Tag Archives: San Francisco

USA Travel Journal 2012 – San Francisco – 17.6.12

Posted in Journalling, Photos, Travel, Writing by

After driving through the city yesterday and having such a bad experience trying to find accommodation etc, we ended up finding a little motel in San Rafael. It was about 25mins from the city. I managed to convince Dave that we needed to find somewhere to park and hop on the bus and take in the sights of San Francisco.

We didn’t come all this way not to see the bridge. Thanks to my wonderful friend Tracy Randell, we did exactly thatSONY DSC We definitely shouldn’t go on first impressions. I am really glad that we decided to take that bus tour. We made our way from Fisherman’s Wharf, where we stopped to buy a jumper…yep you guessed it…only summer clothes packed. So I now have a new pink jumper for my collection. It was chilly. Along the way we came across a man who sits on the sidewalk behind some bushes…he has been there for years doing the same thing, he is a bit of an Icon. He waits for his op tune moment and then will jump out from behind the bushes and frighten the life out of people. So you can hear a few screams here and there and some profanities and lots of laughter. He was hilarious.

We then caught the bus to take our tour. About 90 mins. Seen many parts of the city and then they took us over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was such a cold and foggy day, that it wasn’t the best view unfortunately but just to say that we actually drove over it is amazing. Mind you so glad that I had bought that jumper , as we were in an open top bus….lets just say the headlights were definately on!!!!! Icicles to be exact!!! The most bizarre thing was after we crossed it and came out on the other side, the sun was shining and it was warm and the bridge looked beautiful.

SONY DSC SONY DSC SONY DSCSONY DSCSONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

We then had to brave the elements again and cross back to the other side. Only this time it was worse. So much colder, that I was actually hiding behind the bus seat and snuggled into Dave, teeth chattering. We made it back to Fisherman’s Wharf and headed for the Hard Rock Cafe…had to get my hurricane glass and great excuse for some great food. We had a bite to eat, took a pic with Blue Bear and our server and headed back to the car.

We then hit the freeway onto our next destination. We found a place called Dunnegin and stopped here for the night. Its just off the highway and its so quiet. We have our own parking spot and the bed is comfy, hot water and clean fresh towels.

So now its time to call it a night , ready to start it all over again and find the next destination and see what gems we can find hiding around the next bend.

J

xoxo

Travel Journal – USA 2012 – Yosemite 16.6.12

Posted in Travel, Writing by

Well today we headed off from Big Pine on our way to San Francisco via Yosemite.

It was a beautiful day and we were looking forward to seeing some different country side. Didn’t want anymore windy roads, I had had enough of roller coaster rides for one life time.

We started out with the air con cranked and as we got closer to Yosemite it got a little cooler, so we put the top down on the convertible after some slip, slop and slap and enjoyed the breeze blowing through the hair. Well I had my hat on, so not sure how much hair blowing was going on. We saw some amazing sights. There were waterfalls coming out of the rocks along the road, there was snow capped mountains, sparkling lakes and we even seen some of the local wildlife. Every turn of the road there was something more jaw dropping to see. It was simply breath taking. I had my camera working overtime.

2014-08-05 13.05.00 2014-08-05 13.04.30

When we got out the other side and started to head down the mountain, we had another road full of twists and turns…I was not looking forward to that. Dave took it slow, as we didn’t want a repeat of the previous nights performance of me out the door heaving….well it turns out that Mr Patrol Car was behind us and decided it would be a great idea to flash his lights at us and for us to pull over. He asked why we were going so slow down the hill. Told him that we were just following the road signs…well apparently they are only precautionary signs and the limit was 55 miles. Well good luck to you if you think your car is going to go down there at 55, unless you planned on taking it sideways off the hill. So we were told that if there is more than 3 cars behind you that you need to use a turnout (side clearing) and let them pass. So that was one for the record books….DAVE BEING TOLD HE WAS TOO SLOW!!!! LOL. I’m sure the cop laughed all the way down the hill and told his mates about it after his shift finished , how the Aussie tourist was doing 15mile down a mountain side in a mustang!!! lol.

So once we were back on the highway, Dave made sure that he made up for the lack of speed going down the mountain. We made it in to San Fran only to find that the rooms were so expensive and that some US Open was on, as well as some other events. Trust me to have the worst timing. By this time, we were both tired and grumpy and fed up and just needed a bed and shower. So the trusty GPS got a workout finding a place to stay outside of the city but within enough distance to come back in the morning. Hopefully with much better attitude. Coz right now, I’m not liking San Fran a lot.

So I must go now and look forward to your comments.

Take care and have a nice day