US of A: San Francisco!! - The Final Destination!!

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I have been putting off doing this blog for such a long time. Now we are more settled and back into the swing of things I thought I should finish it off. This is the end of an amazing, unforgettable chapter in our lives. So many memories to treasure forever.... so here it is.... My last string from the trip of a lifetime.......

We really wanted a great last week and picking up a hire car and heading on an American road trip to San Francisco from Vegas was our way of reliving the amazing New Zealand adventures we had in our campervan and being free again. We headed to Vegas' airport and over to Thrifty. We didn't really know what car to choose so we went for their lucky dip option. Meaning whatever car was available. Unfortunately, the lady at the desk showed this bronze ugly thing on the monitor but we didn't kick up a fuss, as long as it fine we didn't mind. Karma must have been on our side because when we reached the car level another lady said that car wasn't ready and would we like another? She showed this amazing, brand new Ford Escape which was a 4x4 and absolutely beautiful! We quickly jumped in and drove away before they changed their minds! We paid for a GPS too because I didn't really fancy map reading in America. Thank goodness we did as all the roads were quite confusing, there seemed to be many exits for the same place and without it I think we still would be there trying to find San Francisco!

Andy did a really good job driving it, it was big, automatic and we were driving on the right so it was all a bit confusing. The journey said it would take about 12 hours, which was about 3 more than I thought but we trusted the sat nav and carried on. The whole first day we didn't go on any freeways we were taking 'the back route' which made for some spectacular scenery. It started hailing when we stopped for lunch which was a bit of a shock to us as we had only driven a few hours and were still used to that Vegas heat. I was still wearing my flip flops! Another hours drive found us going more and more into the mountains and the snow became quite steep. We knew eventually we had to cut through the mountain itself because San Fran was on the other side but all the roads were closed due to the heavy snowfall. As it was getting dark we stopped for the night at Lakeview Lodge in a lovely town with a gorgeous sweeping valley view.

After a good night sleep we set off again and I mentioned to Andy that it was weird we hadn't been on any freeways because that's all I thought we'd be on and that the journey was taking so long. According the the GPS we still had another 10 hours to go. I had a brainwave and looked at the settings on the gps and some wally who had it before us had turned off all the freeways, busy roads and the shortest route. After recalculating we discovered we were only 6 hours from San Fran so we got ourselves on the freeway and headed on. The weather was unfortunately very bad and the road was quite flooded I was so pleased we were in a new car and it was big. Americans seem to like their big cars so we didn't feel so small next to them. We arrived at the Thrifty drop right on time. After explaining the annoyance of the GPS settings we were given our money for the cost of its hire which was nice. We didn't let on that we decided we had a much better time in the mountains than we would have done on the freeways :-)

We'd booked to stay in a private room in a hostel for the last part of our trip. It was more expensive than the lovely Los Angeles hotel we stayed in and the Las Vegas Hotel and definetely not as nice. Still it was ok for the few days we had left and I wasn't going to let it bother me. After a short walk around we got an early night both shattered from the journey. The next day was our 6 year anniversary together and we knew we wanted to do something really good. It was a gorgeous sunny day outside so we decided to head along to Pier 39 and hire some bikes and cycle the Golden Gate Bridge! It was the number one tourist thing to do in San Francisco. We caught one of the infamous cable cars down to the pier. They were fun but it was really expensive and not really cable cars, more trams.

We both hadn't ridden a bike in ages so were a bit wobbly at first. There were also so many other people cycling and walking about it was hard to not to bump into people. It took quite a long time to reach the bridge, weaving along the pathways, and even when we reached it we stopped for a sandwhich and a drink as we were tired. We had a gorgeous view of the bridge from our picnic spot and we were also treated to an air show as that weekend there was going to be a huge air event. They have our version of the Red Arrows, called the Blue Angels. Very impressive, but as they were just practising they only had white smoke come out not didfferent colours. It was soo noisy though at some parts but we had good fun trying to snap pictures of them. After being fed and watered we carried on our journey and quickly reached the start of the bridge.

Here's a few facts on the Golden Gate Bridge :

The Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the most internationally recognised symbol of San Francisco and has been declared one of the modern Wonders of the World by the American Society of Engineers.

Construction began in 1933 ending 4 years later. Many locals persuaded Morrow, the architect to paint the bridge in the vibrant orange color instead of the standard silver or gray, and the color has been kept ever since. It has a span of 4,200 feet and is 6 lanes across with pedestrian and cyclist walk ways on either side.

The bridge was impressive, it was very busy when we were cycling over it as there were so many people doing the same thing that day. We kept stopping at little rest bits to take in the beauty of the view. As much as I'm really pleased we cycled over it and it was a gorgeous day I do wish we had seen it in all the fog like you see on photos.

We gave the bikes back early evening and then went to a nice restaurant for a lovely meal and a bottle of champagne to celebrate 6 years together and to celebrate what has been the most amazing trip. It was a perfect end to a perfect day.

Over the last couple of days we walked around the city, riding on the trams a bit more, we went shopping and bought a few last minute things for home. We went to an IMAX theatre to see Real Steel, never been to an IMAX before and we were very impressed.

Our final day we headed to the infamous Alcatraz! I booked these tickets a couple of months in advance, not because I wanted too but because you have too. The ferry tickets literally sell out from a minimum of 2 weeks in advance. We saw so many people turned away on the day that had waited until the last minute to book. We were both really looking forward to seeing the ex-prison the 'inescapable' prison. Whilst waiting to board the ferry they give you an information guide on the place - here's some points -

Alcatraz is located 1.5 miles from San Francisco in the San Francisco Bay area. It opened as a prison in 1933 finally closing its doors in 1963. It was meant to be for the really really bad criminals but eneded up housing the criminals who caused a nuisance in other prisons. The highest number of inmates Alcatraz had was 302, the lowest 222. Each cell was 5 feet by 9. They say the inmates could stretch their arms from one end to the next touching each side.

When we arrived on the island after a short but cramped ferry journey we were given headphones and walkman type thing. We had to press play at a certain point and keep it running. It walked you through the cell blocks and told you where to look and stand to get the best of the experience. The men narrating on the programme had either worked on Alcatraz as prison officers or being an inmate themsleves. It was so interesting and although I couldn't discuss certain things with Andy it was a very impressive way of showing you. It was also quite eerie as well because everyone had the headphones on so it made it very quiet if you took them off. We were told stories of the escape and some of the cells were set up to how they looked at the time. They showed us block D which was the segregation zone, the cells were biggers but had nothing in them, and were in pitch black. You could go and stand in one of them and it was frightening. One inamte talking on the headset said he would play a game with his button. He would rip it off and throw it up in the air and then try and find it to see where it landed. Just to stop himself going mad.

They took us into the dining area and showed us what they would have eaten, lots of veg, better than some of the stuff we ate whilst travelling! When we finished the tour we wondered around ourselves reading the information and stories and watching videos. Unfortunately, our last day of travelling had decided to be a wet one and it was pouring outside, we decided to head back to San Francisco and organise our transport to the airport the next day.

The last evening we didn't really have much time to do anything as we were busy packing and making sure we had everything in the right bags.

Our last morning we got up, had some breakfast and then checked out putting our bags in storage. I rang Mum and Dad just to say we'll see them soon as they were meeting us at the airport. For lunch we headed to a proper American style diner that had milkshakes in the silver cups, black and white flooring and red leather booths. It was a brilliant end and we stocked up on a massive meal! The plane journey home was fine, courtesy of British Airways cheap youth tickets. We both even manged to get a bit of sleep.

Mum and Dad were at the airport waiting for us, Mum was hanging over the barrier, wanting to be the first one to get a glimpse. :-) It was fantastic to see them both again! There are no words to describe it.....

Even now we have to pinch ourselves that we actually did this trip, it wasn't a dream, that we met so many new people, that we travelled around to all these different countries, that we saw and experienced some of the most amazing things.

I want to dedicate this blog to Andy, my travel buddy, my best friend, my other half, as much as he says he couldnt have done it without all my organisational skills, I couldn't have done it without him. His love and support throughout the whole trip was second to none. Here's to the rest of our lives and many more adventures to come!

"Life is not measured by the amount of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away"

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Comments

[Chris]

great last blog really enjoyed reading your journey and an excellent quote to finish with xxxxx

[Andy and Nicola Bickley]

Great ending!
I wondered what had happened to you two! Glad to see that you had an amazing end to your trip.