San Francisco-Day 3-July 12, 2010

This was a jam packed day...and the only day that I had to take pain meds for my back.  We hopped the trolley (by now, we were such pros, it was scary) and road down to the wharf.  We had set up 2 Gray Line tours and had to check in at the departure place early.  The first tour was a bus tour of Golden Gate Park, Muir Woods and Sausalito.  This tour lasted half of the day (all morning).

Golden Gate Park is basically a look out area on the ocean shore with a great photo area of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. 

The area is breathtaking.  The sound of the waves, the view,  the cold air.  We were only allotted a certain amount of time, but I assure you, it was not enough.

We loaded up on the bus and began the trek to Muir Woods.  We were in a tour bus, going on hair pin turns...up a mountain, with really narrow shoulders.  It was not the most pleasant drive ever.  I am too much of a control freak and was not sure of the drivers skill.  We arrived at Muir Woods and were given a lecture by the driver that if we were not back at the bus by a certain time, he would just drive off and leave us.  He had a schedule to keep.  He scared the heck out of me and I was constantly watching my watch.  I could not figure out who would come rescue us if we got left.

Muir Wood is an enchanted place.  Words can not describe the feeling I got when we went into the woods.  There were no traffic sounds, the only sounds were of the other tourists talking.  Even those noises were hushed.  The most peaceful place that I have ever been in my entire life.  If I could go back, and get brave enough to drive to Muir Woods, I would spend the entire day there.  Everywhere you look there is something different to see.  The trees are huge, the foliage is so green. It is cool, shaded and almost made me feel like I was in an enchanted forest.  I would not have been surprised if a fairy princess or leprechaun came popping out from under some moss.

We made it back to the bus in time and headed back down the mountain.  It was just as scary, if not scarier as the pain pill buzz had worn off,  as going up.  We drove to Sausalito.  Now, I was hugely disappointed in this place.  I was expecting a quaint little artist village where there were going to be gypsy artists selling their wares.

This car was pretty much representative of Sausalito.  Shiny, new, sleek, mass produced foreign stuff.  We did have a great lunch.  Grilled Cheese and Onion sandwich.  Why had I never thought of grilling onions in a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?

We reloaded the bus and headed back to San Francisco.  We had some time to kill and then reloaded a bus to take us to the The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.  (Let's all stop to sing...Do you know the way to San Jose?  Very good class).  Now remember, that Linda and I had been wearing sweat shirts and jeans.  It was cold in San Francisco.  Well, in San Jose, it was hot.  The Winchester House does not have air conditioning and it was hotter than a fire cracker.  How hot was it?, you might ask.  Hot enough that at the end of the tour, we went to the ice cream shop, bought drum sticks and held them on our foreheads and neck to cool off.  The Winchester House is unbelievable.  Here is the link to take you to their site :  www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/   It is a sad commentary on a life gone so out of control.  It was fascinating to see the stairways that went nowhere and the doors that opened onto brick walls, but when you think of the woman behind all of it, it was sad. 

We loaded back on the bus and went back to San Francisco.  There is a guy who makes a bunch of money on the wharf by sitting on a bucket, hiding behind branches and then jumping out and scaring people to death.

He sits in different spots and people actually pay him to scare them.  One of the tour guides told us this guy makes 10-12 thousand dollars a year doing this.  We stood and watched him for the longest time.

We ate our dinner and then headed back to the hotel, content in knowing that we had seen it all, done it all and were exhausted (until tomorrow that is)