I had a great time in San Francisco, mostly sightseeing. I had never been to SF and I wanted to see the city. You never know when you’ll place a book there. I have one in the back of my mind as I type.
The weather was great!!! It didn’t rain once I was there which is a good thing since I didn’t take an umbrella or a raincoat. During the daytime it was usually in the 60s while it got colder at night (in the 40s at least once). I thought I had packed correctly with the temperature in mind, but I hadn’t. I only wore half of what I took–the other half was inappropriate. I didn’t take into account the wind chill factor. There were a lot of places where the wind would whip by you, chilling me even when I wore a warm jacket which I purchased in Chinatown for $10. That was my best buy in SF. While I was contending with a cooler climate, back home my family was contending with temperature above 100 (and humid). I wasn’t looking forward to getting off the plane and feeling the heat (over 105 when I returned home).
I saw the redwood forest near SF and the Napa Valley. I went to the Golden Gate Park as well as the Golden Gate Bridge which we took to get to the forest. I traveled through some quaint towns around SF and I spent a lot of time in Chinatown where my roommate shopped until I dropped. I went to Fisherman’s Wharf and it was so crowded that day (a gorgeous Saturday) that I was amazed so many people could be in such a small area. The seals were neat to see at the pier. My favorite thing, however, was seeing the most crooked street in the world and finding myself having to go down it in the car. We hadn’t intended to do that, but that was the only way to go so down we went.
I walked the streets until my feet hurt so bad they were going numb. The worst part of walking in SF is that the landscape isn’t flat in a lot of places. Some of the streets we were on were at a VERY steep angle. There was one time the taxi I was in went down one that I had to close my eyes. I felt like I was on a roller coaster or in some chase scene I’d seen in a movie. The taxi cab driver was going fast!
Below is a slideshow of some of the sights. The first couple are of Chinatown–the entrance, a place where we ate, a butcher (with chicken feet in the window). Then we went the next day to the Muir Redwood Forest and Napa Valley. The size of the trees were amazing. I felt like I was walking in the presence of the Lord. You will see some pictures of the crooked street and one that shows the steep angle of a street (one of many in SF). I have some pictures of the Japanese Tea Garden in the Golden Gate Park where my roommate (Laura Marie Altom) and I have tea–delicious. The last section is of the crowded Fisherman’s Wharf (crowded with people and seals). Lynn Garrett went with Laura and me to the wharf. We wanted to ride the trolley to the wharf but the line was so long (blocks) we didn’t.
