Christmas in San Francisco

Christmas Tree lot is complete and vacation time is here! The drive from Concord, California to San Francisco was beautiful, we took a little northern route so we could come across the Golden Gate Bridge in the rig. Wow…what an amazing sight it was!


Each part of the transportation was part of the experience. First we rode the city bus, which picked us up right in front of the San Francisco RV Resort, the bus drove through some streets that were so steep that there was no way our rig would have made it up and then down those hills. We then got on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). We had heard a few remarks about this form of transportation but in all honesty, we assumed it was like the light rails we experienced while we were in Houston…NOT! Rapid transit, felt more like warp speed on a roller coaster ride, with the only difference, there were no loop-de-loops but there were tunnels and the noise that exploded from it made every hair on my body stand straight up. How does a city that is so prone to earthquakes, build a transit underground? We don’t know, but we arrived at our destination in no time at all and without incident.






Coming out from underground to see the skyscrapers of San Francisco was in some ways spiritual. The streets were packed with last minute shoppers and tourists wanting to do as we were and spend time to see it all. The wait for a cable car was well over an hour, so with the help of a vagrant man we opted to take the trolley to Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. Seating on this was a bit tight, most of the seats were facing inward and in order for me to avoid anymore motion sickness that was creeping up on me, I needed to face forward. There were single seats facing forward along the sides but Jerry would be in a spot where he could not see out but the choices were slim and we only had a short trip to the Pier.

Upon arrival at Pier 39, we were greeted by the biggest Christmas we had ever seen and it was real.

We walked all the stores, bought our souvenirs and then chose to have lunch at Bubba Gump Restaurant & Market. We have shared all of our reviews on our website, but let me say, that if you are ever in the area of one of their restaurants, be sure to check them out, you will not regret it.

Since we had not rode the cable car yet, we walked to Ghiradelli Square so we could catch it there but the line was so long and we were once again advised by a vagrant that there was a shorter line a few blocks down which we took his advice and he was right. What a ride it was, the steepness of the city is amazing and no wonder why there is transportation everywhere. Even the fittest could not walk without becoming winded and the transportation eases that for people who live there as well as the tourists.

There was one annoyance for us about the city and that was the vagrants, yes some were very helpful and of course expected a tip in return for their assistance, which we did when we felt it was warranted. What we did not like was the many different times we were approached by them and if we did not give, they became very rude and insulting. They assumed that just because we were dressed up in our NASCAR gear that we had money, which is a very wrong assumption. We work hard for our money and for them to make a comment about wearing a Daytona 500 jacket and not be willing to share the wealth was uncalled for and really rubbed us wrong. The sacrifices we made to make that dream happen and for someone to think that it came easy is just asinine.

Otherwise, the entire trip was fabulous and we would recommend to anyone who might want to visit San Francisco to use the public transportation because it is a trip in itself, plus, we were told that driving and parking was outrageous.

For more photos from this road trip and more, check out our Picasa Web Album.