Mammoth Lakes, Yosemite and San Francisco

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Well we set off from Bishop this morning after having our hair cuts and a much enjoyed stay at a charming B&B. Onto Mammoth Lakes which was only really an hours drive but there is so much to see and do here that we have found ourselves travelling round the different Lakes and trying to see a good chunk of the area in one day. It's really a skiing resort here and all the building are like chalets, we are staying in a lovely two bed house which is in a little town where there are numerous Bavarian beer houses etc. It's a complete contrast from Death Valley yesterday to today's lush greenery, blue lakes, mountain ranges and magnificent sunsets. We sat on a log in the forest and watched the sun go down over the mountains, it was so quiet and peaceful. We kept a watchful eye out for bears but fortunately we didn't encounter any. We spotted a few deer wandering around and hundreds of chipmunks but even driving through the forest at night we didn't see any although there are supposed to be loads round here, even quite a few visit the town!! Maybe we will have more luck tomorrow when we go to Yosemite National Park.

Off we go to Yosemite, the ride to the park was only around 40 mins but then once we entered the park it took us a further two hours to get to our start point. On route we spotted some cars pulled over so we stopped to investigate what was going on and sure enough right in front of us was a black bear. It wasn't bothered at all by people taking it's picture and trying to get as close as is safe to do. This included us and at one point it even wandered in our direction and must have only been 20 feet away. It looked like quite a young bear so we were all keeping an eye open for Mummy bear!! Most people go to the park and never see one so we were dead chuffed! Onwards with our journey and as you would expect by now it took us longer than we thought and as a result all the tours were booked up for the daytime the only one available was the 6pm tour So we plumped for that one. This meant that we had six hours to kill so we doned the hiking boots and strode out for a few hours which was nice. It's a walkers paradise as there are paths and treks all over the park and the landscape is lovely. We had been told about a hotel in the park that served a nice lunch so we sort it out, not for lunch though as we had packed butties but we just sat in the gardens with a couple of drinks and chilled for an hour. The park runs a free shuttle bus so you can jump on and off wherever you fancy and as the area is so enormous it's great, so many people got on and said lets just ride the bus for an hour. Think the heat and the outdoor activity had got to some!! At 6pm we jumped on our open top tram for our tour, it took us around the park basin, we were shown the highlights, a full explanation of the ecology of the park by the ranger was given and we even managed to spot some deer which was very cool. Another late night getting back and tomorrow we head off to San Francisco.

Arrived late afternoon after a fantastic trip, we went through Yosemite again and through the pass which was a really good route for scenery. We are staying in a house that is in a small town called Walnut Creek. The town is really lovely and there are loads of really nice bars and restaurants for us to wander round at night. The house is owned and lived in by a gentleman called Gene and basically we are sharing it with him. He is very nice and has given us loads of information, maps and suggestions. San Francisco is the second most expensive city in America, New York being the most expensive. Accomodation is outrageous so sharing Genes house has saved us £1000 over 5 days which is an incredible amount! What a fantastic city, we got on the Bart train into the city as there is no point driving in, firstly it's chaotic and secondly car parking if you find a space is very expensive, so after finally sussing out the ticket machine we went through the barrier and 30 minutes later we were in San Francisco. We headed straight for the visitor information centre and booked ourselves on the big bus city tour which is a really good way to see the main sights, decide where you want to stay a bit longer and generally get a good idea of the city etc. It took over 2 hours to get all the way round but it was fantastic. I have to say going over the Golden Gate Bridge was so windy it was unbelievable, the temperature had dropped about 30 degrees and the noise of the wind meant we couldn't hear each other. We had sunburn and 10 mins later frost bite!! The weather in the city is so diverse, it gets a fog that comes in off the ocean which makes a huge difference to the temp. After getting off the bus we walked right across the city to Lombard Street which is the crookedest street in the world, the cars queue up to drive down it at 5mph but obviously we walked it. The road is really steep but very pretty with lots of flower beds and old Victorian houses. It's a big tourist attraction and has been for 160 years! We went on walkabout and as usual got lost and I have to say we did end up walking around some pretty seedy areas one of them being the Tenderloin district. This is a no go zone at night due to the amount of crime, San Francisco has a huge homeless problem. I have never seen so many people living on the streets and wanting handouts, they don't ask you for anything they just have signs out. Having said all this quite a lot of them give you directions when you get lost and are shouting "you have a good day now" so in part it's not in your face bad, it's just very sad. Jumped on the train home and had a meal in a Medditerean restaurant, Baz got hit on the head by the window blind so he ended up with a free meal. I tried to convince him he had terrible concussion and that compensation of millions could be in the offing but he wasn't playing ball!!! He was ok, just a bit shocked by it.

Another day and we are up and out on the train and in the city by 9am. As we came out of the station at Powell Street, the street cars are facing you so as the queue wasn't very long we got in line and waited. A young chap was singing and playing the banjo to keep us entertained. When the car gets to the end of the line it goes on a turnstile which is hand turned by a guy so that it's pointing the right way again. We jumped on and as you have to do we stood up and leaned out over the side just like they do in the movies. We hung on and went up the streets that are so steep and so typical of San Francisco. It was a bit of a surreal moment and having seen it so many times on the telly it was brill! We jumped off at Fishermans Wharf and after a coffee and breakie we headed to the boats and went on a trip under the Golden Gate Bridge and then round Alcatraz Island. It was a good trip and very informative. We had tried to get a tour round the prison but it was completely booked up until the middle of August, bit disappointed but having tried every which way to get something it was a no go. After the boat ride we hired a bike each and tootled off around the waterfront and then cycled over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so windy again, it felt like we peddled 2 ft forward and 1 back all the time and when you actually got up onto the bridge having cycled up a billion hills it was chaos!!! It's a walkway with bikes going in both directions and pedestrians, it is separated into two lanes but both wheels and feet stray across into each others path. It's a wonder there were no accidents!! It took us a couple of hours to peddle across and back again and I think it is 1.4 miles each way. I looked like a whirlwind had occurred on my head, goodness knows if I will ever get a brush through my hair again! The photos and all evidence have been deleted. After all this exercise and excitement it was time to take five, we found a nice bar with live music so we chilled out and had a couple of drinks and enjoyed the sunshine and the people watching. Train back and we went for our tea at "The Cheesecake Factory" which is a chain and very similar to Tiggis in a way. We had a lovely meal but as you may have guessed they are famous for their cheesecake and OMG they look delicious, every flavour you could possibly think of. Unfortunately we were so full we just looked at them, maybe tomorrow!! Perhaps if we had shared a meal instead of one each we may have had room. Still getting to grips with American portions, one meal is actually more than enough for two!

Today we have had a lie in and chilled, we went to the supermarket to stock up on provisions and if our supermarkets were like this one I would definitely like shopping. It was amazing, in fact there was so much to try whilst walking round we didn't really need any brunch and the fruit and veg all organic looked so fresh and colourful we wanted to buy everything. Yummy. Got back to the house and today was a planning day of our next leg and then we just sat on the porch watching the hummingbirds at the feeder. We are so horizontal, so much time to do nothing, just fab.

Well today we set off hiking up Mt Diablo which is the highest mountain around here and stands at 3974 ft. Unfortunately we only climbed for about and hour and a half as it was the hottest day so far here and the temperature was a ridiculous 93 degrees. So after much huffing and puffing we turned around and came back down. The heat beat us! So after drinking gallons and gallons of water to re hydrate we jumped in the car and drove up to see the view from the top. It was a bit hazy up there but you could just make out the Golden Gate Bridge, it was so high I'm glad we had done a u turn as we would probably have ended up being food for the vultures. We didn't manage to see any mountain lions but we did see some deer, wild turkeys and eagles which was good.

Packing up again this morning and we are heading off to Sonoma County and the Napa Valley, this is California wine region and although a small area it is home to 400 vineyards, no guessing what we will be doing for the next couple of days, back soon............

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