Saturday, July 30, 2011

Forgot to say we took the famous Cable Car ride as per James' orders!!!!

Well, we've left our hearts in San Francisco!

On Thursdsay we took a tour of San Francisco from the camp ground. It was great. Our driver/guide was very knowledgable. We had a good mix of driving and time on our own at stops along the way. Unfortunatly the Golden Gate Bridge was fogged in both times we stopped at it. (once at the top and once under it and both times we drove across it.) We were able to walk out on it which was really neat. Put your hand on the railing and feel the vibration of the traffic. We saw so much more of the city than we would have had we gone in on our own. The only thing we didn't do that we could have on our own was drive Lombard Street. For part of the tour, the fog lifted and it was beautiful. Warm with a nice breeze. We couldn't do Alkatrez as they were booked. I can't put my finger on it, but there is something about San Francisco that compleately captivates you.

Yesterday we did the Sonoma Valley wine tour. Again from the camp ground. We went to three wineries. The first one we had a tour of how they make the wine and then sampled 8 wines. We then had lunch in Sonoma a very pretty little town. It was hotter in land than it had been when we left so we were very glad we had worn shorts. We then went to two other wineries and sampled four wines at each winery. The last one was a beautiful estate. There is a real rivalry between the Sonoma & Napa Valleys but Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers fame used to say "Napa makes auto parts, Sonoma makes wine."

Today we drove around Petaluma where the camp ground is. Drove past where some of American Graffitti was filmed. Had a nap and relaxed after two busy days.

Tomorrow we head to Vegas via Yosemite. With any luck we should have good internet from now on as we won't be staying at any State parks as we will need the air.

LOL til next time Eddie and Merrilyn

Sonoma Wine Tasting







We Left Our Hearts in San Francisco!













Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Hello From San Francisco

We survived the coast highway. It was twisty, turney, sheer cliffs, steep hills and massive down grades some with hair pin turns in them!!!!! There were a few times when I cried for my Mommy! Ed say to make sure everyone knows that it was Merrilyn wanting her Mommy and not him! He enjoyed it and kept saying the driving was not stressful. He did admit when we arrived tonight that it was a little stressful.

Well after putting on 16,672 kms we had our first mishap. The night before last, our first in California, when we were pulling into our site we damaged the back left corner of the unit by being bitten by a giant redwood stump. Then today on one of the hair pin turns that went from a down grade to an incline right in the middle of the turn when there was a car coming in the other direction, we bottomed out and the bumper hit the road.

Last night we were as close to camping on the beach as we can get with a big rig. We sat on the beach and watched the sunset! It was so nice!

Tonight is the first of four just out side of San Francisco and tomorrow we are going on a tour of the city. I can't wait to show Eddie, as I have always loved San Francisco.

The dogs are the best of travellers and Brindy has not been sick at all even on the roads the last three days.

Well I'm going to say by for now as we want to go walk said dogs.

In the last picture of the first group note the white dot in the upper portion of the pic. That is a camper on the road where we just came from.

LOL Eddie & Merrilyn

California's Coastal Hwy 1








Our Site last night: Pacific sunset; campground from access road



Redwood Forest And Windy Hwy 1






California's Redwood RV Park


The Last of Oregon's Coast





Sea Lion Cave



More of Oregon's Coastal Hwy 101