I haven’t been well most of this trip and I think that’s due to troubled sleep. Today is the day that had been troubling me the entire trip. I booked a flight from Vegas to LA then another flight from LA to SF. When I booked we had a three hour window. As happens, the airlines changed their schedules and we were left with 1 1/2 hours to collect our luggage, clear the terminal, bag drop for the next airline, clear security and board our flight. Piece of cake at an Australian airport, but we were talking LAX here - which is a beast in itself!
So I’ve spent many sleepless early mornings missing that flight over and over, planning the change to within an inch of its life. The day comes and we are buoyed to hear that our flight would be about 45 minutes - bonus we had 30 minutes up our sleeves. Then when we arrive in LA it takes 10 minutes to taxi to the gate and another 15 minutes to get an air Marshall to secure an air ridge and get us off the plane.
Race down to baggage claim (yay ours is some of the first off) and make the dash down to Terminal 7. Freak out that our bags will be too heavy and we will have to repackage but they get cleared and then a quick flow through security and suddenly we are good to go with 30 minutes to spare! Needless to say, last night was my best night’s sleep in over a month - 7 hours uninterrupted and no dreams!
I bought us a three day Muni pass which gives us unlimited transport access so after leaving Bren at the Hilton to nurse a migraine, Hayden and I jumped a cable car down to Fisherman’s Wharf for a spot of dinner. Boudin’s Bakery is a well-known institution at the wharf, serving up the most delicious clam chowder in a fresh sourdough Cobb bun, so who am I to pass that up. Chowder is easily one of my all time favourite meals, and the more I walk around SF and it’s amazing seafood restaurants, the more I realise that this is where I am meant to be! Too bad that this is one of the most expensive cities to live in the US!
We strolled along the wharf until we caught our first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge by night, and checked out the fun that is Pier 39. Cable car back to the hotel where Brendon was sleeping off the end of his headache and woke up long enough to demolish the gyro I picked up for him at the little takeaway across the road.
Cable cars are my new number one form of travel. By no means fast, but a novelty and extremely effective on the hills of SF. Oh and by the way, if you ever meet a cyclist from San Fran, you can rest assured that they will be a better hill climber than you - this city is all ups and downs and anyone who rides here has my absolute respect.
Disappointed to find out that our Behind the Scenes Alcatraz Tour has been cancelled due to the partial government shut down. Day tours are continuing but with our cancelled tour, the day tours are booked out for the next four days so we will have to content ourselves with a cruise around the island and a bucket list item to bring us back to this gorgeous city - in the sunny season next time! I can’t complain too much - this is the only thing that hasn’t really gone tonplan or at least been manageable. And let’s face it, it’s a first world problem compared to the thousands of government workers who are going unpaid over these days and weeks, affected by an action beyond their control, but that also affects their very livelihoods - their homes, their families. So while I’m disappointed I’m also ok with missing out this time.
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