Amanda and Graham's Great Pig Adventure

San Francisco!

Friday 13th February – Day Off

We drove overnight from Bend to Vacaville in California – about eight and a half hour’s drive. They keep all the driving to night time so that the drivers stay on the same body clock. Some of the journey was very bumpy, which doesn’t bother me, but some people couldn’t sleep. I like the feeling of movement and always sleep well. I love my little cocoon of a bunk, so cosy! We went through patches of snow apparently and then a truck stop for fuel at about 5.30am which had a terrible road surface. We arrived in the early morning and could use the hotel for breakfast and then check in.

We decided this was the best day to visit San Francisco. We will be nearer tomorrow, but have two shows so no free time. The next few days we are still in the same area with some days off, but the weather forecast is for solid rain. Today was sunny and about 17 degrees.

Rather than get an Uber all the way, six of us got an Uber to Richmond (45 minutes) and then a ferry to San Francisco (30 minutes). Unfortunately we just missed one and had to wait over an hour for the next one, but we had a potter round the harbour area and saw some birds, including brown pelicans.

It was a beautiful approach past Alcatraz and with fabulous views of the Golden Gate Bridge in the sunshine! It is usually shrouded in mist apparently. There are two other more impressive bridges actually, one of them extremely long.

We walked all the way along the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf where there is a marina and lots of restaurants. We saw the sea lions hauled up in the harbour, making a terrible noise! Crab sandwiches and crab chowder at Boudin Sourdough where I also bought a sourdough loaf for the bus.

Next we rode a street car up one of the steep hills then walked down the famous zig-zag Lombard Street. There is some great modern architecture along with older traditional buildings. We saw several driverless cars too – rather unsettling!