Today was so much fun and spontaneous. We woke up and packed the car then headed towards San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. As I was unloading my bike to ride at the gate there were two gate security people parked in their truck. Kelly went over and asked them if there was an easy way to get to the other side of the bridge. I went over and met Al and Shawn. These two were so sweet and helpful and very encouraging. They asked me all sorts of questions about the coast to coast ride and said they have met other crazy people like me who start their journey east there.
We took a few pictures with them. They said they would like to donate to Homes for our Troops, so we gave them the info and then we were on our way. Good people! They bridge ride was short and beautiful. I, of course, stopped along the way to take some pictures. It is so beautiful. I am so glad I did this. It is so different riding on a bike across this amazing bridge. I can see why it attracts over 10 million visitors a year. We were lucky to see the clouds settle in on her for that mystical feeling.
Some fun facts on the bridge: It is a mile wide and connects the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Construction on the bridge begun in 1933. It opened to the public on May 27th, 1937. It was the longes suspension bridge in the world until 1964. 11 construction workers died building the bridge. The military wanted the Golden Gate Bridge to be painted in stripes. Thank God that didn’t happen. The signature color it is today was not meant to be permanent. The steel was coated in this burnt read and orange shade to protect it from the elements. The architect found he liked it because it was easier to see in the fog, so the color stayed. And lastly, local citizens put their own properties up as collateral to finance the bridge, this was during the Great Depression.
While I was riding over the bridge, my sister Kim texted Kelly and said that her brother-in-law lived in San Francisco and we should contact him to see if we could meet up for lunch. Jay was available so we met up with him for lunch. He treated us to crab at the Fisherman’s Wharf. Holy crab! That was the best crab I have ever had in my life. We’ve got to pick out our crab and once we were done with that he treated us to fresh lobster. We even got to pick that big guy out too.
After we indulged ourselves he took us to the Original Ghirardelli ice cream and chocolate shop. If you haven’t gone there it is a fun place to fix that sweet tooth and watch how the chocolate is made. Jay then took us on a walking tour around San Francisco. We walked and walked and walked up and up and up and down and down and down those big hills all over San Francisco. We saw Lombard street, Macy’s Union Square, the Cable Car Museum, and many more places. Wish I knew how many miles we walked today.
He said we could spend the night at his apartment if we would have to take him to the airport 4 a.m. This was fine with us. I now had a chance to take some sunrise photos at the Golden Gate Bridge. Yay! One of the best things about his apartment was his shower! Oh my Lord, I have never experienced a shower like that with nozzles all the way down that got every nook and cranny. LOL. I could’ve stayed in there forever. It was a wonderful hot massage. They need to make beds like that. Tonight is an early night, since we have to get up early, plus my dogs (feet) are barking at me from all the walking we did. We walled over 25,000 steps not including the Golden Gate Bridge. Most was going uphill both ways, lol. It was a great day and I’m glad we were able to be totally spontaneous in our plans. Jay is an amazing host and tour guide. Tomorrow we will shoot sunrise at the bridge then off to Sonoma for a short ride to a vineyard for wine and lunch, then on to Sacramento for dinner with a new likeminded cyclist friend in met on Crazyguyonabike.com journal. After all that we hope to get to Oakhurst, CA to sleep.
Night y’all, Be Blessed
