2015 - October 9th, 10th & 11th - San Francisco, Sequoia & Three Rivers

Leaving Calistoga and the Napa Valley, we headed to spectacular San Francisco. We had a nice drive into the city and located our Union Square area hotel for our two night stay. Then, it was off to see some of the sights. We walked around China Town and other areas of the city just taking in the local culture and architecture. It just so happened that President Obama was also visiting the city this weekend and it was Fleet Week for the Armed Forces also. The city was a little busy. But that did not detour us on any adventures. We were close to Lombard Street and knew it was a must see for Sandra and Ray. We were directed by the traffic police on when to enter and start the decent ... we were the first car in our group, so no obstructions to our view! Lombard Street is proclaimed to be the crookedest street in the world. Lombard Street is one of the most popular and most photographed areas in the world.

All of the restaurants we passed were loaded and crowds overflowing to the street tables for each. It was Friday night after all, so many were celebrating the end of the work week by tipping a few down before heading home. Plus the additional people in the city for President Obama's gathering on Saturday and the Fleet Week crowd. We lucked out with a table on the sidewalk at one of the local establishments where we had a delightful dinner with a bottle of wine. Is there any bad food in San Francisco? I think not!

In the morning we had breakfast and headed to get a cable car down to Fisherman's Wharf. We found out that all cable cars were suspended due to the closing of various streets for President Obama's visit. We were told that there were free shuttle buses to take everyone around the city. A very talkative homeless Veteran hooked up with Mary Anne and walked us the two blocks to where the shuttle bus would be boarding. We rode to Fisherman's Wharf and started at the top of the hill at Ghirardelli Square, the home of San Francisco's famous Ghirardelli Chocolates. Coffee and sweet-treat time at Ghirardelli's! We enjoyed being there and looking over all of the original chocolate making processes being demonstrated. We shopped the stores of Ghirardelli Square and had a relaxing time.

                    
Walking down the hill and park in front of Ghirardelli Square, we started our walk along Fisherman's Wharf. There were a lot of vendor booths set-up selling all types of souvenirs celebrating the Navy Blue Angles and commemorating Fleet Week in San Francisco. One of the first buildings we came across was the South End Rowing Club. Ray being a life-time rower, member, and past President of the Exeter Rowing Club in England, we inquired and were invited in to see the club space. Ray has been rowing for almost as long as I have been alive (well maybe I was about 10 when he started)! The San Francisco South End Rowing Club began in 1873, but the Exeter Rowing Club began in 1864 making Exeter 9 years older. We looked at the boats, walked the club house, and went out on their pier for spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.

               
               
The walk through the various piers of Fisherman's Wharf offer the great smells of lovely seafood being displayed and cooking, many languages being spoken on the streets, a view of San Francisco's famous Boudin's Sourdough bakery and lots of things to buy or just look at! We took it all in including views of The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, the Sea Lions sun bathing, and with Fleet Week ... a group from The US Navy Band played and sang plus the amazing Blue Angles precision Flying Team performed overhead. We were lucky enough to get a window table in one of the water's edge restaurants. We had another great meal, some wine and were able to see the Blue Angeles from here.
               
        

               
               

I had read that the most scenic view to take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge was from Baker Beach, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the serpentine cliffs of the Presidio District. So we set the GPS and took off to find Baker Beach! It was worth the trip!
               
One of the city's iconic sights that we had never gone to see are San Francisco's six Painted Ladies Victorian houses. Leaving Baker Beach, we made this our next destination.
        
Strolling the hotel area in Union Square, we found another great restaurant that accommodated us for dinner with only a five minute wait. We lucked out on this one! The food was superb and the wine, delicious!

After a simply fabulous time in San Francisco, we ended our two night stay with Sunday morning breakfast before hitting the road to journey on to Three Rivers at the entrance to Sequoia National Park. We headed inland passing through farm country with all the great crop farms of California. Always on the look-out mid-morning for a place to stop and have a coffee break, we found a little coffee shop in a small town on the route. Coffee (and Diet Coke) with a sweet-treat were enjoyed by all four of us. We arrive in Three Rivers at the Sierra Lodge where we had stayed on our trip last year. I had requested our same room with the one next door for Ray & Sandra and was delighted that they had accommodated our wishes. After checking in, we wanted to go into Sequoia, so it was once again back into the Prius. On the short drive through the inhabited portion of the highway, we saw a bear at the roadside in front of one of the small buildings. I quickly turned the car around and went back for Ray to take a couple of pictures. Unfortunately, I was driving and did not get any pictures ... however Ray emailed his pictures to document that this really happened! We were within 15 feet from this bear!

                    
We drove the about 15 minutes to the Sequoia Park entrance. Being there last year, we sort of had figured out some of the places we wanted to stop and show Ray & Sandra.
                    

               

               
We stopped by the Waksachi Lodge in Sequoia Park to make dinner reservations. We were lucky enough to get on the list as one of the last that they were adding. Outside the Lodge, there were deer grazing near by. So we saw a bear & deer in the same day!
Dinner was scrumptious in this beautiful old wooden National Park Lodge. What a good time. We came back early and had some wine in the bar lounge as it was getting to dark out to really see anything more than we already had and we had nothing more on our minds to do anyway; by being there, we were seated an hour earlier than we had be told. Driving back to Three Rivers is like the old E-ticket rides at Disneyland .... lots of hair-pin curves and turnings of all kinds in pure pitch-black! It is not 60 mph driving conditions, rather more like 25 mph maximum. No one was on the road. When a car finally approached from the opposite direction, I told Mary Anne that perhaps they reached the entrance gate and it was closed so they had to come back to find some place to stay, even if sleeping in their car in one of the camping spots. When we reached the entrance/exit and could go through, Mary Anne gave a big sigh of relief!
                    
                    
We arrived at our Sierra Lodge around 10PM to settle in for night. It was just as comfortable and quiet as our visit last year. We are thinking about making this a yearly visit. In the morning we went to our favorite Three Rivers breakfast joint, the We Three Café. It was closed!! Is that because it is the off-season, because it's Columbus day, or because someone's ill? Who knows? We missed being able to eat there but went down the road a piece to what has now become our second favorite Three Rivers café, The Gateway. It is located on one of the three rivers in town. The owners have placed a table and chairs on the top of a huge bolder in the middle of the river (accessible by a series of ladders) which you can get full service of anything on the menu, total and complete, for a mere $300!. So far, no takers according to the staff. We chose to sit outdoors on the covered patio with the river running (even in this drought) and watch the visiting ducks swimming by below. Delight ... pure delight!

Thus ends our stay in Three Rivers and our visit to the Sequoia National Park. To see all of the pictures for this blog entrée, click here.