Days 42 to 46 San Francisco in the rain!

We are currently holed up in San Francisco trying to escape the torrential rainstorms that have hit the west coast of California for almost 4 days solid!  We have been staying with Rob's friend Greg who has just moved into an apartment in Orinda, a suburb of central San Francisco.  The apartment is at the top of the steepest hill either Rob or I have ever encountered, let alone cycled up, so you can imagine the language as we made our way there after taking our bikes on the Bart (the San Francisco underground).  We both had to push our bikes for much of the ascent.
However, we have been very lucky with our timing as we are not under canvas or cycling during this appalling weather.  Friday was at last a very easy day, spent in coffee bars watching the rain and the cinema - a real treat!
On Saturday we caught the Bart into central San Francisco - by some miracle we were blessed with 4 rain free hours to complete the must-do tourist walking tour. We had planned to catch one of the classic SF trolleys up the steep hills but, having seen the length of the queue, we, as usual, took the hard option and slogged up on foot.
This justified lunch at a typical restaurant in the centre of Chinatown and Rob insisted on a coffee in Café Trieste where Francis Ford Copplla allegedly wrote the script for the Godfather.
Sunday's weather has been awful so we have again done coffee and cinema.
Tomorrow, however, we are setting off on a 4 day side trip to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite as Greg has very kindly offered us the use of his VW station wagon.  WE HAVE BOOKED A MOTEL SO WILL NOT BE CAMPING!!! Just as well I think as, although the rain is forecast to stop, the temperatures are likely to fall below freezing and we only have our summer cycling clothes with us!