Day 40 - Yosemite - San Francisco

---

When I woke up and headed to the toilet block I continued my search for the necklace with no success. Joanna and Kristina asked what I was doing and soon told me that a necklace was found last night by the ladies door and was last seen hanging up in there.
Sadly when they had another look, it was now gone, and they told me that it was found last night, and that Sarah had apparently come to my tent to check, but got no response! D’oh!

And with this disappointment we left Yosemite National Park behind and head to our first hotel stop on the second half – San Francisco! As we came into the city over the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate was visible to our right, with the city dead ahead of us.
And as we headed through the city finding our hotel, as well as a brief tour, I was really looking forward to this visit more and more.
Todd took us up to Alamo Square that looks down on much of the city, as well as the 4 different coloured Victorian houses around the square. We then made our way to Haight-Ashbury for a walk around and lunch, before we headed for one of the greatest things I will ever do – walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. What an awesome experience. Once more that list gets another tick on it!
As we walked along, I kept looking back at San Francisco and was in awe at the sight each time. It was just so fantastic and I kept thinking about the possibility of living there one day.

As we reached the other end of the Bridge and the small car park where the van was waiting, I reached the last picture on my memory card for my camera. I now needed to get another one real soon so I didn’t miss out on some wonderful pictures of this beautiful city.

When we eventually reached the hotel, and get to our rooms, we don’t have long to unpack and get ready before we were meeting in the lobby for the evening. Mark and I were sharing again; it quickly became apparent that this was how it will be for this half. Not that I had a problem with Mark. He's a great guy and a great friend already.
Down in the lobby, after we had all turned up, we headed out and try and catch some cabs, which is quite difficult. Eventually we get 3 separate cabs that were sent in the direction of Pier 39 for our sunset cruise.

Like Key West all those weeks before, the sun was out in a very blue sky, but unlike Key West there was also a very strong wind, especially out on the water. Everything had brought a jumper at least for cold wind, and we soon left the harbour and headed out to Alcatraz prison and passed it towards Sausalito on the other side of the bay. The cruise then headed under the Golden Gate and then back again to the harbour.
It was fun trying to keep balance on the choppy waves, as well as keeping my beer in my hand, especially when everyone was taking photos of everyone else. It was another wonderful experience, just like the Keys, but without the thunderstorm that cuts it too short!

After leaving the boat, we found Tanya waiting for us on the pier. It had been talked about her joining up with us again before she headed home via Hawaii. As a group we started heading to dinner, but we were running rather late, so may not have been able to make the restaurant and get a seating. There were no reservations that could be made.
As we started climbing the famous hills of San Francisco, the group being led by Todd who in turn is being led by his i-phone, I asked him for the details of the restaurant, and then set off straightaway on a sprint ahead of the group to try and find it.
I think the alcohol was taking over, but what I didn’t take into account was just how steep the hills were, and eventually stopped only 4 or 5 blocks ahead of the others, who soon caught me up again.

We finally made it to the restaurant and managed to get in ahead of the others queuing outside (I don’t know how really!) and got separated into 2 tables. I was joined by Tanya, Kylie, Scott, Steve, Sumi and Annabel, whilst the others made up the other table.
There were no menus to look at, as the owner, or someone of similar importance decided on the dishes we were going to have, and when they arrived, there was nothing to do but trust the selection and try each dish. They turned out to be great choices.
The rest of the evening wound down soon after the meal as we headed back to the hotel for some rest, ready for the free day in the city. I was really excited about this now.

---