Adiós SF

Bay Bridge
 & downtown

So that's it, time to leave after 2 weeks in a city we love, it wasn't without its challenges as usual but there's always something that goes wrong and the wheelchair throwing a front wheel on the first day didn't help. It was only a day & half before we got it fixed but it screwed things up a bit plus Jane had to do more walking than planned to start with so that caused problems with her leg. The only other problems were some hills are steeper than I thought but it's not easy to work this out from Google Street View so that was always going to be a bit of a swing & a miss some days but on the whole we got through and seen some fantastic places that we haven't been to before but missed some as well. There seem to be a lot more crazy people here now so was verbally abused on a couple of occasions but you don't take that sort of thing personal here as most of the homeless are mentally ill, when somebody stops in the middle of the road and starts dancing while the police are waiting to cross that will give you an idea of what you come across most days. The hotel was a bit strange as they wanted a $100 per night deposit and at 13 nights we didn't budget for that but who would as there was no mention on the website about it. Turns out it max's out at $500 but we only had $400 on a prepaid credit card so they took that but the balance was available on Friday so drawn most of it out at the cash machine as you pay a conversation rate when you get back here and lose money on it. Flights all went ok and didn't get groped at the airport by the TSA but Jane did but you just go with the flow. So that's it from this blog I seem to sort out the most problems with the formatting of the text but may still look a little odd in parts. So check back on the photo page as the upload speed wasn't any good in the hotel and new albums will appear there when I've done them at home.

Adiós from SF Vacation 2017.

Anything can happen Friday

Last day today so Jane went off to look round the shops and I went urban hiking (otherwise know as walking up some very steep hills). We stopped off first at Union Square for a coffee then I walked Jane over to the Cheesecake Factory in Macy's.

View from Ina Coolbrith Park

I then headed off to Market Street and caught a bus to California Street then walked around there for a bit before I got on the 12 bus to Taylor Street and a short but very steep walk up through to Ina Coolbrith Park which gives a fantastic view over downtown. Not far from here is the Cable Car Museum so walked down to have a look round there before heading off again. This time I couldn't be bothered to get the bus so walked around the side streets looking for some good photo opportunities and video some of the cable cars going past. By now it was mid afternoon and I'd only been in 2 pubs since getting here so walked back through Chinatown and was planning on going into Murphy's bar but ended up in Topsy's which worked out better because your close enough to Starbucks to log onto their WiFi. I stayed here longer than planned but only had a couple of beers then headed across the road to Murphy's Pub for a couple more.

At the pub

Think I've finally found a place to eat out at tonight, I don't normally dine at restaurants with tablecloths and chairs that are not screwed to the floor but you only live once as they say but at 6.30pm Friday with nobody in there we gave that a miss, there's usually a good reason for place being empty when everywhere is busy so went back into Murphy's bar for fish and chips and I had mac and cheese. Then it was time for Jane to pack the bags while I went out and bought one more hoodie from the shop, it took some searching to find my size as I seem to take a large here for some reason but it would seem most of the tourists are from Japan so that might explain the sizing. So that was it, I was back at the hotel at about 11 pm to get some sleep as we would need to leave about 9 am tomorrow for the 1 pm 10-hour flight home.

Ferry Plaza & Bay Front Trail

It would appear that the weather forecast here is just as inaccurate as the ones at home, they said today would a lot cooler and as we were going to spend the day down on The Bayfront I took a light jacket with me but it ended up in the bag most of the day. We didn't set off out until about 11 and walked down onto Market Street then caught the bus down to the Ferry Plaza & went in the Market Street Railway Museum, its only a small museum but has lots of photos on how transport has evolved since the 1850s. Just outside the front door is where all the historic streetcars pass so you can get some good photos. Just across the road is the Ferry Building Market Place which is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city as there wasn't much left standing after the 1906 earthquake and fire but somehow this place was still standing although badly damaged. Today was the farmers market out the front and inside is all food shops, one of our favorite shops in here is the Golden Gate Meat Company who the best turkey pies I've ever had but at $7 each they're not cheap. Just round the corner is Peets Coffee shop so got a drink from there to go with the pie and sat by the window

Ferry Building

overlooking The Bay, this is the same location where they filmed a few scenes from the Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry but I can't remember which one as they made four. From outside here we headed along The Bay Front Trail until we reached the local office for Google & Firefox which has a very nice courtyard you can sit in then crossed the road and got on a tram for a couple of stops to AT&T Park which the home ground of the San Francisco Giants baseball team and today was their first home game for a couple of weeks so it was fairly lively around here even though the didn't start for another 3 hours. We had planned on going to see a game but they are both 7pm start times so you wouldn't get out of there until about 11pm them have to get back to the hotel, not only that the price of tickets seems to have shot up this year here plus they haven't exactly been on a winning streak lately so we gave that a miss. It was good to have a look around the shop that sells all the team gear but that was all way overpriced as

AT&T Park from the pier

well apart from a pen I bought for 2 bucks, I had to buy something in here after all. By now it was about 4pm so had a walk a bit further up The Bay though China Basin then back along the road back to the ballpark, by now it was getting busy down here so not worth going in the pub across the road so headed round the back of the ball park and out along one of the piers to see if we could see any pelicans as they normally hang about round here but couldn't see any, no matter though as we had seen some of the angry and unruly parrots that live in the trees round and piss all the locals off by wrecking their gardens. Now we had had enough for the day so caught the tram back to Montgomery Street, we had planned on going to the Chinese takeaway but it didn't look to good when we got there so ended up going to the 7-11 convenience store and got a couple of hot dogs to take back to the hotel just around the corner, they were a bit spicier than I thought they would be but still nice. Glad I saved a couple of the Ketchup sashes from Popeye's chicken the other day. So now its time for a beer and tomorrow is anything can happen Friday as this will be our last day here.             

Stow lake & Stairways

Today we decided to catch up on a few things that we had missed the other day when the wheelchair through a wheel so we caught the 38R then changed to 44 bus into Golden Gate Park, it seems that no matter what bus you get on here it always packed out or gets packed out very soon, luckily we don't have to suffer them for very long. When we got off in the park we walked round to Stow Lake that is teeming with all sorts of wildlife including what would seem to be hundred's of turtles. There is an island in the middle of the lake with a bridge over to it and a large waterfall that hasn't worked for many years I think, they use to pump water up to a reservoir near the top of the big hill on the island which is supposed to drain back down via the waterfall but I think the

Stow Lake Boathouse

pump broke a few years ago and there's no money to fix it. It was nice to walk around the lake even though it wasn't that warm today but at least there is a café part of the way around and they even rent out boats but passed up on that one. after spending a couple of hours in the park we headed back round to the bus stop and caught the 44 again for a couple of stops to Irvine Street. This area is what a high street should be with lots of small independent shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs, one of the places I want to go in was Peasant Pies that makes sweet and savory homemade pies for 4 dollars each so dropped in there for a beef and potato pie while Jane had ham and egg all washed down with a coffee for less than 8 bucks. They even have a Radio Shack there and I thought they had all closed down a few years ago although this one was having a closing down sale but didn't have anything I wanted. Now it was time to catch the 66 bus for the 10-minute ride up some very steep hills to see the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps Project, these were created by the

local community and took a few years to complete but it was well worth it. The are many stairways within the city which are at the very basic footpaths that have been created over the years as shortcuts for locals residents and been in use for many years in most areas. Here they created something special with a mosaic tile work on the facing part of each step that forms a pattern when you look at it as you walk up all 163 of them. When I finally got to the top you cross the climb a few more concrete steps up to another road then climb the finally concrete ladder stairway to Grand View Park, it's easy to see how this park got its name as you get an almost 360-degree view over the city at nearly 700f feet above the Pacific Ocean. At this height and with the wind that was blowing the temperature felt like it was only about 6 centigrade or so, I even had to tighten my hat on my head as the wind speed was about 25 miles an hour up there but what a view. At the very top is a bench on an area about 40 by 40 feet to the summit is only small but I had it all to myself as there was no way Jane could make it up here. Back down at the bottom was a chilly Jane so we then headed a bit further along this road to The Hidden Garden Steps which is another set of tiled steps but gets fewer people looking at them due to the fact that they turn halfway down so you cant see the entire stairway in one go but at 143 steps there's not much difference in height and I would say that the artwork on here was better. So now it was back up this set of stairs to where I had parked lady Jane to get the bus back down which only run every 20 minutes. We had about a 15 minute wait as I had seen one go passed not to long ago but after standing at the line in the road and painted on the lamp post which marks the bus stop I remember I that we was stood on the wrong side of the road, for some reason the last couple of days I've done that two or three times, I keep forgetting they drive on the other side of the road here but I've not done this on previous visits to here or other cities in the US perhaps I'm just getting old.

Luckily the stop on the other side of the road was only a short walk but a little harder to find as this is just a small yellow line about 1 foot long painted in the road on a junction. Bus stops are strange here.

16th Ave Tiled Steps

Anyhow were only waiting about 5 minutes to catch one back but as there is no curb here the driver had to put the ramp out which are like a hydraulic drawbridge that folds out but even as though the bus was fully lowered it still didn't reach the floor so we both stood on it to bend it down, it didn't help that they are digging a large hole in the road here as well that a temporary steel cover on. Back down at the bottom we only had to walk around the corner and get on the N tram back into the city. The only trouble with getting off the tram in the city is that you have to use the mobile vertical toliets that they call elevators and stink of piss, some are worst than others but you don't push the button with your fingers. So now it was something to eat from Jimmy Johns and get some beer for the shop around the corner. Only two more days to go now before its time to go home. Click the album link for the full photo set as there seem to be lots of formatting problems in Blogger that they can't be bothered to sort out ever and this causes problems when adding photos by throwing the text all over the place. There will be full photo albums as well but the upload speed is just as slow as it is at home so the links to the albums get more added each day but this won't show on the notification so when a full album is complete I will post on the photo album page, I knew I put that page in for a reason. So until my next post tomorrow I shall say adios.        

Lands End walk

Today went as planned, we set off about 10.40 and got the number 2 bus to Presidio & California Street, walked around the corner caught a 43 to Presidio Transit café where there was just enough time to have a coffee before getting on the Presidio Go Hills route shuttle bus down to Baker Beach. From there we walked part of the Lobos Creek Trail that has lots of native plants. There are lots of dragonflies around here of all different kinds and we even spotted a couple of lizards scampering about. Apart from one other person, we were the only ones around here. Just across the road from the trail, it's only a short walk to Baker Beach and the old gun emplacements of Battery Chamberlin which was interesting to look round. These guns could fire miles out to sea and were built in a second world war. From this beach, you get spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Next on the list was to catch the 29 bus then change to a number 1 bus to see

Lincoln Street steps

California Street Steps which are a tiled mosaic staircase at the end of the road, from the top you can almost all the way down this road for about 10 miles. Just round the corner is a CVS shop so got some drink, from there we then caught the 38R to Lands End, as the name would suggest you can't go any further than this, but here was the USS San Francisco Memorial and more amazing views along the coast.

We now had a stroll down along the seafront with a stop for a coffee in the National Park Service cafe then dropped into Safeway for some snacks for later, just across the road from here is the bus stop and by now it was about 5.30 so jumped on the 5R that was just about to leave back to Market Street to get something to eat  Carl Jr's and back at the hotel about 7 pm.

Parks & Garden's

We didn't go out until about 11 this morning as we were having an easy day again. First off we went down to the main library which is very large then headed across to city hall. From there we got the 21 bus to Alamo Square, even though they are still carrying out renovation work here you get a view over the city and the famous painted ladies houses. From there we got back on the 21 again for a couple of stops then went into Popeye's chicken shop. We went to one of these in Chicago and wasn't very impressed with it so thought we would give this one a go, I'm glad we did now as the chicken was lovely. We then crossed the road and got the 24 to Alta Park

Alta Park, Pacific Heights

which has to be one of the highest parks in the city and in the Pacific Heights area where the average house price is about $2 million. Next on the list was to get the number 1 bus Huntington Park which is across the road from Grace Cathedral, it was nice to sit in the park and watch the hummingbirds fly round plus I think it was a doggie meet up day as there were lots of people there with dogs. The last time I was in here was on Christmas Day 2013 but it was a bit warmer then as

Huntington Park

there was a chilly breeze blowing today but you are on top of a hill. We were planning on going to the Cable Car Museum but it would have been almost closing time when we would have got there so just got back in the 1 bus down to Kearney Street, I had a look around in Portsmouth Square Plaza but it's a bit of a dump here, I only went in because this use to be the main city Square way back in the 1850s then walked it along there to the Crocker Galleria and got something to eat from Jimmy John's. We were back at the hotel in time for the 6 o'clock news. Both a bit knackered now and Jane's leg has been bad today so we missed out a couple of things on today's list but we are getting through most of the things we wanted to do.

Marin Headlands

Both feeling old today, not use to all this travelling about every day so today was going to be a slow lazy day in the Marin Headlands. We caught the 76X bus from near the hotel at 10.30 which is a direct express that only runs on the weekend and takes you over the Golden Gate Bridge

Selfie at Battery Spencer

then up into the hills of Marin County. We got off at the top of one of the hills that overlook the bridge and explored one of the old gun batteries there called Battery Spencer, you get a fantastic view from here but as you are high up it can be a bit chilly so I was glad I had my hoodie with me. The bus only runs once an hour so we had to spend a bit of time waiting in the cold wind. Once back on the bus we

View across the Marin Hills

carried on into the Headlands to the visitor centre which is about another 20 minutes ride on the bus through spectacular countryside. There's not that much in the centre but it gives you a history of how the military use to have the missile sites along the coast here. Now this is the tricky bit, in the afternoon the bus only runs every 90 minutes so you have to time it right, we could have got on and gone to the end route then come back on it but it was warm here in the sun so sat on the grass at the side of the road and was joined by a few other people after a few minutes. You wouldn't even know it was a bus stop apart from a worn out the yellow line about 12 inches long painted on the road. We ended up with about 30 minutes to wait bit was nice to sit there and you could see an eagle flying around. The ride back is just as spectacular, by now it was time for a cup of tea so got off at Golden Gate Bridge Plaza where there is a cafe and

Battery Marcus area

got a drink and some souvenir's from the gift shop then went around the old batterys on this side of the bridge as we had an hour and a half spend here as well. It's a good job I didn't bother taking any notice of the timetable for this stop as it says the bus leaves here 15 minutes later than it does. We basically got back to the stop 90 minutes after we got off the previous bus. There are some amazing views around here and the best blue sky I've ever seen.

Union Square

So back on the bus for the 25-minute ride to Union Square to get something to eat then back to the hotel for a beer and sit down before I went out to do some night photography. We've still got lots of things to that we have missed from each day so it's going to be time for some creative replanning I think after tomorrow to put them into full days, at least they are not to spread out but the only two that may cause problem is Twin Peaks and Fort Point as they are both difficult to get to or involve a long walk but you never know what might happen. So now we are sat here eating cheese and crackers.

Mission & The Castro

Not an early start for us today as I'm starting to feel my age now with going out all day every day so it was 10am when we left the hotel and headed round the corner to the bus stop, from here if you catch any bus it will take you down to Market Street where you can catch a bus or tram anywhere but while we were here it was time to renew the bus passes as we would get a chance tomorrow and needed to done before Monday. After that it was time for a coffee in the plaza before getting the 14R bus down into The Mission area for the Cinco de Mayo festival which is always held on the closest Saturday to the 5th of May, this is basically a Mexican celebration but has been canceled in a lot of cities due to fact that most of them think they are going to rounded up by Donald Trump's mates and deported, here it was going ahead but a lot less people showed up I think. We spent about an hour and half here then caught the 48 bus 4 stops to Church

Mission Delores Park

Street then got J tram 4 stops to Mission Delores Park, it wasn't that warm today but the park was absolutely packed, it was funny to watch an irate local resident going round shouting at people because somebody had blocked his driveway, the chance of finding the owner were slim to none with this many people about. After sitting there taking in the fresh air for a bit and watching the trams speed down the hill it was time to head along the oldest church in San Francisco but didn't bother going in at $7 each, I'm sure when I checked on the website that it was free. It was only a short walk anyway so nothing lost there. By now we starting get hungry but had a 20 minute wait for the 33 bus to Castro Street. Its not that far to walk but its up hill and some of it is very steep but a coach driver give us a bottle of water when he was getting some out for the passengers on there. The Castro is the main gay area of the city and is always fairly busy,  there are some good shops down there like Hot Cookie that do giant hot cookie as the name suggests. By now we were both starting to feel a bit done in so decided to start heading back, the only option from here is the F line which is a bit of a pain in the arse for Jane to get on but

Me and the F line tram

that was the best solution. We ended up only going about 3 stops then got off to have a look a coin mint which looks like a sort of modern fort on top a big rock and there is a Safeway right next door it so went in there. Now the plan was to catch the J line back to the city but when we looked at the real-time app on my phone it was a 27 minute wait then 3 were going to turn up at once, it would seem public transport is the same no matter where you go so ended up getting back on the F line to 3rd street then crossed the road and caught a 30 bus round to Jack in The Box which is a fast food joint but does very tasty chicken sandwiches. By now it was about 6:30 so cut through Union Square back to the hotel. time for a beer and some TV now, missed the baseball that was on as well, we thought it was on at 7pm it must have a 3 pm start in Chicago.

So that was another day over with, so far we haven't managed to complete a full as I had planned but we are getting through most things and the bits that we have missed we should get to add into other days and we still have a week to go yet.

Aquatic Park

Today started with a ham & mushroom egg bagel whilst having a lazy morning in the hotel as we were out late last night then we headed off out about 10am, I didn't realize that I could have got a bus near the hotel that we could have then changed from to the #19 that runs along Polk Street but you live and learn I suppose. What I had planned was to get off the 19 bus at Lombard Street then walk a couple of blocks up the hill to what is claimed to be the bendiest road in the world. This bit was always going to be the toughest part of the day as to no matter what way you approach the top of this hill from its steep and when I say steep I mean at 45-degree angle going up and the cars park sideways. Even if you don't have any problems walking it's difficult to get up it. It turned out that there was no way Jane would be able to make it up this 2 block walk and the only other option is to get a cable car up here and Jane has problems getting on them as the steps are high. No matter there were other places to go today

and it would have added at least 2 hours to our day so we walked down what was left of Polk Street and went into Ghirardelli Square. This use to be a chocolate factory but now a mixer of luxury shopping and high-end restaurants with the upper floors converted into apartments. There are still two Ghirardelli retail shops within the square that is spread over 2 split levels and there is generally somebody at the door giving away free samples so we went in both and got one from each, we then had to go back into the first one again to use the elevator to go down on level so got another sample. I said to Jane we should have bought disguise to keep getting free

Aquatic Park

chocolate. We then left there and when you come out at the bottom you are in the Aquatic Park area so I parked Jane up to catch a bit of sun and I walked it along the Municipal Pier that curves round into the Bay and gives a good view back to the land. From there we went to Hyde Street Pier to see if we could find which building the Earthcam camera is on that we have been watching for many

months on the tablet and we managed to find it. Just across the road is the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and Museum which is free to enter so spend some time in there before having a look in The Cannery which is just down the road but there only seems to restaurants in there plus we got harassed by a crazy guy a couple times so carried on down through Fisherman's Wharf, as the name suggests this is the main fishing area and seafood restaurants which neither of us are fond of but

they have some unique things down here like Musée Mécanique which has gaming machines from the past 100 years or so and most of them still work. Now it was feeding time so stopped at Macdonald's for a quick bit too eat then crossed the road to buy a coat that I had seen on

Pier 39 the other day, with that done we crossed back to catch the F line streetcar back to Market Street. This is never a pleasurable experience due to the number of people that cram into it but they have now introduced an E line that runs all the way along Embarcadero but doesn't go up Market Street. Unfortunately most people can't seem to understand this so have to be told 7 times and when it finally sinks in they won't get out of the way so you can get on so ended up pushing our way through, the idea was we get this one that has only a few people on then get off at the Ferry Building and walk across the plaza, this is where most of the buses start from and catch one of them which worked like a dream. The driver of the streetcar was really helpful got out the drawbridge out so Jane could get off at the elevated stop. As these things were built in the 50s and come in all shapes and sizes they (think of the old Blackpool trams) you can't build a raised platform that can be used by the all so they have their own purpose made platform that they get out of a cupboard onboard and spans the gap to the raised platform, the only downside is that this then reduces the size of the doorway to about 4 feet so you will need to duck down to get off, not perfect idea but I can't think of a better one for historical trams that run a normal commercial service. We could see the next F tram coming up behind so hung around to see how many were on it and they were rammed on tight. The idea of running the E tram was to take the loading pressure off the F line and do what we did. As luck would have it and a little help from the internet and free WiFi there was a #9 bus about to leave in 5 minutes so jumped on that up to Kearney Street then went in the Crocker Galleria for some more of Jimmy John's sandwiches which were quickly consumed along with a beer as it would be rude not too. By now it was about 5pm so after a sit down for a bit until 6:30 we then talk a walk to Giants dugout shop which is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel, even though the Giants suck AGAIN this year we still would like to get some bits and bobs, unfortunately, this is only a small shop so only carries a

Cako cupcake

limited amount of stock unlike the one at the ballpark so didn't find what we were looking for but it was not wasted trip as one block down on O'Farrell is Cako which sells the best cupcake you will ever eat, even though they can get a bit messy and at $3.50 each plus tax are well worth it. By now Jane's leg was hurting so a little a bit of cunning planning went like this, outside Cako the #38 stops it doesn't go anywhere close to the hotel but if you ride 2 stops in the one-way system then cross the road and catch the#30 two stops the way you just come in a different one-way system it stops just around the corner from the hotel. So now I have my beer in hand in the thermal flask (or big cup) but my have to go out to get some more soon. Today was also Cinco de Mayo but they are having the main celebration to tomorrow down the Mission District in Velencia Street which is closed to traffic from 21st to 24th streets so that where we will be tomorrow.

Presidio, a history day

Today was a lot cooler and Karl the fog even made an appearance. We set off a bit later today at about 9am, I had to rearrange today after I discovered that Fort Point only opens Friday to Sunday, so this is how today panned out. There is a free express shuttle bus that runs from just down the road from where we are staying called Presidio Go that runs out the city by the less know route and only stops about 4 times to pick up only until you get to the Presidio which use to be a large army barracks until a few years ago but is now part of the Golden Gate National Park.

Yoda Fountain

Firstly we stopped off at the Yoda Fountain at Lucas film as it was May the 4th then walk up to the new visitors center that has just opened and has lots of interactive screens that show you the history and wildlife of the area and even how they have managed to reintroduce coyotes to the park and what to do if you come across one. I think they have about 14 breeding pairs there now but they have been spotted around the Telegraph Hill area and that's a large residential area. So after a quick coffee in the cafe we went round to the National Cemetery which is military cemetery that overlooks The Bay and has been used in many movies over the years, this is the first time I've ever been to one of these war cemeteries and the amount of graves here is staggering, a very somber experience. We then headed back down

to the transit cafe where all the buses stop and caught the #43 to California Ave for the SF fire museum that only opens from 1pm to 4pm Thursday to Sunday and didn't get chance to go there on previous visits as this

the museum is staffed by volunteers it might not be open, they do recommend that you call first before going but we took a chance and it was open. It's a really interesting place inside and tells the story of the early years of the fire department from horse-drawn pumps, steam-powered pumps and early (gas) petrol power pumps, they even offered us a guided tour to explain the various points but we prefer to go round at our own speed. This is not a big museum by any standard and your only going to be I there about 30 minutes or so but it free. They do ask for a donation of 5 bucks but you can give anything you like or nothing but these people are giving up their time probably after they finish a shift so we gave the suggested donation and bought a $10 badge. From there it was a short walk up the road to catch the bus to next place on the list but after waiting for about 20 minutes we decided to have a change of plan so crossed the road and caught the #38 back into the city, the plan was now that we would

Crocker Galleria

go to Jimmy John's in the Crocker Galleria have one of their lovely sub sandwiches back at the hotel and have a sit down for a bit before heading out for the evening otherwise this was going to be a long day. About 5.30 we set off out again and got the F Line Streetcar to the Exploratorium, we had planned on doing this next Thursday evening as this is the only night that they open and it's an adult only night so there are no screaming kids in there. The Exploratorium is a hands-on science museum with lots of fun stuff to play with. It's only open from 6 to 10pm tonight but is half price to go in at $15 each and was well

Exploratorium 

worth the money, plus as it was May the 4th as in "May the 4th be with you" it was a Star Wars theme night with a band in fancydress playing and R2D2 was even rolling around. We came out of there about 9.30pm and had a stroll back along the Embarcadero to the ferry plaza then got the bus to Walgreens to get a bite to eat, by now it was about 10.30pm and we were both absolutely knackered. We were back at the hotel by about 10.45 and not use to being out that late. Time for a beer I think.

Downtown walk

                           

We decided to have a bit of a lazy day today so after sharing a sausage an egg bagel we walked round to get the wheel fixed on the chair so walk around the corner to Stockton and caught the #30 down to Mission then the #14 to the wheel fix shop. As luck would have it they had one the right size and put it on for us, a bargain at only $28 bucks, it makes life so much easier and quicker on the flat.

Now we got back on the #14 to Target then headed round into Yerba Buena Gardens that's has a fantastic waterfall and fountains, wish I could have gone for a paddle in one as it was so hot but I think that would have been frowned upon in this park. After spending about an hour in there we then

Martin Luther King memorial

headed round to catch the bus to Washington Square, this route is always a nightmare because the buses go through Chinatown and today was even worse as I think somebody got shot just up the road from where we were so there was a lot of buses stuck as they come back the opposite way down a different road. I didn't know you could cram that many people on a bendy bus and even when he said it was full they couldn't understand why he wouldn't let anymore on then a had a mad Chinese woman in a wheelchair screaming at me to get out of the way which I was doing but not fast enough. When we got off at Washington Square it was a relief even though we had only been there 15 minutes or so. We spent some time sitting in the park then went for a drink in Rouge ales. They seem to have just about every beer on the planet here.

View from Calhoun Terrace

From there we got the #39 for 4 stops to the top of Colhoun Terrace which gives you fantastic views over the Bay but nobody else bothers to go up there, I found this place on Street view. We only spent 20 minutes up there got the bus back down the hill again caught the #30 a couple of stops and changed to the #12 that dropped us at the back of the Transamerica Pyramid which has a lovely shaded park at the back then went for a coffee. Next, we walked down through the Embarcadero Center buildings on the upper-level walkways until we reached the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Hyatt Lobby

This place has to be seen to be believed. The lobby is massive inside with glass lifts that side up the outside of the walls about 14 floors up. By now we were starting to wilt so decided as it was nearly 5pm to catch the bus for the 10 minute ride back near to the hotel then have a drink in Murphy's Pub but ended up giving that a miss as it was packed in there and nowhere to sit. So all that was left to do was to get something to eat from Super Duper Burger which nice and juicy but not too cheap then back to the hotel for a nice cold beer from the fridge.

Haight & Golden Gate Park wandering

Breakfast today was from Posh Bagel round the corner, you can't beat a good sausage and egg hot bagel that's freshly baked even though they are a bit on the pricey side at $6 each but it was nice and we were stuffed afterwards. We didn't head out until just after 9 this morning and the first thing we needed to do was to see if we could get the wheelchair fixed so headed to SOMA where's there's a shop that can fix stuff. As luck would have it they have spare front wheels so we will drop it in tomorrow morning and hope they will have one that's the right size, they have a box of old second-hand ones so it will only be about $20 to fix it.

Today is another scorcher so we headed back to the bus stop and caught the #6 to down to Ashbury & Haight which is the hippy part of town and where the summer of started 50 years ago in the spring of '67. There's some fairly whacky shops down this part of town from legs sticking out of the wall to stuffed racoons with saws. The further along you get the stranger the people become as well until you reach Macdonald's at the end of the road which seems to have a homeless encampment outside it. We dropped inside for a coffee and you know it's not a good neighbourhood when the security guard inside is carrying a gun.

Pedimount Boutique

From there we headed across the road into Whole Foods to get a bottle of water to take with us into Golden Gate Park where the Conservatory of Flowers is which is free on the first Tuesday of the month, we have been in here before and really enjoyed it plus now they have butterfly's in there zooming around. We only spent about 30 minutes or so in the conservatory because the humidity was so high in there everything stuck to you but the butterflies were nice to see flapping about. Now we had a bit of a long walk to the De Young Museum which is an art museum, not our sort of thing but today it's free

De Young observation tower

and the only thing wanted to do was go up the observation tower which gives you really good views across most of the city and Golden Gate Park, add in super fast free Wi-Fi and we are onto a winner. So now we were on planning to go to Strawberry Hill and Stow Lake but Jane's leg was starting to hurt so decided to give it a miss and call it a day at 4pm plus we had planned on heading down to Ocean Beach to get something to eat from TJ Café. The bus from

View from the tower

the park runs on a one-way system where we got on but as always it's not going in the direction you want so got on for a couple of stops until it came out of the one-way system then crossed the road and caught going the other way, this saved us having to walk any further than need be. Once off that bus we got 5R down to Ocean Beach but unfortunately, TJ Café doesn't open on a Tuesday, I should have checked while I had an internet connection, never mind as there is a Safeway next door to so went in there and got a roast chicken to take back to the hotel. We didn't get everything done today that we had planned but hopefully the wheelchair will be fixed tomorrow. Most of the days that I have planned cross over each other anyway just in case something happened and we had to miss out something. So now it's back to the hotel and feed on some chicken, drink some beer and eat my Cheetos. After a couple of hours sit down I thought I'd go out & take some night time photos.

I'm still trying to get my head around that a Milky Way is a Mars Bar & not get run over crossing the road.

Pier 39 & The Bay

Today started with a hearty breakfast in Carl Jr's and you certainly get plenty for your money. Sausage grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough bread with mini hash browns and a coffee to wash it all down with. Then we headed into the hole in the ground where the visitor information center is to buy the Muni 7 day bus travel passes. At $42 there reasonable value given that it gives you unlimited travel on all buses, trams, streetcars and cable cars instead of paying $2.50 a ride. If you make more than 2 and a half rides a day you are saving. From there we dodged the beggars and crazy people who talk to themselves along Market Street and caught the 8BX down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions. By now the temperature was about 25 but with a real feel of about 30c if you were in the sun and no breeze on you. Something we were looking for was a laser engraved crystal that you don't see anywhere else and luckily they still do them in a shop there and are really nice for 10 bucks. They do a stands that light them the crystal up but they where crap for $6.50 so didn't bother with that. Now it was time for Beer 39 on Pier 39, yes it is called Beer 39, we were the only 2 in there but it was only 11am. So after a drink, it was a bit more perusing of the shops then got on the F Line Streetcar to Levi Plaza what a fantastic place

Cooling the feet

this is and where the head office is for Levi jeans is, given that the temperature was so hot by now Jane decided to dip her feet in the fountain to cool them off. From there we took a short walk to the bottom of Filbert Street Steps but there no way I was climbing 375 of them to the top and headed off through Sidney G Walton Park to a Safeway in the vain hope of getting some sun block cream but to no avail. By now we were starting to cook so dropped into a pub called

Me at the pub

Grumpy's bar for a couple of drinks, they sell Lagunitas here so had a couple of them but that's all or I struggle to walk at 6.2 percent per large pint & price wise it wasn't too bad at $8 for a beer and a lemonade. From there we headed down to the underground train to AT&T park then walked along the Bay then headed into Safeway to get some shopping. After what we had for breakfast and snacked on through the day we didn't fancy eating much tonight. Back at the hotel now after a quick visit to the beer shop and we had asked the hotel to clear out the mini bar so we now have a fridge to put (our) beers in. With that, it's now 8pm and my legs hurt plus my arms are a bit on the burnt side. The only problem we had today was the wheelchair cracked a front wheel so that's screwed things up a bit but there are places that rent them near us or maybe they can make a repair but whatever happens I can replan for less walking (wheeling) on the next few days.

Arrival

Beer on the plane

So we left early as predicted for the 11-hour flight (or 5369 miles in the air) and everything is working fine, they don't have small TVs on the back of the seats anymore so you have to download the app to your phone or tablet if you want to watch TV. A lot of people said in the reviews of the app that it didn't work but it seems to be fine on Jane's phone & the table we brought with us but it's probably all crap films anyway but some of the TV shows are ok. At least now they have put power sockets at the seat but you only get 1 for 3 seats, speaking of which we are not crammed in as there is nobody sat in the middle of the row of 3 where we are and there is even a reasonable about of room between the seat in front. The beer is free as well so seen as this flight is probably costing me about £750 I shall avail myself with as much as possible.

What is it?

Lunch was the same old thing that always seems to be chicken and something, I'm not sure what the something was that came with it tho, perhaps you can tell from the photo, at least the chicken was nice and let's face it your not getting anything else to eat from midday until you land apart from a snack. As long as the beer keeps flowing I shall be happy sitting here for another 8 hours. There's no chance of getting any sleep on here because it seems a lot noisier on this plane. Time to catch up on some reading on the tablet and if all else fails I could always switch our laptop on and play around with some of the programs I've downloaded for photo, video & documents, that normally keeps me quite for hours on end.

Halfway through the fight now & just had afternoon snack time which consisted of crackers with cheese spread, the only thing that tastes really nice but it would have been better if they had given you something to spread the cheese with, a KitKat, & some weird spicy nut sort of mixer crap and it would rude not to wash it down with a beer.

8 hours in now & the TV on the tablet is playing up & keeps buffering, at last, there is only a couple of hours to go now or so and there should be some tea & coffee coming round soon, hopefully with something to snack on, starving now I am. Glad we brought some crisps with us but should have got a couple of more bags to keep us going.

Golden Gate Bridge

There were spectacular views as we came in on the plane over the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge then banked round over the San Andreas Fault which was an amazing sight to see.

Unfortunately, we had to wait for ages to get the bags as they kept on changing which carrousel they would come out on then it was a 25-minute train ride so didn't get to the hotel until 4pm but we're here now.

The room was ok and they even give us an upgrade to a better room. It was time now to go out and get something to eat now and some bits from the shops in what is a lovely warm afternoon of about 26 degrees before crashing out, after all, it would be 12.30am on Monday by now.

Been out for something to eat and found the booze shop. 6.45pm now, totally knackered so going to bed.

From tomorrow there will only be one post at the end each day.