We went straight downtown SF this morning and found a good car park near Pier 39. We spend a long time just walking around taking in the air. We spoke for some time to a "homeless vet" who was begging for money and he told us his story. He said he only got $59 per month from the state and was begging in the street just to live. He has a great Colonel Saunders face with bushy beard and moushtache and he was wearing a stetson. A little further down the street was another guy who's sign read "No more lies - I just want the money for beer". You just don't know. He didn't look like an alcoholic to me but he was certainly getting a laugh and money from passers by. You just don't know.
San Francisco has more homeless people or people who live on the streets than anywhere else I have seen in the western world. I suppose many of the homeless and disenfranchised from all over the US have figured it out that it's better to be on the streets of California than chilly Chicago. Mind you there were loads in Toronto even when the temperatures were way down below zero.
When you see most of these guys it's clear that although some of them could go to shelters and find accommodation, they really are people who could use some help. If they had friends and family with means they would probably be looked after at home. But the system here does not cater for those who have no one else to turn to. The state has not made provision for those that just need a little love and affection and have none.
We went to see the sea lions on Pier 39. It's the second time for me and I was left with the feeling that they really are ugly, smelly, noisy creatures that should be sent back to where they came from. They only arrived after the earthquake of 1989 and although they are not fed or obviously encouraged to stay they come back every year. I'm not sure how many people now think they are an attraction or a distraction but the Japanese seem to like them and they are the visitors currently with the biggest numbers so they will stay.
We drove around a little, going up the steepest of roads with the RV struggling to get up. We did not have much time (we are flying out on the 15th) so we started out to LA after lunch. We knew we would never get there in the day so we had planned a few stops about half way down the coast. We also wanted to go via the Monterey Peninsula and down the coast road Highway 1.
This of course took a lot longer than we had anticipated. We arrived in Monterey around 4:30 pm and unhitched the bikes for a ride along the beach trail. I had a great run out with the boys taking about 2 hours visiting a great playgound with a climbing wall, cycling along the beach path and examining all sorts or marine life on the way. When we got back to the RV, Julie had prepared supper. We ate up, put the kids to bed and started to drive again.
The coastal road started to get narrower and narrower and it got very dark. If you stopped the RV by the side of the road and turned the lights off you could see virtually nothing. There was a one eigth moon which jusgt gave enough light to see that we were perched up on a high coastal road looking over the Pacific Ocean. It was frightening and beautiful at the same time. We realised that it would take us ages to go along at this rate so we found a National Park car park and stopped over night right there. It was the first time we had not parked up in an RV park but there were 4 or 5 others doing the same thing so we had some comfort in their presence.
Alcatraz Prison Island
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