The Millers Go RVing - Day 13

Hmm, should my title be changed to The Millers Go MiniVanning or The Millers Go Rentaling???

We wanted to get to San Francisco before the afternoon fog rolls in, but with our late night we didn't get on the road very early. We also stopped at Walmart to stock up on snacks & drinks -is this the 4th or 5th case of water? We bought a cooler to fill with ice every morning at the motels so we'd always have cold water to drink. We were not going to be caught so unprepared again!

We had smooth sailing up Rt. 101, passing by citrus groves and vineyards.

  

We got to the Golden Gate Bridge around 1pm. Fortunately, it was a clear day. This was another of those pinch-me-to-see-if-it's-real moments.

It was 95* on the outskirts of San Francisco, but when we got to the Bay it was only 68*. After 100*+ heat for almost 2 weeks, it felt cool to us so we dug out jackets for the first time.

 

We walked on the bridge as far as the first tower. It was really windy up there. 

 Alcatraz

 

This girl got to visit the east coast & the west coast within 2.5 months time!

Next we drove to our hotel- the Howard Johnson on Lombard Street. We wanted to check in early so we could snag one of the 12 parking spots in their parking garage. I can hardly believe I really got to stay in a hotel on the famous Lombard Street! This would not have happened if we had been in the RV. (The original plan was an RV park in the city that had shuttle service to the Bay area) 

JS had an altitude headache so he chilled at the hotel, but the rest of us set out on foot for Fisherman's Wharf. Lombard street was a steep uphill climb.

At the top, sure enough, was the world-famous crookedest street!

 I had my heart set on a trolley ride in San Francisco. Our original idea was to catch the trolley at the top of Lombard Street and ride down to Fisherman's Wharf. But when the trolley arrived, the grip man advised the folks ahead of us it's only 4 blocks down to the Wharf- hinting that it's smarter to walk down and board there because tickets cost the same no matter how far you ride. We realized right away that it's foolish to pay $7pp to ride 4 blocks when we could ride the entire length of the line for that price, so we altered our plan to riding back uphill when we're finished at the Wharf.

We browsed the shops of Fisherman's Wharf.

At the famous sourdough bread bakery, they had crocodile bread on display in the window! All our Ghana friends- this pic is for you.

 We dined at Johnny Rockets...

Chicken bacon melt, Rt. 66 burger, chili cheese fries, root beer float

Then we continued on down to Pier 39...

And discovered the Crepe Café! We should've waited to eat!

R & I "glushted" but were too full.

 Of course, if my DH wouldn't be allergic to shrimp, this would've been a must... 

We watched the sea lions for awhile

 

We could also see Alcatraz from there

 We watched a juggler perform in the square. Here he is juggling knives on a unicycle.

R went to In & Out Burger to get JS some food while the rest of us did our souvenir shopping. We tried to get on the trolley but the line to get on was unbelievably long. No way could we wait around that long when JS was waiting on his food. So very disappointing! 

So we trudged uphill 4 blocks, then down the steep Lombard St to our hotel. A & I were lagging behind because we kept stopping to take pictures. There were the most amazing succulents growing everywhere!

 And then we started taking pictures with garage doors, too. We couldn't help ourselves- it's in our blood. lol. Dad, these pics are for you. 

 

 R went on ahead with JS's food but JR patiently stayed with us as our guardian. Till we got to the hotel it was getting just dark enough that it felt time to get off the street and into the safety of our room. (There was a gay pride march that day and several people were stabbed, according to news reports.) But A & I fell in love with San Francisco. We already started saving to fly back and spend more time there.

to be continued...