We've got 200 miles to drive today so had showers, breakfast, packed & got on our way. Bootjack is a beautiful area with all of the trees & forests & hills. We've had a lovely 2 day stay here at Judy's B & B. Arrived early so went for a drink in Inn N Out. Had a good journey with no issues.
Popped into Walmart which is just down the road from our hotel, the Hilton Garden Hotel in San Lorenzo & bought some leggings & Roy a tee shirt then checked into our hotel. It's very nice & we're on the 4th (top) floor. No breakfast at this one but they do a $10.95 buffet downstairs so we'll try that out. Had a quiet night as we're tired from yesterday & the long drive today.
Day 49 San Francisco 02.06.12
Had our buffet breakfast & they've got loads of choice. I had cereal, OJ, coffee, 2 eggs, bacon & breakfast potatoes with toast & a delicious blueberry muffin. (Took a banana for later!) Stocking up for our trip to Alcatraz. At the kind recommendation of 3 people we booked it a couple of weeks ago. Drove into town & managed to find a proper car park for $10 all day, no parking tickets today! We walked past all of the piers to Pier 33 where you get on the ferry & got our tickets for the 11.30am one. Good job we booked as you could only buy tickets for tomorrow! After a dull, misty start the sun has come out & apart from the sea breeze it's nice & warm.
Sat on the top deck of the ferry which was nice as long as you kept away from the rail, the breeze almost froze you if you ventured near it! We got off the ferry at the island & listened to a short talk then watched the video about the history of the island. Walked up to the cell block & took the audio tour where you have your own headphones & recorder & listen to it as they guide you around, pausing it if you need to. It was excellent - very interesting with lots of displays etc. I'd thoroughly recommend it for anyone going to SF.
We had a good walk around but couldn't go on the south side of the island as the sea birds are nesting. Very windy in the exercise yard! We bought some souvenirs in the gift shop & got the 2.45pm ferry back. Brilliant!
When we got off the boat we walked up to Fisherman's Wharf & went on Pier 39 which is a very busy, vibrant area with lots of shops, booths & restaurants. There's also several floating pontoons covered in very noisy sealions!
We decided to go on the trolley car up & down the steep hills so we bought some tickets & then waited for an hour to get on one. It was an experience but when we got off we were frozen to the bone & had to find a Starbucks for a coffee to thaw out. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge & were amazed at how half of it was shrouded in very low cloud / mist & the other half was in sunshine. Strange! You can also see the mist moving across really fast, it's bizarre, I've never seen anything like that ever before.
By this time it was getting late so we found our way back to the car & drove back to the hotel via a pizza parlour. A great day.
I was surprised at how many real down & outs there were in town, they all looked cold, what a place to be on the streets.
Day 50 SF to Fortuna 03.06.12
Had another breakfast in the hotel as we've got 260 miles to drive today & need a good start.
There were loads of vineyards on the way, also pistachio trees & when we got to Willetts it changed to pine forests & huge trees. Very lovely to drive through. This is one of the things I was looking forward to, seeing all of the different scenery.
When we started out the temp was 85 degrees & it dropped to 60. We arrived at the Super 8 in Fortuna, friendly staff & a nice room, Roy did a load of washing & I made a cuppa. We went to the Eel River pub right next to the hotel & had a great meal, I had salmon & Roy had a chicken, fish & shrimp combo. 10% off because of staying at the hotel, can't be bad.
Day 51 Fortuna to Crescent City 04.06.12
Our last stay over in California. Quite dull today & rain has been forecast. Had our breakfast & set off on a short journey of 100 miles. We'll be driving through the Redwood parks & along the coast.
It started to rain but only a bit so we made a detour to the Ladybird Johnson Grove & went for the mile walk through the huge redwoods. Luckily we wore our rain coats & trainers, unluckily it didn't stop our trousers from getting so wet you could have rung them out! We had to change in the car before we could carry on to the hotel! We had planned to stop off at the trees of mystery & go up on the sky trail but it's too wet & misty.
Staying at the Anchor Beach hotel & we've got a sea view, however it's still raining so no walks on the beach for us. Instead we drove into town to Safeway & bought some food, wine & chocolate gateau. Roy went for a little walk & got caught in the rain again, I watched tv! Who's the smart one?
Alcatraz island
TTFN xxx
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