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Published: March 23rd 2011
San Francisco was busy and fun with a dramatic ending of a Tsunami warning.
We went into
San Francisco for one very busy day. We needed to squeeze in the things we wanted to see into a relatively short period of time due to weather and schedule. We had our SF day which began by driving in from Oakland and over the Bay Bridge. Not being from this area it was educational in seeing all the bridges and ferries that are present for getting around. George did a wonderful job navigating for Larry while Renee and I looked at the sights from the back seat. We parked near Pier 39 and spent the rest of our time walking or taking cable cars to get around. It certainly gave us a better understanding of how steep the streets are when we had to walk uphill. We ended our day by walking across the Golden Gate Bridge as the sun was setting That was a great way to end our day in SF. Fortunately Larry wanted to be our “car guy,” so we left him in the parking lot at the south end of the bridge with his book, as we headed
north on the bridge. We had good weather for our walk across the bridge. A surprise was how the windows on the houses across the bay sparkled with the reflected light of the setting sun. We were glad to see Larry when we reached the north parking lot. It was fun to walk the bridge, but at the end of our busy day I was glad I didn’t have to walk back across the bridge to get our car.
Muir Woods was an enchanting place to visit the Redwoods. It was a popular place to visit and we had to park in the overflow lot further down the road. Even with all the cars, buses and tour vans there was still a quiet majesty to the trees. The level main trail was long enough to have people spread out in small groups. There was a stream running along side the trail which added another feature of interest and the path along the left bank seemed to be less traveled. We hiked beyond the main trail and took a loop that went to an old campground with picnic tables and bathrooms. That was an even better experience walking through these
majestic trees in relative isolation.
We planned to leave in the morning on March 11th and head our separate ways. Larry and Renee would start their leisurely trip home by heading south and seeing things along their way. We would head to Sacramento to visit with my cousin and then continue further up the coast. At about 12:30am I was awakened by a sound, but maybe I just imagined it, so I tried to go back asleep. Then I heard it again and it seemed like a knock on the door. I got up to investigate and discovered Renee at the door with news of the earthquake in Japan and the tsunami warning for the coast. They were wide awake and decided to start their day early and move on. George and I watched the news and looked at out elevation maps. We decided to go back to sleep and move as planned in the morning. We did end up being awake and watching TV at the time the tsunami was predicted for the San Francisco area. Originally we were supposed to be camped on the beach at Half Moon Bay, so at this point were relieved that we
had changed our mind and were in Vallejo away from the coast.
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