San Francisco! The Golden Gate, Alcatraz, China Town. Famous movies were filmed there, like Bullitt. Remember the car chase scene with Steve McQueen in his 1968 Ford Mustang GT? A classic movie with a car story sub plot!
I never experienced driving like that! Back in the ‘70’s, my 1964 Econoline party van with three-on-the-tree barely made it up the hills in San Fran. Working the clutch on a steep grade was an adventure at every stop sign, with the pressure on me not to stall out. If the van stalled, I’d be living in it to this day. Maybe that’s why they have so many homeless people. Stuck in their cars and hangin’ out in the Haight.
I hadn’t been back to San Fran for many years, so when the chance came, I jumped. It’s great to get out of town and even better when your girlfriend has a Delta companion pass to San Francisco. 2BukChuk says don’t be too proud to take advantage of a free flight. Thx Judi!
After arriving, I had to negotiate with Budget to get a rental car with California plates. My nephew Carz, who lives in the city, said, “people break into out-of-state cars in broad daylight. Don’t stop anywhere until you drop your luggage at our place”. We followed his sage advice and parked on the street in a nice area, near the famous “Painted Ladies”.
As we walked to lunch, I noticed an unusual amount of Toyota Prius cars in the area. The scene was like that Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds. At first, I thought it was unusual. Then I started counting them and it seemed a bit surreal. We were being surrounded! Parked inches apart from each other on the streets while others constantly drove by looking for places to perch!
What’s going on here???
OK, I finally get it after paying $6.59 per gallon for gas before returning the rental car. That’s a car story I’ll be sure to tell back in Michigan.
In San Fran, the hybrid Prius is the go-to car if you want money left over for groceries. I made a mental note to myself not to complain about our Michigan gas prices from now on. We walked miles along clean sidewalks and newly paved streets to Golden Gate Park. The area seemed safe and when I saw interesting cars, I took car photos.
There aren’t a lot of exotic cars on the streets here. I’m sure people have them. Too much wealth in this town. Lots of Silicon Valley money. But when you see how close people park their cars together on roads with a 10% grade, all cars get dinged up. The nice ones are in garages and not on the street. I was surprised to see this well preserved Cutlass parked on the street.
Still, I found vehicles, not always cars, that caught my eye. This camouflaged RV, parked in a lot near the Ferry Terminal, sparked my interest. If the owner wanted to hide themselves, it wasn’t really working too well. Stood out like a sore thumb if you ask me.
And finally, there was the Dog Taxi. It’s technically not a car but its transportation for a dog and cat. They seemed content and unconcerned about their owner driving them around the perilous streets in an open top custom electric bicycle. Me, I’d be terrified!
