We left Ashland this morning in very thick fog. At 7am it looked ok but by 8am it was foggy. The forecast was for dense fog & that is what we got. We started climbing a mountain as soon as we had left the town. We went up and down a few big mountains with plenty of snow lying around. It looked beautiful. The fog was so thick at times we couldn't see very far in front of us at all. We passed a sign that said Vista Point coming up but there was nothing but fog to see all around us. At one point it suddenly cleared because we had climbed higher than the fog. The temperature dropped greatly too. It got down to -5. Thank goodness for the seat warmers in the car!
Within 30mins of leaving Ashland we crossed the border into California. After a while the landscape completely changed. The snow & fir tree covered mountains gave way to flat farmland with mountains in the distance on both sides of the road. We passed fields of cows & calfs and sheep & lambs. I was surprised to see the babies. I thought they appeared in spring.
It was a long drive today - about 6hrs but we made it to San Francisco mid afternoon. We stopped once in a town called Willows. There was a Walmart right next to the road so we went in in search of Christmas decorations for the car. They had a very disappointing Christmas shop but I got a massive punnet of raspberries for under $3 that we snacked on in the car.
The hotel is in a great location & the historic section we are in is far nicer than the other section. Thanks, Jane! I had to ring reception & say that a room with no feathers had been specifically requested when booking but there were feather pillows. When we came back in tonight the pillows had been changed & a gift bag had been left for us with water & nibblies. I wonder if everyone gets that or we got it because they stuffed up???
San Francisco was unbelievably busy this afternoon. I suppose that is to be expected on a Sunday afternoon close to Christmas but we have been used to small towns. All the towns have been beautifully decked out with Christmas lights & decorations & SF is no exception. The Christmas tree in Union Square is massive & covered in twinkling lights. The Macy's store is huge & decorated with lots of wreaths, trees & lights. Their Christmas windows feature live animals needing adoption from the RSPCA & they are collection donations.
We were surprised to see the hop on hop off buses running as other towns have stopped them in Oct or Nov. They are even running at night. There is plenty to keep us occupied here!
Medical marijuana has been legalised here. There must be a huge amount of sick people around. We have smelt it everywhere (including Canada) we have been on this holiday - in the street & in hotels. But, there was an unbelievable amount this afternoon while walking around SF. Quite gross.
Tonight we found a pizza place called Uncle Vito's for dinner. It was small, crowded & very authentic. Best of all it was delicious! We stopped in at one of the big hotels on the way back to look at the Christmas display in their foyer. There are another couple I definitely want to see - one with a massive gingerbread house & one with a sugar house. Tomorrow we are heading a bit out of town to the Charles Shultz museum.