San Fran

Our epic 6 week roadtrip and our trip up the Californian coast was set to end in San Francisco, we dropped the hire car off at San Francisco airport and were back to lugging our rucksacks. Fiona won the most efficient driver award clocking over 50 miles to the gallon on one 50 mile stint. 

The night before we went to San Francisco we stayed at a youth hostel at Monterra point near Half Moon Bay, it was right next to the old light house and we had a view of the beach out of our window. We also saw a horned owl hanging out on the telephone wires while we looked for the hostel which was an added bonus in getting slightly lost (only a ten foot detour, but a good mistake)

When we got there it was too dark to see much but the sunset was atmospheric

The light house in day light (hmmm.... another pointless caption)

On our first night in San Francisco we meet up with Jesse, a friend of my dads best mate, he spent a couple of years in the middle east and knew how to sort out Ralph with some head gear.

Ralph and Stephen in Greens

We also meet up with the couple who locked themselves out of their car in the Canadian rockies.  Margo and Stephen very kindly took us out for lunch at a fantastic vegetarian restaurant 'Greens' in Fort Mason or San Fracisco Port of Embarkation, US Army, the old  army supply building on the bay.  There were huge hulks of coastal redwood 'burrs' which had been polished and shaped into tables and benches and the food was delicious.

The golden gate bridge, we were disappointed to find it was actually red and not golden.

Margo and Stephen drove us out across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands which Ralph was very excited about as it is here that mountain biking began!

We went to a Marine Mammal rescue centre and were met by a very fat raccoon in the parking lot.

It seemed he was also a mechanic

To scale male elephant seal (on the right)

The pens were all run on solar. Despite being next to the sea they manufactured their own saltwater so they could control the quality. They had about 20 California sea lions in for rehabilitation, they get injured by fishing nets, boats, eating or getting caught in litter.  They also care for sea otters, fur seals, elephant seals and harbour seals.

Very californian - the lab technician had a tie dyed lab coat 

Margo, Stephen and me at the Marine Mammal Rescue moments before the fat racoon caused a hoo-ha by legging it through the gift shop!

We walked down to the beach but there was a freezing cold wind so we didn't stay long, we watched some crazy surfers and huge waves crashing up against the headland.

A tram right outside our hotel in San Francisco's Mission district.  We visited the original Mission building the night before with Jesse, built in late 1700's by the first Spanish missionaries and the oldest building in San Francisco.

The contemporary jewish museum, we went there to see a Harry Houdini exhibition.

The string of needles Houdini swallowed in his act instead of a sword - this was the last pic I took before being asked to desist by the guard. This was the best painting http://www.joecoleman.com/sites/joecoleman/files/houdini_3.jpg?1287885108 even though I didn't get a photo I thought I might find it on the web. Some of the information on Houdini was quite interesting, like the fact he was an apprentice lock smith and honed his skills picking the locks on his mums carboards to get at biscuits. However, there was also a lot of rubbish art, such as the very boring and unsubtle feminist (it was definitely not rubbish just because she was a feminist) artist video of herself trying to get out of a poorly tied straight jacket symbolising male oppression.

Cool Tim Burton-esque sculptures on the street

We visited 'Occupy' San Francisco

There were quite a few people, not sure if they have since been evicted like every other protest across the country.http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/pepper-spray-cop-ballad-sung-by-harry-shearer-voice-of-mr-burns/2011/11/29/gIQAu6Ld8N_blog.html 

Pier 39 where the Californian sea lions hang out. The anniversary plinth was quite funny as it made it look as though the two large males where heading up an 'Occupy' rally.

The hills in San Francisco are the steepest out of any American city (a trivial pursuit question we had at Thanksgiving). 

Weirder than the mystery spot

Banana split in a diner after a long day walking round the city from Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf, up Telegraph Hill to look for parakeets( no parakeets but a great view) and then through Chinatown which was much nicer than London's Chinatown.

We met Jason and Christina at a campsite in Juneau, Alaska and they were kind enough to take us out on the town one night.  This was a great bar for many reasons but a main one being they were projecting swimming sea otter footage onto the ceiling.  Christina had been in Alaska studying sea otters and what they were eating for 2 months, we were v jealous!  They had been on a fishing trip all day and Jason was feeling wobbly from the boat.  What a great idea for eating sustainably caught fish, charter a boat and catch your own.

The bar we went to had really cool decor

Jason showing off the awesome coat he made by hand.