Reflections 9 years later

Reflections 9 years later 

Here I am in 2026, and somehow the opportunity to go back still hasn't quite presented itself. It's strange how much can change in nine years, yet as I've worked through this journal again, parts of it have felt like they only happened yesterday. 

Rewriting it with the technology that's available now has given me something I didn't have the first time around: the ability to find the words I always struggled to put to what I was actually feeling. Going back through the photographs has filled in the gaps left by time and brought memories back into sharper focus. More than anything, it reminded me just how much those years without travel made me appreciate these journeys, and it was that realisation that finally inspired me to revisit all of my old journals properly. 

Travel & Accessibility What We Learned 

We don't own a car, and I have no intention of driving while on holiday. I'm not sure I could ever get my head around being on the opposite side of the road, and honestly, it's not a chance I'd want to take. Fortunately, San Francisco has always been one of those cities where a car is more of a burden than a necessity, with a public transport network that was already impressive during our visit and has continued to evolve ever since. 

Over the same period, Jane's mobility has worsened considerably—we even moved house because of it—but it has never stopped her determination to keep travelling. Looking back now, I'm even more grateful that we experienced the city when we did. 

Transport in San Francisco has changed enormously. COVID reshuffled the deck in ways nobody could have predicted. Gone is the 76X that carried us across the Golden Gate Bridge, along with several other routes we came to rely on. In many ways, our journal captures a version of the city that no longer exists.

Not all of it is doom and gloom, though. After years of construction work that began tunnelling back in 2012, the T Line extension finally opened in 2023, running from the ballpark through to Chinatown. Some things, it turns out, really are worth the wait. 

The changing skyline & city evolution 

Like all cities, the skyline is forever shifting, though San Francisco has always seemed to move at its own pace. Towering skyscrapers remain very much a downtown affair, and there still aren't that many of them. But change happens in other ways too. 

The Vaillancourt Fountain—that magnificently baffling concrete tangle we spent a good paragraph trying to make sense of—is now in the process of being removed. It hadn't worked in years, and the cost of repairing it turned out to be roughly the same as redeveloping the entire plaza into a new park. Even brutalism, it seems, has a budget. 

AT&T Park is now Oracle Park, still home to the Giants and, depending on the season, still probably not winning enough. China Basin, just a short walk away, has become expensive apartments, although they did build a new waterfront park alongside them, so swings and roundabouts. The Transbay Transit Center—arguably the most expensive bus station ever built— opened and then promptly closed again after a crack appeared in one of its main support beams. To their credit, they fixed it fairly quickly. The rooftop park, complete with a free gondola ride to the top, is exactly the sort of thing we'd have made a beeline for. 

Not every change has been by choice. Rouge Bar was lost to fire. The Nob Hill Theatre didn't survive the pandemic. COVID, more than anything else, reshaped the city in ways that still linger. As a city built around the tech industry, San Francisco emptied almost overnight when office workers went remote. Many left the Bay Area altogether. Large companies reduced their office space, and the effects rippled through cafés, shops and restaurants across downtown. The Westfield Shopping Centre is now largely hollow, its flagship stores long gone. The Crocker Galleria—where we happily ate our weight in Jimmy John's sandwiches—survives, but as a shadow of what it once was. Even out in the Marin Headlands, the visitor centre has closed, and the bus service that took us there has disappeared with it.

But it isn't all bleak. Tunnel Tops opened in 2022, creating a sweeping new park linking the Presidio with Crissy Field—exactly the sort of public space San Francisco has always done well. Cities are living things: they lose places, gain new ones, stumble, adapt and reinvent themselves. Looking back now, this journal has become more than a record of our holiday; it's a snapshot of a version of San Francisco that can never quite exist again. 

How This Trip Shapes Our Future Plans 

When it comes to transport, we never stop learning—and some things never change, whatever city you're in. We're looking at you, Vendy-bots. 

Time, however, brings its own adjustments. Jane's mobility has continued to decline, and retracing exactly what we did on this trip simply isn't practical anymore. That doesn't stop us planning, though. A disability isn't a reason to stay home; it just means you travel differently. You build in more time, think further ahead, and accept that the route might look a little different from the one you first imagined. I'm not getting any younger either, and pushing a wheelchair uphill on a pavement with even the slightest camber is considerably more of a workout than it sounds. 

In many ways, that change has been a positive one. Spending more time working out public transport, finding accessible routes, and slowing the pace means you notice far more of the place you're actually visiting. We've never been interested in racing from one famous landmark to the next just to tick boxes. If anything, this trip confirmed that the best memories usually happen somewhere in between. 

From Journal to Legacy — A Creative Journey 

I started rewriting these journals over a year ago. The original idea was simple enough: correct the spelling and grammar, upload everything back to Blogger where it all lives alongside the photo albums, and call it done. Then I made a few changes to the site layout, decided I could make it look a bit smarter, and promptly opened a rather large can of worms. 

With the arrival of AI, I've been able to achieve things on Blogger that I'd never have managed on my own. I've got some basic coding skills, but Blogger has always done things its own way. Describe a problem clearly enough, though, and AI can often point you towards a solution in seconds. It doesn't do the work for you—you still have to experiment, tweak, and occasionally wonder why two seemingly identical templates behave completely differently—but it has become an invaluable tool rather than a shortcut. 

Back in 2012, when we travelled to New York, I never imagined I'd still be working on these journals more than a decade later. In many ways, they've grown up alongside me. What began as a straightforward tidy-up became a complete reimagining: rewritten narratives, a redesigned website, audio versions, e-books, online photo books, and now this appendix, looking back with the benefit of time. The technology will keep evolving, and no doubt these journals will evolve with it. But at their heart they'll always be the same thing: a way of preserving not just where we went, but how it felt to be there. 

Rediscovering Memories Through Writing, My Final Thoughts 

Going back through the photographs, notes, and everything I'd written all those years ago has brought back so much. Not just the images of where we went, but the sounds, the smells, and the emotions that surrounded them. You'd think those things would fade with time, but many of them still feel as though they happened yesterday. Others catch me completely off guard: did we really do that? A single, slightly blurry photograph with a wonky skyline can unlock a memory I thought had disappeared forever. Those are often the moments I treasure most. 

There may come a time when we're no longer able to travel, and perhaps that's why I've devoted so much time to bringing these journals back to life. The photographs preserve what we saw. The writing preserves what happened. And I hope the audio preserves what it felt like. 

If these journals have taught me anything, it's that journeys don't really end when you come home. They wait patiently until you're ready to relive them again. 

Never give up dreaming of your next adventure. 

To Jane — my true love, my travelling companion, and the person who made every one of these adventures worth taking. 

Con 2026

Afterword

 Although we faced more than a few challenges getting around the city — the steep hills, the uneven pavements, the stops that looked perfectly accessible on Street View until you were actually standing at them — it goes to show that where there's a will, there's a way. Usually involving a bit of creative route planning, the occasional bout of mild profanity, and a cold beer at the end of it. San Francisco is a city we both fell for on our first visit back in 2013, and that hasn't changed. It has become a less straightforward tourist destination in recent years — you do notice things that weren't quite so visible before — but we've never been the sort to let what you see on the news make decisions for us. If you thought that way, you probably wouldn't get out of bed in the morning, let alone board an eleven-hour flight. I've spoken to plenty of people who've been here, though most of them visited years ago and haven't been back. I've only ever found one other person who loves it the way we do. There are plenty more cities across the USA on our list, but I suspect San Francisco will always be the one we keep coming back to — particularly in the quieter months, when the fog rolls in off the bay and the city does that thing where it feels like it belongs entirely to you. It's a city of extraordinary contrasts — friendly and chaotic, beautiful and baffling, with people from every corner of the world and restaurants to match just about every taste. Some of which, it has to be said, you'll probably want to avoid — the famed seafood restaurants down at Fisherman's Wharf being a case very much in point. There's still plenty we want to see, both in the city and beyond. But we'll get back to it. It'll probably be a few years yet and, in the meantime, the hearts we left here in 2013 will just have to keep the city company. One day we'll be back to check on them. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

Nothing To Look Guilty About

 The cabin lights have finally come up. It has been daylight outside for quite some time, but nobody seems particularly keen to open the blinds — and quite right too. At this altitude it's essentially permanent, unfiltered sunshine. One enthusiastic blind opener and half the cabin would be temporarily blinded. Breakfast has been served and somewhere below us Ireland is sliding past beneath the clouds. Not long now. A little later comes Wales, then the Bristol Channel, and slowly the familiar patchwork of home begins to reassemble itself beneath us. There is something reassuring about seeing recognisable places again after nearly two weeks away. From up here the countryside looks neat, organised and almost peaceful. You can nearly pick out our house from the flight path, which is either comforting or a stark reminder that reality is waiting patiently for us on the ground. Watching the world drift by from a window seat is one of the best parts of travelling home. It's a quiet moment between one chapter and the next. If a long-haul flight has to be endured, overnight is definitely the way to do it. At least you arrive in the morning with some chance of functioning like a normal person rather than spending an entire day wondering what continent your body thinks it's on. The approach into London was particularly enjoyable, with familiar landmarks appearing through the morning haze. From 4,000 feet up it almost looks like a pleasant place. Mind you, there is still that muddy trench running through the middle of it that they insist on calling the River Thames. Nothing To Look Guilty About We don't normally book assistance on the return journey, which in hindsight was probably a mistake. The people who use it are whisked through the airport like visiting heads of state while the rest of us shuffle along behind looking slightly crumpled and sleep deprived. Thankfully we hadn't landed at Terminal 5. That place appears to have been designed by someone who felt airports should double as endurance events. You walk for what feels like several counties before boarding a self driving train that travels for approximately thirty seconds. I've never entirely understood the logic of it. The bags appeared surprisingly quickly and before long we were making the traditional walk through the Nothing to Declare channel. It's one of life's great mysteries that even people carrying absolutely nothing of interest suddenly feel guilty at this point. We never buy duty free. We had nothing to declare. Yet there we were, staring determinedly into the middle distance, trying to project the confidence of innocent travellers while secretly wondering if an overpriced hoodie from Walgreens somehow counts as international smuggling. Nobody wants their bags tossed out and their life examined at seven in the morning, least of all after ten hours in a tin tube over the Atlantic. Nobody stopped us, nobody searched us, and within minutes we were through. The trip was over. All that remained was the final journey home, a cup of tea, and the gradual process of convincing ourselves that San Francisco had really happened and wasn't just a particularly vivid dream. Final Steps, The Journey Home We cleared the airport fairly quickly — which, after fourteen days of navigating San Francisco's finest public transport adventures, felt almost suspiciously straightforward. It always seems to be the same driver who picks us up, and after a bit of cheerful chit-chat somewhere around the M25, we both quietly surrendered to sleep for most of the eighty-minute ride home, arriving back around ten in the morning. We'd booked the return journey in advance because, after everything this trip had thrown at us, the idea of wrestling with luggage, a wheelchair, and a series of connections across the south of England held absolutely no appeal whatsoever. After what we'd spent on the trip, a taxi home wasn't exactly extravagant — it was just common sense wearing a sensible coat. After a quick nap, Jane headed out to do some shopping because we'd come home to an entirely empty fridge, in the way that only returning travellers truly understand. I went to the pub for a bit. Priorities. I wasn't back at work for a few days, which gave us both some time to ease back into reality and shake off the jet lag — although whether it counts as jet lag when you haven't actually slept is a philosophical question I'll leave for another day. And that, as they say, concludes our San Francisco adventure. Thanks for reading. Do make sure you have a look at the afterword, and there's a handy collection of facts and figures at the back if you enjoy that sort of thing. A Note from Jane and Con Every trip we take is, in some ways, a small act of defiance. Against the hills, the broken pavements, the ramps that aren't quite where they're supposed to be, and the buses that don't quite reach the kerb. Against the idea that travelling with a wheelchair means travelling with limitations. San Francisco has never made things easy for us — which may be exactly why we keep going back. This journal is dedicated to Jane, who rolls through life with more patience, good humour, and quiet determination than I could ever hope to manage on two functioning legs. None of this happens without her. Here's to the next one, Jane

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, Missiles In The Mountains

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 Embarcadero & 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.