2013-04-02

Today was a walking day.  Marilyn’s pedometer said that we walked 7.25 miles.  Note today’s miles are after walking 9 miles yesterday.  Our bones are sore. 

We began the day by driving to the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  We had trouble finding the North Side parking lot from which one could walk across the bridge.  First we drove down to Fort Baker, now a Coast Guard Station.  There was parking, but the hill to the bridge was beyond our capability.  We did get a good picture of the ex-Lime Point Light and the bridge.    We went into the Discovery Center (designed for kids under 8) and they gave us directions.  Go back up the hill toward 101 South (the Golden Gate toll bridge), but turn right 20 feet before the freeway.  That got us started, but there were no available spaces.  So, we drove on looking for the trail to the Point Bonita Lighthouse.  We found and followed the trail, but there is a big rock in the way of our view.    There were harbor seals to view along the way.    After returning on the trail, we headed for the Bird Island Viewpoint, because we were able to see the Point Bonita Lighthouse from this viewpoint.    As we walked back down the trail, I took pictures of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and some flowers. 

We returned to the north side bridge parking lot, where a nice young lady came back to our car saying “you have been in line before us, so please take the parking space that my brother will leave for you”.  We accepted, and luckily they found a space shortly after we pulled in.  Here are a couple of pictures as we started across the bridge.  We saw another view – down onto Lime Point Lighthouse.    I took pictures of the bridge structures and cables.    As we walked across the bridge, we looked at boats on the bay, including ones we think are practicing for the Americas Cup. 

On the south side of the bridge, we had sandwiches at the Bridge Café (not fresh), and took another picture of Fort Point, where later we found had a lighthouse on its roof.    I took a couple of bridge pictures as we walked back north across the Golden Gate Bridge. 

We drove into the RV Park, and as we exited the Jeep we realized how much our legs, etc. hurt.  At least we plan to rest up tomorrow for more sightseeing later in the week. 

Type at you later. 

2013-04-01

Bus tour day in San Francisco.  We start with the Ferry approaching the dock in Vallejo at 7:35am.    We walked down to Pier 33 to see how long it would take – approximately 20 minutes.  When we do our Alcatraz tour next week, we hoped we would not have to take the 7:45 ferry waiting around for our 12:01pm tour.  We decided that we could take the 10am tour arriving at 11am should give us time to get to pier 33 to get our tickets and get on the boat to Alcatraz by 11:50.  That is the plan.

We returned to the Ferry Building.    Then, after a breakfast sandwich, we checked in with our tour bus company for our 5 1/2 hour torur on The San Francisco Comprehensive Shuttle Tours.    Then it was time to meet our tour guide Judith.    First up on the tour was a 30 minute ferry ride to Sausalito, where we had lunch.  The ferry took us past Alcatraz and our first view of the the Golden Gate Bridge.    After lunch, we met up again with our tour guide, and our bus driver in front of the two elephants.   Nest was a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and a stop at Fort Point for pictures.    And we get another picture of Alcatraz from another angle.    We then drove through the Presidio (Marilyn’s father shipped out from the Presidio to his WWII post in Military Government on Okinawa) on our way to a stop at the last remaining building from the 1915 World’s Fair – The Palace of Fine Arts.    There we saw the swans cordoned off because one was sitting on a nest.    Next was a stop to see the Six Sisters.  Man built a house in the 1890s for himself and his family.  Then he built 6 more homes to sell for $8K each, so there are really 7 houses painted in different colors..    Next up were Grace Cathedral and City Hall.    The Cable Car Museum is fascinating because the cables, which are gripped between the wheels of the cable car, are all turned by electric motors in this building for the three cable car routes in the city.  The cables are able to pull the cars up San Francisco’s hills.   San Francisco has the largest China Town in North America.   The second picture shows a man playing the Star Spangled Banner on a  Chinese instrument with its odd notes.    Next we walked down Lombard Street’s crookedest block.    The day was over when we were driven back to the Ferry Building about 4:55.  We managed to catch the 5:15 ferry back to Vallejo.  We thought it was a wonderful tour to see the highlights of San Francisco.

Type at you later.