Exploring the Scenic Trails (Day 4)

Ah, my first day of wandering around San Francisco by myself. On her way to work, Jolly dropped me off at the BART station. I love the BART, and the entire public transportation system in the San Francisco area. It is so convenient, there are buses on nearly every street! AND it’s almost never crowded on the trains or buses, even during rush hour! When I got into the city, I found a place to grab some breakfast and review the city map. I had planned on going to Golden Gate Park and just walk around, away from the downtown area and tourists. When the server saw that I was looking at a map, he offered a few suggestions of where to go near the park. Apparently there are amazing views of the Bay and ocean from the top of a cliff at a place called Lincoln Park, sounded interesting enough, I was in. It’s amazing how friendly people are when they notice that you’re traveling alone.

I started my walk west towards the Pacific Ocean, and after an hour, I was not even halfway there. For the sake of time (and my feet) I jumped on a bus that took me the rest of the way to Lincoln Park. I walked along the Coastal Trail for over two hours, and the server was right, the views were magnificent. You’d never think you were in a city, or anywhere near one. I really like hiking and enjoying nature by myself, I feel like I can fully appreciate the beauty and the experience, and it also gives me time to think. By this time, I was hungry again, I must have been burning calories like crazy. I ate at the first place I saw that served food, Hawaiian omelet, yum.

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from the trail, it was a bit foggy that day































I got a lot of exercise ...




















How peaceful ... just sitting on a bench on a cliff overlooking the ocean


















































Afterwards, I took the bus to Golden Gate Park to walk around a bit before the sunset. That was when I realized that all the exhibits in the park are closed on Mondays, so had I just gone to the park like I had planned, I wouldn’t have been able to see much that day. Praise God for the helpful server!

The Flower Conservatory, which I could only enjoy from the outside















The prickly pear cactus doesn't seem to be doing so well outside of Arizona















After strolling around the park, I walked in the Haight-Ashbury area, which is a neighborhood known for its Victorian homes, aren't they adorable? They look like doll houses!




































Soon it was dark, so I jumped on a bus that I hoped would get me to the downtown area, which it did. I still had some time to waste before Jolly got off work, so I decided to head into H&M and Forever 21. It wasn't long before I bought 3 articles of clothing, good thing they were cheap! I needed to control my spending, so I forced myself out of the store before I could try on any more clothes and jumped on the BART towards the East Bay. Perfect timing, Jolly got off work and we met up and went to Berkeley for dinner at this place called Naan N' Curry. The naan was superb. There are bubble tea places everywhere, it's wonderful!