San Fran Round-Up

Thursday: Well we packed it all in, after 13 hours or so on the plane, we arrived  just before lunch and we went straight into the city to look around and check out what was on offer, later in the afternoon we jumped on a trolley ( tram to you non-locals) up the steep San Fran hills to fisherman's Wharf and looked around pier 39 and some of the less touristy piers, where we had our first Clam Chowder, which was very tasty, served in a sourdough roll.  Straight after dinner we hopped on the ferry over to Alcatraz where we enjoyed a very entertaining tour all around the prison including the hospital with its very own operating theatre, we heard stories of convicts escapes and our guide demonstrated the alarmingly lloud and fairly eerie sounds of all the cell doors slamming open and closed just to give us an idea of how terrifying it might have been on your first night in Alcatraz.

Friday: Today we went on a Woods and Winery Bus Tour, first stop was Muir Woods where we hiked up the walking route to see the sequoia trees and then we drove on to the first of three wineries in Senoma, first was Clines, then Larsons Winery ( famous also for their horse ranch where Sea Biscuit was trained) then onto the Senoma Cheese factory where we sampled pretty much all their cheeses and lastly onto jacuzzi winery.  (Yes it is the guy who designed the first Jacuzzi) We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and Jas ate a Mac and Cheese Burger ( only in America !)

Saturday: Today we had a very early start ready for our 4 hour bus trip to Yosemite National Park.  We drove through some beautiful Californian rolling yellow hills with Beef cattle grazing and windmills in the distance to power San Fran with electricity, before getting into the steep hills of Yosemite, still smouldering from the bush fires of the past few weeks, we drove above the smoke clouds and blackened trees of the outer edges of the National Park and then into the perfectly green untouched trees and grassland of the main part of Yosemite. Our bus stopped a few times to let us take photo's of El Capitain, then Half Dome and a few other spectacular views.  We parked at the lodge and walked up to where the Bridal Falls would have been cascading down only to see a tiny stream of water due to the dry conditions lately.  Whilst exploring the area around the lodge we found a beautiful spot called Sentinel Beach, with some water to swim or paddle around in to cool down.  Then back to San Fran after another 4 hours in the bus. A long day but well worth the 8 hour round trip.

Sunday : San Fran sightseeing today, we and most of the tourists in San Fran got on the Hop-on-hop-off bus taking in the sights and snapping away.  We got off at Fisherman's Wharf for lunch at Boudin's Bakery and then went on to Ghirardelli's chocolate shop and ice-cream store and enjoyed a massive ice cream cone.  We then hopped on the trolley hanging off the side as we moved up the steep hills of San Fran then got off at the famous Lombard street with its zig-zagging steep bends that have become a tourist attraction, before squeezing back on the full trolley back into Union Square. May have hit the shops of San Fran in the evening, as the sales were on.  Off to New York tomorrow...