The 1200 Mile West Coast Adventure - August/September 2018: Day 4: The six-lane manoeuvre

[bambikate]

Day 4: The six-lane manoeuvre
Thursday 23 August 2018

Travelling to San Francisco, In-N-Out Burger, checking in to the Argonaut Hotel and dinner at The Blue Mermaid

Index

We got up at around 5:30am and got showered and dressed by 6:30am. We got everything packed ready to go and headed downstairs to Amber Waves Restaurant for breakfast.

It was a buffet style restaurant but you had a server who brought you coffee and juice.

Izzy had some fruit loops, Imogen had some chocolate balls, we had some small pastries to share and we also had some cooked food - breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage patties, eggs, french toast and maple syrup.







It was good and we ate until we were full but not stuffed. Our server was really nice and it was nice to have breakfast already included in the price (the only time on our two week holiday!)

We nipped back to our room to grab our bags then checked out and headed out to our car to start the journey North to San Francisco!

We managed to leave at 7:45am and I plugged the co-ordinates into the Sat Nav then we pulled into the gas station across the street to fill up the tank, it was about $30 to get it full again (not from empty).

Sat Nav was telling us it would be a 7 hour drive It's a good job we don't mind travelling! We had made a 10 hour playlist of songs specifically for all the travelling we would be doing so I was bound to have music to suit everyone along the way.

LA was a bit of a nightmare to get out of as expected and traffic seemed particularly heavy.



As we started to leave the outskirts of the city, the views started to change and there was some very pretty mountains and scenery to see en route.







Obviously not that exciting...











After a couple of hours we decided a pit-stop for a drink and the loo would be a good strategic move, so pulled over to the next rest stop and went in to McDonalds.

Andy had a latte, I had a mocha and the girls had a Sprite. They were a dollar each! My mocha tasted weird but we were already back on the road so I ended up sharing Andy's latte.

The girls had some Hello Panda's they had picked up in Target and kindly shared them with us as a little snack.

We started going through wine country and saw all the vineyards, they went on for miles, it was crazy to see.

There was also loads of dust devils, I couldn't capture them on camera but they looked like mini-tornadoes. Imogen was super excited to see them and kept spotting them all the way up.

We also saw lots of grass that appeared to be black like it had been burned.



I wasn't sure if this was some sort of controlled fire they did to stop something growing or if it was the recent wildfires? I wasn't sure exactly where it was so I couldn't Google and find out.



There was also fields and fields of cows, literally tens of thousands of cows, I couldn't believe how many we saw.

This is only a small section...



We later found out this was Harris Ranch, the largest cattle ranch on the West Coast at over 800 acres and with a population of over 100,000 cattle and that it supplies the hamburger meat for the In-N-Out Burger chain

The road was super easy and straight and there really wasn't much navigating for me to be doing so I became chief DJ and I made some more trip report notes and upload some photos.



I also used the opportunity to pre-book our tolls for San Francisco. I set up a Bay Area FasTrack account for visitors to the Bay area and now that we knew our car's number plate and model I could pay for the tolls in advance. We knew we would be travelling in over the Bay Bridge and we would be visiting the Golden Gate Bridge a couple of days later and they are all done by number plate recognition now so I linked a credit card to the account and I set an expiry date on it (so it would only charge it during the time we were in SF!) It was about $6 for the Bay Bridge and $8 for the Golden Gate Bridge.

We had pre-planned our lunch stop during the trip planning process. We literally researched what In-N-Out burgers were close to the freeway en route to SF and picked the location which would be near lunch time for us.

The lucky branch was Santa Nella!



We pulled in to the car park and went inside. I love the retro vibe it looks exactly like the original pictures of the restaurants.





It was such amazing value for money, $21 dollars for 3 Burgers, fries and drinks. We got 2 double doubles and a cheeseburger.



All their burgers come with "spread" which is their version of thousand island - mayo and ketchup and sew pickle relish. It was really good and went really well with the fries too.

We love the burger and so did the girls. They even ate all the salad and onions with it inside!









There were a few too many chips and we found them a little dry but for the price we weren't complaining.





We got some more fuel ($50 worth) and were back on the road.



We drove a little further and arrived at our next stop, San Francisco Premium Outlets (which isn't actually in San Francisco but in Livermore.)

It seemed like a good mid way point to stop for a loo break and co-indicidentally had a Disney Store there! It's almost like I'd researched it!









About 80% of the store was actually brand new items and only the back corner was the discounted stuff so not quite as exciting as the Orlando one.



They did have some gorgeous varsity style kids Disneyland jackets and I was delighted that they had with girls sizes as they were reduced from $49.95 each to $21.95 each! (They wear these later in the TR)

They also had the Tea Cups skirts for only $19.95 but I didn't think I could pull it off.



The girls also managed to persuade us to pick up the peas in a pod soft toy from Toy Story, which was full price at $19.95!

Back on road for the final leg of our trip and my maps told me there had been an accident on the Bay Bridge causing a 25 minute delay with no alternative route. There was nothing we could do so we just carried on. We had plenty of time.

[bambikate]

As we got closer to the city just before the exit to take us onto the Bay Bridge, Siri very confusingly told us to stay in the far left lane then told us immediately afterwards exit right!

There was six lanes of traffic in between those commands, Siri! Somehow Andy managed the manoeuvre without getting a single beep and we just made the exit. It was only then we realised he mean the NEXT exit not that one. Oh God! I saw a sign that said buses only and my heart sank. Andy! I think we are in the wrong lane!

We are going to get fined! The next sign said "Violation $275" They have my card details now I really feel sick! We were breezing past the queues of traffic in the other lanes. The next sign I saw said mentioned car pools were OK in this lane Monday to Friday between 5am and 10am and 3pm and 7pm. Oh gosh I hope that's right!

I spent the rest of the holiday periodicallly refreshing my FasTrack account to check we hadn't been fined but it looks as though we somehow accidentally drove in the right lane at the right time!











We were going to see the Painted Ladies and the Mrs Doubtfire house on Steiner Street but after the traffic delay we just wanted to get to our hotel.











We got a great price for the Argonaut Hotel on Expedia. £710 for 3 nights, which for Fisherman's Wharf on a weekend we thought was brilliant.

All the other times we had seen it, it was well over £1,000.

We were aware we would have to pay an urban fee and valet parking but then all the hotels seemed to be like this and the Argonaut looked so special.

We pulled up outside and dropped the keys with the valet while the bellman put our luggage on a cart.



We went inside to check in. The man checking us in told the girls they could choose one special gift out of the chest. They opened it up and there was a selection of party bag filler style toys. After much deliberation hey chose a funny face disguise and those plastic hand clappers.



Bless Imogen, she thought this was real at first and her luck was in!



We received our room keys and went up to our room on the third floor.

The bellman came up a few minutes later with our bags and we tipped him.

We had room 302, a standard room which had no view (a view of the building behind us and starbucks) but it really didn't matter as there was nice shutters on the window anyway.







We loved this octopus wallpaper!



The room was spotlessly clean as you would expect and the decor was really lovely.















The room came with a fully equipped minibar (with key!) and a snack bar. Everything was of course, outrageously overpriced and we wouldn't be having any of it.











It also came with a cute sea lion on the bed but not free like the snoopy toys, $14









We got changed and showered and unpacked literally everything. The cupboard was so big I could fit all empty cases in it so the room felt huge!

We relaxed with a glass of wine whilst we got ready and the girls played together with their toys.

We had a reservation for The Blue Mermaid restaurant downstairs at 7pm so we didn't have to go far after all our travelling.

We walked downstairs and checked in. It was a good job we booked, it was packed! The restaurant was very dimly lit but I liked it, it felt very cosy an intimate.





Annoyingly we totally forgot to use the $10 credit they gave us on check in

[bambikate]

We started with a cocktail each, I had the "Mission District" for $14, which was jalapeño-infused don julio blanco, pineapple purée, lime.

Andy had the "Painted Lady" for $13, which was ketel one vodka, guava, ginger, agave, lime. They were really good cocktails I have to say!

The girls had a coke and a sprite.









I had the Local Halibut for $28, which was sautéed kale, parmesan gnocchi and English pea pureé. It was really tasty.



Andy had the Herb-Brined Mary’s Chicken for $24, which was parmesan-rosemary farro risotto, asparagus, chicken demi, which was even nicer than my main.



Izzy had chicken tenders and Imogen had (another) burger! Again the food was great quality.





Andy and I shared another cocktail - "Smoky passion" for $15, which was hickory-smoked patron silver tequila, amaretto, passion fruit, pomegranate and lime. It was lush.



Randomly they only had one choice for dessert, a peach cobbler so we decided to leave that and use our 20% off Ben and Jerry's voucher which was right in front of the hotel! (Oh no! No pics!)

We were a bit shocked with the bill. One course each and drinks came in at $133 plus tip! Ouch. I think had forgotten that taxes in SF were higher and they had added on a "mandate" before adding on the tax. We later found out this was the employer mandate to pay for the healthcare costs of their employees. Some have chosen to tack on a separate fee to cover this rather than just up their menu prices. Sometimes it's a per person fee, others a percentage of the bill. The newest outrage is that they're charging more than they're paying for the health coverage.

We nicknamed SF "the city of hidden charges" by the end of our 3 days...

Inside Ben and Jerry's we bought a single scoop cone of Cookie Dough ice cream and a couple of post cards to send back to the girls' school.

It was absolutely freezing outside and I was seriously regretting not bringing a cardigan to dinner!

We headed back to the room and called it a night.

[Flimsey]

I love SF, looking forward to the rest

[Minnie Mum]

Dam Siri! I hate it when she gets in a tizz- especially when crossing that number of lanes.

Your planning is brilliant and new hotel looks lovely- but pricey 🍹🍦

[niccynoo66]

wow what a drive !
We are going in 2020 and am tight for days ( too many things to see, too few days ! ) so glad to see the drive can be done in one day,
looking forward to picking up more tips,

Nicky x

[Pussycat Doll]

Great day, we’ve done that drive too, it’s a long one!

[scottishgirl1]

Really enjoying reading these! You seem to be having such fun, even on a 7 hour drive!

[i love jack]

That’s a long drive! The hotel looks gorgeous

[orlandosgr8]

A long drive but it looks like you had some beautiful scenery, a few years ago we drove from Gatlinburg to Orlando so know how it feels, randomly we kind of enjoyed it watching all the scenery change etc.

Your new hotel looks lovely and what a fab meal

Looking forward to reading more about your great trip