San Francisco

Half Day Tour in One Day

When we arrived in Petaluma on Friday, the first thing we did was purchase two tickets for a tour of San Francisco on Sunday. The tour would require a minimum of six people to sign up - we were 3 and 4. Unfortunately no one else had signed up by 8:00 Saturday night so the tour was canceled. We were on our own.

It was nice and sunny when we departed at 8:30 Sunday morning, following a detailed (five page) self-tour provided by the campground. By the time we drove through Sausalito we began to see some fog, but the weather forecast was for a sunny day in San Francisco.

Golden Gate bridge from the Coast Guard Station.

We crossed the Golden Gate bridge and stopped at the south end pay the toll and wound up with a photo op (which will be posted later). We continued to follow the tour guide most of the way through Golden Gate Park. What wasn't covered in the guide was the possibility of road construction. We had to bypass about half of the park and continue on to Haight Ashbury, getting lost a couple of times, but found our way back relatively quickly.

Twin Peaks provided another opportunity for a photo as well as a reminder to me that Joyce does not like heights, including the drive up.

Atop Twin Peaks with San Francisco in the background.

A bit more driving, then a quick left turn into the entrance to Chinatown. Appeared to be about three blocks long. A bit of a disappointment when compared to the several block area of Haight Ashbury. From there we passed by the Powell St Cable Car Line and after getting lost one more time, found our way to Filbert Street, off Hyde. A 32 percent grade according to the write-up.

We are about to follow this car down the hill. Did I mention that Joyce didn't like heights?

After getting lost again, we found our way back up Hyde Street and a block further than Filbert and to the top of Lombard Street. Where Filbert is straight down, Lombard is a series of switch-backs. Lombard is a much more touristy drive than Filbert. People even walk the path down and gather to watch the cars as they traverse the slope. Police manage traffic at the top, as well as on the way down, in order to keep the traffic moving.

Looking back up Lombard Street. If you look carefully you can count six or seven cars at the top coming down the switch-backs.

The next stop on the schedule is for lunch at Fisherman's Wharf (and it's 2:00 already). So off to Fisherman's Wharf where parking is $5 per half hour. Lunch and shopping take up 2 1/2 hours and we are beat. It's 4:30 and I am ready to call it a day, with 1/2 of the tour remaining. We decide to head back to the campground rather than try to continue on.

Joyce took this nice photo on the way back over the bridge.

We got back to the campground just before six. Lots of traffic, but mostly heading the other way.

Tomorrow will be a kind of laid back day. Maybe visit a couple of wineries. Then get ready for the next day's drive to the Humboldt Redwoods.