Day 18 & 19: Back to SF

Two day round up.  Sorry for the lack of blogs, between travelling and sightseeing, and hotels not having wifi in the room, I've not had much of a chance to post anything.

Day 18: church n ride
So today I went to Mary's church, and really enjoyed it. Half the congregation were Brits and all were very welcoming. The service, like most things I'm discovering, is familiar but different.  Afterwards the congregation had some lunch which parishioners provided and I just sat and chatted to various people. It was so hot though, I felt like I was melting!  Before I left someone asked "do up you want to see a gopher?"  Cool, I thought, and grabbed my camera.  He pointed into a flower bed but I couldn't see anything. Suddenly one of the plants started wiggling. The gopher was under the ground and pulling on the plant. It would wiggle and drop a bit, then stop, then wiggle again. I managed to film part of it and will see if I can upload that when I get home. After 5-6mins the plant disappeared into a small hole :)

I then went for a walk with Mary and their gorgeous German Shepard Mia, along the river but the redwoods. The strangest part was going over a small bridge and having a glad wind blow past you. Very nice on such a hot day.  Apparently a storm was coming in from the coast and would hit Scott's Valley just after I left.

I said my goodbyes and headed off. Now the thing about America which I find confusing still is their road signs and the different names for the same road. Some of the main roads go by a number and possibly two different names. Seemingly no warning is given of what's coming up (actually Monterey was ok at this), and its hard to find confirmation that you are actually on the right road.  So I'm heading up to Campbell in San Jose to meet Sarah, Brian's daughter, and its stop start stop start. Unlike in Britain where people crawl in traffic jams, the Americans seem to rush forward and stop suddenly. Maybe it's because they mostly drive automatics?  I thought I'd give Sarah a ring to let her know I'd be later then I thought I'd be. Problem was I'd never travelled this road before and with a lack of signage it was hard to place where I was ("I've just gone past a lot of water on my right and there is a house with a tree").  I then got into Campbell and was actually heading in the right direction, but convinced myself I had gone wrong. I still can't get use to the street signs telling you which road you are crossing and not what you are on. Plus I find the white writing on a green background hard to read. So several calls to Sarah, who was very patient and must have thought I was some idiot, and I made it to her apartment. It is such a nice place! Her friends were already there so we went straight out to dinner. Pizza no less!  Sarah's very cool, as we're her friends and I felt very comfortable and relaxed. The stories of Bishop Michael's visits to California and Sarah's trip to Tanzania made me laugh and it was just a really nice evening. Sarah took me out for gas, which was an experience, and then we just chilled out and chatted. She had an early start the next day, and was gone by the time I woke up. It's a shame that we didn't get much time to hang out, as I really enjoyed her company, but hopefully we'll be able to catch up again soon.

Day 19: San Francisco baby!
I woke up and got my stuff together, and then had a wonder around Campbell in search of breakfast. Such a pleasant area. I ended up in the community centre - swimming pool, running track, tennis courts, classrooms - all which seemed to be open to the public. So I just sat there watching the world go by and writing! Yes I'm still writing!  Got more done, but then it was time to head off again.

I managed to get onto the 101 north, but instantly had a crisis of confidence.  Was I heading north or south? Nothing was telling me, so I just kept going.  Finally I saw a sign for San Francisco.  Phew!  Getting into the car rental place was relatively easy. I parked p and a bloke came and gave me a ticket for the cost :S it was actually just about what I expects, so hopefully that's all of it.

I was early, so I grabbed a drink and went to find where I should be meeting April. I realised I didn't have her cell number, but assured myself it would be fine.  We were meeting at the car rental arrivals spot... Er... No signs for that. I saw an exit sign so headed through that door, down some steps, into a darkish corridor. It stank of something... Something not pleasant.  This looks unwelcoming, I thought, but pressed on.  Up some steps, down some steps, more corridor looking more like a WW2 bunker. Finally I came out into the light, still in the car park, but in the restricted area :)) A staff worker was having a smoke, so I asked how do I get out? He was very friendly and showed me where to go. Apparently there are two exits. One is marked 'Exit' which is meant for emergency escape routes and staff, the other is marked 'Exit' which is for people who drop off there cars to use.  I can't see how I missed this, and take back all my moans about American signs.

So back to trying to find the arrivals bit. All I could find was a "kiss and fly" pick up point. I figured this must be it, or at the worst I'll get lucky.  No sooner had I sat down, April appeared :)

We went for lunch at a really nice seafood restaurant on the bay, and caught up. April stayed on an extra week at the Ranch and it was good to hear what they were all up to. I really miss those guys.  April then took me on a tour if the city. So cool.  We went up and down steep roads, down the a windy... whindey... whiney... a twisty road, and stopped at the Grace Cathedral. I felt bad that I was getting tired, but April kindly took me to the hotel. I was staying at the Holiday Inn.  It looked really nice from the website, had a bar and restaurant and I was looking forward to sleeping.  Bloke at the desk was really friendly, smiles and welcoming.  I have my name. "Sorry sir we don't have you on the list", so I showed him my reservation ticket.  His whole demeanour changed and he highlighted several times rather aggressively 'Holiday Inn EXPRESS', and pointed me out of the door and down the street. It wasn't far to walk, but no bar, not restaurant and not as nice looking. Actually it was perfect and I had a really good nights sleep.

Before heading to bed, I went for an explore around. Annoyingly a guy hustled me and I ended up giving him a few dollars, most just to get him to leave me alone. He kept flashing a warrant and saying I needed to pay a fine because I wasn't smiling enough, and growing a beard. I tried to just walk away but couldn't get past him. He moved about as quick as he spoke. Meh.  Welcome to fisherman's wharf.  It was so busy and touristy. It was nice to walk around, but just not really my thing. If you took away all the people, then I think I would have loved it.

Never mind.  Alcatraz tomorrow, and then I need to make my way to Fran and Dicks.  Hopefully it will be nice and simple :)