I meet with Andy yesterday, and he took me on a great trip over to the coast. It was nice to get my feet wet in the Pacific when I started this trip in Manhattan looking out over the Atlantic. We started in San Gregorio and then drive down the coast to Santa Cruz, passing the migrations of a variety of shearwater bird - tens of thousands of birds swirling around and dive bombing the sea. At Santa Cruz we had a wander along the pier, saw the Sea Lions and then a meal before driving back. It was great to meet up with Andy, remember some of the stuff we were doing 30 years ago (!), and catch up on some of what has happened since. We failed to determine how it was that we weren't millionaires. A big thank-you to Andy and his wife Angela.

Not only did Andy take me on the drive, but he also gave me some great pointers as to what to do on my second day in San Francisco. Unfortunately, this was also the labor day holiday weekend here in the US, and things didn't quite go according to plan...

• I started at the Golden Gate Park - nice place with lots to see, including free swing dance lessons;
• I drove over Golden Gate Bridge, but couldn't find anywhere to stop and take photos;
• I messed up my GPS and came at Lombard "crooked" Street from the wrong direction so couldn't get on it, and the queue from the right direction was formidable;
• I passed the Pier 39 and Fishermans Walf, but again all the parking was full;
• I did manage to stop in Union Square and buy a few things, but by this time I had spent several hours in the car shuffling around San Francisco, and I was not in the right mood so just reset the GPS and came back to the hotel.

San Francisco looks like a great city. The bits I saw (through the car windows) showed a vibrant, exciting place to be. I could see it, but somehow just couldn't quite touch it. I was in the right place, but at the wrong time.

Later, at the hotel, I went for a drink in the bar and met up with some folk from US, Fiji and Germany. I had a very pleasant evening chatting with them and picked up a few pointers for Fiji, so the day ended on a high note.

Today I will visit Frys electronics store (because "everything is bigger in America") before starting south down the coast towards Santa Barbra.