The 2nd Annual Great American Thelma and Louise Road Trip
I left off one of our adventures on Day 6. At some point we rode a cable car downtown and back. That was a lot of fun. Very steep hills, people hopping on and off. On the way back I stood on the running board and hung on for dear life. They stop in the middle of intersections instead of at stop signs. Weird. Never did figure that one out.
So, on to Day 7
Oct 8 (late entry)
Well, it was our last day in San Francisco and I was bummed. Not because it was our last day, but because we hadn't been able to get tickets to Alcatraz. It was my fault. I should have planned better. It was Fleet Week, all things were crowded. But, as things are won't to do, a day that started out a bummer, ended up one of the best days.
So, instead of Alcatraz, we decided to go to Muir Woods and see the Big Trees. We had seen Big Trees in Yosemite, but those were Sequoias. Muir Woods is full of Redwoods. Same family (?) big difference. Whereas Sequoias are massive, ginormous, and all manner of other out-sized adjectives, Redwoods are Tall. Very Tall. Very Very Tall. Slim and tall. Sequoias are fat and tall.
And, they tend to grow in circles, which kind of makes them feel like tall old guys standing around talking. Muir Woods is one of the last, if not the last virgin stands of Redwoods in the world, and it was very nice. But there's only so much you can look at trees.
So, we headed back and had lunch in Sausalito. It was a beautiful day and we saw all sorts of boats out on the bay, and decided to try and get on one of them. We went back to Pier 39 and booked a cruise boat on the bay.
The cruise was one of those that has a taped narration that goes on the entire time. We had some good seats topside and were settling in for a 2 hour cruise, when the real show began...
The Blue Angels started their show directly over us. We had ringside seats. They were so close, and so loud, they completely drowned out the narration on the cruise. And no one cared.
Everybody on the boat was whooping and hollering. It was like "Bridge? What Bridge?"
Oh yeah, that bridge!
These are the people watching from the shore.
The fire boat watching the show.
We passed Alcatraz...
The city from the boat.
The seagull that kept us company...
Going under the bridge.
...a couple of times.
The Marin Headlands.
After we got off that cruise, we went for something a little more adventurous, so we got on The Rocket Boat. Now THAT was a boat ride! Very fast, very rough, rock music blaring. It was hard on the back and kidneys, but we had so much fun, we did it a second time.
Getting ready to launch the rocket boat.
Heading out from Pier 39 past the sea lions.
Once the rocket boat got going, there was no picture taking. Too fast and too rough. It was all you could do to hang on to your lunch. It was a spectacular end to our trip. We were both very sore afterwards, but had a great time. I'd do it again in a New York minute.
After dinner on the pier, we headed back to the hotel, packed up and moved to a hotel closer to the airport, totally got lost looking for it, found it, returned the rental car, got thoroughly lost at SF airport, but finally shuttled safely back to the hotel. Then got up at 3 am for the flights home.
Back to the real world, and back to work.