Rest Day in San Francisco
For the better part of the last ten days, we've not been in areas with cell phone coverage or wifi. I've been on roaming and haven't been able to do much online writing. I was fascinated with how the little towns have phone booths. They have to. No cell phone coverage. On one hand, I love the idea of not being so plugged in. Life is a bit simpler in those places. On the other hand, having had a cell phone for years and always being able to contact people in a matter of seconds via texting or calling, I've become accustomed to the ease the cell phone offers.
Now we've reached San Francisco. 1070 miles into the ride. Just under 800 miles to go. Two weeks to San Diego.
The ride has been everything I thought it would be. Beautiful landscape. Breathtaking coastline. Incredibly difficult hills. Each day, I marvel at the wonder that is our country, and I truly wish everyone, every single person who lives here, could take the time to explore and experience what is the United States. I find it sad that there are people who can't or won't ever be able to see all that makes up this country. I know I'm so fortunate to have had the opportunities to get out, see, do. I just wish everyone had those opportunities.
Today we're in San Francisco. We arrived yesterday afternoon after leaving out of Olema Campground where the night spent there was filled with raccoons pillaging the bike bag one of the riders had unfortunately forgotten to put into the trailer, locked away from the little critters; raccoons climbing up onto the van then sliding down the windshield--you could see the footprints on the van and the muddy slide marks left on the windshield; raccoons finding another rider's backpack with her jersey in it and taking the jersey a good hundred yards away, down by the river; raccoons fighting over the little treasures they were finding all over the campground. I had to shoo one away when it stuck its head underneath my tent fly. I was awake most of the night because of those crazy raccoons, but because I was awake, I also heard the pack of coyotes howling. Their chorus was truly beautiful.
The ride from the Golden Gate Bridge to the hotel ended up me going off on my own, away from the group I'd been with. A few were indecisive about directions, and after the third time stopping to consult the map, argue which way to go, I pulled out my cell phone, plugged in the hotel address, and asked Google to take me there. Google said turn left at the street we'd just passed, so I said, "See ya!" At that point, I was on my own in a city I'd never spent any amount of time in before. I had absolutely no clue where I was or what I might encounter along the way. But I listened to Google say, "In 800 feet, turn left onto Carmen Street" and so on. I just did what I was told to do. The only scary moment came with my phone said, "Battery low." I was still about 8 miles from the hotel, and with traffic, stopping, waiting, I worried my battery would give out, leaving me with no idea where I was or how much farther I had to go. I didn't get too worked up, though. I've learned how to be resourceful from doing these rides, and the one option I always had was to simply pull into a fast food joint, get something to eat and charge my phone while eating. I decided to push the envelope, and I'm pretty sure I was getting a little help from someone because as soon as I reached the van and trailer at the hotel, my phone died.
The group I'd been with? They arrived at the hotel over an hour after I did. I'm really glad I went off on my own.
Since there are so many of us on this ride, the organization put four to a room, meaning either we sleep together in the beds or someone takes the floor. I really wanted a good night's sleep since I've not slept well for the last four nights. Raccoons, traffic, other people, or tent flaps unzipping or zipping kept me awake a lot. So I wanted a bed to myself. This meant one of the other riders had to sleep on the floor. This rider has had a rough time--a couple of falls, one yesterday on the way to the hotel, and one about ten days ago that fractured a rib. I felt bad about not giving her the bed, but I was the only one in the room at 9 pm, I was tired, and I wanted to sleep. I took one of the beds and was asleep within minutes. I didn't even hear the others come in.
Earlier this morning, when I saw the rider who slept on the floor, she looked miserable. I went to the front desk and asked if there was an open room for tonight. A king, bay view room was clean and had my name written all over it. I decided to splurge and get the room. The injured rider can now have the bed I had last night and at least have one solid night of rest while here at the hotel. I'm now in my own room. Quiet. Cool. Just me. Heaven.
A few of us went to Fisherman's Grotto and walked, browsed the stores, then had lunch. It was fun, but like with most touristy destinations, I had enough after a couple of hours. I did get some fun photos to remember everything by, though, and this is enough for me.
Now we've reached San Francisco. 1070 miles into the ride. Just under 800 miles to go. Two weeks to San Diego.
The ride has been everything I thought it would be. Beautiful landscape. Breathtaking coastline. Incredibly difficult hills. Each day, I marvel at the wonder that is our country, and I truly wish everyone, every single person who lives here, could take the time to explore and experience what is the United States. I find it sad that there are people who can't or won't ever be able to see all that makes up this country. I know I'm so fortunate to have had the opportunities to get out, see, do. I just wish everyone had those opportunities.
Today we're in San Francisco. We arrived yesterday afternoon after leaving out of Olema Campground where the night spent there was filled with raccoons pillaging the bike bag one of the riders had unfortunately forgotten to put into the trailer, locked away from the little critters; raccoons climbing up onto the van then sliding down the windshield--you could see the footprints on the van and the muddy slide marks left on the windshield; raccoons finding another rider's backpack with her jersey in it and taking the jersey a good hundred yards away, down by the river; raccoons fighting over the little treasures they were finding all over the campground. I had to shoo one away when it stuck its head underneath my tent fly. I was awake most of the night because of those crazy raccoons, but because I was awake, I also heard the pack of coyotes howling. Their chorus was truly beautiful.
The ride from the Golden Gate Bridge to the hotel ended up me going off on my own, away from the group I'd been with. A few were indecisive about directions, and after the third time stopping to consult the map, argue which way to go, I pulled out my cell phone, plugged in the hotel address, and asked Google to take me there. Google said turn left at the street we'd just passed, so I said, "See ya!" At that point, I was on my own in a city I'd never spent any amount of time in before. I had absolutely no clue where I was or what I might encounter along the way. But I listened to Google say, "In 800 feet, turn left onto Carmen Street" and so on. I just did what I was told to do. The only scary moment came with my phone said, "Battery low." I was still about 8 miles from the hotel, and with traffic, stopping, waiting, I worried my battery would give out, leaving me with no idea where I was or how much farther I had to go. I didn't get too worked up, though. I've learned how to be resourceful from doing these rides, and the one option I always had was to simply pull into a fast food joint, get something to eat and charge my phone while eating. I decided to push the envelope, and I'm pretty sure I was getting a little help from someone because as soon as I reached the van and trailer at the hotel, my phone died.
The group I'd been with? They arrived at the hotel over an hour after I did. I'm really glad I went off on my own.
Since there are so many of us on this ride, the organization put four to a room, meaning either we sleep together in the beds or someone takes the floor. I really wanted a good night's sleep since I've not slept well for the last four nights. Raccoons, traffic, other people, or tent flaps unzipping or zipping kept me awake a lot. So I wanted a bed to myself. This meant one of the other riders had to sleep on the floor. This rider has had a rough time--a couple of falls, one yesterday on the way to the hotel, and one about ten days ago that fractured a rib. I felt bad about not giving her the bed, but I was the only one in the room at 9 pm, I was tired, and I wanted to sleep. I took one of the beds and was asleep within minutes. I didn't even hear the others come in.
Earlier this morning, when I saw the rider who slept on the floor, she looked miserable. I went to the front desk and asked if there was an open room for tonight. A king, bay view room was clean and had my name written all over it. I decided to splurge and get the room. The injured rider can now have the bed I had last night and at least have one solid night of rest while here at the hotel. I'm now in my own room. Quiet. Cool. Just me. Heaven.
A few of us went to Fisherman's Grotto and walked, browsed the stores, then had lunch. It was fun, but like with most touristy destinations, I had enough after a couple of hours. I did get some fun photos to remember everything by, though, and this is enough for me.
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