San Francisco - Day 2

The morning was cloudy with a light rain. We decided we would still go to Muir Woods which is a redwood forest. The drive is on a two lane windy road. We went up into the clouds and then dropped down into the forest. The mist made strange shapes with the trees. When we got to Muir Woods there were a few people there and we parked right up front.

The light rain made the greens even greener and the forest had a wonderful smell.

We did a looped trail that took us from the floor of the forest up along a hillside. The redwoods are amazing trees. Even with holes in the base they still stand strong and tall.

The forest floor was covered with ferns and delicate flowers and moss hung on some of the trees.

 By the time we were near the end the rain had stopped and it was sunny. As we left the parking lot the line of cars parked along the side of the road stretched for a mile. We got there at the right time.




 We then made our way to Stinson Beach. It was overcast and there were not many people at the beach.  We got lunch at a local diner and ate on the beach. We strolled along the edge of the waves trying to keep our feet out of the cold water.  The sun came out and so did the people so we moved on toward the city.

We approached the Golden Gate Bridge from a different direction which gave us a view of the bridge and the city together. The last spot was from an old gunnery location that overlooked the entrance to the bay.

We drove to Golden Gate park and looked at the various gardens there.

 On the east side of the park was the Haight Ashbury district famous for the hippie movement in the 60's.

 There are some great Victorian homes along with the remains of the hippie culture.

We then went to Lombard Street and drove down the "crookedest street" in the world.
 To take the shot looking up at the street you have to park perpendicular to the street so your car won't roll.

We tried to find a place to eat on North beach but there was no place to park so we decided to leave for our hotel that night which was in Salinas that was about two hours south of the city. Try to get out of the city even at 7 p.m. was backed up forever but we finally made it out and were on our way.