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Showing posts with the label Lost Campers

California, 15th November, San Francisco morning and obligatory dawn shot

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Before we got into San Francisco there was one thing to do; get to the north side of the Golden Gate bridge and take the dawn shot. So at 5.30am we packed up our bed and drove the short distance to a dock just by the coast guard station, joining a number of other people there for the same thing. There was no fog, so unfortunately there was no magic of the bridge rising above the sea of mist. However we watched as the sun came up over Bay Bridge and the city. As the sun rose more cloud came until a thick layer covered the sky over the bridge. We were due to get the car back to Lost Campers for noon. We had breakfast down by the dock and had a clear out of all our rubbish. The cafétiere, which had leaked before, luckily chose this moment to break completely, so we threw that out as well. Having packed up, there was till some time to go before midday so we had a tour of the Marin County side of the bridge.  We started at Fort Baker, a 1905 built former US ar

California - a description of our 'equipment' and an exploration of the valley

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We woke early and had breakfast from the picnic bench on our site with the company of a few hopeful ravens. Here is the car we rented, a Dodge Grand Caravan, with Mairi standing next to it. There were two opposing sets of seats in the rear, one of which had been taken out and replaced with a wooden storage box where we kept our bags and the bed linen. At night a foam mattress was unfurled to give a double bed and it was pretty comfortable. In the 'trunk' was a small sink from which the plug was missing  - we did not find one to fit until nearly the end of the holiday and made do with sponges squeezed in to stop the water flowing away. We also had a 2 burner camping stove and a box of rather battered bowls, plates and cutlery, one saucepan and a frying pan. Only one spoon unfortunately but we found a plastic one in the Yosemite shop to supplement. Also was provided one 5 gallon fresh water container and one for the waste to drain into. We rented a cooler box which ran from a 12