SF - again

Well, I didn't get around to finishing off the blog from yesterday so I'll do that now and go on to today a little later.

After reaching SF we aimed for the hotel and after a first unsuccessful attempt to return the car at O'Farrell I managed to take us around the block and get into the parking ramp. We had carefully planned the luggage carrying and soon ended up in the hotel, which was only a couple of blocks away. We upgraded our room to a slightly better specification and breathed a sigh of relief.

A quick estimate shows that I had driven over 3000 miles!

Anyway, we went out and acquired our passes for the local transport system, Muni and took the F-line down to Embarcadero to a diner we had eaten at before. En-route we heard several english accents which we studiously ignored and avoided.

After that we drifted back to the hotel.

Now for today.

We thought we'd make it over to Sausilito crossing the Golden Gate Bridge via the Presidio. We set out and the weather was overcast; I write overcast but it was quite odd. The overcast cloud was more like low-flying cloud. As we crossed the city the cloud came and went. It wasn't rain-type cloud - more like a fog. We went to a shop on Taylor and decided to hire a couple of bikes; we thought about a tandem but decided that single bikes might be better. We got geared up and set off.

This was my partner's first time driving/riding on US roads. I must admit I wondered how she would cope and she did rather well. We started off on the flat and went off along the water front and onto the Promenade. A quick spin along that and we had a steep hill to cope with. We dealt with that and rode along the Presidio and Crissy Fields. There were other cyclists like us and a few that were doing it as exercise; lycra shorts and the like.

We went to Fort Point at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge and could see the work being done to retrofit the bridge to cope with seismic activity. Up we went next to the bridge and was it cold and blowing! The mist was moving at high speed across the bridge and it was all crowded.

We rode across the bridge dealing with pedestrians, other cyclists and the wind. It was chilly and strong. However we soon made it across to the other side - We had ridden the bridge! Down we went to Sausilito and as we descended it became a lot calmer and warmer. On entering Sausilito we looked for somewhere to buy something to eat. We found a deli and bought two rather large sandwiches and coffee. We found somewhere to eat them. We fell into talking with a local tour guide. We chatted about nothing in particular but it turned out that his brother had become a British citizen!

We thought we would go back by ferry and set off for it. We arrived at the terminal in plenty of time. We waited and waited and then we could see the ferry coming in. We would have to wait another 20 minutes at least. Despite the haul up the hill back to the bridge we chose to bike it. The ride wasn't too bad; we had to walk up the hill on a few occasions. Soon we had reached the top and able to get back over the bridge. We were over the side in short order and speeding along the same route as we went out on. It didn't take long to get back to the hire shop. Leaving the bikes behind we set off on foot, grabbed a coffee at Barnes and Noble and caught a bus back to Union Square. We chatted with a chap on the bus and soon we were back in our hotel room.

We went to Loris's for our evening meal; on getting back to our room we cleaned up; got ready for bed and settled down for the night.

Tomorrow, or is it today, will be another great day in SF.

and so to San Francisco

Well, this will in two parts. The first will be about getting to SF and the second, about our part day here.

First getting here. We left Oakland with a plan of where we wanted to go. We set off following the satnav. It took us up and over the Bay Bridge. That's as good as The Golden Gate Bridge but less well known to the rest of the world. A new bridge is being built along side it to replace it. We headed south down through the city and down the peninsula. We stopped at one vista point to admire the view. A little later we turned off and started along Skyline Boulevard. Soon after we started on it we pulled off into a village and picked up a coffee and a fruit and custard pastry, hmmmm, delicious.

We rose further and further; the road twisted and turned tightly in places; we were in a forest and the views were quite something. After a while the satnav announced we had reached our destination. I knew that we hadn't.

We choose to go on a little further and spotted a vista point. As we pulled in I knew we had reached our destination. It was Skegg'sPoint! For a long time I've seen this mentioned and wanted to visit it. Now we had the time and ability to get there. The view from the point was obscured now due to tree growth but it looked quite spectacular what we could see. we had our coffee and pastry. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and it was lovely and warm

After a short time we headed off. We had decided to drive to SF via Half Moon Bay. It was a lovely drive down and we pulled into the town. A very touristy sort of place but nothing special. On we drove to SF.

Up to Oakland

Today has been quite a day!

We just about made it on time for our free continental breakfast. One of the things we've noticed is the way that certain groups of people behave in the breakfast rooms. Some will simply get on with it, others tend to sit and wait and are so formal to the point of irritating one. Anyway, we set off from Salinas heading north on 101. Part way we wanted to take some pictures and had to pull off to try and find one of our cameras. After a bit of a rummage in the luggage it was found and we headed off again.

As we approached San Francisco bay area the traffic got heavier and heavier, which is to be expected. What we had planned to do today was to visit a relative of mine that had been over here for about 35 years! The last time I had seen him was back in January 1970, so it was with some trepidation we drove to his house.

We had always wanted to see a typical american house. We had seen them in films and tv shows but those are just sets; we wanted to see the real thing. We arrived within three minutes of the time we said we would be there, which was amazing in itself.

I won't go into all the details but it was fantastic meeting him again. He had never met my partner and these situations are always a little tense but he put us at our ease straight away. Offering us coffee was a really good starter. He kindly showed us around his house, which was rented, and I can write that the layout is very much like one sees. I was fascinated by it all. A lot of the house is plasterboard and wood as they can survive better in earthquakes, and this is an earthquake zone of the first order. We talked about what we had done and what we were up to at present; chatted about family and how life had treated us over the years. He told us about his work in Canada and the USA and the problems and highlights of it. We must have spent nearly five hours there. He very kindly gave us a sandwich lunch and a dessert. I wish that I had gotten in touch before on our previous visits as it was so lovely and really enjoyable to see him. I know that one or two people back home will love what he's doing when I tell them.

It all came to end much too soon but we had to get up to Oakland and although it's not that far I knew that it would be a good idea to get there sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, it's not one of the bay's most salubrious areas; the hotel was cheap and in a good district.

We booked in and the receptionist greeted us beautifully. We got up to the room and went out for a walk. There wasn't a huge amount to see but the area is famous for the author Jack London who wrote 'Call of the Wild' a book I had read at school and we had visited the remains of his ranch over in the Sonoma Valley on a previous visit.

We went to the restaurant attached to the hotel for our evening meal and I ordered a 'patty melt'. I swear that there was enough for two people. However, one thing the waitress asked really impressed me, and it was something that none of the others had ever asked us. I don't eat fries (chips), they really don't appeal to me; the first thing she asked was would I like a salad with it instead and then would I like it with the burger or to start. Now, it's not usual to be asked the latter as usually a salad is served almost like a starter at the beginning of the meal. Later when we were pondering about a dessert she told us that the Brownie Mud Slide would easily do two people; what a sweetheart she was. I was very impressed by her and subsequently left her a larger than normal tip.

One thing on this trip that has been a repeating theme is the railroad. We seem to have followed it where ever we have been. Obvious it was in Denver but it's also here in Oakland hooting away.

That about wraps it up for today. The only downside is that the Internet connection here is poor in our room but for some reason I'm not overly concerned. I think that it's because I take the place for what it is and it's not purporting to be a super-duper high class hotel like the one in Denver. To get this entry out I'll go and sit beside the pool where, hopefully, the connection is better.

Buellton to Salinas

These last few days have been relatively quiet. I think that it's because we've done some of this before; not all of it but some of it.

Well, today we headed up to Salinas on Route 101. I had no idea what to expect in terms of what to see or visit. I hadn't investigated or researched this particular part of the trip in any detail.

We had our 'free continental breakfast', paid up and set off... across the lot and picked up some fuel. That's one thing that is so different to the UK, the pay and pump system. You decided on how much fuel you want, pay up front for it and then pump it. It makes for a much slower system but it does cut down on non-payers. I don't think that it'd go down too well in the UK.

Off we started and the scenery was lovely. The morning had started cloudy but it cleared very quickly giving us blue sky all around us. The scenery was similar to the Santa Monica mountains and the MASH look. The road unfolded before us winding up and over the range. The hills and mountains were brown scrub with patches of green trees and bushes. We expected to see some cattle but there none! We first headed along 101 North past Vandenberg. That's where the space shuttle can land and the US spy satellites are launched from – not that we were that close or one is able to see any sign of that. We were mostly inland until we swung through Pismo Beach, the last of the sea that we'll see until we reach the Bay Area. As we passed through San Luis Obispo we could see the Madonna Inn, a pink creation covered with sea shells. We had stopped by there back in 2002 and found it 'interesting'. It's worth looking; the web site doesn't do it justice, it is soooo camp and ott.

We passed near Camp Roberts with signs telling us not to pick up hitchhikers, I wonder why! We pulled in at a rest station and reviewed what we were going to do. We had rather hoped to find the odd tasting winery near a vineyard but we hadn't seen any; places to taste that is; lots of vineyards across the rolling countryside. We decided to press on and then, within a comparatively short distance, we saw a winery! This was too good an opportunity to miss.

Following the directions on the big sign we headed in its direction. There were only a few cars there and an equally few number in the tasting room. We settled down and my partner talked to one of the servers who corresponded with a woman in Wales. She explained one or two thing about Wales and larva bread. We ended up talking to a really nice woman from the Bay Area. We ended up doing the compare the USA and UK thing. I think that we knew more about the USA than she did about the UK. One area was the education system – which I might write I have a little knowledge of! The tax systems are so different but the overall effect seems to be the same. We did taste some very nice wines and one of the reds was very good; It was smooth and lacked a tannin taste to it. We must have enjoyed a good hour there at least. All-in-all it was a fascinating meeting and a great time was had by us all.

So, quite sober I might add, we finally headed Salinas-wards. Following the 101 had been easy and sure enough as we approached Salinas we saw the sign for the Best Western. We came off, parked and registered. After off-loading our luggage we headed into downtown Salinas or rather we would have if we hadn't have gone in the wrong direction, like the opposite direction! We pulled into the mall and I set up the satnav which took us into downtown, or rather what it thought should be downtown Main Street from what I had put in! With a little bit of sense and guess work we made it into a very quiet and deserted downtown Salinas. Unfortunately it was too late to go into the Steinbeck museum but we looked around the town anyway. Being deserted rather made it feel emptier than it should have. Anyway we had seen the area that he wrote about and been through Monterey before.

The next big decision was whether to eat out or in! We choose to find a shopping mall and eat in since we had a microwave. I found that there was a Wal-Mart a few miles away. Jumping back in the car we eventually found it. It was more like a meeting club and an entertainment for the locals. When I say these shops are large, you wouldn't believe how big they are unless you've been in one yourself. The Wal-Mart was not only big, the prices were very cheap and the goods were of good quality.

We bought our goods and headed back. We heated our food and had the rest of the apple pie that we bought yesterday and a bottle of the wine that we bought earlier.

Tomorrow it's Oakland and Berkeley! It's our last day on the move as after tomorrow night we are at the Westin St Francis and the car goes back to the rental company.

Bye, bye LA; Hello Buellton

Whoops,yesterday I wrote that Soledad was our destination...no, it was Buellton, near Solvang. The reason for the mistake is that I had originally planned to stay there and I was thinking we were a day later than we were.

Be that as it may, we started off for Buellton, a small town on route 101 just north of Santa Barbara. The plan was simple enough not to use the satnav. We were going to head up I405 and pick up route 101 to follow that to Buellton.

From the word go the traffic was heavy. Up the I405 and on to the 101 was done smoothly. Along the 101 I took us down to Malibu State Park. There was a very good reason for this; the area of the park has been used in several films and television series. It has been used as a Welsh valley of all things in the film “How Green was My Valley” - it doesn't look very Welsh valleyish but probably the most well-known use was for 'MASH'. Looking around the park it was so easy to see that the landscape was familiar. There was even directions to the 'MASH' camp. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go there but we tried to listen for 'incoming copters'.

The weather has continued to be good; hot and sunny. It's easy to understand why the park was of with that in mind.

On the thought of television series we caught an episode of Monk. Towards the end the characters are at an amusement park on a pier. Now, Monk is set in San Francisco and the only pier amusement park is Pier 39. The one shown was not that one but it just so happened that we had seen the park the previous day, it was Santa Monica pier!

Back to today. We set off again and about 40 minutes later we pulled off the route and picked up some coffee and sandwiches. We ate them in the parking lot of the convenience store. There was a Salvation Army collection going on. There was also a lad sweeping the area around a skip. Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill. He just took so long to do a job that need only have taken 5 minutes but he was taking 15 and still hadn't finished. A car drew up and a couple got out. They offered some goods but they appeared to have them rejected. The woman was really annoyed. Although we couldn't hear what was said her body language and the way she threw the items back into the car made it clear how she felt.

Our next stop was Santa Barbara where we went wandered around for a while. There was a bus service up and down State Street, the main drag, but is wasn't a patch on Denver's version. The one there was free and frequent and the City authorities had made 16^th completely pedestrianized; State Street still had traffic and the bus service was rather flaky, however, it served it's purpose as eventually we took one down to the main beach and pier. The wind was blowing and the beach wasn't quite as good as Santa Monica/Venice. However we walked along it for a while and then went back up to 16th. I went and bought a new pair of trainers at a Payless for the equivalent of £13 which would have sold for £26-30 in the UK.

Leaving Santa Barbara was easy as the 101 was well sign posted. The drive up to Buellton was simple for the first time in over weeks the hotel was on the right hand side of the road. All the others had been on the left or a corner site.

A little later we found an Albertsons, a supermarket, and bought some dinner. Microwaveable main course but an apple pie, strawberries and cream for the dessert, with a garlic bread starter and a New Zealand white to wash it all down.

Tomorrow we go from here up the central valley to Salinas where John Steinbeck was from.

More LA

Today we did a bit of culture and then mixed with the masses.

One of the big art collections around these parts is the Getty Center. It's out in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains but don't let that fool you.

It's big and well designed. However, it's not brash or in your face. Okay, let's go through the day.

We set off with out using the satnav. It was so clearly obvious that the best route was along Santa Monica Boulevard, turn up onto I405 and come off at the appropriate exit. It was really as simple as that. The satnav would have none of that. Regardless of what settings I used it insisted on a different route. It was the same for the return journey. After arriving we parked in the underground parking ramp and made our way up. There was small platform with people waiting for a train that would take us to the Center itself. The train was similar to the ones used on the Docklands Light Railway. Our journey to the centre was quick and we had a wonderful view of I405 with all its traffic. The smog seemed poorer than yesterday. We reached the top of the ride and stepped out into a very modern facility and one that had been designed to house all aspects of art. It is a very magnificent and it's easy to access the series of buildings. The whole environment was calm and relaxed despite there being a large number of people.

The view across the LA basin was quite something. The haze from the smog was worse than yesterday and blocked the view of distant hills even more effectively.

We looked at the paintings from 1600 through to the late 19^th century. What was different was that photography was allowed, not flash though; there were no barriers; you could get really close to the pictures; it was very unusual to be able to get close to old masters and see the brush strokes they put down.

We went through the paintings and after an hour or so we went out and had a coffee. We decided that we would head back to the hotel and go to... the beach!

At the hotel we changed and took a bus down to Santa Monica beach. We went onto the pier and walked around the fair on it. This was a tame affair by UK standards but it was busy. We went down onto the beach itself and walked along for a while. Although there were lots of people it wasn't crowded as there was plenty of space for everyone. We sat on the beach for half-an-hour. The wind was strong but as it was warm we didn't mind. We went along to Venice Beach following the pedestrian path watching the cyclists, runners and skaters. After that we gradually walked back following the roads to the hotel. It must have taken us about three quarters of an hour. We went to an IHOP restaurant next to the hotel for our evening meal and did they serve large portions.

Not much today, just a peaceful wandering day. Tomorrow it's onwards to Soledad.

Hitting LA

What an interesting day! Today we hit LA.

We decided early on to go to the Griffith Park Observatory. We booked our tickets on line but there wasn't any way we could print the tickets but lucky us. I asked the man at the desk if he could print them for us and he did – excellent Best Western Casablanca in San Clemente. This has to be one of the best hotels we stayed in.

We headed north on 101 passing through Orange County. We stopped off at Laguna Beach and walked along the beach and into downtown Laguna. We watched surfers and bathers; families on the beach all under the bright blue sky and the crashing surf of the Pacific Ocean. I drove on up 101 all along the road where, in Easter2006, we had driven in torrential rain and deserted roads. Now it was brilliant sunshine and busy roads. As we reached the LA conurbation we pulled off and decided to go directly to the observatory since our tickets were for 3pm and it was now 1.30pm. We had planned to go to the hotel, book in and then go to the observatory.

I reprogrammed the ipaq satnav itinerary to take us by the quickest route and off we headed. Up onto I405 and the traffic was much denser than we had encountered before, which we didn't mind as it was quite speedy. It was when it all started to slow that the delays were anxiety inducing. The satnav took us on a route that I wouldn't have done if I had time to plan it better. We swung up through East LA(!) and on, what to my way of thinking, was a round about way of doing it. One thing that it did do though was to take around the one rotary, roundabout, in LA.

We made the parking lot for the observatory shuttle with 15 minutes to spare because of the heavy and slow moving traffic.

We took the shuttle up and for the next four hours we were fascinated, educated and entranced by the observatory. Initially it didn't look as if there had been anything done to it other than a tidy and clean up. Once inside it became apparent that big changes had happened since I was last there in 1999. The front lawn had been removed, the whole of the observatory had been dug under, underpinned with hydraulic jacks and new theatres and exhibition halls built under and in front of it. The exhibitions were really good explaining about space and the universe. We went to the planetarium show and it was highly impressive. The delivery was a live speaker and the projections here very cleverly done taking us on a journey through time. The whole thing was exceedingly professionally delivered. The effect of moving through space and was very cleverly done; real state of the art stuff.

After that we went around the new exhibition halls which were equally impressive and into the Leonard Nimoy(!) theatre where we watched a film, narrated by the man himself, explaining about the refit.

The views of the LA conurbation were amazingly good. The smog didn't seem to be as bad when I was here in 1999 or in 2002. Today was really bright and sunny which should have made the smog quite bad. The view of LA itself was much clearer than before although it's easy to see the brown smog layer.

We went to the cafe and had a very reasonably priced meal. As it was getting rather late we caught the shuttle back to the entrance. As we headed back to the car I turned on my ipaq to start up the satnav and as it started up it told me what direction to take. An American woman nearby was quite surprised that there were such things as portable satnavs that spoke! I was very tempted to say that everyone in the UK had such things!

We thought that it would be a good idea to take the shortest route to the hotel in Santa Monica. My idea of the shortest route and the satnav's idea are two quite different things. Mine is sticking to main roads and simple directions; the programmers' idea is to take as many dark, dubious and obscure roads as possible or so it seems. We had to drive through some very strange parts; taking odd turnings and managing to ignore the satnav commands quite easily on the crowded streets of LA. We did go along Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards until we suddenly found ourselves on Santa Monica Boulevard. All this was done in the dark, speeding, crowded traffic. The traffic thinned out and then looming out of the dark we could see the Best Western sign! We pulled in, registered, parked and sorted ourselves out.

Tomorrow it's up to the Getty and the La Brea Tar Pits.