We awoke our first morning in San Francisco just before sunrise as I was still on East Coast time. I took Lexie out for a stroll through the neighborhood. If I thought the streets 
were steep in the bus, walking them brought a whole new meaning to the word. We headed up to a Town Park at the top of the hill to watch the sunrise. There we met many other people up and walking about. Some doing Yoga others performing some kind of focal exercise which resembled slow karate moves.
The walk back to the bus revealed to me the city I had failed to see when I arrived in darkness the night before. I was anxious to go explore, but some of my first impressions were just how many steep hills there were. How high up we actually were and how nice everyone was that I met on our walk.
We returned back to the bus and was greeted by my host Thim. I washed up and then enjoyed a nice breakfast courtesy of our generous hosts.
Thim offered to take us on tour of the city and I happily agreed. After all, how can you beat a personal tour guide?
My first impressions of the city from far above on Twin Peaks was how small the “City” was and how close the residential neighborhoods were to it. Coming from NY, this was quite unusual where the city its self is an Island and most of the homes are removed from that.
Upon venturing down into the city we took the BART (Public Transportation, but Subway and Bus) Downtown. San Francisco’s “subway” ( I didn’t even know they had a Subway system with all these mountains) goes by the name Muni and then the BART depending on which line you are taking. It is clean, quiet and comfortable. OK , I am comparing this to NYC which is my reference point as that was my first city I ever knew having grown up in Westchester County, NY, but all the same. Only time it got loud was when two cars were passing in opposite directions. I held Lexie’s ears when that would happen because it was very loud.
The other two methods outside of taxis are Cable Cars and Trolley Cars. The Cable Cars are pulled by underground cables on specific streets while the Trolleys (some – OK many, older than me) run on overhead power lines throughout the city. Even the newer BART Buses run on these same lines meaning there is very little exhaust emissions being released in the city. The city is simply a maze of lines and cables above the streets that some might glance over, but for me I was astonished how the system actually works so well and well I mean…very little noise and pollution. There were few traffic lights too. Simply Stop signs that everyone actually stopped at. No, that does not happen in other cities without strict enforcement.
Thim had another engagement so he left us at the Cable car. Unfortunately they don’t allow Little Yorkies aboard without a muzzle and I am not sure I could even find a muzzle for Lexie let alone would I so we skipped it and headed up to Castro.
Castro is probably the image most people have when they think of San Francisco, but San Francisco is actually so much more. If nothing else, get every negative image you ever had about San Francisco out of your head and replace it with the most polite, friendly, clean and happy people you will ever meet. Everywhere I went throughout San Francisco, these were the people I met. Castro was a very artistic area. Everyone was expressing themselves in some way and when you approach this with an open mind you can appreciate just how creative people actually are. Of course, between my florescent Orange shirt and straw hat with Lexie in tow with her Pink Jacket..I kind of fit right in.
I pulled up a walking tour on my Smart Phone 
and Lexie and I set out for a tour of Castro. We visited many great homes, saw a lot of unique art and learned all about Castro and Harvey Milk (side note…Harvey Milk was a fellow New Yorker just like me) I was most impressed with the Architecture throughout this historic area and again…the cleanliness.
The next day it was back to the mountain tops for some sight seeing. Lexie and I went up to Mt. Davidson and saw the giant cross. Then we ventured across to Twin Peaks and after a jaunt back to Castro to meet Thim and Tony for my first ever try of Thai Food (it was great! Thanks for introducing me to Thai food guys!) we shot across to Golden Gate park and then onto Baker Beach before heading home.
The day came that we had to say Good Bye to San Francisco and begin our trek North up Rt 1, but before we departed we paid a visit to The Presidio. The Presidio is like no other government site I have ever seen. Pleace click on the link above to learn more about it and if you are out there…stop by and spend some time. I happened to be at The Presidio during a Picnic event and got to sample some unique foods. I even bought some really good cheese to take with me on our journey.
Leaving The Presidio we began our trek across the Majestic Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge 
spans the “Golden Gate” which is the channel of water (ie: Gate) below. Its views are spectacular but the waters are anything but. This section of water is quite treacherous! We arrived on the other side in the prestigious Marin County and made our way down to a Yacht Club I noticed crossing over the bridge and it was here that I got to witness just how violent this water is as I witnessed numerous whirlpools forming as high tide approached. Having felt the wrath of a tidal pool a few months earlier in the Great South Bay off Fire Island, I could appreciate just how dangerous these are. I thought the photo op of my bus in front of the boats was perfect as being on a boat is how this all began.
I would like to thank Thim and Tony for being such wonderful hosts and making my stay in San Francisco, CA a wonderful one. I can’t wait to return and explore this wonderful area more….Time to head North!
Photo Link: https://goo.gl/photos/i1rmN4dTXiju19zT9
