff. Vaughan went to watch a street performer juggle knives for a while so I went off to the lookout point from the pier where I could see Alcatraz, & took a few photos there. I had not imagined that it would be so small, nor that it would be so close to land. It is also located inside the bay, so there is land that curves around on the other side of it as well, whereas I had more imagined that it would be out at sea in the middle of nowhere.

When Vaughan joined me we headed around the side of the pier to see where the sea lions come during the winter months - there are all kinds of floating devices set up for them to laze on, & there were still a couple of them lying around, despite the warm temperatures. We walked along the waterfront past more piers (functional ones this time - not tourist ones), where the Alcatraz ferries left every few minutes, & eventually over to the real restaurant area (the actual Fisherman’s Wharf), where they were selling loads of fresh seafood, ranging from quick chip kiosks, right up to full-on restaurants. It all looked & smelled so interesting, & there were busy people everywhere. We stopped for a while to watch a local artist make amazing pictures with spray paint (I had seen something similar at Camden Markets in London & always been a fan) before moving on further down the waterfront, past some historic Naval areas & the Maritime Museum, towards a beach area called Aquatic Park. We decided to keep walking since we could see the Golden Gate Bridge ahead of us (which is where we were ultimately heading), so we ventured forwards & up a hill to an old place called Fort Mason. There was a beautiful park next door with soft lush grass - combined with the sea breeze on such a hot day, we flopped down on the ground for a while & it just felt like heaven. I could imagine doing that every day, with the ocean views on one side, & old-fashioned homes on hilly streets on the other - it was just really nice & relaxing! After a while we moved on, down the hill to catch a bus out to the GG Bridge (which was still perhaps within walking distance, although the day was quite warm & we did not have as much time left as we would have liked). We headed off to on the bus, & jumped off at the GG car park for heaps of photos & a look in the gift shop. There were some fabulous views of the bridge from the lookout point, & also back towards the city & Alcatraz - several people asked me to take their photos for them up there (including a sports team) so I spent some time helping people out. It was quite nice up there really. We jumped on the next bus back & headed for Golden Gate Park, a massive park on the side of the city. We felt quite at home in San Francisco (& in fact in most of the USA) as people don’t dress up as much as they do in London - it’s OK in the USA for people to eat heaps (like Vaughan), wear sports shoes & t-shirts, & generally just be casual. It was really something we had missed (so many people in London have to dress up in their best clothes just to go to the supermarket, & sometimes the clothing there couldn’t be any less practical!), so we felt right at home with all the other tourists & people our age who were milling around looking tidy but casual on the bus & other various places we went to.

At the park we couldn’t see much without really venturing right into the place, but because it was getting a bit later in the day we decided to return to the city, & got on another tram heading back towards our hotel for a bit of a break. When we were ready for dinner we headed out again, jumping on a cable car slightly in the wrong direction by accident - never mind, we weren’t far away from where we needed to be, so we went to Russian Hill & stopped to take photos at Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world (apparently). This area of San Francisco is also good for views of the steep residential streets we sometimes know from TV. Waking the rest of the distance back to Fisherman’s Wharf, we decided to eat at one of the ‘chippie’ kiosks we had seen earlier - Vaughan getting fish & chips, & me with my favourite - calamari. It was really reasonably priced & we headed off for the waterfront to find somewhere to sit down. We had more of a wander around the tourist stores there this time, before heading home on another cable car (the correct one this time) as dusk came & went, & darkness settled in. The weather was absolutely fantastic & we had had such a good day. I was far more impressed with San Francisco than I had expected, & we both really enjoyed the city views & waterfront area - it’s really quite a pretty place to visit.

Day 18

Well, it was time for me to leave Vaughan & go on a mission of my own. I was off to the airport first thing to fly out for Reno (Nevada) where I would pick up a rental car & drive to Lovelock, to visit my friend Jeremy. For any of you haven’t heard of Jeremy, he is an amazing friend of mine who lives in Lovelock Correctional Centre, a large maximum-security prison facility out in the Nevada desert. For me, I was more nervous about getting things sorted out, like making my flight, picking up the rental car & getting out to Lovelock itself, than about seeing Jeremy. I managed to get through all the mad pre-organization, & ended up in Reno with this massive brand new Toyota Land Cruiser thing, making me wish I had time to tear over to nearby lake Tahoe on my way. The drive to Lovelock was OK but I almost felt more in the middle of nowhere out there than I had in some of the more remote locations we had visited. I arrived quite early for visiting so I just sat in the car park & watched people inside for a while, through the fencing. The prison was pretty much exactly how they look on TV (fencing, razor wire, guard towers, guards with guns), although I was surprised at how close it was located to the interstate. Everyone was really helpful & got me set up for the visit. I went into the visitation building with another older lady who was there to see her grandson, through several sets of double doors & corridors - I was most nervous then as I was just kind of milling around, & they took quite a while to bring Jeremy & the other guy through another set of doors. Seeing him was just like we had met a million times before, & we picked up on our usual crazy conversations after just a few minutes. It was weird, but funny, & interesting - we spent the whole time just talking - I really enjoyed myself & time went quickly. When visiting hours were over we had to go back through the whole initial process again & I made it back out into the car park for the drive back to Reno & flight back to San Francisco. It’s not possible to take photos at the prison so I don’t have anything to show you (for those of you who might want to see what it was like), but I found the whole experience really fascinating - I really wanted more of a look around the prison, just to see what it was like! I’m looking forward to going back one day though, so now that I know what to expect & how to get there, it will be a breeze!

In the meantime, Vaughan had a day to himself in San Francisco - he also had the car & the digital camera so he was able to venture around a bit & see some cool things. He spent some time back in Golden Gate Park, where he got to see some bison (which he seemed really excited about). From there he wandered around the Haight-Ashbury area, the site of many hippie gatherings in the 70’s, including some of the houses of former band members, like the Grateful Dead. He also paid another visit to the crookedest street for some better photos, & generally just sifted around the place, eating some fantastic nachos in a café just around the corner from our motel (it doesn’t take much to make him happy). I think he really enjoyed himself so it was good that he was able to get out & explore a bit himself. He met me at the metro in town when I returned in the evening from the airport, & we walked back up the hill together, buying a couple of drinks to relax with in front of the TV at the motel. It was a successful & interesting day for both of us, but also very long for me, so I wasn’t awake very late at all into the evening. We had another drive to contemplate for the next day, down to Los Angeles - the very last of our road trip - sad but true!

Day 19

Today we decided to spend a bit of time in San Francisco before heading off. I had wanted to take the road than ran down the coast, which is supposedly very beautiful, but that would have taken all day & we didn’t get sorted out early enough. I have always wanted to take the drive to Monterrey, which is meant to be one of the prettiest roads in the USA - never mind, as there’s always next time! Vaughan took me for a quick look around Haight-Ashbury, since I had missed out the day before. I knew he really wanted to go to the Pork Store Café for brunch (yummy food, gigantic portions), so we stopped off there, right in the heart of Haight-Ashbury. While the stores have become somewhat trendier over the years (selling expensive ‘vintage’ clothing, rather than actually being real vintage, etc), it was still incredibly bright & vibrant. The stores were covered in awesome artwork, & many sold hippie-style souvenirs without being too cheesy. There was music blasting from store stereos, & the apartments on top of the shops still looked old-fashioned, although they were well maintained, as was most of the area. In fact, Haight-Ashbury was looking good, & the Pork Store Café was a fantastic find. I could see why Vaughan had enjoyed himself so much the day before, although we eventually headed back to the car & off to Golden Gate Park for some photos of the windmill there, & have a look at the beach which was not far away (I hadn’t realised this the day before). It was cloudy & pretty windy, but a really good drive, & I was so glad that we had made it out there, before heading back on the inland interstate towards Los Angeles.

The drive took quite some time, & it started to feel more tedious for me, as I had driven this route coming from Las Vegas, when Vaughan was sleeping in the car. I was pleased when we finally made it to the San Fernando Valley (just outside LA) where I could finally see something different. We went past Six Flags Magic Mountain where we could see loads of massive roller coasters - it was still really hot & quite desert-like out there, but there were already lots of houses as we made our way further towards Los Angeles. We were staying in Hollywood, directly behind the Kodak Theatre, where they hold the Academy Awards. The Kodak Theatre is part of a huge complex called Hollywood & Highland (which has lots of stores & restaurants), & is also next door to Mann’s Chinese Theatre (where they have all the movie premieres, as well as the handprints & signatures in concrete) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hollywood is north of the central city, so we came in from San Francisco without having to travel through too much of the city itself. We found our motel easily (thanks to Google Maps) & managed to get ourselves sorted out - we were actually staying in a large studio unit, which had full kitchen & dining room facilities. Nice! We took a short walk down the road to buy some food & drinks (& some breakfast food so we could make a cooked breakfast in the morning), & headed back to the motel. They had quite a lot of facilities we found useful, like a laundry room, pool, & free internet computer, so we kind of just set ourselves up for the night & relaxed watching TV. We had made it safely across all those miles, to our final destination!

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