Day 1 of our trip consisted of leaving Altadena about 8 am. We got on the road a little later than we’d hoped to but, coming off of a late work night the evening before, sleep was more preferable than lack-of. Luckily though we didn’t hit any Saturday morning traffic on the way up I-5 through Burbank and beyond. Once we hit the mountain pass and then dropped down into the central valley, the road was nice and free flowing for the rest of the trip.
Not knowing what we would have time for over the next few days, we kept to I-5 on the way up to San Francisco, to maximize our options once we were there. We had to be back home by Tuesday morning at the latest, everything else was up in the air. We ended up arriving in the Oakland area about 3 pm, and crossing the bay bridge into SF by 4:00.
Once we were in the city, we went right over to the Embarcadero, which is a main street that heads along the north east edge of the city where the Piers are. Passing Pier 39, and seeing all of the tourists and T-shirt shops along the route helped us quickly decide we’d stop and check it out, but wouldn’t hang out very long. After a short hunt for parking near Fisherman’s Wharf, we put our backpacks on and hooked the dogs to us, and headed out to see what was around.
We took a walking tour of the area and walked the length of Pier 39, which is 110% tourist trap. The saving grace of it was the view of Alcatraz off of the end of the pier. It’s pretty easy to see the island from various spots though, so when we do return, we won’t have any reason to go back to this pier I don’t think.
There was another pier, #43, currently being renovated and rebuilt, which in it’s current state didn’t look too stable beyond the already built up pedestrian area. I will look forward to checking this spot out in a few years when it’s redone. Pier 43 was used in the San Francisco Belt Railroad, to load and unload train ferries, as an interchange for various railroad systems.
There was a 2 block area we really enjoyed, because it was full of fresh seafood vendors, and really felt like it was part of the city’s character, and not just full of PR trinkets. Included in that area was Boudin bakery, where they make “world famous” sourdough bread. I am a fan of sourdough bread, and although I am not a “bread nerd” whatsoever, I can say this is some of the best I’ve had even if I can’t tell you why. I do have to say I still think it’s odd that they’re making break fresh daily, out of bread that’s been around since the mid 1800′s. If trivia like that bothers your appetite, stop thinking and just eat. Trust me. Give their clam chowder a try in a sourdough bowl if you have time.
A short walk through the north end of town was in store for us after our stop at Boudin, took us over to Ghirardelli Square. The chocolate maker has both an ice cream shop, and a chocolate shop and cafe on this block. We were fortunate to find out they would let us take a walk through the shop while carrying Mike and Hazen. It also would have been rude to go all that way and then turn down their offers of free chocolates upon entry! By the time we wound through the shop to the end, we had somehow, mysteriously ended up with an 80 square variety bag. Om nom nom…
As the sun started to go down, we headed back to the car and took a few photos of Alcatraz from the roof of the parking structure (like I said, views of it from almost anywhere!), and then decided to head down into the city a bit and scout around for other things to see, as well as a place to camp for the evening. Along the way, we found our path up the steep hills to the top of Lombard Street. I have no idea how people manage to live and own a car on that street. Insane. But great view and loads of fun to drive down.
About 3 hours of driving around had us discovering the Presidio’s Inspiration Point, which even in the dense fog quickly became the start of a to-see list for the next morning. We had also stumbled onto the edge of Golden Gate park, while attempting to look for the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
See, this is where I have to admit that I failed in my tired state to print out any maps of the area the evening before we left, and since we hadn’t stopped to try and find an open WiFi network, we were driving blind. Having said that, this is the way we really do prefer to see an area typically at first, if we’re just out exploring on the Vespa’s, or even in a totally new city. We just skimmed the surface with a faint idea of what we might see, and took mental notes on what to go back and see in more detail the next day and with the help of a map.
As the sun went down we decided to call it a night and find a spot to settle in until morning. We were able to get onto an open WiFi, and found an area we figured would be close to the things we wanted to see. After some discussion about the pros and con’s of parking in a 24 hour business parking lot, or at the edge of a grocery store parking lot, we finally called 27th Avenue, between Geary and Anza, our home for the night. A quiet little residential street where we actually found curb side parking available.
About 11:00 pm we started to change around the contents of the car, and get comfortable. This first night, we did it all from inside the car, trying not to draw any stares from anyone walking by. We finished filling the Queen sized air mattress we had with us that was only partially inflated for the trip up, and rolled out our sleeping bags. My personal concerns with camping in the car on the side of a street ended up being quite larger than necessary, but me and Mike stayed away through most of the evening as people would wander by. Mike kicked into guard-dog duty, and was adorable at it, and I just kept waiting for the inevitable knock on the window from a cop telling us to move along. Thankfully, we had a fairly peaceful evening… and the first time car camping in a city, went rather well.
I even got a “good morning” from a resident standing on his front steps stretching for a run, as I stepped out of the fogged up Element with 2 dogs on leashes to find a tree for their morning routines. No odd stares or tone, just a good solid “good morning”, before he dashed down the hill for his run.