San Francisco in the nude

Lake Tahoe

Crossing into California was really nice, lots of dessert to start with and then you come around a bend and Reno seems to rise up out of the dust from nowhere.  As you head up the hill out of Reno, the landscape changes drastically to rocky outcrops and then Alpine mountains.  Lake Tahoe is absolutely beautiful in amongst it all. 

Scenery between Reno and Sacremento

The highway between Reno and Sacremento is horrendous.  It doesn’t seem to be finished, there is concrete but it’s not smooth at all.  We had our first flat tyre just outside of Sacremento, it was absolutely shredded.  I was very impressed that Justin managed to get us back on the road again in about 20 minutes.  My nerves were shot by that stage with the kids playing on the highway as such.  We had another shining example of American hospitality when a lady noticed us and the kids, got off at the next exit and circled back to ask if I wanted a lift to the nearest playground with the kids.  By that time Justin was almost finished so we politely declined.

In action on the highway

What was left of our tyre

We had booked into a KOA in Petaluma (about 45 minutes from San Francisco) and as we drove there we passed Napa Valley with it’s beautiful vineyards, we crossed through the swamplands and then headed into the countryside.  Petaluma KOA is brilliant, massive playgrounds, heated pool, spa pool, petting zoo, kids’ activities and a big bouncy thing like a pillow the size of a tennis court.  Leo and Spencer were in heaven here so we were pleased we decided to stay 5 nights and give them a real break.

The bouncy "pillow"

Running to catch Spence

The pool

The first day we hung about the camp and gave the kids a great day with all the activities at camp.  Spencer will try and do anything Leo does so we have to keep an eye on her because Leo is very brave with climbing etc.  The bouncy pillow was hilarious.  Justin and I had to position ourselves on each side and sprint up and down ready to catch her when she jumped too high or simply ran too fast because she’d tumble right off the thing.

The KOA offer a tour of San Francisco for $70 each which we thought was a bit much and not much fun sitting in a tour van with the kids so we took Louie.  We drove to Larkspur and caught the ferry for $17 return into downtown San Francisco (kids were free).  This was a great ride, what wonderful views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge on the way.  It was also lovely to see the city as we approached it.

A windswept Leo

Our first glimpse of Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco

Justin and I immediately fell in love with San Francisco, all it took was the pier markets (the smell of coffee, the specialist fish, cheese, wine, herb, book shops, what a great atmosphere!) as we got off the ferry.  We headed off to Chinatown via California St and pushed the pushchairs up that steep hill.  It was tempting to catch a tram but the thought of trying to fold down the strollers with all our gear and load the kids up was too much.

Chinatown was brilliant; the colours, the characters, the vibe, the hustle and bustle made you feel like you were in China.  The shops were great, we saw a hand carved elephant tusk that was huge and selling for $100,000 at the back of one shop.  They wouldn’t let anyone take photos of it, we wondered if that is because it would damage it or because it was illegal.  There were lots of very old Chinese about, what is it about the aged chinese?  They seem to shrink from within, they were very frail and some couldn’t even seem to hold their heads up as they were lead about. 

Justin trying his first oyster

Cosmopolitan tram riders

Chinatown

North Beach building

St Peter and Pauls on Washington Square

Coming out of Chinatown the streets open up a bit and suddenly you start to see tables and chairs out on the sidewalks and you have entered Little Italy!  We stopped at Washington Park for the kids to have a play and then walked through North Beach to get down to the docks where the Fishmarket is.  This is a truly lovely area to visit, full of life.  There were buskers on every corner, the boats were bringing in fish left, right and centre and the smell of the restaurants is just divine.  It all looks out on to the harbour with piers that you can walk down to take photos of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.  We stopped to see some fish being off loaded where they were measured and checked by the warden.  Both the kids’ faces were a real picture when she took a machete and cut the fish’s head off.  Leo was gobsmacked “they cut the fish’s mouth off mummy!”

View from our lunch spot

Salmon caught at sea

Warden in action cutting off heads

There was a real carnival atmosphere, merry go rounds for the kids, candy shops galore and a big aquarium too.  One busker’s gig was to hold a leafy branch in front of him and scare people as they walked past.  It was actually quite funny and some of the people almost wet themselves.  He did quite well for himself.

Neither of our kids would look at this guy

Leo and his transformer

Tap in mid-air pouring water, can you work it out?

By this stage the kids were knackered and fell asleep in their pushchairs so Justin and I hightailed it along the boulevard back to the pier where we needed to catch the ferry back and stopped a the nearest pub for a cheeky drink.  We were sitting there having a chat about what a great city it was when we saw two blokes cycling past, one in a cap and one in a top hat and NOTHING ELSE.  Apparently this is legal in San Francisco and a normal sight on a Friday afternoon.  Charming.

Seals on the pier

Alcatraz

Out cold after a big day out

Our nudie friends

The people of San Francisco seem to be very cosmopolitan (apart from the nudity), very fashion smart but relaxed at the same time.  Justin reckoned half of them must work at google.  You get the sense that this city is doing very well for itself.

With the kids still asleep we boarded the ferry and when they woke up we headed outside for the view going back across the harbour.  We passed San Quentin prison which is huge, this replaced Alcatraz when they closed it down.  By the time we hit camp it was dark and time to start processing the kids, what a brilliant day! 

Now that we are in October America is gearing up for Halloween and it’s massive.  There seems to be pumpkins everywhere you look.  They are huge and sell for anything between 80c and $5.  We didn’t realise it but 1^st October is a momentous occasion as it’s the start of Halloween month.  All of a sudden the campground was chocka full of kids, there seem to be witches and spiders everywhere and you can’t go to any shop without having to lift up spider webs or scarey black cats to find the bread you want.

Leo cleaning Louie

Beanie after a dunking

We took the kids to a Pumpkin farm so they could join in the fun.  Adobe Farm is in Petaluma and is huge, it has fields and fields of pumpkins that have just been plundered.  It also has bouncy castles, haystacks, kids’ activities, gift shops, coffee shop, a corn maze and lovely fields of flowers.    Leo and Spencer had great fun playing amongst the pumpkins, eating candyfloss and running about in the haystacks.  It was a wonderful afternoon for them (and us), the gift shop was full of Halloween stuff.  They had a bubble machine that churns out bubbles full of smoke so the kid sat there for ages popping them.  Spencer tried to shoplift a Freddy Kruger arm….heaven only knows why she was so attached to it.

Hmmm...where to start?

We want these ones!

All shapes and colours

So where is this Fairy Godmother then?

Scarey scarecrows

Look what I caught guys!

John and Debbie infront of their palace

We have met a lovely couple from Victoria, Canada who are our neighbours back at the campground.  They are also in a pop up tent but a much newer version and they kindly gave us a tour.  What a palace compared to our 1991 version!  I suppose Coleman has had 20 years to improve on our model but man, what a difference!  Debbie and John are on a 6 week holiday.  Debbie is Wales born but was raised in South Africa for a while so she and Justin had a good chat about that.  We were very spoiled with French Toast being delivered to our front door the next morning, evening Marguerita’s and a lovely goodbye breakfast of cinnamon rolls – friends for life!  They have invited us to stay with them for a night when we are in Canada and we are very much considering taking them up on their offer.  Great conversations and lots to talk about, Debbie also let us download the latest movies she had on her laptop….which is a lifesaver considering we have almost finished our supply.  Leo now has Toy Story 3 so we are sorted.

On our last day we headed back to the city, this time we drove over Golden Gate bridge.  You need to pay a toll of $6 in the city bound direction only to get over the bridge.  We took a quick drive through the park and then parked and got out to have a closer look.  The bridge itself is very impressive.  Justin’s Dad told us the bridge is constantly being painted red, 365 days of the year.  We couldn’t see the painting crew that day but we did see the scaffolding where they were up to.  We took a walk out on the bridge and looked back at the city, got some great shots.  We heard that the Blue Angels will be doing a show later in the week which will be something to see.

Louie drives the bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

Leo and Spencer walk the bridge

Cheeky young lady

Team Wright, San Francisco

The fog rolls in

Picnic at Pacific Beach

Leo makes friends

Can't beat a good Sand - which

We wanted to go to Golden Gate Park so we took the scenic coast drive to get there and went past the Legion of Honour memorial which is lovely and then headed back down to Pacifica Beach.  Unfortunately there was a festival on at the park so finding a carpark was impossible.  We ended up having a lovely picnic on the beach where Leo infiltrated a nice Romanian family with 3 boys who were digging a hole.  As we watched the infamous San Francisco fog rolled in across the harbour and headed for the bridge, it was weird because it was a beautiful sunny day with this one cloud of fog rolling through.  The water was freezing though so we weren’t having a swim, that is until Spencer got well and truly rolled by a wave.  She came up wet and crying but got over it quickly although we needed to get a move on because there was a fresh wind and she got cold quickly.  We took a bit of a walk through the Golden Gate Park and then headed home.

Windmill at Golden Gate Park

Spencer after her dunking

Crossing back over the bridge was lovely with the fog clouded over it and we had heard that Sausalito was a great place to have a look around so we stopped there for a nosy.  It is a cute little town on the harbour and has great views back to the city, lots of shops and nice places to eat. We ate a cheap and cheerful Mexican dinner with marueritas.  When we got home it was dark again and we were welcomed with a fresh margueritas from Debbie and John which was really nice.

Golden Gate Bridge in fog

View of San Francisco from Sausalito

Another fabulous day in San Fran, what an amazing city and one to keep on the books to return to someday.