Be sure to read Part 1 for a trip overview.Travel Dates: 4/20/11

A: Oakland CA – Motel 6
B: Palo Alto CA – Computer History Museum
C: Cupertino CA – Apple Corporate Headquarters
D: Golden Gate Bridge, Day
E: Berkeley CA – Dinner at Sea Salt
F: San Francisco CA – Castro District
G: Goldgen Gate Bridge, Night
160 miles
Approaching the city center of San Francisco.

Interesting eclectic architecture.

This dutch-looking structure is a holdover from when San Francisco had a large Swedish population.

A very car-friendly city with wide boulevards.

A Citroen 2CV!

Approaching the Golden Gate toll. Free to leave the city. A fee to enter.

General Information on the Golden Gate Bridge:
1.7 miles long
90 feet wide
Built in 1937
$6 cash toll, southbound

The Golden Gate Bridge is the most popular place in the world for suicide.The few who don’t die on impact with the water will drown or die of hypothermia.

“More people commit suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge than at any other site in the world.[51] The deck is approximately 245 feet (75 m) above the water.[52] After a fall of approximately four seconds, jumpers hit the water at some 76 miles per hour (122 km/h). Most jumpers die from impact trauma on contact with the water. The few who survive the initial impact generally drown or die of hypothermia in the cold water.

An official suicide count was kept, sorted according to which of the bridge’s 128 lamp posts the jumper was nearest when he or she jumped. By 2005, this count exceeded 1,200 and new suicides were averaging one every two weeks.[31] For comparison, the reported second-most-popular place to commit suicide in the world, Aokigahara Forest in Japan, has a record of 78 bodies, found within the forest in 2002, with an average of 30 a year.[53] There were 34 bridge-jump suicides in 2006 whose bodies were recovered, in addition to four jumps that were witnessed but whose bodies were never recovered, and several bodies recovered suspected to be from bridge jumps. The California Highway Patrol removed 70 apparently suicidal people from the bridge that year.[54]”

Exiting at the park just north of the bridge.

San Francisco

Alcatraz. Dirt inside my camera lens.

After the bridge, I wanted to go check out Berkeley, a place I hadn’t been to since 1998.

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, 5.5 miles

Berkeley CA, a town known for its hippies, wacky liberals, and UC Berkeley.

Smart Alec’s on Telegraph. I used to eat here a lot. There was also a record store nearby that I sometimes walked to.

Stopped for dinner at a place called Sea Salt based on Yelp reviews.

Ordered a large lobster roll, $15

Dessert

The food was excellent, service was slow, prices were high, and portions were small. It was good, but I probably won’t go back.

Headed back to San Francisco

That’s a REALLY STEEP street. Traction control engaged a few times as I climbed the hill in the rain.

San Francisco’s Castro District. Yes, that’s two dudes on a date… or something. I tried to keep my distance from Ian as we walked around.

The story behind “The Castro”:
“The Castro came of age as a gay center following the Summer of Love in the neighboring Haight-Ashbury district in 1967. The gathering brought tens of thousands of middle-class youth from all over the United States. The neighborhood, previously known as Eureka Valley, became known as the Castro, after the landmark theatre by that name near the corner of Castro and Market Streets. Many San Francisco gays also moved there after about 1970 from what had been the formerly most prominent gay neighborhood, Polk Gulch, because large Victorian houses were available at low rents or available for purchase for low down payments when their former middle-class owners had fled to the suburbs.”

The famous theater.

Rainbow flags everywhere.

A store that sells, I don’t know, gay porn and stickers and stuff?

“Booty call Wednesdays” at club Q.

Went to Lombard Street and managed to get the Seville, challenged by its wide turning radius and long front and rear overhangs, down this winding insanity of pavement

This is what it looks like in the daylight. It was tricky, especially with my power steering pump already in need of replacement.

Fast Tube by Casper

Another very steep street. Street cars were descending and ascending at the same time.

I’ll never complain about Freya Street in Spokane ever again. I genuinely wasn’t sure that I’d make it. With a 300hp Northstar V8 I had more than enough power, but traction in the rain was lacking.

Daylight pictures from Google:

So steep that steps were needed.

Camera tilted to make the street look level.

Another thing… there’s no plastic bags in San Francisco! I went to Walgreens to buy some ibuprofen and asked for a plastic bag. The cashier said the city banned plastic shopping bags a few years ago. I was disappointed since I use them to pick up dog shit.

Golden Gate at night.

San Francisco is beautiful but not obnoxiously congested. I found the people to be warm, friendly, and courteous. I look forward to coming back.

PART 7: Napa Valley, Highway 1, Highway 101