Up until this point (and for the rest of the trip, really) we were critically dependent on Google Maps. It only let us down once. Of course, that happened to be the day we woke up at 5am after a Phish concert. We typed in the address of the Hertz office, and got on the bus. The location that Google was taking us to was right at the base of the Golden Gate bridge, but my unquestioning faith in technology didn't think that was odd.
But it should have.
When we got off the bus at the bridge's toll booth (why didn't I think that was weird), the map still showed a bit of a walk down to the water (seriously, come on, Myles). So, with my backpack on my shoulders, and Aimee's duffel bag rolling behind her, we headed down to the beach.
The base of the Golden Gate bridge is actually a historic military fort that was active from 1776 to 1989. It was used by Spanish, Mexican, and then US troops. It is not currently a rental car agency.
When we got to the base of the cliff, I quixotically looked around to see if there was some sort of a tourist office with a few rental cars. There wasn't. But there was a 30 foot stretch of alley that happened to have the same name as the street of the Hertz office. I must have walked it five times, hoping that there was some sort of Harry Potter-esque hidden driveway that I kept missing. There wasn't.
After thoroughly convincing myself that we weren't going to rent a car from an abandoned military facility, we grabbed our gear and slogged back up the hill. I don't think we said a combined three words until we were back up at the toll booth.
Back on the bus, we headed over to the other Mason Street in San Francisco. This one was right in the middle of downtown, and actually had a Hertz office on it. With the car finally secured, we grabbed a not-particularly-healthy fast food breakfast (we deserved it), and headed north. I was so excited to be on the road that I paid absolutely no attention to the map and just got on the freeway that I assumed was the right one.
Looking back now, I'm realizing that the route we took added two hours to the drive. And I can't blame Google for that one. That was on me. And I'm especially just realizing that Aimee will be learning about the detour along with you all as she reads this. Maybe I won't tell her that I've updated the blog.
I think I need to make a new travel rule that I won't ever again rent a car without having a cup of coffee first. Two if I was at a Phish concert the night before.
