WE WERE GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO, BUT

Thursday, July 4, 2013 – We left Sequoia N.P. at around 1:30 p.m., stopped for lunch in Three Rivers, CA.  We also filled up the gas tank before getting into San Francisco since it would most likely be expensive in SF.

From Three Rivers, we continued to follow CA-198 west, I-5 north, I-580 west (Bay Ridge/San Francisco), I-80 west, and finally US-101 north all the way into San Francisco.  We were stuck in traffic for about 20 minutes, waiting for our turn at the toll booths.  Unlike in Los Angeles where vehicles only need to have 2 people (we were there in 2010), in SF, cars must have 3 or more to use the carpool lane.  We thought we should take a chance, got into the carpool lane, and if we were to get caught by the nice highway patrol, we could say that we have three – Ralphie, TOTA and Benjamin!

We had no problem getting to our hotel, right on Lombard Street.  The hotel cost a little more compared to others but we were glad to pay more for the free parking.  If you are in SF, definitely consider staying at a hotel with free parking, even if you have to pay for a safe parking spot for your vehicle, it is worth it.  Just like NYC, SF has good public transportation and the routes are accommodating – no need to drive because good luck with parking.

We selected the room in the back of the building instead of the one with balcony overlooking the street.  It would have been nice to “people watching” from the balcony but we would be out and about doing tourist things.  There was a small safe for valuable stuff, just enough to keep the iPad, the Bose, iPods and a few extra dollars we did not want to carry around town.

We walked across the street to a restaurant that was recommended by the hotel clerk.  After we were promptly seated at the table, the server disappeared and did not come back.  The people from the table next to us said that they were there for almost 25 minutes and no one came back to take their order.  They left and we followed them out the door!

It was already 7:30 p.m. so we went to a corner deli, got two sandwiches, took the food and drink backs to the hotel room.  Later, we walked down to the waterfront and watched the fireworks.  The crowd was very orderly, and even a few questionable looking characters were well-behaved.  (I admit that I was nervous being outside at night among large crowd on our first day in an unfamiliar big city like SF, but the City law enforcement did a great job at directing traffic and kept the flow of people moving.)

We had a wonderful 4^th of July – seeing General Sherman and his family, watching the fireworks, celebrating Independence Day and grateful for the Blessings to be living in this great Nation.  God Bless America and the men and women who serve and protect our Freedom and Liberty.