September 8 - Days 86 - 88 - Petaluma/San Francisco

The trip to San Francisco from Crescent City down highway 101, some 354 miles long. We left the campground at 8:00, heading down highway 199 through the redwoods to highway 101. From there, at least half the trip was two lane and twisty, the other half was off and on 4-lane highway. It was an arduous trip to say the least. One of the two lane stretches passed through Willits, CA, where there are three non-synchronized traffic lights. As you can imagine on a Labor Day Monday, the traffic was backed up at a 5 mph crawl on highway 101 for at least 10 miles by late in the afternoon.

After Willits, the progress was a bit faster. We arrived in Petaluma, 35 miles shy of San Francisco, around 3:30 and got set up in the San Francisco North/Petaluma KOA. A nice park with lots of stuff for kids - of which there were many. Our next stop was the local Applebee's for a light dinner and happy hour - both much needed! Returning to the coach, we lit a fire in the adjacent fire pit and enjoyed the Boise State - Virginia Tech football game on the outside TV.

Tuesday, we decided was the day to see San Francisco. We left the coach around 10:00 and headed down 101. It is 35 miles to San Francisco, and the sun was shining with temperature around 78. As we approached San Francisco, we could see the fog building. By the time we got to the Golden Gate Bridge, you couldn't see the top of the bridge and the temperature had dropped to 53.

Our first tour took us through the Presidio. A beautiful enclave on the North shore of San Francisco. We then passed through the Marian district where you get a great view of Alcatraz. Next was Fisherman's Wharf, where we had lunch at Aligoto's, the oldest restaurant on the wharf, and where I had eaten with my parents some 51 years ago.

The lunch was great and the view was magnificent. We watched a sea lion catch and eat several fish in the harbor. After lunch, we headed up to Lombard Street, the twistiest street in America I am sure. We did the mandatory drive down the hill amidst numerous other tourist taking photos. Then it was up and down the hills observing the various cable car runs. I showed Suzanne the high end Mark Hopkins Hotel "Top of the Mark," and the magnificent cathedral on the top of the hill.

With the fog not improving, we headed back to Petaluma around 2:30, stopping along the way at the Costco in Novato. Suzanne asked why most of the towns had Spanish names? I reminded her that California, and most of the U.S. Southwest was originally Spanish (Mexican) territory, and was taken over by the U.S. through conquest.

Wednesday, the day before departure for Yosemite, is the day for preparation and cleaning up bills, laundry, etc. I also have to wash the front of the coach. Then it is off to Safeway for groceries. Back from that, we finished the prep work and headed for Applebee's for happy hour. Now home, we will have a few oysters and some shrimp from Coos Bay, then a couple of frozen pizzas from Costco, watch some baseball and hit the rack. I expect we will be on the road by 9:00 tomorrow, and be in Yosemite by 2:00 or so. Until then, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog