San Francisco, California - Day 3

Lauren & I are already worn out from ripping and running, but Muir Woods and Sausalito was next on the itinerary.

On day 3 we happily adhered to its call, bright and early at 8am, with smiles still on our faces.

If you're unfamiliar with Muir Woods (like I was), it's the home of the California Redwoods. This area of woodlands has been taken over by the National Park Service, and it's open to the public daily. Also known as the Giant Sequoia, these trees are the tallest in the world, with an average height of 200-300 feet and an average age of 1200 years. 

They're pretty impressive.

 

We only had about an hour to spend in the park, so we whipped out our cameras, headed for the nearest trail, and stopped at a couple information posts along the way. Like this one:

This particular tree fell in 1930 but is believed to have emerged around 900 A.D.

About an hour later, we rode through Sausalito, an affluent town just outside the city.

Back in San Francisco, we hopped onboard the city tour bus to finish what we started on Monday afternoon.

Thankfully, the fog started to clear, and we were able to snap some great shots of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lunch was at Boudin Bakery...

 ... And we passed an extremely charismatic street performer along the way.

Full and entertained, we decided it was time to explore this fair city by foot. The steep hills didn't look too intimidating, so we tackled them head on.

They fought back.

Each one is a SILENT BEAST. I personally had to stop for water halfway through one of them, and Lauren also had to catch her breath a couple times. At least the surrounding homes made for good scenery.

 

 

When we finally reached our destination - the crooked street on Lombard - we were greeted by crowds of fellow travelers taking pictures. Without missing a beat, we joined the party.

This section of Lombard is known as the most crooked street in the world. It's tightly wound in the shape of an "S", and everyday cars line up at the top to wind their way down to the bottom (at 5 MPH or less).

The rest of our journey went downhill from there - no pun intended, we were done walking up all the hills.

To our delight, Ghirardelli Square was just a couple blocks away.

In 2005, they moved the actual factory out of the square, but you can still see part of the process inside this chocolate shop.

The smell inside is heavenly & seductive.

We gave into temptation and tried one of their signature sundaes: The Gold Rush - vanilla ice cream with melted fudge, warm peanut butter, whipped cream, chopped almonds, topped with a cherry and a chocolate square.

Hiking those hills was undoubtedly worth it.

♥