The Trip – Part 13: San Francisco
We headed north into San Francisco. Kathy’s sister lived on Sloat Boulevard, very close to the ocean, the zoo, and the end of the L-car line. We had flown out to visit her the year before so were familiar with her neighborhood and had no problem finding her apartment. We had only been camping a short while since our last indoor stay in Los Angeles so we may not have been able to appreciate being indoors again quite as much, but it was very nice nonetheless!
Since we had been here before, Kathy’s sister didn’t have to show us around very much. While she was at work Kathy and I would take the streetcar down to Market Street to wander the city or we’d walk down to the end of Sloat Boulevard, cross the Great Highway, and enjoy a walk on the beach.
On the weekend we took a few trips out of town. We went to Muir Woods National Monument to hike among the redwoods, explored the rugged coastline in Point Reyes National Seashore and, of course, toured and tasted the wineries in Napa Valley.
Since we happened to be in town during the Chinese New Year, we decided to go downtown to enjoy the celebration. It was noisy and fun with dragons weaving through the streets, typical American carnival rides, and lots of colorful outfits. I must admit, however, I couldn’t quite get used to all of the firecrackers, large strings of which would be tossed around like confetti.
After leaving San Francisco we headed into the Central Valley. We’d met an elderly couple when we were in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument a couple months before. Their names were Joe and Helen Blanc and they ran an almond ranch in Turlock. When they heard about our travels they had invited us to visit if we were ever in the area. I was a little apprehensive about visiting because they had given us a copy of the Bible and I was concerned that they might want to spend their time trying to sell us their religion. I was very wrong about that one.
When we arrived they showed us around their ranch. I was surprised to learn that they had to rent bees every spring to pollinate the almond trees. They fed us a nice dinner and put us up for the night. The next day, after a nice farm breakfast, they drove us around and showed us some of the historic gold rush towns in the foothills.
When it was time to leave we headed up to the Sierra Nevadas. Our destination was Yosemite National Park.