Sadly Leaving San Francisco

My last day in San Francisco and I have had an absolutely marvellous day. I have met so many wonderful and marvellous people today from the staff and guests at the B&B to the two women in McDonalds to the Australian couple on the cable car. Thank you for making my last day in San Francisco so great. I am looking forward to going home but sad that as I head back East that I don't have more time to spend in the USA but that just makes me so determined to visit and re-visit some of the places I have been to and to go to other places that people have told me about.



I have seen this so often on TV and in movies watching the newspaper get thrown at people's doorsteps. Although I missed the delivery I grabbed this image of a newspaper on someone's driveway.



For the first time on my trip I have come across a Greyhound bus.



If this was the size of the bow and arrow that Native Americans used how come they were defeated by the white man?



I didn't have time to visit the Golden Gate Bridge - that will have to wait for my next visit - and I was going to lie and say this was it but this is the Bay Bridge but still impressive with a fire boat beside it.



Loved this old wooden pier which seemed to have house plants on it.

This is the on land part of Bay Bridge just as a tram passes underneath.

 

 

Saw this beautiful dog and asked the owner if I could take its photo.

 

 

 This is the home of the local baseball team, The Giants. I thought the name referred to how good they were at baseball until I saw the size of the baseball mitt and the huge Coke bottle; they're players really ARE giants.



 

As I passed under these freeway overpasses I started to think about when the next earthquake might hit San Francisco and started to walk really quickly.

 



Another first today was seeing lunch wagons and here they were all congregated together. The image above has Healthy Lunch Wagon as a sign. I assume it doesn't refer to the burger wagon.

 

One thing I noticed was the majority of men wearing backpacks in San Francisco including this kilt wearing guy. I was so glad that I wore mine so that I blended although I wore mine over one shoulder hoping that everyone would mistake me for a sophisticated New Yorker.

 

 

 

 

In my travels I have been surprised by the sheer amount of Subway restaurants. I thought that they outnumbered McDonalds and when I checked they really do outnumber McDonalds by thousands.

 

 

 

 

Loved these Pizza restaurant signs.

 

 

I hope that none of the travellers on this tour bus stood up given the amount of overhead electric cables.

 

 

Cables that are used to power these trolley buses.

 

 

I don't know why the US Army buys expensive tanks when these models are available.

 

 

 

 

I saw this modern building next to Union Square with no name to give the company away, just a large apple on the side.

 

 

I was going to buy my daughter a present from this Neiman Marcus shop till I saw the prices and left the building.

 

 

 

A victory column in Union Square.

 

 

When I saw the huge queue of people waiting to board the cable car at the terminus I decided to walk up the hill and catch it there. But before I left I watched staff turn the cars around on a turntable. Hard to believe that two people could turn these heavy cars.

 

 

People including this Western guy riding the cars.

 

 

As I passed this cosmetic store one of the women who had been trying to entice a customer in to the store and was rebuffed said "Yeah well I bet you don't even come from here" to the customer. I think this was the first example of rudeness I have come across on my trip.

 

 

 

My first and only example of San Francisco Flower Power.

 

 

Different San Francisco architecture.

This is the car rental I should have got; a classic Ford Mustang then I could have done the Steve McQueen Bullitt drive over San Francisco's hills.

I finally got on my first cable car when this conductor yelled over to me asking if I wanted to board the car then he and his colleague both yanked on their brakes to bring the car to a shuddering stop. The couple on the right were from Australia who very kindly took some photos of me hanging off the car.

 

Conductors don't seem required to wear a uniform which just adds informality to the whole ride.

 

 

You can hear and see the moving cables buried in the road which the cars latch on to.

Entrance to Chinatown.

Three wise monkeys outside an ornamental shop.

Went into this Scottish store and spoke to the assistant wearing the kilt who turned out to be from Dunblane, Scotland.

This tunnel had a sign on top which reads Quiet Inside Tunnel, Does that mean you can't talk as you drive through.

 

These rental bicycles are sponsored by Ford. Is this Ford trying to establish its eco credentials?

 

 

I never knew that Sir Francis Drake discovered Starbucks and introduced them to England.

 

 

I know one of my friends described me as a Panda Killer after I said that we shouldn't try to preserve a species that refuses to breed but even I draw the line at actually eating one. Bison, yes, Pandas, no.