We touched down in San Francisco yesterday and because we have the day off today, ahead of loading in the show tomorrow, we took the opportunity to explore the city.

We headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was very impressive and, being shrouded in fog looked particularly mysterious.

Here we met up with Innes. She’s here on holiday and will take over providing my support from Rachel when she flies home at the end of the week.

We left from the Bridge by a coastal path that took us through the Crissy Field part of the Golden Gate National Park. We all walked along the beach for a stretch, me included. Admittedly my walking was chaotic and frequently punctuated by sudden crashes to the ground, but the sand cushioned me so it wasn’t too painful.

Eventually we got to a place where two people were flying large stunt kites. The kites were sweeping majestically in the sky and I found the whole thing massively over-exciting. But they were high up and the people controlling them appeared to be manoeuvring them out of our way so we could we get by – or so we thought.

Chopin, Leftwing Idiot and Innes were out in front, but as Rachel and I crossed under the kites, one swooped down and hit us both, the string catching me across my neck and throwing us both to the ground!

My body often responds erratically to surprises, and sure enough I involuntarily shot off across the sand, flapping wildly as the others came to untangle us from the kite. It took me several minutes to calm down and we moved away from the lunging kites as quickly as possible.

I enjoy the challenge of walking though – I like being active and getting out of breath, but I was relieved to get back into my chair once we were back on firm ground.

We made our way back from the beach along San Francisco’s wide streets. It’s so hilly! In fact, in the UK I’m pretty sure we would describe some of the inclines as mountains. We reached one that was at an angle of at least 45 degrees, if not steeper. I thought there was no way I’d get up it, but with Leftwing Idiot’s help we made it to the top and were immediately rewarded with a spectacular view.

Our first show as part of the San Francisco International Arts Festival is on Thursday with follow-up performances on Saturday and Sunday– if you’re in the area do come and join us if you can.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of the city but I’m going to steer clear of giant kites!