It was only a 40 mile drive! We left the Petaluma, CA KOA early and pointed the rig at the Wharf in San Francisco. Most of the advisories I found on the internet suggested this was a foolish and futile endeavor. But this honey badger isn't afraid of six lane traffic, big bridges, fog, narrow roads, hills that cause Lance Armstrong to quiver or going the wrong way on a one way street!
We had the advantage of having parked at the Wharf a year ago and knew an early morning arrival would allow a parking place for an RV. However, last year we approached the parking lot from the south without the obstacle of the Golden Gate Bridge. This morning's approach was from the north and involved a foggy approach across the Golden wonder and a huge amount of faith in the GPS not leading us to the famous Lombard Street drive.
Believe it or not, Lombard Street was on our approach, but thankfully we dodged before the big one was an issue. We arrived at the Wharf parking lot early enough to find a nearly empty lot and a parking place with our name on it.
Next we were off to the Haight-Ashbury area. We opted to enter this area through the San Francisco public transportation offerings. The street car ride lasted all of 3 blocks before it ended at the bus stop. We boarded the waiting bus and arrived at 3rd and Market in time to jump the 71. The 71 landed us at Haight and Maonic and we walked to lunch from there. The give away to this event was the meal. The public transportation was far from lightening quick, but what it lacked in speed it more than covered in educational value to the Tyner kids. It is difficult to know if the lessons they learned during this adventure will soon be removed from their memories or whether the scars will go with them all of their days.
The shopping frenzy that was expected in this hip part of town was a flop. Not a single piece of awesomeness was added to anyone's wardrobe although Caleb did have his eyes on a groovy fedora.
Since the snail like delivery of the public transportation would likely have expended the rest of our day, we opted for a taxi ride back to the Wharf. As I flagged a passing cab and asked how many he could fit in his car, he replied, "how many are there of you?" There were legitimately 4 seats and amazingly all 7 of us landed in this limo. He was an entertaining driver with a natural distaste for leaf blowers, who took the initiative to take us down Lombard Street on our approach to the ever popular Ghiradelli Square.
Ghiradelli is always a hit when in San Fran and after an ice cream break, we stopped back at the RV for a break and additional clothes; the Bay Area wind was a little much.
The girls went one direction and the boys another. The shopping had begun in earnest at this point and the knick knack shops around the wharf were at war with one another for the Tyner kid's bankroll. A few T-shirts and sweatshirts later and we rendezvoused back at the rig. This time we had a surprise guest, Brian McGuckin. We shared some war stories with him, admired some of his photos and grabbed a quick bite for dinner before parting ways. It was enough time for Brian to get a good smell of Caleb though!
We departed the Bay Area on the Bay Bridge and took a short drive to our campsite. Ahhhhh....rest after a busy day! Really, I think it was those 40 miles that wore me out!
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