Bridges of San Francisco

What a great experience, to arrive in San Francisco by sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. 

From 1975-80 I lived in the San Francisco Bay area. I lived in Berkeley and Oakland and either worked or went to school in San Francisco, so I traveled over the Bay Bridge. So, when we were docked so that the Bay Bridge was right out our window I felt right at home!

The Bay Bridge at night from the bow of the ship.

A day exploring and walking on the Golden Gate Bridge

It was originally planned that we would only be one day in San Francisco, no overnight. We had arranged for 3 friends to visit us on that day, so we didn't expect to even get off the ship. As it turned out, the weather forced us in to port a day early, so we had an afternoon to explore. 

First, we took a Waymo self driving car to the Palace of Fine Arts. What an experience! We loved it. It works just like Uber in that you get an app - Waymo 1 - you enter where you want to go, it sees where you are and come picks you up. It's a bit of a freaky feeling to ride in a car with no one in the driver's seat, but it felt solid in it's driving skills. We took video and played it during our Episode 302 of our YouTube podcast. Here is a link that takes you right to where we start talking about Waymo and showing the video.

I remember from living here in the 70s that the Palace of Fine Arts was magnificent, and it did not disappoint.

Mind Blown

Oh, the universe just keeps weaving these incredible threads for us on this journey! You know, having cruised through the Panama Canal three times now, I've really steeped myself in its monumental history. I mean, what an absolute marvel of engineering and human will! And then, just when I thought I had a handle on that particular piece of the past, Jim and I found ourselves at the gorgeous Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. There I was, admiring its stunning architecture, only to discover it was a centerpiece of the 1914 Panama Pacific World Expo. And guess what one of the main reasons for that whole grand exposition was? To celebrate the mind-blowing accomplishment of the Panama Canal! My jaw practically dropped. It's moments like these, where my travels connect dots across continents and centuries, that just blow my mind. Learning about the world and its history, not from a textbook, but by living it and stumbling upon these profound connections – that's the real magic, isn't it?

Then we just walked towards the Golden Gate Bridge - about 2 miles away. The path took us through Chrissy Field which includes a beach where hundreds of people were enjoying the gorgeous day.

Then we climbed up to bridge level and actually walked out on the Bridge a ways. In all my years when I lived here, I don't think I ever did that. It was cool to look down on ships sailing under the bridge.

After our bridge walk, it was time for dinner. We decided to go to Pier 39, a top tourist destination which is just a few blocks from where our ship was docked at Pier 27. Here is one of the reasons Pier 39 is such a top attraction - there is almost always some sea lions on the docks in the Marina next door. This guy was quite a poser. Jim says, "nice stache."

Visitors!

Then, the next day we had our visitors. Melinda, Arynne, and Blake. I've known Arynne since high school, Melinda since law school in San Francisco, and Blake also from my San Francisco days. It was so nice to be able to share with them my new home. Both Melinda and Arynne had tried to arrange a week or two aboard, but it didn't work out. Melinda hoped to board in San Diego and get off in San Francisco, but that violates 'cabotage' laws. Those laws were originally meant to protect American shipping companies from foreign competition. They prohibit foreign-flagged ships from transporting goods or people from any port in the US to another port in the US - thus San Diego to San Francisco was out. Arynne wanted to get on in Vancouver an off in Juneau. That didn't violate any law, but even though I put in the request at least 2 moths before, that stretch was fully booked with guests. ☹️

On the bow with our visiting friends. Melinda from Reno, Arynne from Pacific Grove, and Blake from Oakland.

Arynne made the weaving that graces the wall behind our bed - I asked for something with mountains and ocean to represent my life. She made that long ago - even before I met Jim! It goes with me everywhere - house, RV, Ship.

Melinda's Dad was a cruise ship captain, so it was a special treat for her to get to meet our Captain Val - and on the bridge no less. He's such a cool guy! As was Melinda's Dad.

Last but not least, we met up with our friend Judy who came on board for a week "try before you buy." She is seriously considering following us into this nautical lifestyle. Welcome aboard Judy!

It was a wonderful time in San Francisco, but alas, we had to say good-bye.

And sail one more time under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Catalina

 In case you don't know about Catalina Island, here's a map:

At one time the entire island was owned by William Wrigley Jr. of chewing gum fame. He had a vision of protecting the island for future enjoyment, the Catalina Conservancy follow thru on this mission. 

There is no cruise ship dock, so the ship anchored out and we used a tender from the island to get to shore. We had perfect weather and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves for 2 days.

'Tendering' in to shore

The waterfront was chock-a-block full of appealing eateries and shops

Beautiful views of Catalina Island

The second day we signed up at the Catalina Conservancy to see the botanical gardens and the Wrigley memorial. A nice walk and some good views. Once again, it was a gorgeous day.

A Dragon Tree

Walking up to the Wrigley Memorial

Avalon Bay with the Casino to the left and our Ship anchored out

A view of the Odyssey from our lunch spot at Descanso Bay

The Odyssey and the Casino

Tile work that Jim must have posed for! 

By Bye Catalina

San Diego

  Jim's old high school buddy, Ron Kennedy, lives in Carlsbad, California - just about an hour north of San Diego. He made arrangements to come visit us when we were at port AND take us on a tour of the Navy Base there. He is retired now, but he was a navy man for many years, he commanded the USS Pearl Harbor. He was also the navigator on the Spiegel Grove, a ship that is now an artificial reef in the Keys. Jim and I dove on that ship!

Then we went to a delicious lunch in Old Town.

Anyway, it was special to get to see the Navy Base that is off limits to most folks.

The same class of ship as the one Ron commanded - The Harpers Ferry-class amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52)

We were in San Diego for 2 days, so we had time to do some shopping. I needed a new Apple Watch and iPhone, Jim needed a new computer. Guess what? There's an Apple Store in town. They fixed us both up.

We sailed away from San Diego on a gorgeous evening, sitting outside for our dinner with new friends Wayne and Donna.

On our way to Catalina now.

Celebrate

Our house sale closed today. Better yet, the money actually showed up in our account and the documents were notarized from the middle of the Pacific Ocean. 

We visited the bar in the morning light lounge and bought a bottle of champagne. We were as 🤓🥰happy and chatty with everyone as we've ever been and it continued through dinner. 

We are happy!!!

We are home, times 3!

1. First when we made the decision. 
2. Second when we got on board. 
3. Third when all ties were cut. 

I want to dance all night. I want to sing to the stars. I am so happy.

We drank champagne, we celebrated with people we saw at dinner. We went to karaoke and sang along. 

Oh my God, is it really true? We are living the fantasy on board a Cruise ship, and we can actually afford it.

Nothing planned?! Gotta see Volcanoes Nat'l Park

I gotta tell you how stressful this is 😜😂

We are in Hawaii - this is a place on everyone's bucket list. There is so much to see and do. But we're not on vacation, this is our life. We have work to do. On Oahu we hiked up Diamond Head, on Kauai we visited the beautiful Botanical Gardens, on Maui we toured the Road to Hana, then we got to Kona and we had no plans. We had a few things we needed and there was a Walmart nearby. We were hungry so we went to a brewery, but that's it. We didn't do any touristy stuff. And, we haven't done any work.

Now we're in Hilo and we still have nothing planned. 

The stress is mounting! 

I'm feeling guilty. 

We have friends that will be so disappointed that we didn't see their favorite sights on the big Island of Hawaii. (are you feeling sorry for me yet? 😂) Hilo is the home of Volcano National Park and the Kilauea volcano has been erupting lately. Are we really not going to make some kind of plan to go?

aaaaaaarrrrrggghhhh

Today is Saturday and there is a farmer's market going on that's pretty famous. That would be easy to walk around. And, there's a tsunami museum nearby. 

Ok, but still - aren't we going to see the volcano?!? Jim went to the Volcano National Park last time we were here (I visited with friends) but it was a cloudy drizzly day and he really didn't see much. Of course the best way to see epic landscapes like volcanoes is from the air. How about a helicopter tour like we did in Kauai last year? Ok, but there's probably no availability with this late notice and it's pretty expensive. Let's look. 

Hey! Safari Helicopters has an opening at 3:30 today for $378 per person. We had heard it was about $500, so that's not too bad. F* it, let's splurge! I called and she even gave me a 10% discount. Done!

And we can still go to the farmer's market, the museum, and see the Palace Theatre on Saturday morning or any time Sunday. Our all aboard time is 4pm on Sunday.

Life is good. We can work some other time.

Road to Hana - Maui

We were only in port one day for Maui, so we made sure to book an excursion beforehand. A group of fellow 'Odysseans' signed up for the Road to Hana tour thru Hawaii by Storm. Since all 6 of us were from the ship, they made sure to change their pick up and drop off times to accomodate our schedule.

Road to Hana is a famous stretch of road along the coast of Maui. We passed several waterfalls, hillsides full of bamboo, and the exquisite Rainbow Eucalyptus tree. We made several stops during the 8 hour tour, including a roadside Fish Stand for lunch, and Auntie Sandy's banana bread stand. This is so famous that people from the ship had pre-ordered 72 loaves of the bread and we were picking them up. Of course, we bought - and ate - one loaf ourselves. 

Aunty Sandy's Banana Bread

Auntie Sandy's is so famous because it was featured in an episode of Gordon Ramsey's TV show, Uncharted. Here is the episode with Auntie Sandy's - take notice of the flooded/swollen waterfalls in his video. When we saw it, it was just a trickle in comparison. According to Jamie, our driver/guide, it was just luck that Ramsey went to aunty Sandy's rather than another banana bread stands that sells the exact same bread. It was a day when most businesses were closed because of the superbowl, but aunty Sandy's was open. The other stands, like 'Halfway to Hana' are even run by family members, using the same recipe from their mutual grandmother.

Traffic jam and long lines at Aunty Sandys! Luckily people on the ship pre-ordered their loaves and we just had to pick them up.

Red and Black sand beaches with lava tubes

The red sand beach is right near the Huli Huli Chicken stand at Koki Beach Park. So beautiful.

The black sand beach, with it's lava tube is right at Hana. This was the furthest part of our journey on the road to Hana. It's called, cleverly enough, Black Sand Beach. It appears to be part of Wai'anapanapa State Park.

The whole park was very nicely done.

Building with bamboo 

We all know what bamboo looks like when you're looking at the trunk of the plant, but have you ever seen the top? This hillside of bamboo was pointed out to us. I would never have known. Bamboo is prolific in these parts and our tour guide lamented the fact that using it as a building material does not meet code and she wishes that they'd change that law because she thinks it is a great for construction. See this discussion on Reddit.  There is one company who has figure it out - Bamboo Living - and they have kits for building tiny homes - check it out here.

Turtles sleeping on beach

To top off a fabulous day, when we were almost back to the ship we got to see the famous turtles sleeping on the beach at Ho'okipa Beach Park. If you didn't know they were there, you'd miss them even though there was quite a crowd. They look just like rocks.

This is not normal. Green turtles in the rest of the world only go up on the beach to lay their eggs. Not sure how the Hawaiian green turtles got so smart to realize they could sleep while breathing air on the beach. 

Learn more by scanning - or using lens - on the QR code in tthis image:

Last stop - home! 

Thank you to our master story-teller and Road-to-Hana driver, Jaime for a great day and a successful delivery of 36 loaves of Aunty Sandy's Banana Bread.