“Once we got outside he repeated “I’ve got to go” without giving a reason. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and told me it had been great to see me and spend the evening with me. I don’t really believe him. When he kissed me on the cheek there was such a familiarity and tiny thrill to it that I felt like screaming again.  Literally, as soon as he had turned away to go home, I started to cry silently. I carried on throughout my short journey home and then I just broke down once I got home”

Believe it or not this was my first look at the Golden State:

Not exactly what I was expecting. Especially since we had just driven across northern Nevada aka the desert! I was to spend the next 2 weeks in California, and I would learn how varied a state it is. It’s not all golden beaches, surf and palm trees as the songs and films would have you think! I later learned that the snow on these mountains melts each year as the weather gets warmer, but this year the snow stayed around a lot longer than normal. I never thought I would be able to say that I had seen snow in California.

The White State

We travelled over night from Utah to California, and we arrived in San Francisco at about 2.30pm on the 4th day of the journey. I was tired, cranky and in dire need of a hot bath but, when I saw this view, I couldn’t help but smile:

My first view of San Francisco from the bridge from Oakland.

The drama wasn’t over quite yet though. The Greyhounds had done their work, and had taken me from east coast to west coast but I was to encounter a problem with a passenger. While I was waiting for my suitcase to be unloaded from the bus, a Chinese business man started talking to me. He seemed confused as to what I was doing standing around next to the bus. As previously mentioned, the combination of no washing, little sleep and discomfort had made me cranky and so I was in no mood for small talk from anyone. Once I had my suitcase, I went out the front of the terminal to find a taxi, The businessman proceeded to follow me. Once again, he asked me what I was doing, where I was staying and how long I was going to be in town for. He was shocked to learn I was on my own and he said he would take me for a drink. I told him no thankyou. My taxi pulled up and I said bye to the businessman and then got in. I noticed him hanging around next to the taxi and then he opened the door and got in. Now, call me naive if you want but, I was unsure if this was normal American taxi behaviour and so I just went along with it. I had an over-whelming urge to tell this guy to go away and leave me alone but I am not a confrontational person. Unfortunately.

I made a point of ignoring him while in the taxi. He told me he didn’t live far from the bus terminal so I expected him to tell the driver where he lived and then get out. But, he didn’t. Not only did he stay in the taxi until we reached my hotel, he then got out of the taxi and came into the hotel lobby with me! I made the mistake of being passive aggressive and I kept saying “Okay, bye” but he kept following me. I ignored him once again and went straight to the front desk to check in. He was still hanging round. When I was done checking in I made my way to the lift and he then insisted on giving me his phone number, he asked to take mine but I refused. He asked me if I wanted to go get dinner and I told him that I had just spent four days on a bus and all I wanted to do was have a bath and a nap and could he leave me alone please. He left after this, but not before saying that he was going to “call you later”. I didn’t think much of this remark as he didn’t have my number. However, that evening, my hotel room phone rang about five times! He must have found the hotel phone number online and asked the front desk to put him through to my room. I assumed he had overheard when I had told the receptionist my name.

I was totally freaked out about this, and it had put a bit of a dampener on my first day in San Francisco. After getting sick of the incessant ringing, I unplugged the phone. I thought that would be the end of my stalker. I was wrong.

Next – First day in San Francisco, involving a trip to Pier 39.