On the Road Again

Plan A: Get up early, grab tickets for Alcatraz, Open Top bus around the sights, cable car to somewhere. Fail. Alcatraz is sold out for the next week. We knew the night tour booked out early, but….

Plan B: Talk to the tour desk at the hotel. OK. Cable car up the hill to Union Square in downtown (which is up a hill, so shouldn’t that be uptown?) After a look around we decide to walk back to Fisherman’s Wharf via the local growers market to catch a ferry ride around the bay. So far, so good. What time is that ferry? 12:00. What’s the time now? 12:30. Damn.

Plan C: We’ll get the 3.45 ferry. Lets walk up Lombard St. to fill an hour or so. Fantastic! Great architecture, interesting streets, lots to see. Let’s continue on to Mrs Doubtfire’s house. How far is it Lach? Up two blocks and along 11. Umm. OK. Lets go. Again, brilliant homes, lots of great views and generally a nice walk, albeit a bit hilly. What’s the time now. 3:15. Oops. That’s a long way back to get the ferry. Maybe we can make it? No.

Plan D: Here’s another ferry company with a 4:30 trip. Under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. Fantastic!

22600 steps later we sit down for a well earned drink, a dinner of crepes, followed by sundaes at Ghirardelli. Back to the hotel to prepare for the start of the road trip tomorrow.

Day 1 Part 1: After a very relaxed start to the day, we headed for Sydney by train to catch our 5:55pm flight. Lots of changes to the procedures at the airport, including automated check in (which didn’t work so we got the express ‘assistance’ lane). After Lauren had to remove her shoes and I had a fully body scan we were through security. Time to relax before boarding. The plane left late but made up the time by the time we got to SF.

Day 1 Part 2: Our second Monday. We were met at SFO by Steve with his American flag, who then gave us the orientation tour of SF, including a video call to Grandpa as we drove the streets of San Fransisco, including the windy drive down Lombard Street. After checking in to our hotel, Pier 2620 at Fisherman’s Wharf, Steve continued the tour through the Presidio and on to the Golden Gate Bridge where Carol recreated a family photo that was taken with her Mum and Dad in  November 1979.

Note the photo Lach is holding.

Saying farewell to Steve, we wandered Wharf 39 and surrounding areas for a while before finding a small restaurant/cafe for dinner and back to the room after a 34 hour ‘day’.

On the road again –
Just can’t wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is making music with my friends

And I can’t wait to get on the road again.
On the road again

Goin’ places that I’ve never been.
Seein’ things that I may never see again

And I can’t wait to get on the road again.
On the road again –
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We’re the best of friends.
Insisting that the world keep turning our way

And our way
is on the road again.
Just can’t wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is makin’ music with my friends

And I can’t wait to get on the road again.
On the road again

Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We’re the best of friends

Insisting that the world keep turning our way

And our way
is on the road again.
Just can’t wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is makin’ music with my friends

And I can’t wait to get on the road again.
And I can’t wait to get on the road again.

The Route  (That’s rowt, not root apparently) – sort of. It’ll change as we go. And Google maps didn’t like the number of waypoints I was adding, so its wrong anyway.