Changes, disappointments and silver linings, (or maybe Stars in Steve's eyes!)

So today was just one of those days. We should have been enjoying our evening in Yosemite National Park, but instead we find ourselves still in San Francisco, and no, it's not because we couldn't find our way out! Sometimes events just happen that have to be dealt with immediately, like Steve needing to get an urgent medical appointment to check that his retina hadn't become detached, something he had been advised may happen at any point some while back. Having spent sometime on the phone yesterday back to his optometrist in Auckland after seeing flashing lights for 10 minutes in a crescent shape in the periphery of his vision, he finally found a retina specialist this morning who said to come down straight away and they would squeeze him in. So off we went, no breakfast, with the expectation that we would be back before our 12 o'clock checkout, although Steve was pretty worried that he would possibly have to have his retina lasered back on, and I was panicking wildly that I was going to have to do the driving out of San Francisco, because Steve's pupils had been dilated! 

We did enjoy the taxi ride though - China Town, Financial District, home of the San Francisco Giants - AT&T stadium, the classic up hill and down dale streets of San Francisco, sights that we otherwise would not have seen. 

We waited a long time at the clinic for something to happen and it soon became apparent that we weren't actually going to be leaving town tonight (phew!) Fortunately the hotel rechecked us in for another night and the lovely chappie at the Yosemite Ridge Resort was very understanding and said he wouldn't charge us a cancelation fee for tonight because he wasn't busy. And as another pleasant surprise he'd already upgraded our accommodation, at no extra charge, because the firefighter who was in our Miners Cabin kept extending his reservation due to the bush fires they've been having up there! 

I was a big brave girl and embarked on an expedition to the AT&T shop right along the block - a good 20 minute walk at a brisk old pace (Google Maps said half an hour, I just had to beat it!) We'd decided to get a sim for my phone rather than have to rely on wifi and the unexpected roaming of data when you didn't realise it was on. Such helpful people in the shop :-) On the return leg of my expedition I experienced a most unpleasant thing - a blister on my heel, FROM MY BRAND NEW BOUGHT YESTERDAY RUNNING SHOES! And I hadn't even been running! Well, they did say at the shop, way out along the waterfront, 8km from the hotel, that they would refund my money if not entirely happy, so, that's where we'd have to head next. Hey ho, at least I found out before we left SF, and what else did we have planned for the afternoon?! Three o'clock and we made it out of the clinic. At least I'd managed to find a lovely coffee shop and had eaten about 10, but poor old Steve hadn't had anything since the night before; he said he was past hungry! BUT, nothing needed to be done immediately on his eyes, just see the Optometrist as soon as we get home. Now we can enjoy the rest of our trip without worrying he's going to wake up blind!

We jumped on a tram, another new experience, (Steve nearly accidentally put a $20 note in the slot because he couldn't see properly - oops!) changed underground and had to find our way up to hop on a trolley bus back to Fisherman's Wharf and the hotel. Yay! Hire some bikes, head back to the shop, change the shoes, have dinner, finish packing, early night, early morning, pick up car, head out of town before the traffic. But, today was just one of those days. Having spent an age holding, including at least one cut-off, on the phone to the car rental place to change the day for car pick up, Steve discovered that he was actually speaking to a very pleasant but useless call centre person in Bangalore. Not wishing to take a chance on our lovely Ford Mustang Convertible, which we booked and paid for back in March, being given away to someone else, we decided to head on out to the airport to pick it up this afternoon, calling in at the shoe shop, which closes 9pm weekdays, on the way back.
Great shuttle ride out there, more San Fran sights, including a shop which I read as Randy Ho's, but was actually Brandy Ho's, and a place called Man Kee café! 

Almost done. Err, no, sorry, today is just one of those days, I'm afraid! We hand our voucher and details to the lady at the car rental to be told that there are NO CONVERTIBLES available!!!! Excuse me? Well, to cut a long story short, and it very nearly was a very, very long - like another 3 hour until 10pm wait in case another one comes back tonight - story, the manager was trying to be very helpful, and he was, and Steve was all calm etc, and I did the girly thing and burst into tears. Not intentionally, but the good cop bad cop thing must have worked because this gorgeous red convertible pulled up and the manager offered it to us straight away :-) A Bright Red Chevrolet Camaro! Woo Hoo! 

Now we're on the homeward leg, easy peasy follow the GPS, but you know what I'm going to say next, right? Remember, it was just one of those days! No, we didn't crash, in fact Steve was terrific, not so the GPS which failed to understand the new detours and closed roads due to rerouting around the Golden Gate Bridge, which we almost ended up going over - sweaty palms all round! Finally, shoes got refunded, absolutely no issue whatsoever, car got parked, wine got bought, showers got taken and blog got written! And for, on the face of it, a very uneventful day when only 5 photos were taken, all of the car in the car park, I seem to have blogged an awful lot! Sorry! But it was just one of those days!