Freakin’ big hills and UPS sucks!

It’s a sad day when we wake up and realise that it’s the last day of our riding adventure.  Peter sets the GPS for Lombard Street and we set off back on Highway 1.  By all the reports on tv regarding SF traffic, we were expecting it be bumper to bumper - and for about 3 miles it was due to a truck breakdown  - but all in all it was a great run.  When we got closer to the city we were thankful  we had a GPS as there would have been no way we could have navigated all the freeway under/overpasses. At one stage the GPS directed us to exit the freeway and then straight back on again!

One thing that I have noticed riding around is how clean from litter the roadsides are, but things get yuckier the closer to the city we get.

I was super excited when we entered the city and made the comment to Pete that it didn’t seem that hilly really....... until we got further in....... 

Peter had fun (not) once we got into the city with all the hills - by the time we got to Lombard Street his wrist was seizing up from all the hill starts.

For those of you who may not be aware (I was one until last week) Lombard Street is the crooked street that features in a lot of movies etc (my favourite is What’s Up Doc with Ryan O’Neill & Barbra Streisand).  You can drive down it (very slowly) but can only walk up and down the steps alongside. That doesn’t stop the tourists though, and there is a lone woman employed to yell at people to get off the road.  We had a chat with her and she was hilarious!

The initial idea was that we would ride the Harley down the street, but after just negotiating the normal steep streets, Peter’s wrists said “no way”.

From here we cruised down to Fisherman’s Wharf to seek out some lunch and ended up in a swanky seafood restaurant with a view of a marina and a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge which we saw slowly disappear in fog - in the middle of the day!

Peter really got into his crab lunch! 

And the time has come.......returning the Harley........again thank goodness for the GPS! We arrive at the bike hire depot and it’s a sad moment.

The Vegas shop had organised for our luggage to be shipped to the SF office by UPS but there was only the 1 bag - mine.  One of the guys spent the next hour on the phone to UPS trying to find Peter’s backpack - but all to no avail.....they didn’t have any idea where it was!

We left the depot with a UPS investigation number - then we both start realising all the things that were in Peter’s luggage.....the RMs he’s had for more than 20 years, his very expensive headphones, brand new Skechers bought in Las Vegas and the most upsetting - my favourite paisley shorts! 

we Uber to our hotel for a quick shower before climbing the steep hill for a block to see the Painted Ladies and on to a bar and dinner.