The Rock and more

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Alcatraz, California, San Francisco, USA

Although the USA trip had ended my adventure had not! I had a few more days in San Francisco so I wanted to make the most of it. In the morning I went and managed to work out the correct tram to get from my hostel down to the sea front and back down to pier 42 and met up with some of the group. I had bought tickets last night in the hotel to go to Jail – well specifically the big famous one sitting in the bay! We had an expensive breakfast in one the nearby many restaurants and boarded the ferry.

We got to the island which is now a National Park – which of course means more Park Rangers! Up the slope and into the prison where we had an audio tour. I kept trying to spot the bits where Nick Cage was standing(from the film) however

What I liked about visting Alcatraz was that very little has been done to alter it so when you visit that it is you can really sense the atmosphere and you can imagine the notorious criminals sitting in their cells.

Outside you get some pretty views of San Fransisco as well from the Rock. Most of the group left early I stayed a bit more on the island and took plenty more pictures of the bay.

I got the boat back and then went for a bit of walk exploring – I eventually found my way to Coit Tower and paid the modest fee. I timed in perfectly to see the sunset and you can see what I saw 🙂

Decided to walk back to the hostel and save a $1.50 on the bus, it was all downhill and I got a feel of the city and right trhough Chinatown. Later in the evening went to the hotle were the others were staying and had pizza and beer and we all said bye bye.

The Route and More Pics

Last Day of the Trip

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California, San Fransisco, USA

We got up at a reasonable time time and back on to the bus heading off to Lake Tahoe, out of the mountains and towards the coast,San Francisco. Closer to the city we were kindly greeted by the first traffic jam of the entire trip and also the roaring of the Navy’s Blue Angels shooting ahead above us. We ended up at a hotel and we were all unceremoniously unloaded from the bus alogn with all our bags. I went down to the hostel to sort my self out before joining the rest of the group at Pier 39 (the one with all the Sea Lions( for a boat trip.

The boat trip went right around the bay – around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate bridge as the sun was setting and I managed to get some beautiful shots.

After that went to eat clam chowder in a bread bowl which was horrendously expensive.  Went for a few drinks and said bye bye to a few people of the group and bye bye to our Tour Leader. The girls got chatting to some Navy Officers and got a cool pic in a Navy Officers hat.   whom I found out were here for Navy Day, hence all the ships in the docks and the Blue Angels earlier in the day. Went back to my hostel for a night in a real bed an not on the floor.

 

More pics from today and the route

Lake Tahoe and Catamarans

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California, Catamaran, Cold, Lake Tahoe, Nevada, USA

Got up late after having a nice cozy bed for a change and saw snow outside.

The group and I wasted the entire morning watching the Never ending story (still find it incredibly surreal) then went on a catamaran called the  Windwalker 2 round the lake.

As you can tell from the pictures it was, bitterly cold and freezing and the wind didn’t help either. We had plenty of drinks on board to try to warm us up and got plenty of pictures of the mountains around the lake.

 

After the trip some of us were dropped off in Tahoe Town itself and we had a walk around. It was absolutely freezing but it looked great place to be in the Winter (if any one has been let me know). We were picked up and greeted with a roast dinner in the cabin by some of the other Brits who cooked it for us . Went for a walk on the beach, and went back in after I could no longer feel my toes as it got too cold.

The route and more pics from today

Sequoias and Lakes

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California, Giant Sequoias, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite

Very cold night again. Luckily no bear attacks. We packed up and on the way we stopped off at the park where the Giant Sequoias are found. If you have never seen them and you think an Oak is big – wait till you see these. These just see to climb off into the sky.

They are enormous and majestic. We spent some time there and headed back on to the road. We picked up another passenger whom we would drop off and we eventually got to out camp site near Lake Tahoe. It was absolutely freezing and I wisely decided to share a cabin as snow was falling outside. Went for a little walk in the evening as the sun set and managed to get these beautiful shots.

The Route and more pictures of the Giant Sequoias

The Long Drive

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California, Nevada, Yosemite

Nothing Interesting – just a 7 hour drive and a little accident by someone else in the group on the way there when some of the group stupidly went for a bit of a dip in the lake! Aside from that little incident we (all eventually)  got to the campsite in Yosemite Park in one piece.

Must remember to use the special bear proof bins and keep all food locked away and not in our tent!

The route we took