July 25 - San Francisco and The 49-mile Scenic Drive

San Francisco was another highlight of the trip.  I thoroughly enjoyed this city, and wished I had 2 weeks to spend there ... not the solitary day that I enjoyed there.  It was wonderful.  During my trip preparations, I found a self-guided scenic drive of San Francisco called the 49-Mile Scenic Drive.  This drive was the most wonderful way to introduce oneself to the city of San Francisco.  It takes you through all of the sections of the city, to all of the "tourist" spots, to all of the spots where wonderful photographs could be taken of the Golden Gate and Alcatraz, etc., and to some of the world famous city parks.  The only complaint I had was the fog.  It really hindered my view of the city and of the Bridge at certain points.  I talked with an older man fishing off the breakwall on the bay, and he asked me (in regards to the fog), "What do you expect for San Francisco in July?" and smiled at me.  A few minutes later his wife drove up, spoke sharply in some Asian language, and he quickly packed up his rod, reel, and tackle ... winked at me ... and jumped in her car.
 

The first thing I did in San Francisco was drive down Lombard Street to the part that is crooked - the crookedest street in the world.  :-)  It's fun to drive down the crooked part, and afterwards to stand at the bottom and watch other cars do the same thing.  There is always a huge group of tourists standing at the bottom taking photos and watching the cars navigate the turns.  And, yes, those are private homes on either side of the street.  Imagine! In the picture below left, the grey car is in the second to last turn.  That grey car is coming out of the one-way section in the picture below right.
Of course, I HAD to have someone take my picture in front of Lombard Street.
In this picture, and in the one to the right, you'll see the sign that I tracked around the city all day, "The 49-mile Scenic Drive".  I HIGHLY recommend that drive.  You'll love it!!  (Especially on your first visit to San Fran.)
	Next, I'll share with you some of my shots during my quest of the perfect view of the Golden Gate bridge.  As was pointed out to me by the Asian fisherman, that just doesn't happen in July.  Ah, well.  I had fun trying!
To the right is a shot of Alcatraz Island.  I didn't have time to tour the island, but I hear that the tour is fabulous!
	And I know that you were just waiting to see a shot from China Town.  :-)
The next three shots were taken from "Twin Peaks", which is a high spot from which you can see the city ... it was beautiful.  I took these pictures, and then stopped to lock my keys in my car, buy a sandwich, wait for AAA, and then to get back into my car.  In the 20 minutes that it took AAA to get me into my car, a HUGE fog had moved over the city, and you could see NONE of the buildings that you can see in these pictures.  I should have been down there taking shots of the Golden Gate.  :-)  Notice the road that you can see in the first few pictures.  That was the road that takes you to the top of Twin Peaks.
	The last several pictures are from around the city.  I loved the homes and the buildings and the wide variety of styles and neighborhoods.  It was a fascinating day!  :-D Also notice the hills.  I almost wrecked my clutch trying to figure out how to park on one of the streets.  It's amazing!!
	The picture immediately above is of one of the beautiful homes that is built right on one of the cliffs which drops straight into the sea.  The cliff side homes are lovely.
The photo immediately above is from the Japanese Gardens in the Golden Gate Park.