Tonight I is a stay in the room night, they happen at least one night a week. Wine and cheese, rugby or a good book. This night finds me in Gardena, CA. It is about half way between LAX and Disneyland, yet it reminds me of Union Gap, a suburb of Yakima, better known as Yak-Vegas, WA.

My night of reclusion requires shopping for wine and food, the best I could do here is Wal-Mart a store I work hard to avoid at all costs. This Wal-Mart has white wine for $1.97, scary. I bought a Mondavi for $8.57, some sliced cheese and crackers.

Staying at a Comfort Inn, scary looking from the outside but actually the room is pretty decent, large, clean and new. $30 more than the room I had near Disney, yet that one seemed to have a lot of friendly ladies near, some that got into cars in the parking lot, so possibly the room was “subsidized.”

The joys of traveling on a budget are that at times you end up in some interesting places, now a person can fight that or see it as part of the fabric of life this world offers. We travel through this world with blinders on for the most part so we miss the big picture.  And I must agree with Rick Steves’ that when we get away from the 4 Star travel we see the real world and meet the real people. This world is full of common folks, and they are worth getting to know. It is the people that makes travel what I love, all the people.

Peet’s Coffee and Tea on the corner of Van Neys and Bush in San Francisco. Got here really early to avoid the traffic from South San Francisco where I stayed. The hotel prices in The City are exorbitant, I paid $79 at a Comfort Inn, instead of almost $200 at a hotel in The City.

This city by the Bay confuses me. Everything in me wants to like even love The City. One of my favorite musicians is Rod Mckuen, he is from and sings about San Francisco. The City has a romance about it, or at least is promoted in that way, it is home to Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, and a myriad of other cultural icons.

Yet I find that when I am here I can not wait to get away. The city is not as clean as Portland or Seattle, which are the two cities that remind me most of San Francisco. The people are not near as friendly, casual conversations are harder to start with strangers. There are some great people here, I have met them, but it seems harder to fined them, and everyone is in a hurry.

So as Rod would say, “So long San Francisco.” I do want to like it here, and maybe if I had the time to get to know the city I would, but quick trips and short encounters give a skewed perspective. So I will hold off completely discounting the city and give its people the benefit of the doubt.