DAY 59: San Francisco, California
Miles traveled: 7,771
States visited: 20
Weather: 71, sunny
I spent the past two days in San Francisco. I’d been here before, but I enjoyed the city more this time. San Francisco is one of the cities that specifically outlaws sleeping in vehicles. It’s a good thing I found a couchsurfing host!
My host Jon is a member of the California Academy of Sciences and let me use his guest pass to visit for free. This is a facility that is basically a zoo, aquarium, and planetarium all in one. So I got to see a bunch of animals that I didn’t see in the San Diego Zoo, like stingrays, sharks, eels, chameleons, and giant cockroaches (almost 4 inches long).
They had African penguins:
And albino alligators:
And a coral reef:
And upside-down jellyfish:
I made the most of my time in the city. I had dinner in the Castro and walked by Harvey Milk’s old camera shop. The last time I was in San Francisco I don’t think I even knew who Harvey Milk was, so I felt much more of a sense of history this time. I even ate at a place called Harvey’s – the food was good but the portions were small.
I spent Tuesday afternoon thrift store hopping. I went to 8 different thrift stores. I found a few t-shirts, but my big score was a pair of shoes. In Austin, I saw someone wearing these black Tiger shoes and I decided I had to have them, but they were out of my price range. Amazingly, I found these exact shoes in a thrift store for only $10! And they were my size! Actually, they were one size too small, but it’s close enough – fashion always trumps comfort.
I spent the evening in the Mission District, probably San Francisco’s most fun neighborhood. I would definitely reside here if I lived in this city. I found a sports bar to watch the Penguins win game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, then met up with my former co-worker Amy who is a lot of fun. We went to an ice cream place that had exotic flavors – I got scoops of roasted banana and brown sugar. Then we did a bit of bar hopping and met some interesting characters along the way. It was a fun evening.
I saw Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge from a distance. The only letdown was that I didn’t feel an earthquake. I’ve never felt an earthquake and that’s something I want to experience on this trip. Nothing major, of course, but a nice, small 4.1 would be swell. Although, I just checked the government’s earthquake site, and there was a 1.5 quake last night in Oakland. It was too mild for anyone to feel. But I’m counting that.
Next I cross the river to visit Oakland and Berkeley before heading north towards Oregon.
9000 Miles 