Friday, July 16, 2010, 6:13PM
High Five Tour Stop #33: San Francisco, CA
Wind Powered Frisco
The ride up on I-5 towards San Francisco was pretty boring. There isn’t much to see besides the hills and the dried up plants. It’s a tragedy that the water shortage had left many orchards barren. The hills were so yellow often times it looked like we were in the Sahara driving past sand dunes.
There was one type of farm that still seemed to be producing and those were the wind farms. We had passed some wind generators before but there was nothing quite like the ones just outside of San Francisco. Rows and rows of these tall white fans stood spinning as far as the eye could see. We must have passed by hundreds.
Seaside For Drinks
Our first stop was Buena Vista the first place ever to service Irish Coffee in America. We sat down and traded our high fives for some drinks. We made friends with some other people visiting and had them come out to sign the Shelby Mustang. Before long we had the attention of the whole street and a veteran came by and thanked us profusely for the work we were doing.
America’s Crookedest Street
San Francisco is known for it’s hilly terrain but it also claims the country’s crookedest street. Lombard St. has a hill so steep that it would be too dangerous for cars to drive straight up and down. Instead they have designed a series of switchbacks or curves which help cars navigate the terrain safely.
The Golden Gate Parking Lot
We headed to the Golden Gate Bridge but since it was rush hour the drive of about 4 1/2 miles took us well over an hour. We got to have some conversations along the way with people who honked at us and loved the car while we stopped. I have to give credit to anyone who can make that commute everyday; you must have the patience of a saint!
Finally crossing the bridge we stopped off at the Sailors Memorial and took a few pictures. On the way back we decided to try to grab a few pictures of the car on the bridge so I hopped out and ran in front taking some snapshots. We caught the attention of a bridge police officer who asked us to pull over.
When all was said in done we explained our mission and he was happy to sign his name on our car.
A Night Out
We headed back to the Marine Memorial Club which would be our home for the night. We got settled in and still had plenty of time left in the day so I went out and explored the city. I grabbed a slice of pizza which was pretty good for being so far away from New York and headed back down to Fisherman’s Wharf to enjoy the sunset and the attractions that were down there.
I was unable to capture it on my phone but the horizon was layered with the most amazing oranges and greens and blues just after the sun had set. I took a walk up to Ghiradelli Square for some ice cream, and then finally headed in for the night.
Next up on our 10,000 mile journey: Roseville, CA
