Surely there is somewhere in San Francisco where there are not 18 gojillion people crammed.  I feel certain that somewhere in this mass of tourism by the bay, there is some enclave where normal people live, work, and raise families.  I can tell you one thing for sure-I have yet to see that part of town.  I had forgotten how crowded this town can be.  I was worn out by the end of the day and it started early.

Staying in Manteca put us 78 or so miles from our destination at the Best Western Plus Tuscan Inn on North Point St.  I felt that traveling the 78 miles and getting the rental car returned to the airport by 10 would be a task that shouldn’t be too difficult.  Wrong.  Traffic was a disaster the entire way.  What  should’ve taken a little more than an hour took right at 3 hours to travel.  It took us over 30 minutes from the time we stopped at the Bay Bridge toll plaza to start truly moving again.  At least I got my 6 dollars worth in tolls.  I would have felt absolutely cheated if I had given them 6 dollars and then only spent 2 or 3 minutes on the bridge.

Anyway-our first views of San Francisco were cool.  The Golden Gate Bridge was partially obscured by fog/clouds and the city itself was shimmering in sunlight.  This paradox of weather would become abundantly clear soon.  At 9 am we screeched into our hotel, I ran in to check us in, and the girls unloaded the car.  Our family resembled a NASCAR pit crew.  Wonder of wonders, the room was ready!  I passed off the key to the boss and I was back in the car heading the 18 miles and one hour travel time to the airport.  Marilyn successfully navigated me around the road work being done and I pulled into the Enterprise return lane at 10:04.  I must have looked like I had been in a fight or something.  The lady at the return smiled at me in a very comforting manner and was sympathetic when I recounted my morning to her.  So sympathetic, she waived the fees for everything!  Victory!!!

So now, I get to go back into town.  I could cab. I could Uber. But those things are expensive.  Not me-I’ll use public transit.  I caught the BART train at the airport for the short ride to the Embarcadero stop.  The closest stop to the hotel, a mile and a half away.  My faith in Marilyn was short-lived.  You know how there are some towns that are great for just getting lost in and walking around?  Boston-I’m thinking about you.  You know what Boston is?  Flat.  You know what San Francisco ain’t?  Flat.  And so began my “By the Bay Sprint Triathlon”.  First I walked one way, then another, then up.  Then down.  Then up again.  I passed downtown, Chinatown, strip clubs, fire stations, Coit Tower, the Transamerica Tower.  I thought triathlons were supposed to have water stops…  Oh yeah, the water. I think to myself, if I can just get back to the Bay, I’ll find my way.  So back down a hill I went.  I found the water and eventually made it back to the hotel to prepare for the bike portion of the triathlon.

Meanwhile, the girls were enjoying a bus tour of the city.  I believe we saw the same sights but they had a tour guide.  And were sitting.  They do recommend doing one of those.  I was impressed throughout the day with how much they learned .  At various times, they’d drop some knowledge on me and enhance my time.  All of us were hungry and Lucy had proclaimed that she wanted to have In and Out one more time.  Our visit to the one in Manteca was great.  Our visit to the one in Fisherman’s Wharf was crowded.  The food was still just as good, the employees were great too.  I would need every bit of energy I could get for leg two of my triathlon-the biking portion.

Several months ago, I stumbled across a company, Blazing Saddles, that offered self-guided bike rides across the Golden Gate Bridge.  The people in the photos were wearing shorts, tank tops, and the biggest smiles around.  There was a bright blue sky and they were the only ones around.  How fun, I thought.  It probably would have been a good idea to make sure that Ethel remembered how to ride a bike.  Lucy, because of more experience, remembered pretty quickly.  We decided to not wait for Ethel to remember how.  Also, she crashed twice in the shop.  This was probably the best thing that could’ve happened.  Had she gotten her own bike she wouldn’t have enjoyed the ride as much as she did-riding behind me on a tandem.

So begins the bike portion.  You’ll follow the bay a short distance and then there is a warm-up hill we were told.  Yeah, so apparently around here a vertical climb of 300 feet qualifies as warm up.  We made it part of the way up.  Once down the other side, we enjoyed ourselves as we went by the Warming Hut and to Fort Point.  The views were great and I hear that Ethel was really taking it all in. She provided constant narration for me.  At Fort Point, the weather began to change.  Remember how earlier the bridge was draped in fog.  It still was and it was about 15 degrees cooler, and windy.  We finally made it up to the bridge and started to go on it.  And boy let me tell you-it was crowded.  Navigating the bridge on a tandem bike was challenging today the least.  After a short distance, we decided to turn around and head back.  The great part of this is that it was mostly downhill!  Also, Ethel figured out that helping to pedal didn’t just mean letting her legs spin as I did the peddling.  Truly, I was biking for two and had now completed leg 2 of my triathlon.

The boss wanted to check out Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world.  Again, lots of people.  Then she wanted to go to Ghirardelli Square.  Again, lots of people.  The girls wanted to duck into a few souvenir shops so we did that as we headed back to the hotel.  We got back in time for the free happy hour, with the nice touch of sparkling juice for kids.  Once in the room, we decided that if we were going to eat dinner, it was now or never.  Down to the Cafe Pescatore in the hotel we went.  They had a gluten free menu and everyone was satisfied with their dinner.  My shrimp, clams, mussels, and fish over penne was great.

Fed and having completed two legs of my triathlon, I took a shower for my swim leg today.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll try to swim back from Alcatraz.  It was an exhausting day but a fun one.  I think the girls really enjoyed the biking so while we aren’t in tank tops against a bright blue sky, we still have big smiles on our faces.