As much as we loved the wilderness in the National Parks, it was nice to get back to civilization again where our cell phones and Wi-Fi once again worked. We started off our visit to San Francisco by taking a short walk from our campground in Greenbrae over to the Larkspur ferry that took us for a half hour trip to San Francisco. It was a great ride, right past San Quentin Prison where the prisoners waved to us as we passed by. Once in San Francisco we took an old time cable car ride to Chinatown where we had some lunch. Then it was back on the cable car until it was time to switch cars and we decided to take a walk down to Fisherman's Wharf. Once there we walked around, just taking in the sights and sounds. We did enjoy a couple of crab cakes from one of the dozens of vendors. We eventually jumped on to one of the historic trolleys for a trip back to the ferry terminal and headed back to the campsite. The weather was perfect and we had a great, although tiring day. The next day we decided to take a ride over the Golden Gate Bridge where we parked and took some pictures. We wish we could have spent more time there so we could have walked or rode our bikes across the bridge. Next we moved on to our next campground in Calistoga, about an hour north knowing we were going to return to San Francisco in a few days since we couldn’t get Alcatraz tour tickets while we were there. We did return a few days later by getting up early and heading back into San Francisco for our delayed tour to Alcatraz. We couldn't find a parking space at the Larkspur ferry terminal so we ended up having to drive into the city. The drive in actually wasn't that bad and we were able to park for less money than the ferry would have cost us. We also got there early enough that we were able to walk around Pier 39, one of San Francisco's great tourist spots with lots of shops, restaurants and bars. It also offered a great view of both the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island. At one stop along the pier, we looked out at and watched hundreds of sea lions basking in the sun on wooden rafts, less than a hundred feet away. After that, we took our tour of Alcatraz and weren't disappointed. We walked around the island and inside the prison, took an audio tour that walked and talked us through the entire prison building, explaining things as we walked around, including some of the famous attempted jail breaks, complete with sound effects. The audio tour definitely made the trip a highlight. Unfortunately, the traffic back wasn't as kind as on the way in but we did finally return to the camper after about two and a half hours on the road. Stella sure was glad to see us when we returned. It was a 10 hour day for her but she did great. Yes, it was nice to get cell service back and we loved San Francisco but we’re looking forward to returning to less populated areas. Ed
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