2008 Western Adventure

Day 31 - July 20, 2008

The San Francisco area is my objective for today.  I was there about 10 years ago with Sky, and we really enjoyed it, except for the big city traffic.  I had a fair ride so I didn't take al lot of time taking pictures along the way,  but I did take a few whenever I needed a water break.  I saw a number of vineyards along the way and was tempted to stop and sample there products, but vino and motorcycles don't mix well.  Of course, I couldn't resist stopping to get shots of some horses, and to talk to them.  Sometimes the horses and the cows are my only buddies along the way, and I get tired of talking to myself.

I finally see some familiar city names and I know that I'm getting close to San Francisco.  It's getting late a the usual fog is starting to roll in.  I was hoping to get so sunlight shots of the Golden Bridge, but I'll be lucky if I can even see it by the time I get there.  I finally enter Sausalito and know that I'm at the front door of the Golden Gate bridge.  I pull off to see if I can get a couple of shots of the bridge, but it's a zoo at the bridge overlook and I can't find a place to park my  motorcycle, so I took a couple pictures as I'm rolling down the hill, but  can only get the front part of the bridge.  I proceed across the bridge and find that there is as much foot and bicycle traffic as there are cars.  I get over and immediately see a sign for the Presidio, which I want to drive through.  It's a lovely drive, but again, it's crowded.  My next mission was to get on Lombard Street.  I've always wanted to go down it on my motorcycle, but the closer I got the longer the line to go down it.  Traffic must have bee backed up 8 to 10 blocks, so I decided to head for the wharf and get some pictures of the GG Bridge and Alcatraz before it got dark.  I still need to find a motel for the night, and I didn't want to stay in the city.

I headed south and finally found a nice little motel, which was close to a Laundromat.  I had made arrangements to visit with a high school classmate in San Leandro the next day, but I needed to take care of my laundry and a few other things first.