Carrying on the story of my exploration of the West coast of America, after spending a week in the very south of the state and even in Mexico (link is here for that), it was time to head north to San Francisco. Known for its bridges, culture and prisons (in a good way, I guess?), it was going to be a completely different feel to other cities we had been to, showing the variety that there is within one state, never mind a whole nation!
Day 14
Great start to this blog post with what was probably the most boring day of the whole trip: travelling from San Diego to San Francisco on a coach, taking just over 11 hours. That’s literally it!
We arrived in San Francisco, got an taxi to the hostel for this section of the journey, HI San Francisco – Fisherman’s Wharf. Located at an old military outpost overlooking the Bay, we arrived pretty late that evening so it was a case of getting in, checking in and bedding down for the night to be full of energy the next day.
Day 15
After the thrilling beginning to our time here, San Francisco… Let’s go! Located at the hostel was a cafe that served up a great breakfast that was fresh for a very affordable fee before we got set to leave and headed to one of the most iconic bridges in the world. (I’m sure you already know without me saying it!)
What a refreshing morning it was too! After handling 2 full weeks of hot weather, we woke up to low clouds, mild temperatures and some blustery winds and it wasn’t until now that I realised that I had been needing it! It felt very English and it was somewhat revitalising in a way! Though the weather did have a downside and that was that our target for the morning was currently wasn’t viewable but we decided to proceed.
Aside from the surprisingly wanted and needed weather, the walk was nice to have after spending so long sat down the day before and take in the lovely scenery across the bay to our right as well as the town houses that were to the left of us. Taking in the sea air, we continued forwards towards our goal, all whilst the clouds were receding and allowing the sun to shine through.
About an hour later and after passing through Crissy Field Marsh and Crissy Field, we were now stood on Torpedo Wharf with the sun now shining and we’d gotten to the location we had chosen to take in the bridge and grab a photo with it. I mean, if you don’t take a photo and put it on Instagram, were you really there?! (Don’t worry, I’m kidding…)
With not much else planned, we decided to continue wandering around and see what else was in the locality as we headed back to the hostel to make a more thorough set of plans for our adventures over the next few days. The only thing that really caught our eye was the Palace of Fine Arts with some interesting and impressive decor that you would only really expect seeing in Rome, not San Francisco.
Moving into the afternoon and evening, it was one that was used to rest up in the hostel for one of us whilst I tried to seek out a gym to train in. Eventually I managed to find what I was looking for and got a good dose of iron that I had been missing for the last week or so due to the sporadic nature of my ability to get to a gym. Once I returned, we signed up for a couple of walking tours before hitting the hay for some more walking tours.
Day 16
The first of the two tours that we did was the historic tour that took us down into the downtown area and we were taken through the history of San Francisco, the landmark buildings that have been built in and around the city, whilst also hearing about the ebb and flow of San Francisco as the city was faced with an 80% complete rebuild due to the Great Fire of 1906.
The tour finished and we were just in time for us to head off to a food truck festival right next door called Off The Grid, ideal! This was where a collection of local high end food trucks came together offering plenty of delicious treats from all cuisines, all for a very reasonable price. They are an events platform that tours around all of San Francisco with dates, times and locations all found at their website so be sure to check there for the nearest one to you whilst you’re in the city and check it out. Good food, good drinks and a festival feel to meet and greet people or go with your own group.
It was during this event that I had one of the most stereotypical engagements with an American! Wandering around between the trucks seeing what was on offer, one of the guys that we had gone with had started talking to two women who were locals. Noticing me, he decided to point out to the women that I was British to prompt a conversation based on the stereotypical assumption. Now, by no means did I expect a conversation to occur due to this but it did, with their opening line being “Oh my God, are you like really British?”, to which I obviously replied “Yes, I am”. To then be blindsided by the next question was not what I expected for small talk but I can hand on heart say that this is what she asked me… “Oh my God! That’s so cool! Do you like know Prince Harry?!” No word of a lie, that is what I was asked before they proceeded to list off several members of the Royal Family. Disappointed by my severe lack of royal interaction, they proceeded to state that they should be as famous as Kim Kardashian due to the quality of their rear ends. It was at this point that I excused myself and wished them a pleasant evening…
It was just after the event when heading back up the hill to the hostel that I noticed how good this location was for the scenery as I captured a brilliant sunset shot, silhouetting the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands.
Day 17
Compared to the walking tour that we did the day before, this one took us through the cultural side of San Francisco. Showing us the areas where creativity and individuality have been allowed to flourish, helping put across politic messages, help those from disadvantaged positions and move forward civil rights for people of all creeds.
One of the main areas that this tour focussed around was Clarion Alley, which is famous for its wide array of murals covering every inch of the walls either side. As you can see from the pictures below, these murals feature a variety of things from being just pure art to putting across politic messages, from tributes to people who have helped shape the culture of Sam Francisco to charities offering help to those who are troubled by the social issues that affect San Francisco. All in all, every mural was of a high quality and was quite an experience to take in, both seeing local talent as well as learning about what shaped this city.
To cover the other highlights from the tour, the first one was the Mission Dolores basilica. Though known as one of the oldest churches within San Francisco, the reason why this one stands out so much is that it is the oldest building within San Francisco and remarkably was the only building in the area that survived the 1906 Great Fire that destroyed 80% of the city. The fact that it was only a religious building that survived, read into that what you will…
Final highlight that we were shown was Mission Dolores park. A very popular park not only in San Francisco, but in the whole of America based on the amount of visitors against the total area of the park. Due to its location, it’s well known for the variety of people that visit from all backgrounds and the events that it has hosted in the past. I can assure too, that on the day that we visited, the greens of the park were bursting at the seams with people.
Of course, one thing you have to do in any city is experience the night life that they have on offer! Our place of choice? Infusion Lounge, which is the basement of Hotel Fusion in downtown San Francisco. After having a few drinks in the hostel with some of our fellow hostellers, we grabbed an Uber and headed down to the downtown area for our chosen location. The place of choice was an interesting place, with a standard nightclub decor in one room, moving to a more Asian influenced decor in the accompanying room, complete with Chinese statues. It was a good night out for sure with the Germans that we were with however, we were faced with the same issue as most places… it closing early!
Day 18
The final full day in San Francisco was spent clearing up the things that we hadn’t seen that is on the list of “Things you have to see” in most people’s eyes. This meant heading out on foot to start the day with seeing Lombard Street, known famously for its eight hairpin turns on its very steep section. For the speed of the road, there was a lot of traffic driving down it, which often clashed with tourist wishing to take photos at the entrance of the road.
Following that, we headed down to the Fisherman’s Wharf area after having a brief look on our walking tour earlier in the week to spend an hour or two there taking it all in. This errand started with looking around the amusements, shops and restaurants on offer but led to the discovery of a place that I’d been told had one of the best fast food burgers by a friend back in the UK so I had to try it! This place was… In-N-Out Burger. I’d also been warned about the “secret” menu so decided to do my research on the topic and that’s what helped me decide my treat… the 4×4: four patties, four cheese and a load of fries. Definitely a good burger, not entirely sure it’s the best fast food one though?
The rest of the day was spent wandering through the piers, admiring the collection of street performers, artists and public speakers along the front of the piers before heading through Pier 39, known for it’s collection of shops and restaurants and since 1990, the new inhabitants of the sea mammal variety, the sea lions.
The evening was a really exciting one… we spent it packing and making sure that we had everything, booked our shuttle to airport so that we can grab our car and then chilled out in the hostel with a few drinks (not too many of course for the driver), said bye to those that we had met and befriended before we headed off to bed, ready to head to the mountains.
Day 19
An easy morning was what was called for as we weren’t in any rush due to check out being at the usual late morning time and our only planned activity for the day was to collect the car we’d booked back in San Diego and drive into the mountains to go and see Yosemite National Park.
Using the shuttle that they have for the hostel, we headed to the airport to collect our car, with my travel buddy very excited to get behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang. I hadn’t got my driver’s license just yet so I was only able to play passenger for the driving but it was still a cool experience nonetheless. Paperwork done, keys handed over and off to the car park we went to grab the car. And what a car it was! A bright red automatic Ford Mustang coupé EcoBoost and boy did this car purr, even with just the EcoBoost version of the engine. I can only imagine how good it would have sounded had we hired the full V8 5L version!
Even though I was only in the passenger, I could tell from the smile on the driver’s face that it was fun to drive! We headed out of the car park and on to the roads to towards the mountains and what a drive it was. On the highways, the opportunity was taken to open up the throttle and see what the performance as like (legally, I might add!) before we got up into the windy mountain roads, where I admit, the rear of car was slightly kicked out one or two times (again, in a safe manner). All in all, a fun drive for both driver and passenger. Of course, en route we stopped for a quick photo opportunity in the lay-by next to the Don Pedro reservoir.
Our base camp for this part of the trip was at the Yosemite International Hostel, based in a very small, rustic Gold Rush town of Groveland, located between 45 minutes and an hour and a half from Yosemite National Park, traffic dependant. Boasting a whole 601 people living here on it’s greeting sign, the town was exactly what I expected it to be like in the countryside of America. Quiet, secluded, surrounded by forest but the main thing was, the populous were very welcoming indeed!
Once we’d checked in, we decided to take a look around the small town to see what there was on offer. A quaint little place having all the necessary amenities covered, it was the polar opposite to life in Los Angeles but for me, this was needed after nearly 3 weeks of city life. It was refreshing to head away from the chaos of the city and head to the smaller towns and get the authentic experience.
One of the highlights of our time in Groveland was the Iron Door Saloon, being as authentic as you could get! Built from granite, this place claims to be the oldest continuously running bar in all of California, with you being greeted by two iron doors which inspired the name of the saloon. Established in 1852, it served gold miners and the likes who passed through the area before moving forward to the modern day, playing host to a watering hole for locals and tourists to mix. The decor is one of the most interesting things about this place, with money stuck to the ceiling which was once an insurance policy for prospectors, the prizes from hunts and old mining equipment. On top of the that, the staff there were very welcoming and great to talk to whilst they offer live music on a regular basis.
Dinner was eaten at the saloon, stocks were made ready for the day ahead in Yosemite and we’d headed back to hostel to chat with some of the other visitors outside as the sunset over the valley and we headed for a good night’s rest so we could attack the next day.
Day 20
The drive down into the main national park area was a quiet and pleasant driving, taking you through the valley and a couple of tunnels before you got the entrance. With it being $35 to enter per vehicle, in my eyes it’s a bargain to be able to explore such a place for such a price. However, one thing to be wary of is the prices of the food places within the park as they are quiet pricey for what you get.
Travel Tip: If you’re heading out on a day trip to somewhere like Yosemite, my advice would be to stock up on food and water supplies before hand, as stocking up whilst in the park is going to dent your bank account quite a bit, especially if you’re a big consumer of these supplies.
As we didn’t know which route we wanted to take, we headed to the information point to get a map of whole place so that we could work out which route we could do in the time we had and the resources that we had. Our chosen route? Yosemite Falls Trail, with a total length of 7.2 miles and an elevation gain of 2,900ft. This route was due to take us to the top of the Yosemite Falls waterfall, which is the tallest waterfall on the continent.
The two main things against us were the heat at above 40C and the amount of water that we had, which was being depleted by two large guys, one with an illness. We started up the trail with what we thought was enough and set a good pace so that we could get up and down. As we walked up, some of the views that we took in were truly spectacular, giving you panoramic views of the valley and it was building my anticipation for the views that would be coming up at the top. The only downside was the fact that the waterfall wasn’t in its best flow due to the hot summer and drought that California had, meaning that it was reduced to a dribble over the cliff edge. I’m sure when it is in full flow, the sight of this waterfall would be brilliant!
Halfway up the climb to the peak of our trek, it appeared that the water supplies that we had weren’t going to make it so had to make the disappointing buy sensible idea to turn around and see elsewhere within the park, once we’d topped up on water. No matter where you went in Yosemite, the views were always brilliant! The only thing that didn’t live up to expectation was Mirror Lake that was very depleted due to the draught that the area was suffering but was still a refreshing stop in the heat for a paddle.
Travel Tip: The middle of summer probably isn’t the best time for you to head out to Yosemite National Park. Not only are the water features of the park not at theeir best, such as the lakes being depleted and the waterfall being a dribble but there can be very little cover from the intense heat and you’ll have to take that into account when you are select which hike you’re wanting to do there.
One of the final activities on the way back that we wanted to do to make sure that we got the most from the car, was to hear the full growl of the Mustang engine in the tunnel that we passed through with the windows down. So as we left the national park, we parked up on the side of the road in a lay-by until some of the traffic cleared, put the windows down and then headed into the tunnel and fully enjoying sound that the engine gave back, even if it wasn’t the full V8 version.
After a relatively successful day out in the Yosemite National Park, with a few lessons learnt about the heat, water consumption and what you’re capable of in such temperatures, it was time for a much needed rest and good night’s sleep back at the hostel. After grabbing dinner and ensuring that we were all packed up and ready for the drive to Las Vegas tomorrow morning. I was tucked up into bed by 9:30pm and ready to set a generous alarm but I was about to get a rude awakening… The alarm had to be set for 1:00am. “Wait, hold on… What?!” may be what you’re thinking and from what I recall, was exactly what I said! It turned out that the car was booked in at 10:30am at the drop off in Las Vegas by accident and to avoid the penalty fee, we’d have to leave at this time to cover the 9 hour car journey that we were expecting.
Travel Tip: Check your bookings! When you’re booking something, it’s very easy to speed through the process with excitement and end up missing something or getting a date/time wrong which can cause you a whole world of hurt later on. So make sure you check double, triple, quadruple… You get the idea!
Though the morning was an emotional one, this cloud has a very bright silver lining… Las Vegas! And boy, oh boy was this a story and a half!
