San Francisco

21 April

Before leaving the camp Val did the laundry and we booked a RV park in Vancouver. Our drive north on N-1 took us thru an agricultural area of strawberries and artichokes to our next State Beach at New Brighton. This camp had an unusual booking system where they took your name and told us to be back at 2:00pm for the site “draw”. We went down to the beach for lunch and returned for the “draw” done in order of arrival. All very strange as there were heaps of sites. This camp was on the cliffs

overlooking a sandy beach. After hanging up the washing we enjoyed a long walk along the beach past some multi-million $ holiday homes just waiting to fall into the sea. It was a warmer night and we had tea outside.

22 April

We turned inland at Santa Cruz and on to a narrow winding road to the Big Basin Redwood State Park where we were allocated a very sloping site. After a chat with the “Camp Host” we returned to the park HQ and selected a great site right in the huge Redwoods. (why they allocate these sloping

sites to RVs with only a limited ability to level up is a mystery to us!) We had been hanging out for a decent long walk and we had a beaut thru the Redwood forest for about 6 miles. (Rewoods and Sequoias are the same tree so we have discovered.) It was a very cold night and we used the gas heater for the first time in anger.

23 April

We continued on the very narrow road thru the remainder of the park and, on better roads, down to the coast again for a shop before continuing on to an RV Park at Pacifica, a southern suburb of San Francisco. The camp overlooks the Pacific Ocean.  We are here because this camp is a very short distance to the golf course where Lydia Ko is playing in an LPGA tournament tomorrow. Unfortunately she has a late tee off time which does suit our plans for tomorrow.

24 April

We woke to dense sea fog. Our plan was to get to the Lake Merced Golf course early and spend as much of the day as possible watching the world’s best lady golfers. After a slightly delayed start finding the parking area for the spectators proved to be a bit of a challenge, due to the fog and the lack of an address. Eventually we found the park and boarded the bus to the course. (about a ½ hour trip!) The tickets were $30 which we thought was not too bad. It was a really easy course to walk around with very wide rough and trees. Unfortunately the tee times had been pushed back 2 hours so Lydia’s tee time was now 3:00pm. All the big names were there and we followed Inbee Park, Karrie Webb and Anna Nordquist for a few holes. (Inbee’s swing is worse than appears on TV. Unbelievable!!) The course to us did not seem that difficult with many undulations and unsighted greens but wide fairways. We worked our way back to the 1^st tee to see Lydia tee off. The fans sung “happy birthday” as it was her 17^th birthday today. She was with Michelle Wei and Stacey Lewis. Unfortunately as we had to be at the other side of San Francisco at the end of the day we could only watch Lydia for a few holes. (bogied the 1^st and played a great recovery to par the 2^nd.) She ended the day in second place at 4 under.

Sorry no photos as cameras were banned. Back on the bus to “Ernie” and the long drive in rush hour traffic to Martinez where we were to visit Cam and Patricia Carrington. (Cere’s uncle & aunty who we had met at Cere & Gareth’s wedding). It took us 2 hours to travel 44 miles including crossing the Oakland Bridge. Cam and Patricia live in a lovely slightly rural area and have a great house set in trees. They had arranged for parking and we received a terrific welcome. After lots of chatting, a great meal and a few wines we were exhausted.

25 April

We had a long and relaxing late breakfast, and after meeting Patricia’s daughter Laurel and granddaughter Zoe, we set off to the Napa Valley. Unfortunately heavy rain set in but we managed to go to 2 different wineries without getting wet. The first winery was Silverado. Their wines were very nice and we bought a bottle of red. The valley was just as we had imagined it would be with miles of vines and beautiful wineries. The other winery we visited was Sterling where we caught a gondola up to

the winery. Despite the weather the views were spectacular. Our return was via St Helena, a cute town, where we went to a beautiful restaurant for an early dinner. It was a great day. Thank you Cam and Patricia.

26 April

After breakfast and farewells, we headed across the top end of the San Francisco Bay to the ferry at Tiburon. This is across the bay from the city and where the cycleway ends.

We had a windy rough crossing to Fishermans Wharf and the hustle and bustle of this tourist area. We cycled along the water front where we had stayed with Lynne and Paul. After a short wait we boarded the famous cable cars for a ride up San Francisco’s hilly streets. We stood at the back & were fascinated by the brake man winding on the wooden brakes with the smell and smoke of burning wood. What a great way to see a little of the city! Back to our bikes and a head wind ride to the

Golden Gate Bridge. It had changed slightly since our last time with a better route to the bridge and cyclists

and pedestrians being now separated on either side of the bridge. Down thru the charming town of  Sausalito and a great ride around the bay back to “Ernie” a distance of 18.5 miles. It was only a short drive to an RV park, a good thing as we were pretty tired!

27 April

It rained in the night and was drizzling this morning. We have decided to stay here another day so Val did the laundry and I had another go at easing the bathroom door and fixing a slight problem with the pump. Door great but pump the same! The sun came out so after lunch we walked across a bridge to a shopping area at Larkspur. They had lots of food trucks there (like the TV series) and many up-market specialty shops around courtyards with a great country duo playing. We had an ice-cream and enjoyed the atmosphere. On our return we got on the internet to find that Lydia Ko had won the inaugural Swinging Skirts golf tournament in San Francisco which we had been at on Thursday. We will publish this tonight and head north tomorrow.