We left Yosemite early, with mixed feelings, glad to be leaving the a very busy park but also marking a definite break in the type of holiday we were on. Up until now we had been focusing on parks, natural beauty and a lot of walking. By leaving that behind we were not only changing our holiday type but also recognising that our three week extravaganza was now entering its last 7 days.

The transition from nice wide single lane roads with no traffic to narrow laned freeways full of cars was fast and we found ourselves quickly engulfed in busy commuter traffic wanting to get home on a friday afternoon. We arrived at our RV park which was to be our home for the next two nights and could not quite take in the difference between it and the campsites we had been in previously. Up until now we had pitches which would have been 300 to 400 square feet in size with trees and benches and fire pits all to ourselves. here it was a parking space, literally, i could not even bring myself to take a photo but it would have to do.

Fortunately, not by planning, we were only a 10 minute walk from a ferry that would take us into the ferry port at San Francisco so very soon we were on our way for a recce visit to the city. Our first port of call was pier 33 where we would get our Alcatraz tour tickets. we found that the next available tour was august 25th some 4 weeks later so there nothing else for it, we walked to fishermans wharf and got some beer and fish. Another unexpected thing about the place was the fact that it was very very cloudy and pretty cold. we had got used to 30C and above almost all of the the time without a cloud in the sky but here it was barley 20C Siobhan managed to hit this home buy saying that it was actually warmer in the UK at the time….

The next day we woke to bright sunshine and sailed back to San Francisco with new resolve, if we were not going to go to Alcatraz then we would hire bikes and ride over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was simply unbelievable, a bike ride I will never forget. The rest of the day we walked around looking at fishermans wharf and we rode one of the cable cars to the ferry after looking at Lombard street, the famous zig zig road from all the films.

San Francisco is a pretty laid back place and cosmopolitan with it, I think that I could easily loose my self in the city for a couple of years, they ride bikes, are generally nice people and the food is good. My main observation is that there seems to be a lack of colour. the buildings seem to be quite grey or at least lacking vibrancy which I did not expect at all. In fact I am beginning to think that California is a bit monotone compared to Utah and Arizona, maybe its expectation but it all seems a bit flat……

After too little time we have to leave San Francisco and start our slow journey back to Phoenix via the west coast.