I walked to fisherman's wharf from the hotel (about 3 miles) which is an up and down walk. Some of the inclines are so steep that they have horizontal ridges in the concrete to give you some grip. After picking up my rental bike I headed out. My trek took me from Pier 39 over the Golden Gate bridge, and into Sausalito. It was still pretty early when I went over the bridge, so the fog had not lifted yet.
I stopped at a cute little cafe right on the bank of the bay and had a large glass of orange juice. Although I'd not had breakfast, I just wasn't hungry and the fresh squeezed OJ hit the spot. Below you can see my view from the cafe...
This is such a cute little town with lots of shops, but no shopping for me...I wouldn't be able to get anything else in my one suitcase that has clothes for 8 days. I took the side trip up to Mill Valley and that was a treat.
They have a park with the oldest redwoods in California (according to the locals). I walked into this grove of trees that were huge (diameter) and so tall I couldn't see the tops. Even though it was the middle of the day and the sun was shining, it was almost dark in this grove. I'm setting up my camera on a picnic table so that I can get a picture of myself and then I notice that a homeless man is asleep on the next table! That is one thing that has been shocking to me.... the number of homeless people. When I left my hotel this morning, I noticed a sleeping bag on the sidewalk. Much to my surprise, there was someone in that sleeping bag! Back to the biking trip...
After Mill Valley, I headed back to the trail that runs along the coast and followed the trail to Tiburon. I just missed the ferry, so I had to wait for an hour for the next one. That gave me a little time to look around town and eat some ice cream (since I hadn't had breakfast or lunch, I could eat without guilt). The ferry left port about 4:15 and docked in San Francisco a little after 5:00. A few pictures taken from the ferry below:
The fog looks so cool in this picture below. According to a couple on the ferry, this fog is the reason that San Francisco enjoys such cool temps in the summer.....aaawh beautiful fog....
By the time I checked in my bike and walked all the way back to my hotel (stopping to get a little something to eat) it was 7:00. I was pooped!!! But I can't think of a better way to spend the day.
Even though I wasn't on a bike trail the entire way, all of the roads had a bike lane and all had speed limits of 35 to 40 mph, so it wasn't bad. Again I'm wishing Arkansas was more bike friendly!
