San Francisco

Thanks to my friend Dottie, I now know that the flower I saw on the coast road near Klamath was foxglove.

We left the Eureka area and traveled south on Route 101 over the same 60 miles we had toured in the car the previous day. It is amazing how different the perspective is when you're sitting high in an RV looking out of a picture window sized windshield.At one point, we passed a sign I hadn't even seen the previous day. It was higher than my head in the RV and showed the high water mark in the 1964 flood. At that point the river was 30 or 40 feet below us. That Eel River flows north alongside 101 through the Redwood Forest. It winds through a channel it has cut and the road winds with it and across it a hundred times. I wish I had counted the bridges over the Eel. These bridges were extraordinarily high. In the Park we read about the floods and discovered that the bridges had been washed out in the flood and so were rebuilt higher. The funny thing is they were rebuilt only 2 feet higher! In 1964 they received 101 inches of rain. The average rainfall is 51 inches. That might explain the flooding.

We were driving through Mendocino County, still on 101, when suddenly we were in the middle of the largest grape fields I've ever seen. On this trip I've seen endless fields of corn, of wheat, of hay, and now of grapes. Mike spotted trailer truck loads of bright red grapes. We continued with the vineyards into Sonoma County. I discovered this is called the Russian River Valley. The vineyards went up the hills on the sides of the Valley to a certain elevation and stopped abruptly. If the hill was low, the vineyards went right over the top. A little further down the valley I saw a sign, "U Pick, Sweet Juicy Strawberries". This was on September 19, 2007.

We camped just off 101 in Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The first day I ventured into the city by bus to go to the VA. Not knowing the system, I crossed the city by bus four times that afternoon! It took one hour each way but I followed each trip carefully on the map and learned how the city is set up. As I left the city to return to the RV park, I was crossing the Golden gate Bridge at 7 p.m.. Looking back toward San Francisco, I realized it's a white city. Almost all the buildings are white or very light. Here and there, lights were beginning to come on and sparkle in the twilight. Northeast, across the bay, the sunlight was reflecting off windows in the Oakland/Berkeley area. A huge sailboat was proceeding away from me into the bay. Alcatraz sat square in the middle with a ferry boat passing on each side and another across the front. I Fell In Love!!

The next day, we took a tour of the city. The guide was entertaining and informative. He took us all around but I especially enjoyed the view from Twin Peaks and from the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge. He dropped us off on Market Street where we took a bus to Haight-Ashbury. Then we rode the cable car! It was like an amusement park ride! I rode on the running board in the front position while we climbed a hill and then went down the other side. I liked it so much, I insisted we get right back on going the other way! We ate in Chinatown and then rode another cable car. To cap the evening, we rode one of the old-fashioned electric streetcars around the Embarcadero. What a city! Tomorrow, I have to try the ferry service across the Bay.

Today we drove to Marin Highlands. These are high bluffs just West of the Golden Gate Bridge. The views across the Bay and into San Francisco were unmatchable. I'm sure the pics don't touch it, but look anyway.

Went in by ferry today. It was too fast a trip! Saw the bridges, Alcatraz, and the piers. Rode the cable car again (twice more), saw more of the city and said good bye on the Bridge! Sad to leave but onward!!