Escape from Alcatraz

Wednesday 2nd May 2012

We managed to get up fairly early today, despite last night's beer. I seem to have lost the ability to have a lie in during this trip, which is something that I'm normally very good at.
We had breakfast in the hotel with an Australian couple who had just got married in Vegas, and a man from Florida who had dragged his long suffering wife all the way here to watch a baseball game.

The weather was good, and because of a few comments the Aussie couple had made about queues, we booked our Alcatraz tickets online at the hotel. We had a few hours to spare, so we went back up to the room and I had a power nap, only a short while after getting up!

We walked to the pier to catch the ferry, and on the way, Claire realised she'd left her camera bag at the hotel. We didn't have time to go back, and didn't think much more of it, other than being a bit annoyed about the lack of photos.

The trip to Alcatraz was good. I don't think Claire was that bothered about going, but enjoyed it much more than she thought she would. We were both fascinated by some of the escape stories, especially the three prisoners who escaped into the sea, and were never seen again. Missing, presumed drowned, or possibly in South America, as they had been learning Spanish for a year before escaping.
The prison itself was horrible, the cells were only 5' x 9' which included a bed, toilet, washbasin, table, and chair. Prisons in those days were purely for punishment with no thought given to rehabilitation.

We had a quick wander round the island before going back. It was extremely windy, so much so that when I stepped each foot off the ground to walk, the wind was blowing it away from where I wanted to step! We spotted a few Snowy Egrets hiding in the bushes and I managed to get a photo despite the lack of Claire's zoom lens.

 
We decided to go and have a beer before dinner. There are loads of restaurants near to where the sea lions live, at Pier 39. We picked a sports bar type place that looked like it should be quite cheap. We've had difficulty over here with Americans being food pushers. No sooner have you sat down, and they're trying to get you to order an appetiser (a huge plate of carbs, often covered in melted cheese). There seem to be very few places that are just bars, without food. I had to snap at the waiter today before he finally got the message that we weren't hungry.
We were just contemplating a second beer when the waiter brought us the bill. Obviously he didn't like snappy customers who didn't eat in there. We were both astounded by the bill, in the realisation that we'd both just drank our most expensive beer ever. $9.40 (£6.20) for the American equivalent of a pint! We left the exact change, and flounced off.
We had a nice, more reasonably priced meal overlooking the sea lions squabbling round the corner.

On the way back, we passed loads of bars that would have been ideal and probably cheaper. I'm sure they weren't there when we walked past earlier.

When we got back, we were busy fussing Pip in reception, when the hotel manager came over and said "you've lost your camera, haven't you?" Apparently, Claire had left the camera bag in reception (she probably put it down to fuss Pip), and the hotel manager had managed to figure out who it belonged to by looking at the photos on it. Good job there weren't any dodgy ones on there! He did comment that it took a while as most of the photos seemed to be of birds and animals!

We've spent the evening packing and feeling sorry for ourselves. Mainly about going home, but also because I feel like I'm getting a cold, which is not what I need for the flight home tomorrow.

There are some things that we're looking forward to about getting back to the UK. Tea, our own bed and getting thin to name but a few.

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Location:San Francisco, CA

The End Of The Road

Tuesday 1st May 2012

I should probably warn you at the start of this blog that I am a little bit tipsy and not really in the mood for blogging. That said, I'll give it a go, as I know that the lack of a blog will send some readers into a panic about whether we've been kidnapped by cowboys or something.

We made it down to San Francisco in plenty of time this morning, despite Claire's reluctance to get out of bed (again). Our route took us over the Golden Gate bridge, although we couldn't really see much when we were on the bridge. We were sad to return the car although we wouldn't want to drive around in it in the city. Far too stressful. The drivers here are more like British drivers, far too impatient.

This is probably as good a time as any to mention American roads. Most of the roads we've driven down have been big and quiet. On the whole, driving is a less stressful experience than back home. The road layout is easy as most of the roads are at right angles to each other. However... we have had some difficulty with road signs. I'm not quite sure what it is, but some of the signs lead to last minute swerving and occasionally going the wrong way.
Since arriving here, we have only encountered 2 roundabouts! Those 2 filled us with panic, although I think we handled them better than the locals. Most of the country roads are so quiet here, that at junctions they just have a crossroads with 4 way stop signs! Whoever gets there first has right of way. It actually works quite well.

Another thing I have noticed is motorbikes. As some of you may know, I have recently become a biker. I wear the same sort of stuff that most UK bikers wear. Helmet (obviously), and protective jacket, trousers, boots, and gloves. This is normal in the UK, and in any case, helps to keep you warm for 9 months of the year.
Over here, things are somewhat different. In most of the states we've been to, bikers don't wear any protective clothing at all. In some of the states, it's not even required by law for them to wear a helmet. And in the states that do require a helmet (like California), the helmets are like toy helmets. Just a token gesture.
In their defence, most of the roads here are so straight that the risk of falling off must be pretty minimal. And in some states it's so hot that wearing full protective clothing would probably have most of the bikers passing out on the road. It still seems weird to me though.

We dropped the car off at Hertz with no problems and were relieved that the hotel were happy to check us in at the early hour of 11am. We're staying in the same place as when we first arrived, with Pip the cat. Our room is pretty quiet and tranquil, and I didn't really want to go back out again. We did though, which was a mistake, because I was not in the mood for trudging round a city at all. We've just spent 3 weeks largely away from people, and all of a sudden we've appeared in a busy city.

We had lunch in the same diner we went to at the start of our trip, and then tried to walk as far as the Golden Gate bridge. We didn't get that far (see the background of the ship photo), which was a bit of a bone of contention. We spent a few hours wandering round and being grumpy with each other, before retreating to the hotel for a power nap and afternoon tea. Not proper tea, but the cookies were nice.

This evening we went to an Irish bar mainly because it was the only place we could find nearby that served cheap food. However, we ended up drinking enough beer to wipe out any saving on the food.

Tomorrow we may be going to Alcatraz. It depends on the weather, the crowds, and the hangovers.

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Location:San Francisco, CA

Afternoon Tea

Monday 30th April 2012

Our breakfast this morning was excellent in American terms. Homemade waffles, banana bread, oatmeal etc. Oatmeal is American for porridge, made with whole porridge oats (not oatmeal). Confused? So were the German couple at breakfast.

Our first stop this morning was at Van Damme State Park. I don't think it's named after the Hollywood muscleman, but with Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger's term in office here, who knows. Anyway, we didn't go to see musclemen, but to see the Pygmy Forest. This is something that our guide book raved about. It's described as a "bonsai forest of trees half a foot tall but decades old". We were expecting a miniature version of the Redwood forest from yesterday, but what we actually got was a load of sickly trees which looked like they were growing in undernourished soil. Which turned out to be true, as the reason the trees are stunted is because they grow in very shallow soil on a bed of rock. We were unimpressed, and moved on quickly.

The next stop was more interesting. For me anyway, I'm not sure that Claire was that bothered. We went to a lighthouse at a place called Point Arena. We had to pay for the privilege of walking up the 145 step spiral staircase, but were met by Ron, the lighthouse guru at the top. Ron told us all sorts of useful information about lighthouses, not just in California but worldwide. He didn't tell us the story of Grace Darling's rescue mission in the Farne Islands, but as I already know that story, it didn't really matter. If Claire's lucky, I might tell it to her later.
Today's lighthouse had to be rebuilt after the famous San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Apparently, the lighthouse keeper at the time was at the top polishing the lens or trimming the wicks at the the time, and recorded in his log that the top swayed 5 feet in each direction, the lens shattered into hundreds of pieces, and the only thing that held it all together was the metal spiral staircase which we walked up today!

We've driven over the San Andreas fault today without realising. We were expecting to see something exciting, like a lava filled chasm, or a wall of rock, but there was nothing. Probably for the best.

Later on, we visited a Rhododendron state park that was boring because they weren't flowering yet, then a Seal state park that was disappointing because there weren't any seals there and it was incredibly windy.
We (me especially) were starting to get a bit grumpy, so we went in search of tea and cake. There is a huge shortage of cafes along this stretch of the Pacific coast. We eventually found a fancy looking hotel which advertised espressos on a posh looking board outside.

I asked the barmaid if they served coffee and cake. After what seemed like an age, she stopped gossiping with her colleague, turned round and looked at me like I was mad and said "cake?!". We've had some language barrier problems with the word cake already, which I don't really understand, because they have cheesecake and carrot cake here, both of which are the same as in the UK. Claire managed to translate, and we were given the evening dessert menu to look at. After all that, we decided on the cheese board, as the cakes sounded too much like puddings.

I had a cup of tea, which came in a glass. I didn't dare ask for milk instead when I was offered honey or sugar with my tea. The cheese board seemed to contain four different types of local cheddar-like cheese. While we were eating, we overheard the bar staff talking about us and saying "well, that just doesn't seem like proper English to me". They didn't get a tip. In fact, they only just got paid at all.

I'm starting to find American food a bit of a struggle. Evening meals are OK, so long as you're careful about what you order, as most things are very stodgy.
Breakfasts and snacks are difficult. I like to have quite a wholesome breakfast, maybe with some bacon and eggs sometimes (if I'm expecting a busy day), and occasionally something sweet, like a banana, or some porridge with golden syrup in. The Americans like to have the sort of thing I eat for pudding or at the fairground for breakfast. I'm surprised they don't serve candy floss.
When I'm on holiday, I often like to partake in a naughty snack in the afternoon. Like tea and cake, or scone, or biscuit/cookie or whatever you want to call what I call a biscuit. This concept seems completely alien to the Americans.
Coffee is widely available, but tea is hard to come by, and when you do get it, they don't do it right. They give you a cup of hot water and a tea bag, and then offer you weird things to go in it like honey. The tea is usually pretty weak so even if they did give you milk, it would end up like dishwater.
And cake is almost impossible to find in the afternoon. Breakfast time, no problem, but at a sensible time of day, no chance.

At the moment I'm having a beer to settle myself down about the food before ordering my dinner in the local seafood restaurant.

We're staying in a small seaside town called Bodega Bay tonight. It's our last night of "on the road" accommodation. It's nice here, a nicer town than Fort Bragg, but cheaper accommodation. More expensive food though. Bodega Bay is where the Hitchcock film "The Birds" was filmed. We've seen some menacing looking flocks of birds already whilst having dinner, and shall be making our way cautiously but quickly back to our room shortly.

Tomorrow we have to get up quite early to get back into San Francisco by 11.30. We think. We must check, as I think they will charge us an hour for every minute the car is late or something.

I'm sad that our holiday's nearing the end, but I am starting to get a bit tired of driving! We've enjoyed the time we've spent in one place for a few days more that the days on the move.

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Location:Pacific Coast Highway, CA

The Birds and the Trees

Sunday 29th April 2012

We started the day off with a 30 mile drive down a narrow road called The Avenue of the Giants, which is a road through the Redwood forest. The forest was quite different to the Sequoia groves we visited last week. The Redwood forests are much greener, with a very green, and quite damp forest floor. There are loads of ferns and mosses on the ground. It feels like you could easily get lost. The Sequoia groves are much drier with lots of pine needles on the forest floor and don't seem so dense.
The last things I am going to say about the big trees are some strange facts. The Sequoia depend on fire to survive, whereas the Redwood are threatened by it. And both have tiny cones for such big trees. The Redwood cone is only as big as an olive!

We went for a short walk in the forest, and stopped for lunch a bit later by the World Famous Drive Thru Tree (you can't tell from the photo, but the tree is still alive and growing!)

Finally, we arrived on the coast and got our first glimpse of the sea for what seemed like ages. The skies were clear and it was sunny, but it wasn't particularly warm, and it was very hazy. We had the roof down but had to put our coats on.

The coast is steep cliffs with beaches with dangerous waves. We stopped off later in the day at a beach, which was nothing special in itself, but had a small lake just inland, full of birds doing all sorts of entertaining things.
Claire spent ages taking photos of a rather boring brown bird having a very energetic wash in the water. Meanwhile, an Osprey was circling overhead, but didn't swoop on any of the other birds. There were lots of cute ducklings and goslings, and Claire is very proud of this duckling photo taken with her big zoom lens:

 

We went on a trail round the lake, which was a bit nerve racking as we were expecting the boardwalk below our feet to give way at any time. There were broken planks in it all over the place. We made it round safety, although came to the conclusion that we could see more birds from the car park. On the trail, we could hear them but not see them for all the trees.

We weren't sure where to stay tonight. The first town we tried was completely out of our price range. So we went back on ourselves to a town called Fort Bragg. We'd driven through it on the way and decided it would be OK as a backup option. The first place we tried was called Super 8. This is a chain of motels, the American equivalent of Premier Inn or Travelodge. We've stayed mainly in independent motels before, but thought we'd give it a go.
We had a look at two rooms. The first had a pack of rowdy wolf whistling men on a balcony outside, and the second appeared to be still occupied by another guest! We gave it up as a bad job, and found somewhere much nicer, with a view of seals frolicking in the harbour from our balcony for not much more money. And the breakfast sounds pretty good too.

Tomorrow is our last full day on the road. We may not have to buy any more gas! Hopefully tomorrow will bring more interesting birds, possibly whales, and maybe a forest of dwarf trees. And you thought you'd heard the last of trees.

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Location:Pacific Coast, CA

Cabin Fever

Saturday 28th April 2012

We've made good progress today, and are set up to enjoy a leisurely two days meandering down the Pacific coast.

There's not a lot to say about the drive today. The countryside was pleasant, in fact, had we been at the beginning of our trip I'm sure I would have said it was lovely or beautiful. Over the last few days we've been spoilt with scenery. We left the desert behind long ago. So we're used to the rolling hills of western California now, a bit like we got used to the slot machines in Vegas. I'm glad we got as far as we did today. We've spent a long time in the car and my legs are cramped, but it will be worth it over the next couple of days.

We stopped for lunch on the shores of Clearwater Lake, at a rest stop especially for Claire. Apart from the monster mosquitos, and the strange man parked nearby in a Rolls Royce, it was a nice stop.

Today is the first day we have not eaten in somewhere. We had an All Bran and banana breakfast, a packed lunch, and this evening we bought salad and stuff to eat in.
This means that today is the first day we haven't felt obliged to tip anyone. The tipping system in America is somewhat different to that in the UK. Or so the guidebooks have you believe. If you did what it said in the guidebooks, you'd be tipping just about everyone, and you'd have no money left after the first week.

Both of us are fairly mean tippers at home. We'll normally leave a tip in a restaurant, if the service was particularly good, but nowhere else. Here, you're expected to tip your waitress (15-20%), the bartender ($1-2 each drink!!), and just about anyone who helps you in any way, even if you didn't want or need help. When you pay for food, even if it's takeaway food, or a buffet when you pay before you start, there is the option to add a tip to your credit card payment.
After a few days, we got fed up and rounded the suggested amounts down, as most of the time we only go somewhere once anyway! A few waitresses have earned the full 20% (the diner in Victorville and the mad waitress in Mariposa). One did not get a tip at all (cold chips, wrong beer, poor power supply, implied hangover or drunkenness!). Most of them get 10%. Fast food and takeaway staff get nothing.

Apparently, waitresses/waiters and bar staff earn a very low wage here, because it is expected that they'll receive tips. We don't really like it. We've discussed it a lot, and Claire thinks that it encourages good service, whereas I think that we should get good service anyway, and leave a tip if it is extremely good. Why should I tip someone for doing their job right?
Having said that, the service from our waitresses has been excellent so far. The waiters have been OK, but the girls are winning by a mile at the moment.

Anyway, I'm sure you've had enough of my cheapskate talk by now.

Tonight we're staying in a hamlet called Redcrest, which is in a forest of Giant Redwood trees. Yes, more giant trees. Redwoods are different to Sequoias in that they tend to be taller but not as wide. And strangely, their bark seems less red.
We're staying in another cabin tonight. I was a bit dubious when Claire suggested it as cabins can be a bit dodgy. Last nights was OK, but nothing special, and it was freezing.
Today's is lovely, possibly the best place we've stayed on the road so far. It's right amongst the Redwoods, has a heater that works and a big comfy bed. What more could you ask for? Oh, freshly ground coffee instead of the giant coffee teabag that's normally provided? Yes, we've got that too. And it's only 2 dollars over budget. And it's quiet and we haven't seen or heard any evidence of cockerels yet.
We're currently enjoying a bottle of Californian wine in our cabin, the first wine we have had since arriving in America!

Tomorrow we'll hopefully be cruising along the coast with the roof down. We shall stop on the way to look at more big trees. There are some here that are so big that you can drive through gaps in the trunk!

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Location:California

Rangers and Red Tape

Friday 27th April 2012

We were supposed to be having a lie in until 8.30 this morning. I was awake from about 6 though due to a very loud cockerel outside. It's the first cockerel I've heard that actually says "cockadoodledoo" rather than just noisy crowing.
The morning didn't get off to a good start when I got in the shower to find that the water was tepid at best. So we had some very quick showers and left the cabin shivering.
Fortunately, the day got better from there. Breakfast isn't included here, so we went to the same restaurant/diner as last night. The Americans really know how to make good scrambled eggs.
After breakfast, Claire went into reception and had a moan about the shower before we set off. We weren't holding out much hope but felt we ought to complain. The showers over here are normally very impressive and this one really let the Americans down.

It didn't take us long to get to Hetch Hetchy. It was a lovely day, with clear skies and sunshine, but not too hot. Although Hetch Hetchy is part of the national park just like Yosemite Valley, they don't seem to encourage people to go there. There's no facilities there apart from toilets and a very small amount of car parking. They're very welcoming when you go, but it's not really advertised.
We parked by the dam, and after a couple of minutes a Park Ranger approached us, and had a chat with us whilst having a furtive look in our car boot and rucksacks as we were packing them. He was very nice and friendly, but we couldn't help noticing the gun and taser on his belt! None of the other national park rangers we have seen in any of the other parks we've visited have been armed. In fact, this was the first gun we'd seen since arriving in America!

We didn't enquire about the weapons, but assume that the rangers who work near the reservoir have to be more vigilant in case someone tried to contaminate the water. It does supply over 2 million people with drinking water after all.

Hetch Hetchy is the next main valley along from Yosemite Valley. It's less visited, and controversial because about 100 years ago, the dam was built and the valley flooded. Before that, the valley was flat floored, similar to Yosemite Valley. Apparently, the flooding was prompted by an earthquake and a drought and then a big fire in San Francisco which they couldn't put out for ages. Don't know if they forgot about all the sea water surrounding the entire city, but it's a bit late to point that out, and I'm sure there are some complicated reasons why they couldn't use it.
There was a big fuss at the time, as the area had already been designated a national park. The eco warriors of the time lost the battle though, so Hetch Hetchy valley was changed forever.

Having said all that, we rather liked it the way it is. Except you're not allowed to go canoeing in the reservoir.

The walk we did today was from the right hand side of the dam, working our way clockwise, across the dam and alongside the reservoir, to the waterfall you can see in the centre of the first photo.
At the start of the walk, we spotted a big bird flying overhead. It was white underneath, and looked like a bird of prey but we didn't know what is was. Taser Ranger identified it as an Osprey. We hoped to see it more during the day, but unfortunately we only saw it one more time, and it was miles away then.

When we got to the waterfall, there was red tape across the path, because the spray from the waterfall was considered dangerous. After checking for rangers, we ducked under the tape and got soaked by the waterfalls.

I find it a bit strange that it's OK to go camping when there are bears and mountain lions on the prowl, but a trail is closed because of a bit of mist from a waterfall.
We exchanged anti-stories with some other walkers later. "Did you go past the tape?" "Of course not, it looked like far too much fun" "Neither did we, we'd never do anything like that, and besides, we would have got wet".
I think most people ignored the red tape.

We had our cheese and tomato sandwiches on some nice smooth granite rocks with water flowing over them in patches. Not the patch we were picnicking on, obviously. It was very tranquil, and we only went back because the sun started going behind clouds.

The route back to the car was uneventful, apart from a snake which slithered across the path in front of us. Claire narrowly avoided treading on it, although it's hard to avoid treading on things when you've got feet as big as Claire. The snake made it to the undergrowth unharmed and we made it past unpoisoned.

We got back to our cabin to find that we had hot water! Very hot in fact, almost the opposite problem to this morning. I eventually managed to balance the taps and am squeaky clean now.

Tomorrow we've got a long day of not particularly interesting driving ahead of us. We've decided we want our last few days on the road to be good ones, and as we haven't seen the sea for ages, we're going to try and get to the coast as quickly as possible, so we can have a leisurely drive on the Pacific Coast Highway down towards San Francisco.

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Location:Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite National Park

Domestic Goddesses

Thursday 26th April 2012 (our 3rd anniversary!)

We woke up to more rain today. Nevertheless, we got ready and left in good time, and made our way back into Yosemite Valley. Needless to say, the weather was no better there.

We drove to a place called Curry Village, which is at the end of the road, as far as you can go into the valley by car. There is a huge campsite there, with a lot of ready made tent/cabin things that you can rent out if you're a lazy camper. We'd considered renting one when we were planning our trip, but I refused, on the basis that they were $40 a night or something ridiculous, and we'd still have to provide most of our own kit. We were glad we didn't anyway, because of the weather.
Our reasons for going to Curry Village were twofold. One, because there were a couple of walks that started from there which we thought might be less busy, and two because there was an outdoor clothing store there, which Claire wanted to compare to Cotswold.

We had a good look round the shop, which was quite good, but not as good as a lot of outdoor stores back home, and especially not Cotswold. We did buy a couple of things, and spotted a really nifty camping cooking set to try and get when we get home.

Finally, we could delay it no longer, we donned all our waterproofs and set off up the valley towards Mirror Lake. Despite the rain, we had a nice walk, as there was hardly anyone else around. The river was very full. I only took one photo all day as the rain and mist were so bad.

We had a hot coffee when we got back to Curry Village. I had a slight disagreement with the vendor, as the stall was called "Peet's Coffee and Tea", but they didn't sell tea. I pointed this out to them, as well as the fact that their San Francisco branch had a huge range of very nice tea on offer, but I think my comments fell on deaf ears. They probably spat in my coffee too.

We're staying tonight at a place called Buck Meadows, which is near the north western gate to the national park. We're staying in our own cabin, which looked like it might be terrible when we pulled up, but turned out to be OK, although a bit cold.

We've had a housekeeping session after arriving this afternoon. We did the laundry, which was a huge relief to both of us (and probably the general American public too), as we're getting fed up of sniff testing everything before wearing.
In between the washing and drying stage, we had some homemade pie at the local restaurant/diner, which was a perfect mid-laundry snack.
Then (and this is the really exciting bit), we went to the next town to do some grocery shopping.
We've noticed that most American supermarkets seem to have a limited selection of healthy food. For example, fresh fruit and vegetables, and whole grain breakfast cereal without sugar coating.
I did not have high hopes for the supermarket from the outside, but when we went in it was like an Aladdin's cave full of wholefoods and other less healthy, but equally fascinating stuff.
Not only was there a whole aisle of fruit and veg, but it looked incredibly fresh, and was sprayed periodically by automated sprinklers! Inside the shop! There was a whole section (5' square) just for popcorn! And, in the breakfast cereal aisle, there was shredded wheat, and All Bran! I've been regretting not bringing my own All Bran all week as it's a crucial part of my diet. I won't go into why, but I'm sure you can use your imagination.

So we spent much more than we'd planned, but we came out of the shop with the much missed All Bran, and all the ingredients for cheese and tomato sandwiches. And some nice cookies, and fish shaped cheese biscuits, and apples and bananas.

Tomorrow the weather forecast is better. I think there may even be sunshine forecast, but we will be happy if the rain just holds off. We're going to visit Hetch Hetchy reservoir tomorrow, which is a less popular area of the national park, in the north western section.
We have already had some experience of Hetch Hetchy, as it supplies the water to San Francisco, which was entirely to our satisfaction when we were there.

We're off for a romantic anniversary dinner in the restaurant/diner now. Hopefully the main courses will be as good as the pie.

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Location:Yosemite National Park