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San Francisco, United States
37° 46' N 122° 25' W
Nov 19, 2007 07:35
Distance 0km

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The Dreaded Car Hire - Day 1

Text written in: English

Today we picked up the hired car. I was very nervous about this as I have never driven on the right hand side of the road and I have never driven an automatic car. Once they showed us to the car I had a look around it and I had no idea what I was doing which generally was not a good start. I managed to start it and move slightly. I was afraid I was not going to get out of the Avis car park. I knew this would be highly embarassing so decided to brave it and move. I got to the barrier where the guy asked me for an Avis ticket which just my luck the woman had forgotten to give me. He said I could not get through the barrier without a ticket. He clearly saw that I could not drive the car very well and told him that it would be in both of our best interests if he just let me through instead of me reversing to go back into Avis. He kindly agreed and we were on our way.

I was totally scared as I drove back to the hostel. The brakes on the car were very strong and you only had to touch it slightly. We made it back however but I felt as if i needed some Valium mixed with a strong G&T to calm the nerves. Rebecca told me this was not advisable!

We drove from the hostel over the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge seems so long to drive over. We made it to our first destination which was Sausolito. It was a nice place so had a wander about and bought some lunch for later. We then drove to a place called Muir Woods which Rebecca's Uncle had suggested we go see. It was lovely, we had our lunch and then went for a walk.

I was very nervous or more to the point a total wreck by the time we got out of Muir Woods and back on the main road. I dont think I have ever driven on such a scary road. There was a hugh drop at one side and no barrier. I told Rebecca not to tell me how high up we were.

When we made it out alive we headed back on the freeway. We were planning to stay in Point Reyes but I and the car decided otherwise and started to go the completely wrong way about 3 times, headed over a few more bridges in the wrong direction and decided to stay in Berkeley as we saw a sign for it. We found a motel to stay in and the highlight of the night was that Pretty Woman was on the tv. We were happy bunnies!