Out and Back

Monday finds us driving north up the coast on Highway 1. It is a windy, narrow road with beautiful views around each turn; certainly not a road for a motorhome. It is Columbus Day today; it may be a holiday for some ???

Our luggage has increased! We came over with 3 suitcases and one carry on; we now have 5 suitcases and 2 carry ons. We are able to increase the number of carry ons if we want, to 2 each within the airfares we have with Air NZ. We also have the option of  increasing our bag allowance online for $70 a bag.
With our increased number of bags we have had to rent a larger vehicle! We have a Premium SUV, a Ford Expedition, about the same size of the vehicle we rented for our trip to Las Vegas when the kids were here.

It is very comfortable and a nice way to tour the coast and the wine region of Napa Valley which is where we are heading.

The weather is absolutely perfect! It is said to be sunny and warm, with cool mornings, for the rest of the week. How lucky are we!!

Lunch in Bodega Bay is a crab roll; it is delicious.
We have previously stayed here and thought we might do so again - a bit of nostalgia. But it is such a glorious afternoon that we decide to continue further. We finish up in Windsor.

Even though the weather is more like summer, the trees are certainly marching on to fall. Changing colours are everywhere; the slightest breeze brings leaves floating to the
ground. So we are experiencing our second fall although without the brilliant colours that we saw on the east coast last year.

On Tuesday we continue on to Napa Valley; a stunningly beautiful drive. Vineyards spread out for miles and miles.

We stop in St Helena for lunch. Both in need of a haircut we find a barber and a hair salon on Main Street. By 3pm we are good to go!

St Helena is a nice town; we decide to stay the night, we find a motel. How good it is to stop and enjoy just being here.

Our drive into San Francisco on Wednesday is fairly slow - we only have about 75 miles to go but are held up at the Bay Bridge. It doesn't matter. We have all the time in the world. We are booked into a hotel in South San Francisco and can't check in until 2pm. Another beautiful day for us to continue our drive through Napa Valley.

There are 17 lanes of traffic approaching the toll plaza (and that's going one way!)
The views from the bridge are wonderful with such a lovely clear day. We drive across the new East Span which opened on 2 September this year. Said to have cost over $6.5 billion the new part is the world's widest bridge.

Of course, once through the toll plaza, the number of lanes reduces but it still a big bridge by any stretch of the imagination!

Back in San Francisco

We have been invited to dinner - a lamb roast!
Geoff and Lyn, friends from Perth, are staying with their friends Frank and Corinne who live in Novato, north of the city.
We visit them;  Aussie accents and laughter; a perfect way to start 'looking west' and our thanks to Frank and Corinne for their warm hospitality. The lamb was wonderful!


On Sunday 13 October we go to the football - San Francisco 49ers v Arizona Cardinals at Candlestick Park. The game starts at 1.25pm. We set out early as we are coming from Mill Valley and plan to take public transport. We drive into downtown SF, park in a public car park then walk to the Muni which takes us to 3rd and Gilham. A shuttle bus then takes us on to Candlestick Park.




































It is a great day! Beautiful weather! The game takes about 4 hours!!! 4x15minute quarters with a 15 minute half time. The 49ers win.




There is a good crowd; most are 49ers fans. Lots of 49ers shirts, caps and scarves. The carparks are a sea of tail-gate parties.

We get there quite early not knowing how long it would take us to park, train and shuttle. Our seats are good; we have a beer and a hotdog (pricey).

6 planes writing in the sky!

The national anthem is sung by the lead singer from Santana. It is quite beautiful.

After the game we reverse the process back to the car. We drive along the shore past the Bay Bridge then over the Golden Gate bridge to Mill Valley.

We stop for a meal at the Outback Steakhouse. Well .....????????








Every time we drive across the Golden Gate bridge I cannot help myself ... I just have to take some more photos!

Motorhome - less!!

After 2 days packing up the motorhome while parked at Treasure Island RV Park, the day that we have been looking forward to - and dreading - finally arrives! I guess our meeting with Bryan is bittersweet. He has flown to San Francisco from El Paso, Texas to potentially buy the motorhome.

We have a rental car and have arranged to pick Bryan up from the airport. Slightly problematic ... we decide to wait at his arrival gate after planning to pick him up outside the terminal! Of course we miss him but a quick phone call ends our worries. Then back to the RV Park.

After a tour of the motorhome ... he loves her!!

The next morning Bryan and Trevor go for a test drive. All good. Then a trip to the bank and - that moment that we knew would happen one day!! She drives off ... south on El Camino Real on a 1200 mile trip to El Paso, Texas.

Trevor and I wave goodbye to Bryan as he negotiates out of the RV Park. Trevor takes a video of her as she drives off; I take photos. We don't say much - what can you say? Our wonderful home for the last 15 months who carried us wherever we wanted to go ... gone.

Now we are homeless so to speak! I make a hotel booking for tonight. We decide to stay at Mill Valley which is over the Golden Gate bridge near Sausalito.

We now have 10 days in San Francisco. I know they will go quickly but we intend to wrap up our journey with a fun time in and around the city that we have always enjoyed.

On 20 July 2012 we arrived in San Francisco with no idea of the travels that lay ahead of us; our journey will end here on 20 October 2013.









A lovely ending to our travels in the motorhome. Bryan arrived home in El Paso on Sunday night; he sent us this photo of her settled in her new home.