The train to San Francisco was boring to say the least. I was very tired, and the one person I started talking to walked away after a minute. I just sat in my seat taking pictures, reading, and texting the whole time. We got to Oakland and I transferred onto a bus to take me into the city. The bus went over the Bay Bridge opening up an amazing view of the San Francisco skyline, it was so beautiful. After I got off the bus I enjoyed a mile long hike to the Green Tortoise Hostel, only about half of it uphill (I use the word “enjoyed” very loosely here). I got settled in to my bed, but I already loved SF so much I had to go exploring. An hour and a half later I was fast asleep.
I woke up around 10 o’clock yesterday morning and decided to walk the Golden Gate Bridge. I knew it was some distance away, but I guess I didn’t really realize how long that distance was. By 2 PM I was just about to start my trek across (granted I stopped to rest and take pictures many times). I got to the other side, rested some more, and began my six mile walk back. It was quite the journey, and it took up my entire day.
The photo below is of some graffiti on the sidewalk right under the bridge. I was walking by and it stopped my directly in my tracks, I fumbled for my camera to get a shot as quickly as possible.
I was originally scheduled to leave San Francisco tomorrow morning to head to Salt Lake City. However, I found SF to be such a cool place I really wanted to stay longer. I woke up this morning and walked down to the Amtrak station to rebook my tickets, and I am now staying here until Thursday morning and going straight to Denver, skipping Salt Lake entirely. I think it is a wonderful decision.
After I got all my plans in order I went and rented a GoCar, a small, 50 cc motorcycle-car thing. Yes, it was fun.
PIMPIN AINT EASY
Does that have an actual engine in it, or is it battery powered?
Hi EL what am I going to do after you get home from your adventure? I wake-up around 3 every morning and run to the computer to see if you have blogged . really enjoying reading it. love ya’ grandma
LOL, I love the GoCar. And as I commented on Flickr, I love the sidewalk graffiti picture. I’m guessing you just snapped the shot without thinking too much about it, but there is just so much to like about how it turned out. I have a photo from Sweden that I took just to zoom in on a far away object, didn’t think anything about it, but it turned out to be one of my favorites from the whole trip. Sometimes things just turn out right.
Your shots of the two bridges are great, the Bay Bridge at night and the iconic Golden Gate. You’re in the stretch run here, it’s okay to stop and sleep a bit. Seriously.
Take care, my friend.
I think I want a go car just to drive around campus. That looks seriously fun. However, I must defend myself by saying I could smoke you in the Mustang.
hahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha, the car is great.
Hellz yea elliot. that sounds like so much fun. good call on staying in SF and heading to denver next looks like an over all good decision. it looks like your having so much fun and i cant wait to hear all these stories when you get back. keep it real out there on the road!
Mumford, they took one of those 50cc dirt bikes and converted, its gas powered. Hardly made it up a few hills in SF hahaha
Elliot,
Another great set of photos. I love the picture of the bridge. Walking that city is one of the pleasures of being in North America. It’s the only way to get a real feel of the majesty of the bridge. I make it a policy not to let people walk away when I’m talking with them. A chain sometimes comes in handy.
I think staying a couple extra days in SF was a good idea. It’s great that you are exercising your options. I have no doubt that this trip is going to mark a turning point in your life El.
As I think about you out there on the tracks, I am reminded of Ann Lamott and her book Traveling Mercies. When the people in her church would leave on a journey they would say “Traveling Mercies…go with God, enjoy the journey, come home safe and sound.”
jim o`fahey November 18, 2009 at 12:57 am
hey man, i heard you`re stayin` across from the legendary “city lights“ bookshop…it was the center of the beatnik universe, ya know…but i hope it`s not a tourist trap nowadays(like the whiskey-a-go-go in los angeles, where THE DOORS were the house band before they got fired…)…and speakin` of THE DOORS, you know the FILLMORE WEST in sanfran was their favorite venue… i believe that if my artistic mentor, james douglas morrison, would have moved to san francisco with the haight-ashbury(sp.) hippies, maybe he would have joined the “back to earth“ organic food movement, got himself off drugs,and released a retro blues- black gospel album that would have `got us all happy`…morrison met Lawrence Ferlinghetti at city lights bookshop, back in the day, and that`s how morrison was introduced to many of the living beat poets in san fran… who knows, maybe it`s not so touristy, and you`ll meet some `gentle people` there…