4 Wheels 4 Girls

On Tuesday May 17th, we decided to explore San Francisco despite the cold, gross, rainy weather. We parked our RV and set off with our raincoats and umbrellas for Pier 33 to see if we could catch a ferry to Alcatraz, the former island prison. Even on this yucky day, it was packed and the wait wasn’t worth it. We walked down to Pier 39, hoping to see some sea lions and find some good hot chocolate. We walked through the streets until we heard the honk of the sea lions. We turned the corner, and there they were! There were at least 50 of them lounging on wooden rafts about the size of a queen-size bed. We stood and watched them for at least 20 minutes because they were so entertaining.

On the way to get some hot cocoa after the sea lions, we saw a store called Lefty’s. I’m a lefty, so this looked really cool to me. We went inside and Ellie and I each got our own pair of left-handed scissors and I got a left-handed postcard.

Next, we went in a magnet shop. I’m sure this sounds quite boring, but there were a bunch of other cool souvenirs too, like fake doughnuts, hotdogs, and ice cream, and a whole bunch of 3-D t-shirts and stuff. Ellie got a stuffed sea lion named Celia, (read more about this in Ellie’s post) and we got a magnet with the Golden Gate Bridge on it.

Riding the San Francisco Trolley

We got our hot chocolate (finally!), and then we walked down to Fisherman’s Wharf and then to the trolley. The trolley was over 50 years old and super cool. It ran on tracks, and it rattled like crazy. It was scary to go up and down all the hills; as we were going up the hills, all the buildings we were passing looked SEVERELY slanted, as Dad would say. It looked and felt like the world was sideways! We rode the trolley around town to see the sights, and then we rode back on a crowded streetcar and got lunch at a yummy cafe called Boudin’s. There were lots of cool things about this place: one, it had been there since 1849; two, they made their own fresh sourdough bread; and three, they made the best clam chowder I had ever tasted. Well, I don’t have much to compare it to, but it was DELICIOUS. It was nice to get out of the rain and cold and eat some warm food.

After lunch, we spotted a National Park Service building, and we went inside to check it out. Then we rode the trolley to Lombard Street, a long, winding road that reminded us of Walter’s Wiggles at Zion National Park. Remember that post? We walked up it, and then rode the trolley back to Fisherman’s Wharf. On the way back to the RV, we spotted a taffy shop and went inside. We bought many flavors of taffy, twelve pieces for each of us. (Read more about this in Ellie’s post.)

This street is crooked, but it's got nothing on Walter's Wiggles

We finally made it back to our RV in time to drive back over the Bay Bridge to Berkeley. We were meeting Perry, Katy, Owen, and Aida (Hope that’s how you spell your name!) to go get Indian food for dinner. We found a laundromat near the restaurant to do our laundry, and then we walked over to the Indian place. It was some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had in my life. My favorite thing was probably the chicken vindaloo or the chicken tikka masala.

After dinner, we said goodbye to our friends, picked up our dry laundry, and walked back to the RV and went to bed. It was a fun and eventful day! 😉