San Francisco 2

Wednesday 28th July,

AMAZINGLY the sun was shining from early this morning just to prove us wrong and that Sunny California does exist - sometimes!

The plastic received another thrashing this morning. Clothes and souvenirs and shoes ... and then this afternoon THE Attraction of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and, as you can see from the photo, it was a little windy but as you can see here we are:

here we are

And of course the answer to the question that everyone wants to know -- what happens when the workers get the 'call of nature?' Notice that it (like everything else to do with the bridge) is painted in International Orange!

the Golden Gate Loo

an arty shot ....

arty view

and then after the bridge we took a stroll around town, and walked up some of the rather steeper streets ... it was amusing watching those in heels teeter down!

Looking down the street

While we were walking we spied a few eating houses and chose this one, Lori's Diner on Powell Street and they even have a real Edsel car from the 1950s inside) and we both agreed that we had saved the best dinner till last - well the best dinner for our solo part of the holiday. It is  a sort of celebration ... or as Bini has just said, a de-celebration! This was a totally scrumptious and unplanned dining experience, great music, 50-60s bits and pieces and uniforms on the staff and we loved it. Anyone coming to SF HAS to dine here!

Lori's on Powell

bussboys at work

And what did we eat? The menu is filled with 'old fashioned' 1950-60s eating ... and ours was pork chops and home made meatloaf ... of course it was washed down with a good ol' tumbler of Coke.

Dinner -Yummy

And lastly for San Francisco here is the hotel:

Hotel Front

and a photo of Bini sitting in the elevator.

Alas, we didn't get to partake in the afternoon sherry and tea (one of Bini's prime motivations for choosing this place) but it was terrific here none the less!

And so our current holiday is at a near end. Next stop Los Angeles for the SCBWI Summer Conference ... where Bini still gets to holiday while Christopher works! More form LA.

Bini will try not to spend too much time shopping but makes no promises.....

San Francisco

Tuesday 27th July

Yesterday we made it here to San Francisco via the Charles M Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa - just fantastic.

Today we started the tourist thing and our pre-booked Alcatraz tickets went into operation as we made an early morning trip to the island ... here are a few snaps. The cells were soooo small and cold - and D block so dark!

Alcatraz

Released from D block - solitary confinement - doesn't he looked pleased

and then after a stroll around Fishermen's Wharf (and a lunch dining on that great American fare - hot dogs!) it was a cable car ride up to Union Square. Yep another day in beautiful San Francisco ... And as you can see from these afternoon photos the sun has FINALLY come out here. We are totally sure that the phrase Sunny California is a total fabrication. It has been warmer, and sunnier, in Sydney recently.

cable car

Of course he rode the steps ALL the way!

We dined tonight at Macy's (truly we did) after a heavy afternoon of shopping (the plastic has taken a severe beating today). 

And there goes another day in this town. More on San Fran tomorrow.

Fort Bragg to San Francisco

Monday 26h July

We have made ... yes we have.
We are in San Francisco.
And there is not much to say except that we will post more tomorrow.

But here is sample of the not to be missed place we visited along the way:

And now for two days in San Francisco.
More soon ...
We are stuffed!!!!

Eureka to Fort Bragg

Sunday 25th July

This has been one amazing day of trees, zigzig driving and of course MORE mistiness!

We woke up in the glorious boutique Carter House Hotel. This place is just wonderful - breakfast was with real cutlery and crockery. Lovingly fitted out (our room had an armoire) this place really has the old world family feel. (There was even an open fire around which guests could partake of supper.)

Carter house

Most of today we were driving along highway 101. We have been travelling through such delightful older towns ... sometimes it really seems as though they haven't come into the 21st Century ... and that is really nice.

We also made a detour into Ferndale (we read about that one in a guide and are so glad we stopped in), a beautiful Victorian town with people who just love seeing visitors and love being part of Ferndale.  It really is a glimpse back to a time long gone.

Ferndale Public Loos

Main Street

Main Street

Inside the Post Office

And then there were the redwoods ....
the Amazing Redwoods at the Avenue of the Giants, and we are so glad we drove through here - one redwood forest is not the same as another. This is a detour off 101 but really not to be missed. Right at the start we were able to grab the Auto Tour brochure and proceeded to take well over two hours to drive the 40 miles -- well we did have to walk a trail, stop in a gift shop, and of course take a slow drive through the giants! Some of these majestic natural wonders are thousands of years old. Just LOOK at some of these image:

The Trees

Wow!

Bini inside a tree!

Size comparison - just an example.

AND along the way back on 101 is the turn off to the Chandelier Tree ... yes another drive-your-car-through-the-tree tree ... but this is the authentic one, the one we spotted somewhere back down the track when we were planning for this trip.

Driving Through!

Smile!

Of course we did not visit ALL the giant trees - like the Grandfather tree, or the Chimney tree, or the Lightning Tree, or the whatever-you-want-to-call-because-it-is-a-big tree. There are just too many big trees.

Lastly, was the drive to Fort Bragg along Highway 1. Now this is a drive that Bini referred to as a whole lot of zig-zigging ... the speed limit was 55 mph but the car (for about 30 of the 45 miles) rarely went over 20 mph. It was littered with hairpin bends after hairpin bends up, down and around the mountains and was nearly all single lane either side, with rather appalling drops over the side. We climbed to altitudes of over 1000 feet and then within a short few miles had reached the cloud coast again. At the end we were sooo glad to have reached a straight piece of road. It was most definitely the most winding road we have ever driven (or heard about!).

So that's another day on our journey down the west coast of the USA.

Coos Bay to Eureka

Saturday 24th July

A day of long driving but with plenty of stops to stretch the legs and breathe in the air and now we are shrouded in mist at 9pm in Eureka and have made it to the north of California.

looking at the bay - it's MISTY

This is such a beautiful place driving down 101. On many occasions we were driving along the highway in brilliant sunshine and then suddenly we were covered in mist floating in from the sea.

Battle Rock, Port Orford

and of course we HAD to drive through this redwood tree along the way:

just fitted

Of course driving down the highway this time of year (summer vacation/holiday) also has other travellers including many bicyclists. (We chatted to one who is doing the same journey as us on pushbike over three weeks. They are catered for brilliantly in Oregon and what we have seen of California). Other travellers on 101 are the HUGE mobile homes (and RVs too) - these things are like huge bricks on wheels, often towing a car behind. So navigating 101's single lanes with these things in front can get a tad frustrating. Our solution ... pull off the road and enjoy the scenery! On some stretches there are more mobile homes than cars on the road. And with so many of these vehicles on the road there are also many RV parks to cater for them. We also spotted a few walkers trekking south (hope they have lots of shoes).

Our first assigned site was the magnificent redwoods. These trees are spectacularly HUGE and are really living relics, some thousands of years old!

the living tree over 3000 years old

the Trinity tree

a large trunk

the brotherhood tree - well at the base at least!

And as we do, we have found a glorious eating house here in downtown Eureka. We walked to downtown and squizzed in the windows of a few but we soon discovered and dined at Hurricane Kate's and just look at what we dined upon!

to begin

Enchanted forest pizza (artichoke, brie, morelle mushies and heaps more)

Pear and walnut salad with exquisite dressing

And to keep you entertained while waiting they provide diners with crayons and here is Bini at work - I told them that crayons were not my writing tool of choice!

so now to rest.

Newport to Coos Bay

Friday 23rd July

We are SOOOOOOOO glad that we are driving south down Highway 101. This is some of the most gorgeous scenery we have seen.
Today we drove 98 miles - the least distance of all the days so far but the most time spent on the road. The first 50 miles took us four hours - and the reason is simple. There is so much to see along this coastal strip of 101. The road hugs the coastline - really hugs the coastline. There are art deco bridges galore that really are magnificent architectural structures and there are simply lovely quaint towns that we drove through ... oh and there are also more trees too!
Along the coastal stretch there are lighthouses of many different sorts, like these two we visited as we left Newport this morning:

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

We encountered a little problem here though ... we had planned to climb the 150+ steps to the top BUT the volunteer was more interested in talking to the waiting throng than handing out 10.30 tour cards (or telling those waiting that all the cards had been handed out). As a result after waiting for 25 minutes in rather solidly blowing winds, we were unable to get the guided tour (and waiting another hour to do the self guided tour would have completely stuffed our schedule).

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

This one is like a little toy lighthouse. No this is not trick photography. It really is perched on the top of this two storey house -with access to the beacon through an attic style ladder. The lighthouse keeper also had a bed up here too. This lighthouse didn't last long though as it was in a recessed bay and did not light up the rocks adequately. It was replaced by the Head lighthouse above.

We felt a close affinity with the Bay lighthouse ... Captain James Cook made this spot in March 1788 - and named it Cape Foulweather. For us the weather was delightful, although as we ventured further down 101 it has become noticeably cooler - we may even be required to turn the heating on tonight in Coos Bay!

Leaving Newport (after a morning tea of a too heavily iced cinnamon roll and rather acidic coffee), we encountered a bumper coffee table book of coastline images.

Devils Churn

approaching tunnel

another lighthouse

more road

coastal dunes

Along the way a must see (which can't be missed) is the Sea Lion Caves, although they didn't have any food available except popcorn when we really could have done with a restaurant. Lunch for us ended up being coffee and muffins at 3:30pm.

Bini says these look like brown grubs!

more grubs

And of course then there were more bridges along the way too:

bridge at Florence

and near Coos Bay

Yes ... another gloriously delightful day!