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San Francisco

September 2018
A 14-day adventure by Robert & Benoît Read more
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  • San Francisco
    Day 1

    Travel day

    September 15, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Woke up at 4am to start our adventure. I slept okay but as usual I was worried that for some unknown reason my alarm would fail or that the taxi would not show up on time. Thankfully everything went as planned and we were at the airport in no time.

    The airport was unfortunately a stressfull set of events for Ben. He was tagged randomly and was required to have a in depth scan at the TSA. Thankfully they did not require to unpack everything, they swabbed all his stuff and the machine gave him the all clear. Then at customs her gets an agent who is not a happy camper and gives him a bad time because he is using his Nexus card. After providing the passport instead he is good to go. We finally get to board the plane and have a easy flight. Arrived in Newark, Ben's credit card is deactivated for risk of fraud when he tries to make a purchase. Thankfully he was able to reply to an email to get the card reactivated.

    We take our second plane to San Francisco. A 5 hour flight so we pass the time by watching our own personal devices as United Airlines does not provide any entertainment.

    Arrived at SF we go get the car, the guy simply tells us to pick the car we want even if I reserved a certain model. I get lucky and spot a Volkswagen Atlas and it has CarPlay. Yay I get to have nice maps :)

    We then drive to get some supplies for our camping at REI. Following that we head over to Cupertino to see the Apple mother ship. It's impressive and really nice. After the eye candy we have a quick lunch and head over to our AirBnB. We travel the back roads in valleys that are al yellow with fried grass. Is different than the intended usual green that I am used to see.

    Arrived at the AirBnB we are greeted by Neil. He shares with us some great tidbits of information for Yosemite park and we take notes.

    Now it's time for bed. We will be of early tomorrow for Yosemite.    Read more

  • San Francisco
    Day 2

    Big Sequoia's Everywhere

    September 16, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We are really lucky with our trip to Yosemite. Last night we learned that the park has only reopened recently due to the fires that ravaged parts of the park; before that no one could enter to go hiking.

    As per a suggestion from our host last night, we decided to visit the Mariposa Grove. This place is amazingly beautiful with thousand year old Sequoia trees everywhere. On our journey to the top we see many gigantic trees with gorgeous red colors. As usual we try to capture photos but the magical color unfortunately does not transfer to the photos. You have to come and see for yourselves 😉. The hike is pretty easy even if they earn you that it is "strenuous". There is a very nice dirt road that you can take all the way to the top. There are also primeter roads that are more like traditional trails that are very nice to take instead.

    Once we arrive at the top we stop to eat lunch while enjoying the view. The squirrels are a bit different here, they are gray and seem to have a beard. I will try to take a picture next time. We also meet Germans, of course they are traveling everywhere. We meet one who is very helpful for some nice photos at the top.

    After the trek we head to our campground. We make a couple of pit stops for some photos of El Capitan and the Half Dome. We will be hiking up the Half Dome and maybe El Capitan in the next couple of days. It will be long days but are told that it is totally worth it.

    After setting up our tent we head back of to explore the grocery store and try to find the place for showers. We learn that there are no showers on our campground but some are available at another. We also learn that it cost 5 dollars, however, if there is no one at the door to collect we can get in for free. We will need to find out the times when there is no one guarding the door 🤭

    At the groceries we find the essentials: beer and something for lunch for our hike tomorrow. We forgot to bring a cooler in the limited space we had for our luggage. Oh well, we will just need to find things that can be kept at room temperature. We are both creative and will find some ideas 😋.

    After having supper we walk around to find the trailhead that we need to take tomorrow morning. We are lucky and find it quickly and at the same time we find a nice little stream with rocks to sit on and bonus, we have some internet to allow us to share our daily posts.

    That's it for today.    Read more

  • San Francisco
    Day 3

    The Half Dome Trek

    September 17, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Wow. What a hike. I will remember this trek for the rest of my life.

    We start the day by getting up around 5:30am. It's still dark out but the stars are starting to fade. We have breakfast and pack our stuff as we know we have a big day ahead of us. It is an estimated 24km hike. I hesitate about how much water to bring, it is suggested to bring at least three liters for our trek. I fill my Camelback all the way to the top and we head off.

    I also make sure that I bring my kit for blisters; my boots are fairly new and I am worried that my feet will be a mess by the end of the day. Thankfully they survived ;)

    The beginning of the trek is very steep but surprisingly it is all paved. We head up about 3km on this climb until we see the first set of falls called Vernal falls. We continue for another 2km to reach the Nevada falls. This is where a kid wanted to take a selfie and died from a fall trying to take his selfie with the top of the falls.

    After these falls we have quite a hike to bring us to the half dome. Lots of stairs made from the rocks and loose rocks to climb. Once near half dome the climb is mostly on mountain bedrock. I'm am so glad we wore boots and brought our walking polls; at first I was hesitant as not many others had polls and almost everyone is wearing shoes. With all the rocks everywhere it must be hard on the feet for anyone in sneakers. I must remember not to always follow what others are doing and go with my gut.

    We start to get hungry for lunch but we told ourselves we would wait to get to the top. Speaking of hungry, we are lucky to see a bobcat with his fresh caught squirrel in his mouth. I always find it interesting that these cat have such a small tail. Getting closer to the half dome we are quite surprised. In my mind I understood that we had a permit for cable cars. We have done these in the past where you get into a "basket" and pull yourself to the other side. I must have misunderstood as there are no cable cars. We see people climbing the dome with a very steep incline by using 2 cables. I start to worry about how we will make it up the dome.

    Once we arrive at the dome we see more clearly how this will work. First everyone is wearing gloves... Shit I did not know we needed gloves for this. The bedrock is at a 75 degree angle. It's like going up a ladder and having to use 2 cables instead of steps walking directly on the bedrock. I am a bit worried because if you make a mistake you're dead. We need to go up this thing for about 150m. Thankfully as we get closer to the cables we see that there are gloves for everyone to use. We pick a pair and start the climb. After 20m we see stuff falling from others people's bags. I look at the falling object and think "shit, this could be me if I am not careful". The other challenge going up this thing is that people are also coming back down... We have to dance around each other while not trying to die. I was stressed. We are about 50 to 100 people going up and down. If one of us makes a mistake and starts falling it could be a disaster. Plus some people are super scared and stop all the time. When someone stops it makes everyone else have to stop. Thankfully we find a way to pass some folks as I do not want to stay hanging on the cables any longer than needed.

    We obviously make it safely up as I am writing this post. Once at the top, we find a spot and enjoy our well deserved lunch. After lunch we take a couple photos. Mom do not look at the pictures on the top. Our next challenge is going back down using those cables. It is quite the adventure. I decided to go down looking face first. Some decide to go down backwards but for some odd reason I felt better face first. Again we must perform the dance with people going up. I am sooooo glad I don't have to do that again. You get quite the adrenaline rush but I was still very scared to end my adventure going up that dome. I will resist the urge to go lookup any stats on deaths at this spot.

    Once back down the dome we start the return trek. My feet are already hurting but I do not seem to have any blisters. The return is usually tough for me. I enjoy going up mountains but am less enthusiastic about heading down. At the 3/4 mark I notice that I do not recognize this bridge that we just crossed. We look at the map and realize that we took a wrong turn. The trail we are on does head back down but is a longer walk. I blame this error on Ben as I am pretty sure he was in the front at that time but I am no better as I noticed to late. No harm done we just need to hold on until the bottom. The last part of the trek is hard on us as both our knees and feet are killing us. I can't wait to take these boots off and let my feet take a well deserved breath of fresh air.

    Once arrived at camp we take the boots off. "Oh my god", that feels better. We stop to tracker on our phones and confirm that we almost did 25km. Tomorrow we had plans for another big trek. I think we will revisit that plan and do something shorter.

    That's all for the day, supper, wine and bedtime are on the menu for the evening.    Read more

  • San Francisco
    2
    Day 4

    Yosemite Falls?

    September 18, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Slept in this morning and got up around 7am. Today will be a light day so we take our time. We have breakfast and coffee. We fill water to the maximum in our packs; It's going to be a warm day and we will be in the sun for the whole ascent and most of the descent.

    Today we choose to go to Yosemite falls and then head to Yosmite point. Ben had originally planned this as a longer trek as there is another peak we could have also added to this day. We will have a 14km hike instead of another 24km like yesterday. Should be easier...

    We decide to take the SUV to Yosemite village and take the bus from there. It's free and the buses have hidden routes that cars cannot take. It would have been a long detour to the trailhead if we would not have taken the bus. We get a nice bus driver who provides information as we ride. At some point she talks about the Yosemite Falls and explains that the falls only flow from the melting snow from winter. This time of year it's dry and they call it the Yosemite Wall... Something that we did not see anywhere in looking at this trek. Oh well we had planned this trek, let's go up.

    The mornings are cold, it went down to about 7°C last night. You gotta wear layers but once you start the ascent it does not take long for the layers to come off. The elevation gain for this trail is about 1300m, it was a lot harder than what I would have thought. At the start of the trek my body was already aching from the trek we did just yesterday. I decide to go down a couple of gears and decide to climb using the first gear. Slow but strong. I am again thankful for poles as they really help with the way my body is reacting this morning. I tell myself that this is a short day and we should make it to the top quickly.

    The steep ascent is really tough and I feel noxious. I'm not sure if it's from the altitude our from something else. Also my sinuses were feeling pretty stuffed up, I wonder if I caught something. I hope I feel better soon. Going up on this trek is like climbing stairs non stop the whole way up. I keep telling myself to go slow but steady. We make it to the a couple nice views before we make it to the Yosemite point. At the top we see the distance that we had to make for our trek yesterday. It is quite the ride that we completed.

    At the top we, as usual, have a bite to eat. I am still feeling weird but I am still able to go. They say that over 2km in altitude is when you can start feeling the effects of less oxygen. Maybe this is also the reason I'm not feeling great.

    Going down we meet lots of people, more than yesterday. They also are more curious on how much longer it will take them to the top. We see lots of people who do not seem pepared for this hike. Some with only one small bottle of water, some in sandals. Sandals.... I'm wearing boots and so glad as you are walking on large rocks almost the whole trek. I guess some are okay with this type of shoe for hiking.

    As we head down my right knee start to hurt a lot. I am almost not able to bend it. I try different things to ease the pain but it's brutal going down. I find a hop movement that I make instead of bending the knee. This "lighter easier" trek is not as light as I thought. I tough it out and continue going down. We continually see people going up with nothing but a bottle in their hands. We tell them how long it will take to make it to the top and some take our advice seriously and decide not to go to the top. I finished my 3.25 litres on this trek, the sun was really cooking us.

    Finally we reach the bottom. My legs are happy. We take the bus back to the village. We stop at the store for a well deserved ice cream. As we go to pay for our stuff the employee tells us that the price is 47$. My mind does not see how our stuff could add up to this amount. We have a couple beers, Gatorade, the ice cream and nacho chips. I look at the bill and see a 23$ amount that I do not recognize. The guy somehow charged us for a T-shirt. We thankfully get a reimbursement and head out to enjoy our ice cream. End of trek. I really need to reajust the meaning of light and try to find something flat for tomorrow... I hope a good night of rest with help my knee.

    Today I learned that I do not need to tie my boots extremely tight. My internal logic told me that having the boots tight would minimize movement to reduce blisters. However I would always feel hot spots, feel uncomfortable due to the boots being so tight and still get blisters. To my great surprise it was better to use less force, my feet were fine for the whole trek and almos no hot spots 😎.    Read more

  • San Francisco
    Day 5

    Glacier Point

    September 19, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    I did not sleep very well last night. I turned from side to side feeling the pain in my knee every turn. Thankfully we can sleep in again today. Today is supposed to be a FOR REAL light day 🤨.

    Our original plan was to do a visit of the Yosemite Village and do a 4km loop however, after heading out my stomach feels upset again, I'm really feeling nauseated, it comes and goes quickly. It's not to the point of having to go to the restroom but I'm not feeling top shape.

    We look at our options and change our plans. We decide to drive up to Glacier Point. It is a scenic 1 hour drive. We could have also trekked to the top if I was in better shape but decided to do the easy way up. The drive to the top is very nice, you have to be careful and attentive as the road has many tight hairpin turns. I was afraid that it would worsen my predicament by thankfully I am not feeling worse. I feel bad about changing the plans Ben made for hiking it originally. I try to comfort myself by thinking that this situation is out of my control and that I should make the best of what I can do today.

    At the top we are welcomed by a majestic view of the valley with the Half Dome shining in the sunlight. Lots of pictures as usual. Interestingly there is a naturalisation ceremony taking place up here with the amazing view as a background. A nice place indeed for welcoming new US citizens.

    After absorbing the picturesque view we head back down to the valley. We first go to the market to get some Gravol and rub cream for my knee. We then take a stroll to the small Yosemite falls which are also dried up at this time of year. It's a nice flat walk, my knee is thanking me for my kindness today.

    About my knee...I can't go down any stairs, this is the first time this happens. Is this what happens when you get near 40? I hope it gets better as we are heading to San Francisco where there will be lots of walking up and down the hilly streets.

    On a good note my stomach finally feels better after supper. I won't question the placebo effect but I had a ginger ale just like my mom would give me as a kid when I felt sick. Thanks mom 👍

    My birthday cake was a dark chocolate mousse cake. Mmmmm, it was delicious.    Read more

  • San Francisco
    Day 6

    Travel to San Jose

    September 20, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Today we get up, have breakfast and pack our gear. It's a 4 hour drive back to San Jose where I found a nice AirBnB right beside Apple Park. It is a coincidence I swear.

    Before heading out of Yosemite Valley we make one last sightseeing spot, the Bridalveil Falls. We get there and are greeted by a small bead of water falling from the sky. It is not the best time year to see the Falls, we are told that spring is the best. We take a couple photos and get back on the road.

    The drive back out of the valley is nice and the roads are A1. They seem to have all been redone recently. There are still some spots where we are asked to stop and stop as there are still some work to do to recover from the fires.

    We arrive at our AirBnB and are greted by Carolyn. She is an excellent host and is very well organized. The whole home is lovely. We take well deserved showers and head out for dinner. We have supper at a Austrian restaurant where I have delicious schnitzel.

    That's it for today, my knee is still resting. It is Thankfully getting better 🙂

    Also on a positive note, the weather seems to be sunny for the next 14 days.    Read more

  • San Francisco
    Day 7

    San Francisco here we come

    September 21, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Woke up early today, I did not twist and turn all night 😁. We have breakfast, pack our gear and head to the Apple Store. I was curious to see if they had any new shiny iPhones. Unfortunately the store only had phones for people whom had reserved in advance. We try a mall 10 minutes away but the line up is longer than what I am ready to wait. Getting the phone here is cheaper with the cureen dollar and the tax rate at 8%. I will see if it is available in a couple days.

    While returning to the San Francisco Airport we stop by a couple of points of interest. We first stop at the NASA Ames research center. There is a free exhibit, we spend 20 minutes there as there is not a ton to see but hey its was free😉.

    We then stop at a pizzaria nearby for lunch. The pizza was great and the crust was excellent. We have some leftovers for snack later😋. After pizza we visit Google an go take photos with the various statues they created for e different versions of Android.

    We then go fill the car with gas and bring it back to the rental place. Our next challenge is to get to our AirBnB. We decide to take Uber instead of the subway as the price is not much higher and we have lots of bags to carry. Trying to find the place for our Uber to pick us up was a bit of a challenge. Depending on what Uber service you take there are different places that you have to go. Of course we pick the wrong places and have to keep changing locations. Finally we get to where we think is the spot and order our Uber. The driver tells he gas arrived but does not see us... again we missed something as we are on the wrong floor... We head up to the correct floir and finally get in our Uber. The driver is really kind, he gives us tips for our trip in SF.

    We arrive at our AirBnB, it's a nice place. We have a smal studio with a kitchenette for doing some simple cooking. We mainly wanted a mini fridge for getting some cold beer and some other foods 😉.

    After settling in we take the Muni (SF bus system) downtown to pick up a city pass that we purchased which will allow us free transportation for 3 days and give us access to 4 attractions. We are planning to make full use of the pass.

    We then decide to walk around town and go for a couple of drinks. On our way back we stop for food before heading back to our studio.

    We have heard the unfortunate news about the tornado that hit Gatineau today. We are sorry for all who are affected. We chat with our friends are relieved to hear that they are safe.    Read more

  • San Francisco
    Day 8

    Up and Down Town

    September 22, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Today is a tourist day, we have our City Pass ready and head downtown. First we however stop at the Apple store to pickup my new phone. I was able to reserve one without having to wait in line. The process at the store was very quick. 📱

    Once everything is setup we head to the California Academy of Sciences which is California's oldest museum. This museum has interesting sections to see. We visit the rainforest, the various aquariums and enjoy a nice show at the planetarium.

    After filling our brain with interesting visuals we head over in the park and find something to fill our bellies. After lunch we decide to continue walking in the Golden Gate Park enjoying the various vegetation and activities people are doing on this lovely September day.

    We then head over to the Castro but first we walk through the Buena Vista Park which is a hill in the middle of the city and is the oldest city Park in San Francisco (1867). It's nice to walk in the various neighbourhoods and see the various style of homes. I do not know how they build all these houses with only a couple of inches separating each other.

    In the Castro area we see interesting individuals, some were naked wearing only a small piece covering their most private part. They get lots of looks which is probably what they were looking for. We also see some drag queens all pampered up. No one seems to be taking photos however. We continue walking on the streets in this area and find a nice wine bar where we have a bottle and some snacks to enjoy. Once we are done we walk back to our studio. Lots of hills here... Up and down everywhere we went. 25,000 steps today.    Read more

  • San Francisco
    Day 9

    Another fun day

    September 23, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Today we have another fun filled adventure from the activities in out City Pass. We make a lunch and head over first to the Aquarium of the Bay. We decide to try the street cars for our commute. It's a nice ride, they seems new but have an old fashioned bubble look to them. We see many different models of these cars as we cross them from the other direction.

    The Aquarium of the Bay is nice, this place has an immersive tunnel aquarium. We are under the fish and see lots of interesting species. It is really hypnotizing to see a school of fish all around you move so quickly and also synchronized. There are also sharks in the tank, they are ones that are naturally present here in the bay. We see various types of jellyfish, again watching these creatures is hypnotic. It amazes me that these things are alive; they are translucide and seem to be a blob of floting gelatin.

    After the aquarium we head to Pier 39, this Pier is full of places to eat and shop. We head to the end of the Pier as there are sea lions that come to take a sun bath. The odour of these guys is pretty strong and not the most pleasant. Most sea lions are there resting and tanning, from time to time one of them gets a power trip and tries to knock everyone else off. It is quite the show to watch.

    From here we get our tickets on the Rocketboat, an "unforgettable ride" if the advertising is accurate. We will ride on a speedboat in the Bay with rock music blasting over the speakers... I have to say, it was pretty fun, we were able to sit right in front and enjoy the view. The captain like to make huge 360 turns and jump the waves, lots of fun for me. It was very windy in front, I was glad that we brought our wind breakers.

    After the amazing ride we go back to the Aquarium to see the feeding of the otters. These guys are so cute. Did you know that they have as many hairs in a square inch of their body as the total amount of hair on our heads. Quite the hairy little guys... They also need to eat 10% of their body weight every day.

    Exploratorium is next, this place is a museum where you get to touch everything and try everything. It is really well done, the instructions are clear on what to do and then they give an explanation of why or how it works. You can probably spend the whole day with kids or big kids in here. After my brain has been saturated with new science facts we take another street car back to Market and Powell street.

    From there we head over to the cable cars as we have to try it at least once while we are here. The line up is pretty long but hey, there is lots of entertainment while we wait. A couple of guys are playing street music keeping us happy. LPT. There is a trick to beat the lineup if you come to SF: go one or 2 stops further and you can get on if you don't mind standing up 😉. Doing this ride standing is lots of fun, you have to try it.

    The cable car brings us to fisherman's wharf. There are lots of restaurants here. We chose to visit Cioppino's. It's an Italian seafood place. Their bread is sooo good and we order roasted olives to go with it. It is really yummy, I need to try this at home. For dinner I have a fish and chip as that was what I was craving all day. I know, I can have this anywhere, I was not disappointed. It was really good and there was not too much batter on the fish.

    The cable car was lots of fun so we decide to take it again. Before hoping on we take a detour to go see Lombard street, this street is a popular one where everyone drives down on it. I am not sure why but it zig zags and has a view of the Bay. We gotta climb up this street to catch our cable car. Once we catch the cable car without having to do the long lineup, we head back downtown which will allow us to take the bus back to the loft. I was wondering why they call it a cable car as you do not see any cables. While waiting for our cable car I notice that there are two tracks and a third one in the middle. I look down the crack and see the cable. Ah ha, that's why they call it like that. There are three levers for the driver. One to brake, one that grips the cable and the third is for emergency braking. Now I get it 🙂.

    What a fun day. New memories to keep for sure.    Read more

  • San Francisco
    Day 10

    Alcatraz aka The Rock

    September 24, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Another interesting adventure awaits us today. We are going to take a ferry and get a guided tour of Alcatraz. First super max prison and considered the most secure in USA. The ferry ride is nice, the weather again is great. On our way we have the opportunity to take great pictures of the city and attempt the Golden Gate bridge. Since we have been here the bridge has always been covered with fog. We will try again tomorrow on our way into Napa Valley to see if we can get a clear one.

    Once we arrive at Alcatraz we walk toward the cell block where we are offered a headset with a self guided tour recording. It's pretty well done, we get to hear stories and witness the remnants of the escape attempts made from The Rock. Alcatraz today is now a National Park. It has however started off as a lighthouse, a fortified military site, a military prison, a federal prison, a native American occupation and finally national historic landmark.

    After the tour is complete we take the ferry again, this time we head to Angel Island. This island is now a State Park. It started however for military use, then as a quarantine station and finally an immigration detention facility. To visit the island we ride on a tram where an audio track and a tour guide provide us with the history of the island.

    We take the ferry back to pier 33 riding in the waves. The wind is stronger than this morning and the boat is rocking more than what I expected. It's not bad to the point where we have to hold on for our lives but bad enough that you have to hold on all the time while walking around.

    Once we arrive back on land, Ben decides he would like to go visit Coit Tower. Getting to the tower is a bit of a challenge as you have to find the various steps and they are hidden in behind people's yards. People living here must see lots of strangers in their back yards. Once at the tower we have another great view of SF. We decide not to go up to the top of the tower as the landscape is foggy and we do not think there will be a better view up there. Plus you have to pay to take an elevator to the top. There are no stairs that we are allowed to take.

    From there we decide to visit the cable car museum. It is not far away. It's not a big museum bit it is interesting. All the cables that pull the 4 cable car lines start from this building. You see the motors and pulleys that run at a constant speed of 9.5 mph. I also learn that the brakes are made of pine and that they change them every 2 to 4 days. You do smell the wood burning while riding the cars.

    We start heading back to our studio but first make a stop for some local food. We have to try the burritos from Pancho Villa Taquerilla. We order in advance as the reviews indicate that there are usually lineups here. When we arrive are order is in the queue. We take a couple of the salsas to go and head back to the studio. I was not disappointed, the burrito was great. I was not able to finish it all.

    Another great day ended, tomorrow we head north.    Read more

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