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Published: August 4th 2008
Long and winding road leading to Yosemite National Park
You can just about make out the road, it was a bit hair raising at times!We left Mammoth Lakes at 6:45am, and it was just like waking up on Sheppey - A bit cold and dew on the ground but a lot more picturesque.
There is no direct route from here to San Francisco and in fact the 'quicker' route is through 'Yosemite National Park' We knew they have had fires here recently so were prepared for a less scenic drive. As we approached the temperature began to drop and about 20 minutes into the park it was at below freezing at 36F! There was us in our shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops and literally everyone else we passed was in woolley hats, fleeces, jeans, gloves - you name it they obviously knew something we didn't! It wasn't long before it started getting warmer and we looked less silly!
The drive through was absolutely breath-taking, some of the views were jaw-dropping and the fires they had recently didn't have an impact. Although Nige's driving skills with my mum in the front did - She hated it, Myself and Joe were rolled up in the back at my mum's screams and their bickering. We did have sheer drops next to us and Nige's exaggerating didn't help.
Teneya Lake
I actually love this picture - If I say so myself!! The drive took about an hour and half, and about 10 miles from the end we had to drive down this extremely, extremely steep hill - unbeknown to us Nige rode the brakes the whole way - So what happened when we reached the junction? The car began steaming - I actually thought the engine was on fire! We parked up, sussed out it was the tyres when Nige finally explained he constantly had his foot on the brake, so (for some strange reason) we put water on the tyres, I guess hoping it would cool the brake pads....??!!! Anyway it worked - the car was fine and off we went.
Considering the time we left, we didn't hit a freeway until 11.45am, it was little scenic routes the majority of the way, an hour later we got into San Francisco, Traffic was quite heavy but the route in was quite nice over the 'Bay Bridge' across 'Treasure Island' and in to San Francisco. Only problem was - How could we not know? Today was the San Francisco marathon, most roads were closed, all the traffic was coming in on the same route as us, and all roads leading
Nige & Joe
I loved it that much, I took some more shots! to our hotel were closed - A few taps on the TomTom for some re-routing and we finally found ourselves right outside.
The views of San Francisco from a distance looked smoggy and cold, and when we went for our typical wander, it sort of reminded me a bit of Margate! Souvenir shops, food stalls, sea etc.
Everywhere you looked people had San Francisco fleece's on - We soon knew why - It was freezing, I was the only one with any sort of long sleeves, so the others soon found themselves blending in with the crowds!
Our hotel is located on 'Fishermans Wharf' the main touristy area here. So we had a stroll around there, then went along to Pier 33 as we had pre-booked our Alcatraz tour. Lucky we did as they were sold out till Aug 24th! We got on the boat that takes you across - a bit choppy but only 5 minutes. We thought my mum wouldn't make it to the top - Its the equivalent of climbing 13 storeys, but with some help from Nige she was ok. We got into the main prison blocks and was handed an audio headset
Mist over Teneya Lake
Don't think the camera quite caught it as it was, but still a decent pic! each, I thought OMG this is going to be really boring, It was bloody brilliant - You wander round at your own pace, listening to your own headset, in your own little world, I got really into it, I know I'm in to my history and murders etc, but I'd highly recommend this, it was well worth it - Even Joe loved it.
We jumped on the last boat back and as we exited the Pier a police convoy came buzzing past - they were escorting someone - haven't got a clue who, then almost immediately following them was 6 fire engines and about 40 fireman - my mum was in her element, I think they were only putting out a fag on the pier though, they really didn't need to send all them. Anyway where to next?? The Hard Rock Cafe of course. Fed and watered ourselves, then off to bed...
zzzzzzzzzzzzz
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