San Francisco
18:25 - Seattle - Zihao
In the morning, we set off along California Highway 1, which was the only route we took that was decided more than 6 months in advance (contrary to our usual practice of setting the gps just as we set off). As we soon discovered, this was a very good plan. Not long after lunch at a roadside buffet, we were thrust onto the winding highway along the Pacific coast. Gazing out to sea, we realised that we had truly complied with advertising standards and had indeed driven from coast to coast within the allotted timeframe that was specified on our vehicles ("Summer 2010"). Ronseal moment over, the beauty of the actual view itself was enough to force us to stop in a lay-by in order to take it all in and get a closer look. After just a short while the true extent of our trend-setting abilities was revealed to us as three other cars had stopped in the same lay-by. Unwilling to deal with too many hangers-on, we were quickly on the road again.
Megan (as loyal our loyal readers will remember from the previous issue), discovering that we were heading for San Francisco, had kindly put us in touch to stay the night with her family in Scotts Valley, roughly an hour and a half south of San Francisco. We arrived in Scotts Valley to be greeted by Cindy, Kevin, Hannah, Michelle and Jessica. After a thoroughly delicious dinner of steak and twice-baked potatoes (during which we were almost evicted for the offence of expressing our indifference towards the fries at In-n-Out Burger, a US fast food favourite) we were lucky enough to experience first hand apparently America's most important and enlightening cultural event of each calendar year - Discovery Channel's Shark Week, which was in fact fascinating, despite the curiously British accents of every single narrator. That evening, as we went to bed, we noticed on our phone several panicked texts from none other than Megan, wondering about the extent to which her mother had embarrassed her. Megan - if you're reading this - the extent was great indeed. It is only our sense of gratitude to you that has kept us from uploading the photo of your mother in full makeover attire - dressing gown, towel on head, face mask, cucumbers and all - who greeted us as we entered the door.
The next morning, after Alec had returned from the gym (in Kevin's envy-inducing Subaru WRX), we breakfasted and headed out for a hike (despite Michael's high-pitched protests) with Jessica as our guide. After our amble through the woodland (culminating in a stone-skimming session), we had lunch at a funky vegetarian diner before heading to the beach.
In the late afternoon, we headed for Redwood City - our base camp for the visit to San Francisco. As soon as we entered the lobby of the hotel, a grin appeared on Alec's face. Following the direction of his wide-eyed gaze, we discovered that the hotel offered free popcorn and nachos. Here, we waited for the arrival of our Oxford friends Aan Son and Angel, who were on a trip of their own from Mexico up the west coast. Over dinner at In-n-Out Burger, we heard of the decadence in which our friends had traveled thanks to a combination of the power of their currency in a third world country and Angel's usual cunning charm. Afterwards, we investigated the 'alternative' Haight Street (on Jessica's recommendation) for a few drinks before retiring for the evening.
The next morning, we drove through the city to find Lombard Street - Guinness world record certified 'crookedest street in the world' - while gawking in disbelief at the steepness of many of the roads. Megan's mum Cindy was kind enough to give us tickets to see a baseball game between the Oakland As and the Texas Rangers. Despite (or perhaps due to) the apparent lower quality of play of the teams, we unanimously enjoyed this game far more than the one we'd seen of the San Diego Padres. One highlight of the game occurred when a mis-hit foul ball sailed over towards our section of the stadium and landed squarely into a cup of iced tea that a vendor was trying to sell, splitting it clean down the middle and sending a roar through the crowd. The poor vendor, initially baffled by the apparent spontaneous explosion of his wares, recovered in high spirits after taking a few moments to gather his senses.
Post-game, we moved towards Union Square to hit the (in)famous Cheesecake Factory for dinner with Angel and Aan Son. Arriving a bit early, we decided to browse Macy's for half an hour, and it was a very fortunate decision. Mid-way through browsing, a man ran in through the door and darted into the aisles. Not three seconds later, a second man did the same thing. Zihao's initial instincts that participants of a charity marathon had lost their way proved to be grossly incorrect, as it later transpired (through the fine medium of violence) that the first gentleman was a shoplifter, and his pursuant (who was built for comfort rather than speed) was some kind of security guard. Ploughing into the thief in an expert manoeuvre that would have made Boris proud (YouTube "Boris Johnson tackle"), our hero cuffed the crook, who had a grumble about the inconvenience this caused him. Gleefully declaring "right, let's go to jail", our hero led the thief away in a cabaret of song and dance. While a great meal, the Cheesecake Factory was uneventful by comparison.
Our final day in San Francisco was spent cycling. Having rented bicycles, we rode over the Golden Gate Bridge against some terribly strong winds and had lunch in the lovely town of Sausalito. Refusing any further physical exertion, Michael quickly hopped on a ferry back to San Francisco while Alec, Benji and Zihao made the uphill cycle back. In the evening we went to Chinatown and had dinner with Meredith, who Uri (a friend of Zihao's) had introduced us to.
The next morning, our journey continued north into the state of Oregon...
