October 12. SFO to DTW.

At 7:45 AM we left the hostel, walking and dragging all our luggage, and stopped for breakfast at a small restaurant on Mission Street on our way to the train station. We were actually looking forward to the long flight from San Francisco to Chicago; we had booked the same flight so we could play Scrabble.

On the way to the station I finally took some photos of the murals that decorate the Mission district, after commenting on them the whole time we were here... We got to the train station in plenty of time, got our tickets, hauled our gear down the escalator and only had to wait about 15 minutes for a train to the airport.

We sure had a lot of stuff! But it all worked out. We got to the airport, checked our luggage and settled in for a game. We did not even look at our boarding passes, and was that ever a mistake!

When it came time to board the (very full) plane we found that we were not seated together! No one would trade places with us, so we had a 5 hour flight with no Scrabble. What a bum deal! When we got home we looked and had indeed booked seats together... we just did not notice that they changed my seat in the ticketing process at the airport. Our mistake for not checking.

I made it through Ohare airport in plenty of time to catch my flight this time, and Bill was waiting for me when I exited Detroit Metro Airport at 9:30 PM. What a long day, and a 3 hour time change..... but I am glad to be home.

October 11, 2010. San Francisco.

We started our day with breakfast in the hostel, then a long walk to look for kitchen cabinet hardware.... after walking a mile up to one store, we took the bus back down Mission Street, got off and walked another half mile to look at a different store. There we hit the jackpot, or almost.... they had great knobs in the window, just what I was looking for, but they are closed on Mondays. Ah well.

So we got on a streetcar and went down to Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf. It was a bit touristy but a lot of fun. We walked around and looked at all the kitschy stuff, even bought a couple of things! And by then it was lunchtime. We went to the Sea Lion Cafe and had a great lunch of local seafood and salads. The sea lions were in their usual spot, just below the balcony on which we were eating. They may look like they are lazing in the sun, but they were barking at each other and us--the level of noise was incredible!

We walked for a while, and stopped in a few more places. There was plenty of fresh seafood to buy on the sidewalk, but we were glad we had had a sitdown lunch.

It was fleet week so there were interesting ships in the harbor, several US Navy ships and this tall ship.

This photo of Ghirardelli Square was taken from the waterfront. Dianne and I ate dinner at Ghirardelli Square our first night in San Francisco last Thursday after biking across the bridge.

We got in line for the cable car, a San Francisco tradition. There were a couple hundred people in the line, but it moved along well. There were several cable cars lined up to take on passengers. The cars moved forward to a roundabout where they were moved around to change direction; this was done by "human power", an interesting operation to watch.

We bought one-way tickets on the cable car, planning to get off at the end of the line at Market Street and take the Mission Street bus back to the hostel. The streets on which the cable car ran were unbelievably steep. Dianne was white knuckled again, and asked if we could get off and walk! I guess you know what my answer was...

We went back to the hostel and took showers to get ready to meet our friends for dinner. My friend Barbara, who had been my roommate on the cross country bike trip in 2008, drove 35 miles into town to meet us, and Dianne's cousin Roslyn took the train in to town. We all met at the hostel and decided to have dinner on the rooftop restaurant right where we were. The weather was perfect for this, and we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner, 2 bottles of wine, and the company.

We went back downstairs to the restaurant at which Dianne and I had had dinner last night for dessert and coffee. We shared 3 different desserts among us, and all had a super time catching up on things. Here we are on the rooftop: Roz, Barbara, Dianne, and me.

After everyone left Dianne and I played Scrabble until midnight. Not the best thing to do before a long travel day, but we know that the games left on this trip are numbered.

October 10, 2010. Yosemite National Park

In the morning we met Dianne's cousin Joni and her husband Dave for breakfast at the hotel. They were motorcycling through the park, something they do frequently, and they verified that this was the best weather ever for this location.

After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and drove over to Mariposa Grove, a grove of giant Sequoia trees not to be missed. On entering the grove we came upon this uprooted tree. Apparently it has been in this state for 100 years already! There are photos of people driving their cars (model Ts of course) on top of the trunk of this tree. Remember when you look at this photo that Dianne is over 6 feet tall.
There was a park ranger giving a talk about the trees, and Dianne and Damon stayed to listen while I walked ahead to take in the silence. It was very impressive, the silence as well as the grove of trees. There were burned out areas that I found out are planned that way. They do controlled burns to clean up the underbrush and promote new growth of the Sequoias and a variety of other trees in the forest. Diversity is important in this case.

While I was doing my solo walk enjoying the silence, this coyote and I came face to face on the trail. He beat a hasty retreat, and that was OK with me.

One of the highlights of the Mariposa Grove is the Grizzly Giant, a giant old Sequoia tree. A man took my photo in front of it.

There used to be two drive-through trees in this grove, now only one remains standing. I walked to it, but did not go through it this time. I guess I've had my fill of drive-through trees. This time it made me sad that the tree was butchered this way. In the park's defense, it was done in the 1800s to promote tourism and, ironically, preserve this grove of trees.

When we were done with the Mariposa Grove we piled into the car and headed back to San Francisco, a five hour drive. I have to give Damon much credit for doing all the driving for us. He was very patient with his mom's fear of the winding roads. I reminded her that we rode a route just like it on our bicycles! Bikes are not allowed on this road however, and I think that's a good thing.

We arrived back at Damon's apartment in the evening; Dianne boxed up her bike and I did all our laundry. Tomorrow is our last day in San Francisco and we want to make it count!

October 9, 2010. Yosemite National Park.

After breakfast in the hotel we set out in the rental car to see Yosemite park. In some places we could see snow on distant peaks. We went to Glacier point and spent some time just absorbing the scenery. We saw a different view of Half Dome from that vantage point.

There was a three dimensional board showing all the mountains, telling their names and elevations. We could see clearly for many miles--we were told it was the best weather in weeks!

There were always people around who wanted their group photos taken and who did not mind in the least taking photos of the three of us together.

At Glacier point there was a young man sitting on a rock playing a flute. He seemed oblivious to the people around him. The music reminded me of Andean flute music, and it was truly a nice touch.

After Glacier Point we went to lunch and the park store. Then we took a shuttle bus to the trailhead for the Half Dome trail. Even though we were not hiking all the way up (we would have had to start before daylight at this time of year) we did hike up to the first view of Vernal Falls. The trail was much wider than I expected, but quite steep. I was game to go up to the next level (about a mile up) but we decided that if we did that we would not have time to do anything else today.

We took the shuttle back to the car and then drove to Bridal Veil Falls. There is not a lot of water this time of year but it was magnificent anyway.

We piled back into the car and headed for the hotel. The sun was going down as we were driving and I was absorbed in the view. Of course sunset photos never look as great as the real thing...

We had dinner at the hotel and headed back to the room for the night. Dianne and Damon were out well before 10:00, so when I was done reading I shut off all the lights and called it a day.

October 8, 2010. Trip to Yosemite

Dianne and I thought about doing our laundry before leaving San Francisco, but when Damon came to pick us up he changed our minds. He assured us that if we took the time to do laundry it would take us hours longer to get out of town. So we spread out my damp tent in his apartment, left all the dirty clothes and camping gear there and hit the road about noon. After we crossed the Oakland bridge we saw fields filled with windmills, as far as we could see. When we got to Yosemite we got on another crazy winding road with hairpin turns. It seems like that is what this trip is all about! But at least we were not on our bikes. I was OK in the back seat, but Dianne was white-knucked the whole way, and if I had a dime for every time she asked Damon to slow down I would forget the Scrabble debt and be many dollars ahead!

We stopped to take photos a couple of times in Yosemite, but did not waste any time. We were anxious to get to our hotel. The Sierra Nevada mountains were towering above us at first, but we climbed the crazy road thousands of feet until we were almost at a level with the mountaintops.

We got to the Wawona Hotel just before dark, moved into our room and went to dinner. It was so nice to be indoors, clean, at a real table with a tablecloth.... and the food was excellent! I told Dianne it was the best food I'd had on this whole trip, and that's the truth.

After dinner Damon pumped up his air mattress and we all read our books a little while and then lights out. Unfortunately they were paving the road right outside our hotel, and we were facing the front. It was noisy and smelly, but they quit about midnight. Even with the paving going on it felt nice to be in a real bed with sheets. It may take a while to get over this camping trip...

October 7, 2010. Olema to San Francisco, CA. 38 miles

What a crazy night it was on our last night of camping! Before I was even asleep I heard some rustling and chattering right outside my tent--a couple of large raccoons were in the tree right over my head! I shined a light at them but they paid no heed.... after a while I got up and removed the rest of the stuff from my bike--there was no food on it, but still... The raccoons then moved on to a picnic table and started fighting--there was a lot of screeching and hissing going on... Once the raccoons settled down the coyotes started in. Oh well, such is life when you camp out.

Pat, Dianne and I started this day's ride together. Soon after leaving the campground we entered the Marin Trail bike path--a lovely paved path through the Samuel P Taylor State Park and the surrounding area. It was very nice to be out of the traffic, and what a lovely forest to ride through! The Salmon Crossing sign was on a bridge just before we left the park.

We passed a lot of horse ranches along this rural route. There was a large hill, which did not slow us down too much. At one point we saw 5 vultures sitting on a fence giving us the evil eye. They did not photograph very well, so I did not include them.

We stopped in Fairfax and had coffee and snacks at a very nice coffee shop, and then were on the bike route through the neighborhoods most of the rest of the ride. There was some road construction and a large hill, but we cycled on--nothing could stop us now!

And very soon we were on the famous Golden Gate Bridge! Dianne and I lost Pat after we were on the span, and did not get to see him again. He was quite anxious to meet up with his wife at the end of the ride, so we understood. We took a lot of photos of the bridge and ourselves, stopped at the gift shop, and took our time getting to the hostel (where our luggage and my bike box were waiting).

Right after we crossed the bridge we heard a loud roar and suddenly there were the Blue Angels! What a reception! They flew over many times and I really tried to get a good photo, but they are so FAST! Here's one above the hills of Sausalito, and one above Alcatraz.

We detoured through the SF Yacht basin to get a better look at Alcatraz and to see what was going on with the Blue Angels. As much as we would have liked to believe they were there for us, we thought it unlikely, and the young sailors I met told me as much--they were there for Fleet Week. Oh well, it was a nice reception anyway.

We arrived at the Fort Mason hostel and Greg was in the parking lot with a pile of luggage. Many of our group had already picked up their stuff and left, so I went in and got my bike box and started taking my bike apart. The Blue Angels were still at it, and that entertainment continued for hours.

Below is the room we slept in--or at least the room we rented for the night. There were 24 beds, most of them full, so of course I did not sleep. I am a poor sleeper at best, but sharing my air with all those people???!!! Sigh. It was a sleepless night. But what a great ending to a spectacular ride! I have ridden across the country, and in more than half of our states, but this was the most awe-inspiring ride I have ever done. I will never forget it.

Tomorrow Dianne's son is picking us up and driving us to Yosemite for the weekend. Don't you just love this country and all it has to offer? I'll blog the Yosemite trip too. Stay tuned!

October 6, 2010. Bodega Bay to Olema, CA. 48 miles.

Today's ride was noted as the "seafood express" in our notes, and it was true! We passed the Hog Island oyster area on our route. But first we went inland for a while, passing through the lovely little town of Tomales. The bakery was open and many of us took advantage of that. Eat to ride and ride to eat...

We rode along the Tomales Bay for a long stretch, past all the oyster places and through Marshall, which was gone in the blink of an eye. We entered Port Reyes Station and stopped at the bank, a great bike shop, and Toby's Organic Coffee, where we got all coffeed up and I had a scone. I bought Toby a T-shirt of course--how many kids have a coffee shop named after them?

Everyone else rode 42 miles today, but my total was 48. I had it in my mind that the campground was 2 miles past Olema, when it was actually 2 miles past Port Reyes Station, just before Olema... But once I got 3 miles past Olema I stopped and reread the course notes. Did I mention before that I am geographically challenged? I got there OK, and was not the last rider to arrive, but darned close to it!

Dianne and I played some Scrabble after our showers while Pat was running around like a possessed person trying to get everyone together for a group photo. Tomorrow is our last day and he was so determined to get us all in a group in front of his camera.... well, he did not make it. Mary was nowhere to be found so she is missing from the photo above. Front row: Jenny, Pat, and Andrea. Second row: Barb, Greg, Marshal, Dwight, Cydney, me, Dianne, Liz, Chuck, Ross, Larry.

Since it was our last night together we had dinner at a restaurant in Olema. It was called the FarmHouse, and it felt very special to be clean, sitting at a table, with a tablecloth! And the food was superb! Pat presented Ross with a real Speedo... Ross, from England, had been referring to our bike computers as "Speedos" for the entire ride, and it really cracked up the swimmers among us!

The waiter took our photo, since Mary was with us by then. Here she is in the light blue shirt between Marshal and Liz. Someone more talented than me could probably photo shop her into the group photo--if anyone does, please send me a copy!