San Francisco and Half Moon Bay

We’re currently camped out in Half Moon Bay. It’s about 30 miles south of San Francisco. As seems to be the trend with us during our trip, we came in under sunny skies and great temperatures. But the weather grew increasingly finicky since we’ve been here.

One day after coming back from San Francisco, we came home to a dark RV beeping with warnings of a low battery. There was a wind advisory that day and the power got knocked out. I had to kick on the generator for most of the night to keep everyone warm. Thank goodness it was restored in the morning.

I was talking to a local and he said it was the first time he’d ever experienced winds like that. The next day it was downright chilly. I was trying to get some sunset pictures but I could barely stand the cold wind coming off the water.

Weather aside, I’m going to share with you what we’ve been up to both in San Francisco and here at camp.

San Francisco

We’ve taken two day trips into San Francisco. Remember when I mentioned we were here exactly at the wrong time? It seems that San Francisco is hosting the 50th Super Bowl. You may be thinking why that’s a problem now, it’s not until February 7th?

Well, the city started closing streets down on January 23rd and were warning of traffic jams and detours ever since. This is my first time in San Francisco, so it’s not like I’m familiar with the city or anything. I hesitated even going to visit.

But, as I often have on this journey, I put my fears behind me and trudged ahead. The first trip we made into the city, we hit up Chinatown. My goal was to eat lunch at one of the well sought out restaurants called Hunan Home’s. I also had AA Bakery & Cafe on my radar as well as the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie factory where you could see fortune cookies being made (even though they’re about as Chinese as lasagna!).

I pulled up google maps and did my best to maneuver through the city while avoiding all the red spots and closures near the waterfront. I’m proud to announce that the trip was a resounding success. We got a taste of Chinatown and came out alive!

San Francisco has one of the largest Chinatowns in the United States. Since the kids and I have visited China numerous times to include living there for a brief period, it was like being transported back without the long plane ride.

There were so many favorites we recognized and we got into the hustle and bustle of the China feel. Heck, I was even brushing up on my Mandarin as clearly it was the preferred tongue. We had a good time and getting out of the city wasn’t too much of a hassle.

On our second trip in, our goal was the waterfront. I made reservations on the Red and White Fleet.  We really wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge up close as well as Alcatraz Island. This would bring us close to both. So, I sprang for some tickets and off we went.

It was a pretty neat trip. They provided an audio tour with headphones that was customizable to your preferred language. It provided some pretty cool history of the Bay area. I usually try to avoid touristy things but in this case, it was worth it. One thing I wish I could have done was to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Alcatraz

Afterwards, it was off to a french bakery on the fisherman’s wharf for some beignets. It was so funny, I’ve been reading a book to my daughter about a chef making beignets and she’s been very curious to try some. Lo and behold, as we’re walking to the boat, we see a sign. They were very good! Almost as good as the ones I had at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans many years ago. And yes folks, New Orleans is on our agenda.

For those familiar with the waterfront, can you guess where we went next? To Pier 39 to see the sea lions of course. If you’re interested in how they came to dock here, here’s a little background for you. It was pretty interesting to see so many wild sea lions located in one spot. I managed to shoot a little video for you. There’s wind noise and my daughter’s “mommy, mommy, mommy” at the end but still pretty cool to see.

Later that evening, we found ourselves in the Italian District at the Mona Lisa Restaurant. It was pretty decent. Since I make a lot of Italian food, I’m kind of an Italian snob. So, I was pretty disappointed in their house made lasagna. But their chicken piccata was really good.

I would have liked to been able to go into San Francisco one more time. While we were there all we did was run from one thing to the next. And since it took nearly an hour one way with traffic, it was too far to go for too long. Especially since our furry crew member, Loki, couldn’t join us on our city outings.

I could tell San Francisco was a diverse and robust city brimming with history right from the onset. I would love to go back for another, more leisure visit, in the future.

Half Moon Bay

There aren’t a lot of choices for camping in Half Moon Bay or San Francisco for that matter. However, the one we picked is pretty darn fabulous. We’re staying at Half Moon Bay State Beach. The sites are nicely spread apart, there’s lush green grass and a beautiful accessible sandy beach. There are also miles and miles of bike paths to traverse.

And while they don’t boast full hook-ups (electric only), they have the best rates going of all the other RV parks. And trust me, that means a lot when you’re in a high dollar living  area like this. The tough part is snagging a site that isn’t reserved.

So what have we been up to here in Half Moon Bay? Enjoying the stunning scenery while walking and biking the trails. Heck, we even have an ocean view from our campsite! One day the girls and I rode our bikes to a restaurant for lunch. That was a lot of fun. Normally we aren’t able to use our bikes to take us to lunch!

We’ve also been strolling the beach on the warmer days. We’ve been daydreaming of which house we’d like to live in. Though you can’t tell in the picture below, the beach houses are painted different colors. My little one is claiming either the blue or pink house. I’ll take a decent sized one with a balcony please :-).

I want to take the girls over to the interpretive center here at the park. It provides some history of the area. We’re also planning on heading to a very popular award-winning chowder house called Sam’s Chowder House. It is always packed when we drive by so we want in on the action.  Sam’s Lobster Roll is all the rave as well as the chowder of course.

After that we’ll be wrapping things up here and heading south. We’ll be in Santa Barbara for a week. We’re all looking forward to warmer weather. I knew Yosemite and this location were too far north for good weather this time of year. But I certainly don’t regret coming. Hope to see you down the road!

Don’t you love how those bird cooperated with me

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{HUGS} from the Crew!