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Ouch……….
A quick recognisance of the local shops in the morning didn't provide us with the breakfast supplies we were looking for so we returned home empty handed to make a feast of the contents of the fridge. We convinced ourselves that a savoury breakfast would make do and we tucked into re-heated chicken wings, left over pizza and lasagne from our Tuesday night take-out blow out, accompanied by our sour dough cheese and jalapeno pepper rolls topped with melted jalapeno cheese and Italian salami which had been snatched as a last minute thought pre-checkout at Walgraves. All this was washed down American style with our juice substitute - Mountain Dew!
After our second hugely calorific breakfast since arriving I can no longer berate my mother in law for giving the kids lemonade and biscuits for breakfast when they were toddlers, as I have now gone one step beyond. Now I'm worrying that it doesn't set a breakfast precedent for our eldest son when he goes to Uni in September.
All was not lost though as it fuelled us sufficiently to tackle our next tourist task of our holiday - a cycle ride over the Golden Gate bridge and beyond. We were informed at the rental shop that it was illegal to skate on 'the bridge' so the youngest sons long board had to be reluctantly handed to the staff, who eyed it enthusiastically as a potential release from the usual boredom of the day ahead.
We chose to hire a tandem and two single bikes. It's always been a dream of mine to ride one and so far hubbie has resisted my requests. The boys decided to try the two seater first but the rental guy was so horrified by their lack of control that he snatched it back and handed it to their far more reliable parents - us?
We peddled for about two miles before they decided to have another go. This time it lasted a few minutes, with the eldest son jumping off mid cycle and declaring his brother a maniac . Hubbie and younger sons turn hopped onto have a go until our next stop for coffee and divine muffins at the field centre near port point. A home from home packed full of art gifts and home baked goods it had overtones of the of the National Trust properties in the UK. The seagulls appreciated our purchases too.
After watching the surfers taking their lives into their own hands on the rocks at the base of the fort we headed up to join the bridge. By this time it was a new combo on the tandem. Youngest son still on the front and me squealing on the back. He was a maniac! A fact which was confirmed by the faces of the pedestrians as we crossed the bridge, furiously ringing the feeble bell on the handle bar.
We stopped halfway across to admire the pelicans flying above us and th porpoise swimming beneath us. There was a chance to escape the tandem and go solo when we stopped for more photos at the viewing point at the end of the bridge. Hubbie took over my role as chief squealer as the tandem hurtled at high speed towads Sausalito, where it was time for lunch. The Nappa Burger Company provided the perfect spot and as the name suggests served up the best burgers…..ever! I indulged myself with some crab (a speciality for the area) washed down with two bottles of deliciously smooth Amber Ale to steel myself for the trip home.
Having lived in New Zealand as a child Saulsalito made me feel very at home with it's similarity to the Bay of islands and I couldn't help picking up some information from the estate agents.
After lunch we could have taken the ferry straight back to San Fran but my eldest son decided to push us to the max and persuaded us to extend our adventure and explore the area around the bay, which took us past house boats and sea planes to Tiburon. A small wooden town which he fell in love with.
We made the ferry with 10 minutes to spare after a 20 mile ride and narrowly avoided the rain storm which was sweeping across the bay. We celebrated with a Twix bar and coffee in the warm cocoon of the ferry interior.
We docked at the main Ferry buildings of the Embarcardo area of San Fran whose old brick warehouses have been converted to house a collection of shops selling the best regional products. It was a timely coincidence, so we filled our rucksack with goodies for a hearty dinner.
Half an hour after returning the bikes, organic ginger beer and Budweiser helped to soothe our aching bodies as we set about cooking up a feast of pasta with Italian sausage with a side order of venison burgers.
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