West USA Status report part III

Hi everybody,

this is the final part of my journey through the United States of America. It has been a very busy week and a half, as you will notice.

After being arrived in San Fran (this is how they call it here), we started exploring the city. First we went to Fisherman's warf. This is an area along the coast of the city where there are lot of shops and restaurants. Here we bought our Alcatraz ticket, some souvenirs and watched the seals lying in the sun at pier 39 (supposed to be famous). Afterwards we marched downtown to Market Street. On this street there is a very large mall with all kinds of brand shops (including AberCrombie & Fitch --> bought a T-shirt here; sorry Davy the cheap ones didn't have your size anymore). On the side of the street, people were playing chess (you know , what you see in the movies). --> The game was on! A small mexican approached me and asked if I wanted to play ... sure why not... bet ?? 2$ . Bien sur ... After a thrilling match, the 2$ moved from my pocket to his. Oke I lost but it was pretty darn close.
The next day was a "chilly" day. Didn't do much, went to the park reading a book. What was supposed to be a relaxing day didn't turn out that way. I marched an hour and a half to the park, lied down for a quarter and marched back. It was further than I anticipated.
The 14th of July we rented a bike and cruised San Fran. This included the golden gate bridge and a little but cosy town Sausalito. There, there were a lot of steep dirt roads. I really suffered. My respect for the guys of the tour de France increased (by the way go Contador).
On the final day Alcatraz was on the program. This is the famous prison on a Rock where inmates like Al Capone and Robert 'The Birdman' Stroud were imprisoned. Pretty cool experience.
The 16th we left San Fran and headed for San Diego. Following the coast line with beautiful views of cliffs, we stopped at San Simeon where we would visit Hearst castle the next day. In short this is a castle built by a rich "tiest" and where all kind of European styles and artwork are integrated.

After this we stayed 2 days in Santa Barbara relaxing on the beach.

The 19th we went to our final destination in the USA : San Diego. We went to the San Diego Zoo (known as maybe the most beautiful zoo in the world) where a sketch artist drew a charicatural picture of me.We had to leave our car in the rental station. From now on backpacking really began. After have driven 3741 miles( about 6000 km), we left the car. It was just in time because the engine was beginning to malfunction.
The next night we went to a baseball game : San Diego versus Florida. Pfff how boring is this game... not comparable to our soccer. Too slow for me.
The last days were becoming more and more boring, lying at the beach doing nothing. It was time for Mexico.

Fridaynight we will take the flight from Tijuana to Oaxaca.
So long USA....

Beach boy Clint