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Published: June 22nd 2009
Just got into the hostel outside of Yosemite after having spent the last three days in San Francisco. Had a great time in San Francisco. Everyone seemed happy there, although there were a lot of homeless people. Met up with Amanda and her friend Maureen on Saturday. We walked from our hotel down to the Presiderio (the piers) and back to our hotel. Stopped into this cool indoors Farmer's Market on the way back to the hotel and tried some samples. Met up with Amanda's boss Shelly and her Brother Paul and his girlfriend(?) Michelle. They were a lot of fun and showed us some sites in San Francisco. Went to have dinner at this Italian Restaurant and while we were waiting for a table we walked over to the Bay City Lights bookstore, haunt of such Beats as Jack Kerouac, Alan Ginsberg, and Bob Dylan. Had some really great pizza at the restaurant (Vegitarian and Meatballs with Spinach), then had a sampling of some great desserts (Canoli, Tiramisu, and I can't remember what the other one was called). After dinner we drove to the Ocean Beach area where they were doing a summer solstice bonfire. Stood around the fire for
a little bit and sang some Beatles songs, but didn't stay very long because there was a strong wind coming off the ocean. On the way back to the hotel we drove down the curviest street in the world and stopped at this tower which was on a hill overlooking the city. We all slept really good that night after a long day. On Sunday we began by walking down to the farmers market to get some fruit for breakfast and also stopped into a bakery. Got on the bus and headed to Golden Gate Park, which was really cool. Walked by the Conservatory of Flowers and then to the Japanese Tea Garden. Decided to pay the $5 to walk trough the garden which was really cool and peaceful. Sat down and had a pot of Jasmine tea when we were finished walking through the garden. After we were done there we started walking again looking for the lake and waterfall. Didn't find that, but we found an arboretum that we walked through. We walked for several miles only seeing about a third of the park and decided to get back on the bus because of time limitations (time seems
to evaporate in San Francisco). Took the bus down to the Golden Gate bridge which was really cool. Walked the bridge 1.5 miles in both directions. We were all very tired of walking after we were done with that. Got back on the bus and eventually found out how to get to Ghiardelli Square with some help from the locals. Stopped at the Ice Cream shop and had a very good and expensive sundae (I had the Gold Rush with chocolate syrup and peanut butter and Amanda had the World Famous hot fudge sundae). Had to eat while we were walking because we needed to meet Shelly at Pier 33 to get on the ferry to Alcatraz. Nice ride over to Alcatraz with views of the city in the distance. Took the audio tour of Alcatraz which was really cool. Got to hear them opening and closing the cell doors at the end of the tour. Took the ferry back to San Francisco and looked for someplace still open to eat. Maureen and I really wanted fish, but the only place that we could find that was still serving food was the Hard Rock Cafe. Took a rail car back
to the hotel, and we were all very happy to see it after a long day. Slept in and had breakfast with Amanda and Maureen, then dropped Amanda off at the hotel that she will be staying at for the rest of the week. Took off from there to Yosemite. Had a great time and I'm excited to see Yosemite over the next couple of days.
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Dad
non-member comment
Sounds fantastic Matt! Beautiful pictutes. Glad you got to meet up with Amanda and the others. Have fun. Dad