Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Saturday 24th of June
07.41 Good morning from EZ 8 Motel (https://www.ez8motelsanjose.com) in San José, California, USA. The night has been long. We have woken up several times. Do we have Swedish time left in our bodies, perhaps? Now, on the morning of Midsummer's Day, a basic plan for the day has to be laid out.
08.24 There are plans for the day and today's transport to the next location. On the TV, CNN reports about the situation in Russia and around the Wagner group and their plans. For our part, a breakfast is now coming up.
09.48 One thing is certain. We're going out from here and on to a railway station. Which station it will be and when we will get there is still undecided.
09.54 The room phone just rang. Christer answered and received the message that check-out from here is no later than 11.00 today.
10.10 We checked out early and are now waiting for the blue line tram at the Gish stop. A small dog just passed by. It's cloudy today.
10.45 We used the blue line to Saint James Park. From there we walked the short distance to the Starbucks Coffee we visited yesterday. After a bit of a wait we got our Americano and Espresso. Roberth has submitted a report from his bicycle trip and will possibly travel in Finland this summer.
11.11 The early morning coffee is or is just being finished. Roberth has been to the Sala silver mine and a video from there is promised. If all goes well for us, we'll be on board the train in an hour from now.
11.30 Phase or step 1 regarding today's plans is completed. We are back at the Saint James Park stop. Here, a preacher is heard talking about whether we will reach heaven or hell only on the last day. The last day can wait. The next thing we want to do is take the tram to the San José Diridon railway station.
11.58 The tram dropped the two of us, a woman with rainbow colored hair and a few other passengers at San José Diridon station. Here we have bought one train ticket each for US$10.50. Now we are sitting comfortably aboard the train on the San José to San Francisco line. We travel with Caltrain. The train car has an interesting design with seats on two different floors.
17.21 Now that we've got internet connection, we've cleared the debt, in other words used Swish to move money to the right account and the right person. The question now is what else do we do today? It is not the most exciting place in the world to stay in a hotel between a highway and an industrial area.
Sunday 25th of June
We have boarded the tram at Saint James Park.
Caltrain has two floors.
Christer travels from San José.
We got off the train in South San Francisco.
South San Francisco, a suburb with a population of 64,251.
Peter takes a break in the walk towards the hotel.
Christer at IHOP (International House Of Pancakes).
Travelodge by Wyndham, South San Francisco.
We stay in room 621.
Colma Creek.
08.18 If there is something I have mastered in this life, it is sleeping. The biking friend Roberth, who moves in another time zone, has already made it to Uppsala Cathedral. A roller coaster car at Gröna Lund in Stockholm has derailed. The majority are injured and one woman is dead. The amusement park will be closed for a week.
09.06 My breakfast drink had a taste I associate with ginger. Last night we slept further west than ever before on our travels. 09.32 Now we are getting ready for this day's activities. We will have time to see a bit of San Francisco, buy detergent and breakfast and get something to eat. 10.21 During the walk to the train station here in South San Francisco, we saw a flock of geese. Up here at the platform, we've bought a day ticket each on Caltrain. Now we are waiting to be transported the short distance north to San Francisco. 10.41 It is beyond crowded on the train but now we are on our way. We can forget about sitting, but there is room to stand. It's lucky that the travel time is short. 11.10 We have reached the final station San Francisco Station. Directly outside the station, we clearly noticed that it is the San Francisco Pride going on in the city. We have once again managed to visit a place at the same time as this spectacle. It also happened during the trip last summer when we ended up in a Pride chaos in Leeds. It's a lot of well-dressed, dressed-up people of various letter combinations. Now we will try to travel normally even though this is going on. We'll see how it goes. San Francisco is the seventeenth largest city in the United States and California's fourth in population. It was founded as a Spanish mission station in 1776 by Franciscan monks (hence the name). Today, there are 715,717 residents living in San Francisco. 11.17 We follow 4th Street towards the center. So far we haven't seen anything spectacular. It is Sunday today and there are a lot of closed shops where we pass. Parallel to us, Muni streetcars pass on the red T line.
Christer and some geese in South San Francisco.
We're waiting for Caltrain.
We have arrived in a rainbow colored San Francisco.
A walk along 4th Street.
Howard Street, San Francisco.
Fountain outside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
11.25 Metreon is written on the wall next to where we took a bench break. It is the name of a shopping mall. Is there a city network to access the internet? It's mixed weather today, drizzle and sun. Christer seems to have found some kind of WiFi network.
11.37 We have walked around the area around Yerba Buena Gardens. Here there is a large fountain and many skyscrapers. Next to us is also the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
11.54 San Francisco is a nice city, but if you leave the main streets, you see the city's problems with homeless people and drug addicts. There are plenty of them here in the center. 12.09 We have walked along Market Street. On it winds the long Pride parade. Along the sidewalk, we have met and seen most things, to say the least. We have seen different creations and variations of clothing, e.g. a naked man wrapped in a leather strap several meters long that didn't cover much. A man was out resting his tame duck. We want to go to the other side of Market Street but it seems quite impossible while the parade is going on. 12.20 At Powell Street Station on Hallidie Plaza we found a way under the Pride people on Market Street. We are now on the side we want to be. 12.29 A stroll along Powell Street has brought us to a bench in Union Square, the square which is probably the most central point of the city. Now it would go well with a coffee. The question is where we can find both the noble drink and seats. Union Square got its name because it was once used for rallies in support of the Union Army during the American Civil War. 13.07 With the help of Google Maps, we searched for a number of branches of Starbucks Coffee, but the first ones lacked seats. We eventually ended up at a portal that marks the beginning of Chinatown and we are now resting in a small park, Saint Mary's Square. On the way here we saw a man with a small tree in his backpack. 13.27 At the address 580 California Street we found a larger Starbucks Coffee with a few empty tables. Here we bought something to eat and drink. What we've seen of Chinatown so far has been cozy. 14.02 Starbucks closed at 2pm. Christer put a lid on his Americano and we returned to Saint Mary's Square to finish our coffee and plan the next steps of our San Francisco day. Here in the park, the young boy Jackson walks around feeding pigeons with bread. The parents try to control him with mixed success.
Tall buildings along Mission Street.
Pride Parade on Market Street.
Police officers during San Francisco Pride.
A duck on a walk.
Powell Street, San Francisco.
Sightseeing buses depart from Union Square.
15.05 It's still full parade speed on Market Street. Are they walking around, around or are there a lot of people on the move. It seems to have no end.
15.18 We are currently back on the bench we sat on when we just arrived in the city. It is located at the intersection of 4th Street/Howard Street. We're preparing for the upcoming return trip and wondering if we should eat here or later in South San Francisco. 15.41 Now we are back at San Francisco Station and queuing to get into the station. Why is there a queue system? Probably the amount of people now during Pride means that it needs to be organized so as not to become chaos. 15.49 There was probably a queue to get everyone to enter the train calmly and quietly. When the ticket was presented, it was just a matter of getting on board. 16.09 Either there is something wrong with the speaker system or the announcer is really drunk. You can barely hear what he says. We have vaguely perceived that he mumbled something about the 22nd Street Station at which we arrived. 16.45 From the platform we went right towards the center of South San Francisco instead of left towards the hotel. It will be a simple dinner at KFC on Airport Boulevard here in our hometown. Strangely, I couldn't pay with my card. It has worked earlier today. Christer had to pay for both of us.
Westin St. Francis Hotel at Union Square.
Interesting people in the city.
This is where Chinatown begins.
Chinatown, San Francisco.
Tall buildings at Saint Mary's Square.
Christer visits Starbucks Coffee on California Street.
18.09 We took another route home to the hotel. Before the walk, a couple of stops were made for purchases. In the first, J & J Market store, we just walked in and turned around. Nothing in their range suited us. At Circle K, however, we bought detergent, drinks and milk. At the Valero filling station outside our hotel, we came across some sandwiches. Now we are at home for debt settlement.
19.12 Evening coffee is good. Now we are almost out of coffee tubes that we bought in France earlier this year. Tomorrow it will be an important mission to buy new coffee. 21.24 We have read a little in our books and looked around on the internet regarding tomorrow when we will return to San Francisco. We have more to see there. In fact, we would need a whole week to catch up on everything to see in the city. 21.43 There is a rolling sound from the room above us, much like a stone ball rolling back and forth. Sometimes a voice is heard that kindly asks someone to stop. We wonder what is being done and who is doing it? 22.20 After watching Roberth's daily video, which today depicted his adventures in Uppsala, we will now soon drink our second dose of evening coffee. It is important to use it when we have a room with a kettle. 23.08 The weekend is almost over. Tomorrow starts a new week and we look forward to seeing more of San Francisco.
Hallidie Plaza at Powell Street Station.
California´s state flag.
We have returned to South San Francisco.
Monday 26th of June
08.10 Wow! It's a whopping +12˚C out there. Today we need a jacket. We thought California was hot. We haven't noticed that yet. In fact, it was significantly warmer the last time I visited this state and that was December and January. We were actually further south then, in Los Angeles and San Diego. Roberth has pedaled all the way to Norrtälje. He aims for Finland via the ferry from Kapellskär.
09.05 With sandwiches, coffee and milk in our stomachs, we are soon ready to travel to San Francisco again. 10.16 We're starting to know this way now, the 1.7 kilometer walk from the hotel to the railway. It still goes smoothly when you know where you're going. 10.26 The wind is cold today. We are at the platform of the South San Francisco station. The clipper cards we need to ride the tram are loaded and we have bought return tickets to San Francisco. Now a Caltrain pass by. It's not ours. Apparently our train leaves at 10.55. 10.59 It was lucky that we didn't go with the train that left at 10.55. It drove on towards San José, i.e. in the wrong direction. 11.11 Our train has let us board. There are significantly fewer people who want to go today compared to yesterday. It bodes well for the journey tomorrow as we have our heavy backpacks with us.
Time to buy train tickets.
Peter is waiting for the train to San Francisco.
Almost alone on the tram.
From the underground up to Market Street.
On tram F towards Fisherman's Wharf.
Pier 39, San Francisco.
11.46 Once we arrived at the train station in San Francisco, we changed to a streetcar stop right outside, King Street & 4th Street. We have not found any post for the Clipper card. Is it done on board perhaps?
11.51 We leave the 4th Street/King stop. It would be blipped inside the carriage. We are almost alone on board. 12.07 Christer and I got off to change trams at the Embarcadero station. We've left the underground and made our way up to street level. Now we have to orient ourselves and find the next means of transport. 12.17 We went to the Market Street/Main Street stop by Citibank and are now traveling along line F with an older model streetcar. It's crowded on board. 12.27 It is not so easy to see out through the vehicle we are traveling with, but we pass a port area with various piers with increasingly higher numbers. Cruise ships depart from some, ferries depart from some, and excursion boats to Alcatraz prison island depart from some. 12.39 The tram disembarked at Pier 39 (https://www.pier39.com) near Fisherman's Wharf. Here at Pier 39, there are lots of tourists, shops, restaurants and small carousels. We went out onto the pier and now look out towards Alcatraz Prison Island and also the Golden Gate Bridge which is half hidden in a haze. The prison on the island of Alcatraz opened in 1934 and closed in 1963. During the years that it was open, 36 prisoners tried to escape from the prison. Presumably 13 of these died during their escape attempts. Al Capone, among others, was in prison. Roberth has just released today's video from the ongoing bicycle trip. Now we have something to watch tonight. 12.47 There is a smell of fish around us. At the far end of Pier 39, we have seen a herd, a group of sea lions that mostly just lie down and enjoy life. They started staying right here after the 1989 earthquake and have since become a tourist attraction. In addition to these animals, we have seen a lot of padlocks suspended in a net.
Alcatraz prison island.
The Golden Gate Bridge in a haze.
The ferry Old Blue passes outside pier 39.
Sea Lion Viewing Area, Pier 39.
Sea lions socialize.
How many padlocks?
13.17 After the necessary bathroom visits, Christer has been to a shop here at Pier 39 and bought a black San Francisco cap on sale, just US$3. Now we sit on a bench and wait for the fog, the haze around the Golden Gate Bridge to clear. We want to go there to take good pictures.
13.35 I am currently sitting on the foundation of the classic Fisherman's Wharf sign in these tourist-dense neighborhoods. Incidentally, we are on our way to lunch. 13.40 It's full and there's also a queue at the In-N-Out Burger restaurant. We just have to think again. We can't bear to wait. In any case, it's a nice neighborhood around Fisherman's Wharf. 13.54 In the absence of lunch options, we have in any case gone into the Anchorage Liquor and Deli store to buy a light snack. 14.12 We walked up the very steep Hyde Street and are now looking down at the curvy Lombard Street from above. Known as the world's crookedest street, Lombard Street contains eight hairpin bends. It has been featured in many films. We have also seen an older tram pass by with tourists on board. 14.26 From nearby Larkin Street we got good pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is still shrouded in mist. We're not going any closer than this. The view towards the bridge from here is good enough. This place is the most western we have been in all our travels. The absolute position is 122.42˚V. 14.42 After taking a number of photos towards the Golden Gate Bridge and Alacatraz, we returned and walked down the stairs parallel to Lombard Street to get a better view from below.
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco.
We look down towards Lombard Street.
A tourist tram passes on Hyde Street.
View towards Alcatraz.
The Golden Gate Bridge photographed from Chestnut Street.
Cars wind their way down Lombard Street.
14.48 We were in a crowd with various tourists on the street below Lombard Street and have managed to take photos and make a short video. Now we will return to the center.
15.01 We have started walking along Columbus Avenue and have passed the foot of the city's steepest hill/street, Filbert Street. Now we take a break in the park at Washington Square. There is also a Catholic church here, Saints Peter and Paul Church. 15.11 It's nice to sit on a bench and watch people pass by, but we still have a long way to go. We need to get moving. 16.00 We followed Columbus Avenue for a while, took a detour and are now back at the Starbucks we visited yesterday on California Street. Today is Monday and they are open longer. 16.27 Goodbye Starbucks, when will we meet again? Now we are going to start tying together the stay here in San Francisco and, among other things, do a little shopping. We're going to look for a grocery store somewhere in the local area. 16.41 We went to Pine Street and J & W Market which was supposed to be open according to Google Maps and according to the sign on the door. However, it did not match reality. The door was locked. 17.04 There will be a trip by tram on line T from the Union Square/Market Street stop. We didn't find an open grocery store, nor an above-ground tram stop.
Christer at Lombard Street.
The Church of the Air-Cooled auto parts store.
Saints Peter and Paul Church at Washington Square.
The Transamerica Pyramid seen from Columbus Avenue.
On the train to South San Francisco.
City Hall of South San Francisco (South San Francisco City Clerk).
17.27 Our tram took us all the way to San Francisco Station and it's almost time to leave San Francisco for this time. It's a nice city that probably has a lot more to offer than what we've had during these two days.
17.39 We are on site at Caltrain and will now return after a content-rich day. We had planned to go all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was getting late and we still got to see the bridge without actually being at it. 18.19 At home in South San Francisco, we walked through the city's main street to the Jalisco store to buy coffee and other essentials. Incidentally, Jalisco is the first state we will come to in Mexico. in the store were also most goods of Latin American origin. 18.44 We walked the same way back as we walked yesterday. We didn't stop at KFC this time though. Instead, we chose a restaurant chain we also visited in Los Angeles in 2019. There is plenty of space at Denny's (https://www.dennys.com) on Airport Boulevard. Here we are ordering burgers and Budweiser beer. 20.03 It was a good final meal on this day. Now in the room we will drink evening coffee and I will wash the clothes used for the day. 22.22 The internet connection has been slow, but in the end we have been able to see Roberth's daily video. We got to see the journey from Uppsala to Rimbo, Norrtälje and finally to Kapellskär. He will probably stay at the same campsite that we stayed at during our second trip to Sweden in 2021. At this point, he is probably already awake and ready for a new day. We should probably get ready to sleep instead.
Quality burgers at Denny's.
Peter ends the day with a good dinner.
Tuesday 27th of June
08.28 The last night at the Travelodge in South San Francisco is over. Roberth is currently on his way to Finland by sea. He travels from Kapellskär to Naantali. He is not allowed to ride the bike on the boat.
09.03 The news channel CNN takes a closer look at one of the charges against former president Donald Trump. While we watched this on TV, we finished our breakfast. Several emergency vehicles can be heard from outside. 09.49 Now we have a plan for the beginning of this day. We will check out of the hotel and at the station/platform we will load our Clipper cards with 10 dollars each. After that, we will step by step make our way to the next destination here in California, Oakland. 10.53 The Clipper cards were loaded at the platform. However, the loaded amount is only enough for our trips from San Francisco. We get there with a regular machine-purchased paper ticket on Caltrain. 11.17 The timetable and reality do not match each other. We have not seen or heard anything about an 11.15 train. 11.19 Christer got up to arrange for it, check what applies. Immediately the announcement came over the loudspeakers that our transport, train 113, is ten minutes late. 11.27 Our train now takes us from South San Francisco. New locations and events await shortly. 11.48 We are back for the (last?) time in San Francisco and at the 4th Street/King Street tram stop. It's cloudy and drizzling today. 11.54 The tram on line N has been boarded and the final station is getting closer.
Last morning in our Travelodge room.
We are waiting for the train that will take us to Oakland.
Train journey under the sea.
13th Street, Oakland City Center.
Christer visits Souvenir Coffee.
Multilingual signs in Oakland's Asian Quarter.
12.14 At the Embarcadero station we changed from the tram to the yellow metro line towards Antioch. We blip the cards before the platform. We´ll do it again when we get to Oakland.
12.22 We go under the sea in San Francisco Bay on our journey to Oakland on the other side of the water. It is quiet in the carriage, not many passengers. We travel with BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), which is a system with trains both underground and above ground. 12.32 The metro was left at the 12th Street station in downtown Oakland. We are close to the hotel in terms of distance but a few hours remain before the stated check-in time. Oakland with a population of 440,981 is located on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay. Author Jack London lived in Oakland for part of his life. The Black Panthers were formed in 1966 in the city. Rock group Green Day and rapper MC Hammer also hail from Oakland. 12.54 The melody to "Clap your hands when you're really happy" is heard from happy preschoolers passing by. We don't clap hands. A nearby Starbucks that we found is too small for a coffee break where we can sit down. Another Starbucks is a good distance away, a full two kilometers. There should be another cafe near the hotel. According to statements and reviews, the area's best coffee is found there. 13.18 Souvenir Coffee (https://www.souvenir-coffee.com) on Washington Street has been visited by us. It was just coffee. There was little supply of solid food. Now we're going to get our cups. 13.22 Christer chose Americano and I brewed coffee. Next time I return to espresso. I want an intense taste of coffee. 14.06 After we finished drinking, it was not possible to stay any longer. We take a bench break outside in town and the sun warms. Now time must be killed before we go to our last hotel here in the USA. 15.14 After a circuitous movement, we made our way to the hotel Washington Inn (https://thewashingtoninn.com). Here we live in room 304. Here in the room there is, among other things, a double bed. There were no hotel rooms in downtown Oakland with twin beds except in the pure luxury hotels. Strange! Something that is not in the room or for that matter in the immediate area is a grocery store or even a small kiosk. The only thing we found are businesses open for lunch for office rats, take-away places and the like.
In Oakland we stay at the Washington Inn.
We have moved into room 304.
Oakland City Hall.
The Cathedral Building is not a wide house.
A long-awaited coffee break at Starbucks.
Jack London Square, Oakland.
16.10 With the help of Google Maps, we managed to find a slightly larger kiosk/convenience store. We stocked up a bit at Both Sides Convenience at 1627 Broadway, a kiosk housed in a narrow building, the Cathedral Building. It has entrances on both sides of this house. Now we will continue to hunt in the immediate area.
16.45 Order is restored. We're at a Starbucks along Broadway and I'm drinking a double espresso. Roxanne with The Police is heard in the speakers. Now the waitress brought another Americano, for Christer. Something must have been wrong with the first one he got. I was wondering if it was a Mexicano? A dark-skinned young man stands outside Starbucks and shouts "Welcome to my office" to all who pass. He sells some stuff for some charity. 17.31 We are now at Jack London Square down by the Waterfront and see a statue of the adventurer and writer Jack London, perhaps best known for the book The Scream from the Wilderness. 17.51 It's really nice to sit down here by the water. We have found some nice benches and have turned our backs on Mr London. 18.15 We said thank you to Jack and left. Here at the Washington Inn, we will be getting ready for the upcoming dinner. 19.14 While waiting to go out, we watch the football match in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Guatemala against Cuba. It's 0-0 at half time. In the final minute, Guatemala's Darwin Lom missed a penalty. 19.25 At the beginning of the second half, the same player Lom scores. 19.44 Enough with football for a while. Now it's dinner. 20.05 We will have our dinner at the Nepalese restaurant Annapurna Restaurant & Bar (https://www.annapurnaoakland.com) on Clay Street. I chose a mild dish and Christer a slightly more spicy biryani. We are sitting in a really beautiful venue a short distance from our hotel. By the way, Annapurna is a mountain massif in Nepal.
We said hello to Jack London.
Christer in Oakland, California.
Annapurna Restaurant & Bar.
Christer is ready to order.
Our dinner dishes.
Peter eats Nepalese dinner.
21.05 It was good and tasty. It was filling and pleasant, a worthy end to our American leg of this trip. Dinner tomorrow will probably be at the airport or in the air. Now we're going to fix a little bit of each on our last night in the US for this trip. Guatemala also won the Gold Cup match 1-0.
21.19 If you check in on the flight in a different way than with the downloaded app from Volaris, it costs SEK 265 extra. Airlines know how to charge their customers. 21.24 The app from the Mexican airline Volaris was downloaded and Christer looked for facts about the flight. We will be leaving from Terminal 1 and Gate 1 tomorrow evening. 21.41 After a fair share of trouble, we are finally checked in for our flight from Oakland to Guadalajara. 22.54 The last hour has been quiet. We drank some evening coffee and of course watched today's video from Roberth's bicycle trip. He has arrived in Naantali (Nådendal) outside Turku in Finland. Tomorrow we will fly and go. In addition, we are going to change countries from the United States to Mexico.
You can see 21 photos from June 24 in this photoalbum.
You can see 71 photos from June 25 in this photoalbum.
You can see 104 photos from June 26 in this photoalbum.
You can see 44 photos from June 27 in this photoalbum.