......San Francisco, on the approach we knew that the week we scheduled for, would be needed, even if it was just because it would take 2 days to navigate the streets. Busiest, noisiest and greyish approach to anywhere we had been so far, but quirky, as in the name of art,they had a building with furniture stuck to its outer walls. We walked around city to get a feel for the place, got conned for a dollar by a homeless who insisted on giving us directions we didn't require (must have looked like tourists or something). The hostel was old but nice,  the elevator was broken so we had to lug our packs up 3 flights of stairs ( if I'm not a size 8 by the time I come home, something is seriously wrong). Our roomates consisted of one very loud American, who said 'like' at the end of every sentence and didn't really require taking a breath between sentences and a German girl, who I think spoke English, but the American didn't let her get a word in. We went to Louis Diner in the evening and shopped, ( bought a top a necklace and 2 t-shirts which I didn't really need - well I can't break all habits from home) then back to hostel. Not so many crazies in SF, except the San Fran Bucket Man who banged on pots and pans for hours ( I think we've got his relative in Cardiff City Centre, keep an ear out next time your in town).

At this point I think its safe to tell you about our carpark scam. It started in Santa Monica, where we realised that if you left you car in a carpark for a couple or more days and accidently on purpose lost your ticket, they would only charge you for 1 full day parking, saving lots of money particularly in SF ( saving $30) and we also did it in San Diego as we have to save all the money we can being por travellers ( all these new t-shirts etc don't come cheap).

Next morning I pretended I was asleep until the American left, I couldn't bear to hear her voice again, and then we were up and out to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) - some really interesting pieces of artwork, but call me crazy I don't get how a blue strip on a blank canvas, titled 'untitled' can be called art. Then we made our way to Berkley to stay with Kate's mate Dave for the weekend. We wined and dined in a student hangout ( being the classy 27 yr old ladies we are) and watched Eddy Izzard on dvd before retiring to bed. Next day we went back into SF or 'the city' as its referred to by the locals, to do some sight seeing. It took some time but we finally found the Bart ( train station) which would take us into 'the city' and had to ask the guard what the hell we needed to do. He must of liked our accents because before we knew it he was writing us a free ticket ( or he wanted to get rid of the 2 annoying british girls). We wondered around SF looking for a 'Denny's' ( a chain of restaurants which does awesome breakfasts - and dinners, we've found ourselves in various different ones on our travels- if there was a denny's club i'd say we were platinum members), got lost and ended up in ( mum if your reading this I'd skip the next few sentences) the Tenderloin district which is Ely x4 full of prostitutes and drug dealers where we saw a lovely lady smoking heroin in a doorway. After we scoffed we bumped into an Israeli guy who had also been given a free ticket at the Bart when we were there (so I'm sensing it was more likely the guard was trying to get rid of us then liked our accents) Only joking the guard actually chated with us and had his picture taken with us. Gul ( the israeli) decided he was going to tag along with us for the day, nice to have the extra company and did I mention he is FIT. Our first stop was Alamo Square to see the 'painted ladies' highly decorated Victorian Houses and apparantly the best view of the city. We caught the bus there and it was 'nice' not really much else to say and we caught the bus back ( with the same driver). Next stop Fisherman's Wharf where we saw the sealions on Pier 39 which were smelly and noisey and our 4th 1 legged bird. From there we walked to Lombard Street ( the world's crookedest street) and proceeded to climb up it, I say climb as it was on I would say a 80 degree angle ( not an exaggeration at all). The last stop for the day was Chinatown, it was very colourful and full of chinese people funny enough, then it was bye to Gul and back to Berkley for what we were promised was to be a night of partying really hard. Well! American's can't drink, we went to 2 student like hangouts, drink a few bevvies and were home and sober by about 2am (hardcore). Kate must have been typsy though as she decided to have her picture taken with the local weirdo, who was an uglier, older and believe it or not a weirder looking version of Micheal Jackson.

Next morning Dave and Bryan made us breakfast ( Bryan being Dave's flatmate if you hadn't already guessed, there were another 2 but I can't remember their names). Then we went for a trek up Mount Diablo. When I say up Mount Diablo, Kate and I did go rock climbing in a part of the Mount but we decided to let the boys hike to the summit whilst we drove up. In the evening we ordered Pizza from Zachary's who is famous for their Deep Pan Pizza and devoured a 10 pound pizza between us whilst watching 2 dvds. I don't recommend 'Team America' for viewing its a very sick American animation but it kept us amused. Next day we went for brunch in Ann's Kitchen ( a novelty for me as I can't remember many times I was cooked lunch in Ann's Kitchen - sorry mum). Then headed to Fort Mason Hostel where we were staying for our remaining 3 nights in SF. Nice hostel, 12 bed dorm with only 1 shower between us, but it had a nice cafe attached and in a good location. Even though we got lost going to fisherman's wharf on our first night there, when we eventually made it we had a nice Italian ( would have preferred an Iranian (named Gul, obviously)) served by an eccentric old waiter.

Not the best night sleep in the world, a lady snoring and a very noisey American packing in the morning sought to that. The American was from Washington DC and like the previous hostel dwelling americans we met, liked to talk. Also met a lovely girl from Essex who had been doing our trip in reverse and was on her home straight and she gave us a tiny pair of straightners we could use in OZ ( I might look human again). We wanted an early morning though as we decided today would be the day we cycled ( yes I did say cycle) across Golden Gate Bridge. The very thick bike attendant again must have fallen for our accents because he gave us $15 each discount and must of fallen for our beauty as he forgot to get a deposit for the bikes ( if they would have fitted in our packs we could have brought them home). We cycled for 8 miles ( some of it uphill which wasn't pleasant) across the bridge and into Sausalito. A nice town with its own resident crazy. His name is Peter Romanasky and over a 20 min chat we established he liked wearing psychedelic clothing, he was running for mayor ( he had proof he was aswell), he carried a card which allowed him to smoke marijuana legally, he was divorced, celibate and had a bi-sexual girlfriend. And if that wasn't enough, he had a dog who we concluded must have been smoking his weed aswell, who he dressed up in a hat and sunglasses and stood up on his hind legs behind a guitar which Peter played very badly. Oh joy of joy, he gave us his CD as a momento to take home with us - 1 s*** song that lasts about 20 mins, cheers! After all that excitement we caught the ferry back to the wharf and met Carol for lunch, (Carol is the lady I mentioned we met in San Diego and promised we look up when we reached SF as thats where she lived). Lunch was short and sweet as we had to catch the Alcatraz ferry for our tour but we arranged to meet up with her the next day for breakfast. Alcatraz was very eerie, we did the audio tour which gave us a good insite into former residents, escapes and history it was very interesting, seeing the cells etc.

Early rise again in the morning ( Tues 3rd - incase you've all lost track again- yes I am very much behind but think of the entertainment that is to come), met Carol at her apartment for breakfast and then she took us to AAA and used her membership to get us free maps of the rest of America. So with full bellies and more of an idea of where we were going or at least maps to try to fathom, we set of for Merced our stop for the evening on route to visiting Yosemite the following day. 3hrs of driving within which we hit our first 1000miles, dinner at Dennys and in bed watching Law and Order double bill by 9pm. What a life!!........