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
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