Calves now down to a manageable pain.

Ella and I got up early for her to swim at the local pool again. We walked about six blocks to get there without a word - she wasn't happy. I paid the $1 charge with many coins - so satisfying. I sat in the Pool gallery where there were eight seats which gives you a good idea of the size of the place. There were four 25m lanes only.

Looking over the lanes - Ella was in the fast lane and there was a chap in the slow lane. For some reason there was a divide and then two other lanes - one completely empty and then there seemed to be a lane for old Chinese people. One was doing pull-ups using the step ladder in the pool. Two others were mostly standing there as if waiting for a bus. Very strange. A poster in the gallery area said - 'please limit your showers to three minutes to help conserve water during this severe drought'. Imagine three minutes for a shower. Isabel takes that time just to get the temperature right!

After brekkers, the family went our separate ways - the girls went shopping (yawn!) and I went to the Museum of Modern Art. I caught the #45 bus, used up yet more coins (I love it!) and was dropped nearby. The advantage to us that these US cities have is space. The museum is vast and surrounded by fountains, open spaces and other museums. If anyone is thinking of developing the South Bank they should come and have a look at this area. The museum itself was the usual mixture of really cool, clever stuff such as Ragnar Kjartansson's The Visitors (Google it) and other work where a bored Ella would have asked 'and?'. I recognised a piece by David Hockney! But it was a good way to spend a couple of hours and the #30 brought me back almost to the front door. No coins were needed as the first ticket was valid until noon. I nearly appealed so that I could use up more coins!

In an action packed day, (this is going to three pages folks!) we rented bikes from Fisherman's Wharf to go across the Golden Gate Bridge and then get the ferry back. Obviously my competitive juices kicked in on the first hill but I was proud to see that my youngest child shares those juices. Jo and Isabel kept up well enough! It was a touch cloudy and so we didn't see the bridge in all its glory. In fact going over it was somewhat nerve racking as we had to battle oncoming cyclists and pedestrians. Also the traffic was feet away and so the odd lorry or bus caused a wobble or two. We landed on the other side and then cycled to Sausalito.

Now Sausalito is a lovely lakeside/seaside village. It's like Barnes on Sea. Yet we will never go there again because we were completely shafted on bike parking. We cycled to the ferry but wanted to eat first. We were told by the shaftor that for $3 per bike the bikes could be left in a safe area and we could wander over to the waterfront restaurants worry free. The shaftor continued that any bike within a quarter of a mile would be taken away by the police if not in the designated area. As the potential shaftee, my first thought was that that was not very green minded of the local constabulary.

I suggested cycling down to find a restaurant and to see if there were any cycle bays nearby. The shaftor played her trump card - 'all the money goes towards employing local kids during the school holidays'. Shaftee - 'we're in Barnes, the kids don't need paying'. Mrs Shaftee - 'what a worthy cause, where do we park the bikes?'. FFS.

Having been totally humiliated and explaining to Ella what a 'schmuk' was (i.e. me!), we walked 400 yards to a pizza restaurant and sat outside.......next to an empty bike rack.

Having eaten pizzas that would have been perfect apart from my bad mood, Jo and Isabel decided to take the ferry back from Sausalito. Jo wanted to check out another area of SF and Isabel to chat with friends...sorry, do some French vocab work. I offered Ella $30 to cycle with me to the next village, Tiburon, where we could also catch a ferry back to SF. We agreed on $10 - I know - it's something she needs to work on!

The ride was basically around a lake but we passed numerous condos and parks. It was interesting to note the number of soccer camps were going on. Also, many of those soccer camps were run for girls. You wouldn't see that in the UK. The highlight of the ride came when we were taking photos around one particular part of the lake. An elderly couple approached and asked if we'd seen any sharks. It turned out that leopard sharks frequented the area. They are striped and roughly 30cm long. Sure enough, moments later we saw a few of them. The rest of the bike ride was dull in comparison but finished with an ice cream (part of $10 debt) and a ride home.

Dinner was local and the girls watched 'Forest Gump' before we turned in.

Top tip - if you are cycling in Sausalito and a bleached blond lady approaches you about hiring a bike space, tell her to bugger off.