On the Road!

We have moved on from San Francisco now. We spent our final days there exploring the areas we hadn't visited yet. We hit the shops and restaurants in Union Square, took a walk through Chinatown and the Italian dominated North Beach and took an elevator up the Coit Tower to get some amazing final views of the city. Our final evening fell on July 4th (Independence Day) so we followed the locals to the waterfront for their annual fireworks celebration. A pretty cool send off indeed. 


Monday morning we ambitiously walked 8 blocks up a steep hill with all our luggage, almost killing ourselves in the process, to collect what we had always presumed would be a compact 2 door Chevrolet Cobalt. Things soon changed, however...

That is a Chrysler 300 and after some bartering is our car for the next two months for only a small extra fee. Its big. Especially for someone who has spent the last 5 years driving a VW Polo! But after a nerve racking baptism of fire trying to get out of San Francisco, Jenny directing me onto the wrong side of the road and getting used to the length of the bonnet alone being near the size of my normal car, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it!


In all fairness we needed a bigger car, not just for the luxury of cruise control and a 3.5L V8 Engine, but our two large cases fit nice and snug in the boot and we don't need to leave anything on show to signify we are travelling. Once on the highways driving is also relatively easy; as long as you know where you are going and with the help of the Sat Nav and Jenny's directions we are just about managing. 


Our first stop was San Jose where we spent the day at the themepark California's Great America. We then checked in to our hotel (complete with King size bed!) and went exploring. As if by some sort of universal magnetism Jenny found us a Tandoori and we ended up getting an Indian and going to the cinema, a usual weekend at home then. Saw Toy Story 3 by the way, brilliant film, highly recommended.


Today we set off for Santa Cruz and had a very cool drive through a pine covered hill side. Though as we drove further the weather worsened and it was fairly overcast and misty all day. Nevertheless, we still enjoyed Santa Cruz's famous boardwalk where I rode the worlds 6th oldest roller coaster and national historic landmark the Giant Dipper. Jenny decided that travelling around a wooden track built over 85 years ago at 55mph wasn't such a great idea and sat that one out. We also took a stroll along the beach front but it's not warm enough yet to crack on with the sunbathing. Off to Los Angeles tomorrow so hopefully it will warm up as we head further south (we're on the wrong coast at the moment, the East is having a heatwave with temperatures in the 100's) for our visits to Disney, Universal and Hollywood. 


A few more photos on the right from the 768 already taken! Hope everyone is well at home.