Day 32 - Sunday 7/31/2005 - "Back" on the road again...
After several days of recuperating, it was time to hit the road - bad back or not. We checked out of the Hampton Inn that had been our home away from home, and started south. I was fine walking and moving around, but I could tell as soon as I sat down in the car that my back was still having problems. Given the limited mobility, we decided to head for San Francisco rather than Yosemite. On the way we would head through Point Reyes National Seashore.
The drive was fairly straightforward - no major back or car problems. We reached Point Reyes in the mid afternoon, and stopped for a sandwich. For those unfamiliar with Point Reyes, it is an area steeped in geology and history. It is a large spit/peninsula of land on the coast just north of San Francisco. While it has a rich nautical heritage with a beautiful lighthouse, the geology of Point Reyes is truly remarkable. Point Reyes is on the easternmost portion of an offshore tectonic plate which is being pushed up the coast. The pressure builds up and is suddenly released as a giant earthquake, as evidenced in 1906 in San Francisco. The force was exerted laterally (rather than up and down), and as a result, the land slid 20 FEET to the north. This pressure will eventually move the western portion of San Francisco to what is now Seattle (over the next 10 million years)
This
can be seen in one of the pictures below that shows a fence that existed in
1906 during the earthquake. A portion of the fence moved 20 feet to the
north! The fault is clearly seen as a 1-mile trench (now filled with water) in
the landscape at the northern end of Point Reyes.
After Point Reyes, it was time to introduce Hunter to the seafood and nightlife of Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran. We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped at the south end for some pics. No luck - too foggy. We drove into the city, found a spot to park, and hoofed it over to the Embarcadero. By now, my back was feeling a little better. After a little walking, we found a spot where Hunter could get his fill of Dungeoness Crab and I could get some prawns. After dinner it was back out to watch the street performers and sample the sounds of the night. Walking in the cool night air, the sounds of the jazz clubs intermingled with the talking of the tourists, the hustle of street vendors, and the "PSST PSST" of air shocks on a passing "low rider" that was bouncing by. These are sounds you would never hear in Tidewater. After our fill of seafood and entertainment, it was time to find a spot for the night. Hunter was entitled to one last treat. We navigated our way UP Hyde street (looking like it was straight up) and over to Lombard street. Most people are not familiar with the street by name, but it has been seen in countless movies. It is an extremely serpentine red-brick street that is a series of switchbacks down the side of a huge hill. Old homes line the course of the street and it is ornamented with well-trimmed hedges and shrubs.
We settled in about midnight at a hotel in Santa Clara. One more night in a bed and hopefully the back will be much better in the morning.
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