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After leaving our favourite Travelodge in San Francisco, and breakfasting withing sight of Fisherman’s Wharf, we packed up and took the scenic route out on Highway 1, stopping at Monterey for lunch at Carl Jnr's and having a great afternoon at the aquarium.
Then the very dicey and twisty drive along the coastal road through Santa Lucia mountains with the sharp bends and turns before ending up at the Sands Motel in San Simon where the children went swimming in the inside heated pool before dinner and a well-earned rest.
We slept well again for our last night in the Travelodge Hotel, Fisherman's Wharf. Up a little later and then, once ready, I went to see the Budget Car Rentals reservation centre to query the discount whilst the family also got ready to join me. The reservation clerk had not plainly marked the details of our discount of 20% on to the paperwork and I envisaged problems eventually at Los Angeles. Once all this was sorted out, we had breakfast in our usual place within sight of the Fisherman's Wharf sign and then we checked out of the hotel and loaded up the car.
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I took the girls to the cable Car Museum and in the afternoon, we all took the ride to the Golden Gate Park for the rides and the local "Easter Bunny" celebration for which the children rode free.
This evening, Angela and Daniel looked after the girls and Diana and I went to The Franciscan Restaurant and took a walk along to Pier 39 for a last time afterwards to see the sea lions and the amusements
Slept well and was awake at 6.30am again as the sun came slanting into our bedroom. Daniel was complaining bitterly again about the early rising hour but we ignore him. I tried a couple of car-hiring firms on the toll-free number but ended up deciding to hire a Lincoln Town car from the Budget desk at the hotel after all. We walked out for breakfast at our preferred restaurant and enjoyed it. This morning, I took the girls to the cable-car museum whilst Daniel and Angela went shopping.
This afternoon, we all took the car over to Golden Gate Park and enjoyed the carousal ride and the childrens play things on a local "Easter Bunny" celebration for which the children rode free. Today was sunny and warm for most of the time and then became cool as it clouded up later. This evening, Angela and Daniel looked after the girls and Diana and I went to The Franciscan Restaurant, having a nice meal as the panoramic view was of bay with the sun setting and the mist closing in. We were interested by the lights of the vessels and took a walk along to Pier 39 for a last time afterwards and saw the sea lions and the amusements. An early night before our onward journey tomorrow.
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Our main visit of this day was to Muir Woods after I had booked six bus tickets and treated everyone to breakfast at Fisherman’s Wharf. We enjoyed our visit and then ‘jumped ship’ to see Sausalito and take the ferry back to San Francisco. The cable car from Embarcadero after which the youngsters swam in the hotel pool as we relaxed after much walking
We were awake by 6.30am this morning with Diana being keen for us to not miss too much of a sunny and bright day. I called the tour companies and got us six places on a bus tour to Muir Woods. We did not want to have breakfast at our hotel Angelino's restaurant after yesterday's service and so we walked up to Fisherman's Wharf and had a nice meal there. Back to the Travelodge just in time to get picked up by the courtesy coach and taken to the tour HQ.
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After breakfast at "Angelino's", the hotel café, the walk over to "Pier 39" where we saw and filmed the sea lions all "hauled-out" on the mooring pontoons and the private boats moored there, some amusements such as "The Haunted House" and then the "red-and-white" ferry across to Alcatraz island to spend the afternoon looking over the old jail and renewing our acquaintance with it.
Back to the hotel on a nice and sunny day and warmer out of the cool breeze and the evening watching a hotel pay TV film which was "The Good Guys", an epic mafia production.
Woke up at 3.00am and again at 6.00am, when I woke the family. Daniel was a bit grumpy at not being left to sleep but at least we did not have to go for a long walk to get breakfast! We had this meal at "Angelino's", the hotel cafe, and the service and food was a long way from that we experienced yesterday. Still the family found it all right. Then a walk over to "Pier 39" where we saw and filmed the sea lions all "hauled-out" on the mooring pontoons there. They started to do this in January of last year with the return of the herrings, evidently, and the Californians have been enchanted by this phenomenon.
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