U.S.#4 Riding the buses in San Francisco

This post is obviously not chronological - we haven't rushed back to SF to catch everything we missed! Rather, I'm backtracking to resume the blogging which got behind to due to the frantic pace of touring.

Don't forget to click on the photo to follow the link to My Picasa Web Albums to view the photos in this blog. And you're welcome to comment on anything you view or read, this blog is moderated so I'll decide if it gets published!

U.S.#6 Hood River hots up

When it's a hundred in the shade, what can you do but jump in the Chrysler people mover, pump up the air con and tour the countryside? We got up too late and moved too slowly to undertake the long loop to Mount St Helens so decided to do the Fruit Loop and Columbia River valley up to Maryhills, the desert end of the valley.

Having purchased most of our fruit at Safeway yesterday, we dropped in on the Lavendar Farm instead. The owner explained that he got the idea for it from a visit to one outside Launceston. With views to Mt Hood in the background and rolling hills covered in fruit trees and vineyards, I could've sat in the pergola all day and watched the bees busy at work amongst the lavendar bushes.

However, we had other sites to see and several more wrong turns to take, before leaving the Fruit Loop and heading east toward the desert country. One of our party was bitterly disappointed that her favourite Western outfitter in the Dalles was closed for Sunday trading (how dare they - the outlet shops don't!). With the temperature rising we wound our way toward Pilbara country except there was a giant river threading its way through the valley.

We found the petroglyphs in Columbia Hills State Park: they had been moved to a convenient site away from the gorge which had been flooded with the building of the dams. Most of the petroglyphs were barred from public access without a tour guide due to vandalism. Oh well, these were great anyway, and, with the 'I'm feeling lucky' button in Picasa, they actually come up better than in situ.

Quick swim in the river at a van park / rocky beach with significant irrigation run-off and chained off for protection from the water skis. Hmmm - not my favourite swimming hole.

U.S.#3 - Yosemite National Park

So we get picked up round 6.30am from the Handlery Hotel in San Francisco to go to Yosemite National Park - a 4 1/2 hour drive unless you're travelling on a big bus packed with bleary-eyed tourists who haven't had breakfast yet.

Leo, our bus driver/ tour guide, starts off with a jovial aspect but reveals his true fascist tendencies when articulating how critical it is NOT to use his 'restroom' for anything more substantial than a sprinkle. Basically a bullshit artist, he didn't shut up for most of the trip. Fortunately he dropped us at the Lodge at 12.45pm and we said our cheerios with a 2 buck tip. He would be driving the same-day travellers back but we were staying on overnight to chance it with the next driver. (He had his 'issues' too.)

I found the Park overwhelmingly spectacular and grand inspite of the crowds and cars. There are 2 one-way roads along the valley floor and the shuttle bus is free and regular - thereby encouraging the masses to crowd on rather than fill the valley with car fumes.

We took one tip from our mate, Leo, which was to not waste time queuing in the caf for lunch but to head straight for Bus stop 16 or 17 and do a shortish stroll to either some waterfalls or the Mirror lake. We opted for the latter, the easier of the two - and it was brilliant, though there was hardly any water so, for mirror image reflections, we'll have to make do with Dad's pics taken circa 1964(?)

On our return we took a wrong path and suddenly we were quite alone - thinking about those Brown bears that Leo had mentioned (never walk alone...). It was sheer serendipidous (sic?) adventuring that we happened upon the Ahwahnee Hotel and parked ourselves at their delightful bar for sunset drinks and snacks.

The next day I jumped on the bus up to Glacier Point (2,200 feet directly above the Lodge) and my travel partner opted for the less vertigo-inducing open train valley floor tour.

At least 19 of the 30 passengers on the bus were planning to walk down either the long (7 hour) or the shorter route into the valley so I decided to do so too. Most of the pics are from that slip-sliding descent to the valley floor and my calf muscles have taken 4-5 days to recover enough to stop limping when going down stairs. It wasn't really steep but still dangerously slippery as some considerate fellow had paved the path all the way down (probably about 60 years ago) and now it's covered with a fine layer of gravel all the way.

The bus finally left the valley round 4.15pm and we arrived back at our hotel well after the kitchen had closed. I'd gladly return for more - and camp too, except for the bears (they hang around the happy campers looking for ways to get at the food.)

U.S.#2 San Francisco Part 2

Haight Ashbury on the third day and again upon our return from the overnight trip to Yosemite, as I had to retrieve my earring from a shop. We tried out a walking tour recommended by Lonely Planet (Janis Joplin's pad was in there somewhere, but I was chaperoning my travelling companion up the steep hills in the drizzling rain and her mind was on getting somewhere comfortable.)

The first squirrels of many came out to have their photos taken in the park. It seems the city parks are big, rambling and quite wild - not manicured with benches and flower beds.

We wandered round the little shops on Haight Ashbury - not a whiff of ganja but some interesting street art and loads of street people carrying their possessions and cute puppies.

Don't forget to click on the photos to get to the slideshow - I'm enjoying Picasa Web Albums' new 'Blog this!' button to link the text and pics. Bliss - released from the shackles of iphoto's locked-in syndrome.

U.S. #1 San Francisco - first 2 days

Yes, it's definitely Summer in the city - the flowers in the huge hanging baskets tell us so. But the weather is damp, cool and windy. The sun eventually came out to greet us at the Ferry Plaza wholefood and farmers' markets. (Note: the price on those Morel mushrooms.)

After a groggy first day we found our feet and our stomachs: enjoying a fried fish tortilla, all cooked in front of us in 2 minutes flat. I'm not sure why Gandhi towers over the outside stalls - maybe he visited once?

The cute 'doggies in the window' were a steal at $140 each: made of recycled newspapers.

We watched a few boats sail under the Oakland Bay bridge and then rode the buses (all electric, boasting no [er, local] emissions to Pier 39 where all the touros were. I have't seen so many crowds since Lido De Jesulo, Venice in 1983... So we didn't bother to get off to join the 'lines' for the local clam chowder.

Jill's phlog - Yes, it works!

Jill's phlog - ipadio - phonecast Have a go!

The bubble has burst!

Bubbleshare has finally pulled the plug on my slideshows and I'll be uploading them to Slide when I have half a chance.
The priority was to do the same for the CNLCtalks slideshows and you can view these at cnlctalks. The only problem is that its a closed wiki now and you can email me for the ID and password if interested.

Photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chemisti/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0