The last day - October 5th 2013.  The flight was due to leave at 7.45pm and we had booked the cab to pick us up at the apartment so we would get to the airport in plenty of time to check in, drop our bags and get through security.

So, we had about 4 hours to spare after we moved out of the apartment at 11 am.  Here is Dad and me just after we closed the door for the last time.

It was a very hot day - probably about 85 F or more. Mum and Dad were worried about the weight of the suitcases with all the sneakers and clothes we had bought - and the truckload of chocolates!  We decided to walk up the road to the shopping mall to see if we could find a bigger suitcase. And we did, at a shop called.........

...and here is us at the airport sorting out all the stuff in the suitcases.

Before going to the airport we spent an hour or so in the park near our apartment - Pine Lake. It was lovely and cool in the shade of the tall eucalyptus trees.

The flight home was delayed. For a while we were excited before we left. The airline told us that the plane had been over-booked and they wanted volunteers to stay an extra day. The airline would pay for the hotel AND give each person a free flight anywhere in the world (except Australia) at any time in the next 18 months.  We hesitated a second or two and then said....................YES!

We had to go through security and go to the boarding gate and wait.

At last they called out three names ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... not ours! Then they told us they had chosen some others. What a disappointment!! :-(

Anyway, after a long flight home, there was Matthew's uncle waiting for us to take us home again.

By (a very tired) Hester, with a bit of help from Dad!

THE END

Today was our last full day - it was a very tiring day. But it was also one of the best.  We went to Angel Island on the ferry to meet our friends Renee and Wayne who were coming on the Tiburon ferry.

This is a photo of Angel Island as we got near.

Just as we arrived the ferry from Tiburon came with Renee and Wayne.

There are no cars allowed on the island. you walk or cycle everywhere. Wayne took us to a secret beach he knew of - we were the only ones there (except for two rangers who came just as we left and told us they had found a shark fin on the beach.)

We had a great picnic there.......

.... and I am eating a big packet of crisps again!!

We spotted what I think might be curlews.(Not sure - better ask Paul)

We also saw some seals swimming past, but did not get a photo of them.

It is a lovely island - here it is with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

On the way back we went close to an island which is not quite so lovely.......

..... Alcatraz.

A great end to a great holiday.

Hester

Today, as we could not go to Alcatraz, Mum and I walked back to Ambassador Toys.

Then we caught the Metro to meet Dad at the Converse shop, where Mum and I each bought a pair of .....

After that we all went for an ice cream at Ghirardelli's.

Here I am eating a strawberry ice-cream with hot chocolate fudge topping. (Dad has just finished a whole hot chocolate fudge sundae by himself!!)  (And Dad says to say - so did Mum!!!!)

We went to the Ferry Building to check out tomorrow's visit to Angel Island and then came home.

Later we had another meal at the Java Beach Cafe......

..... and here is Dad and me again.

That is not my beer!!

Hester

Yesterday we went for a bike ride round Golden Gate Park.  We hired bikes from "Bike the Parks" in the centre of the park and set off.  It wasn't long before we had to stop for slight refreshments!

Just a small packet of crisps. On our left was a small waterfall.

We cycled round the park and found we were near the wholefood store, so we stopped off and bought a picnic.

We ate our picnic in the Music Concourse in the centre of the park.

They do have gulls in San Francisco............

Mum and I went to the botanical gardens while Dad had a rest near the fountains. This is me in the Botanical Gardens......

..... and here is Dad and me looking at the map again to see where we could catch the bus home.

In the evening we went to the beach to see the sunset.

It was very windy by then and a bit cold.  Back to the apartment for a nice roast dinner!

Hester

Here are our bags all ready for our trip to Yosemite.

We had found out that there might be some problem if the US government could not agree on funding Obamacare. Dad phoned the man running the tour, who said to keep watching the news. If there was a government shut down the trip would be cancelled.  Dad was awake a lot of the night looking at the news. Until.....

We were disappointed. The final straw was when Mum and I opened Google and found......

So we decided to walk the Golden Gate Bridge.  You can walk or cycle on a special path from one side to the other. (Little did we know there was NOT a cafe on the other side!!!)
Here is a photo of the statue of the Chief Engineer of the bridge - Joseph Strauss.

And here is the view from the plaza on the south side of the bridge.

The big island on the left is Angel Island and the small one on the right is Alcatraz.

Here is the bridge from the plaza.

It is a long walk from one side to the other. The traffic is very noisy and the bridge trembles a bit as it goes past.
Here is the view of San Francisco from the north side.

I don't know exactly how long it took to walk there and back, but here is Dad having done the walk across.

We felt a lot better after a drink and a cake at the cafe on the south side. We went on to Haight Ashbury so I could buy a couple more badges and some books at the fab bookshop there.  Dad bought some second hand cds too.  Then we went to a fantastic wholefood store where I made my own orange juice......

... and Dad made his own peanut butter.

Hester

Monday - the start of our last week in San Francisco. Mum and I went off downtown again to ride the cable cars and do a bit of shopping. Dad stayed in the apartment to try to sort out the trip to Yosemite. (Dad says it is all a bit touch and go, as we will not know until first thing tomorrow whether Yosemite will be open to visitors because of some political stuff!)

Here is a cable car  being turned round on a turntable -  2 workers have to push it round. They must be strong. And here is me sitting in cable car number 9.

The shop I really wanted to go to sold........

.... Converse All Stars sneakers! Looks like I got a new pair!

When we got back to the apartment we all went for a walk in a park nearby. It had a little lake called Pine Lake. Here is a picture of a Eucalyptus tree - there were more of these than pine trees, but that is because people cut down all the pines and eucalyptus trees were planted because they grow really big really fast!

As we were watching, the famous San Francisco mist started rolling in on the lake.

Tomorrow we are off to Yosemite - or not!! Watch the news! If we go, there will be no more blog entries for a couple of days.

Hester (& Dad - a bit)

Today we went to the local Lake Merced for a nice, peaceful walk. The lake is only about a quarter of a mile from our apartment.

We had only gone a little way when we found an old skateboard made into a swing. I couldn't resist it....

Our plan was to get away from the crowds downtown, but......

... there was a charity run round the lake for lung cancer! There were a lot of people!

Here is one of the police cars that was there to keep everyone safe.

They are quite different from ours.

Soon it was time for a picnic....

and afterwards we found some of the local wildlife.

Raccoons!

Hester