Two for joy.

Having not sailed Magpie II since April it was with some trepidation that we finally set off on her for a small trip we have managed to squeeze on between honeymoon and going back to work. 

We went to Tibberton and had a meal at The Bridge. 

The food was lovely but a series of power cuts meant that the evening will be remembered for darker reasons than normal. 

The first attempt to pay by credit card was interrupted by a power cut so I had to do it all again. I hope I haven paid twice. 

During our journey we spotted this signal box

 

And this lovely church. 

Nothing else for it this morning then but to go for an investigative walk. 

We followed the road and eventually came to the crossing. 

The signal box is permanently manned for, it appears, the opening and closing of these gates on a quiet back road. 

It is due to be demolished next year and replaced with barriers. Shame. 

The church is St James at Oddingley. 

It dates from the 15th century and had an interesting story about a vicar who was murderd in the 1800s. 

Eventually we got back to Magpie II. We had managed to moor just past the winding hole which made turning easy. 

A short cruise back, stopping in the Fir Tree at Dunhampstead for lunch. 

We are now safely moored, after a slight bump with next door (oops) and giving the batteries a good charge before going home. 

Last night's mooring was much more rural. 

No Xtra help

For breakfast this morning we went to a local diner. 

  

and both had burritos. 

After some final packing we set off for our last few hours in America. 

I am still amazed by the public transport in San Francisco. 

The trolley buses are fantastic

and have some amazing overhead wiring. 

We took the cable car down California and waited for a tram to Fishermans Walk. 

These two passed us whilst we were waiting. 

 

We caught this one. 

As you can see it only ran to pier 39. Turning early involves the driver changing the points. 

We then walked to our favourite cable car line, Powell and Hyde. 

This fire engine passed us making a lot of noise. 

We were fortunate enough to ride on the front offside corner again so a really good trip on our last day. 

We walked down Market Street, sneaking into the poshest hotel in the area to use the loo and then caught the California cable car to the cable car museum. We enjoyed our time here but spent loads too much :-). 

There are only four ropes which drive the whole system, the longest being about 4 miles long. All are driven from here. 

After our last ride, back to our hotel, we had an hour for lunch. We had spotted Mels diner yesterday so gave it a try. 

It turned out to be as good as any meal we have had. 

I had three sliders, a beef one, a sausage with goats cheese one and a pulled pork one. 

Also American fries and onion rings. 

Alison had a chuck steak. 

We think we have put on about a pound a day, but have had the whole experience we wanted. 

The diet starts tomorrow. 

Time for a few quick pictures 

 

And then to the airport where we now sit. 

We tried to by Duty Free but our Halifax card, our funding source for this trip, was not accepted so no Xtra help and no duty free :-(. 

Boarding in 30 minutes. 

The day the Earth shook.

We knew San Francisco was on major fault lines but never expected to be part of an earthquake. 

We were awakened at 3:20 this morning with the room shaking. As we lay in our bed on the 16th floor wondering if we were about to make a quick descent and watching the pictures coming off the wall we were grateful that it was at the end and not the beginning of our honeymoon. 

After this rude awakening we had a little lie in before ringing KM and Gracie. 

We then rang both mums to let them know we were safe but both were oblivious to our brush with disaster. 

We took the California cable car to Fishermans Walk and decided to walk past all the piers. 

This wouldn't fit the locks on the canals but is a local craft. 

 

It was after 12:00 before we got breakfast. Sea food is not my favourite but Alison wanted fried calamari and chips so we went to the dockside takeaways. 

I went to an Argentinian takeaway for their version of a cheese and onion pie 

But that wasn't anywhere near enough so it was off to a local diner for a top up. 

Then we decided to ride the third cable car. This time it was the Powell and Mason line. 

Again I got to ride hanging from the front right hand corner and apart from a very near incident involving my ever enlarging posterior and a van wing mirror it was again very enjoyable. 

Next we did battle with the buses and trolley buses to get out to the Golden Gate Bridge. We succeeded eventually despite a long walk on a stop free route. 

When we got to the far side we were met with this sign. It's nice to have an altitude in three figures. 

Some views on the way back over. 

Then it was another combination of biofuel bus and trolley bus back to the hotel. 

As it is our last night tonight (Icelandic volcanos permitting) we went back to Chinatown clinging to the front of the cable car again. 

We passed another before going down the steep bit. 

After a bit of wandering around we found this restaurant

 

and as soon as we saw who patronises it 

we went in. 

If it is good enough for the commander in chief of the free world then it is good enough for us. ( I think some of the American self superiority must be rubbing off on me ). 

It was as good as we had expected. We had shrimp balls and honey glazed ribs to start. 

Then it was king prawns and scallops in an oyster and ginger sauce, Mongolian beef and a very special fried rice. 

We are leaving for the airport at 3:00 tomorrow afternoon so our time is nearly up. We have made our plans for tomorrow and if we get through the packing tonight we maybe able to fulfil them. 

Thought for the day (as spotted on Golden Gate Bridge)

America is a grate country. 

Time to get the suitcase filled.