Click on a photo to enlarge it.
On Monday it was very hot and sunny. After doing a quick check of oil, brake and transmission fluids, we set off and took a minor road to cut
across to Napa Valley. There were some very steep grades - 11% and 16% - so it took us a while. We finally got into the valley which was full
of vineyards. The road seemed to have been built around them with lots of 90 degree right and left turns.
We stopped at a Shell garage and phoned Suzanne for directions to her daughter's house and they came and fetched us. We met Suzanne's daughter
Anna and her grandchildren, David, 12 (pronounced in the Mexican way, Darvid) and Isabella, 8.
We parked on the driveway outside the house and had an evening meal with them. Afterwards we chatted to Suzanne about Mexico and poured over maps.
Bob has been working at a local vineyard for the last 2 months and was currently working 16 hour days as the grapes are being harvested at the
moment. So we didn't see him that night.
On Tuesday, Suzanne took us out for a drive around the vineyards and then we went to see Bob where he is working (Neyer's). He looked thin and
exhausted - something we can totally understand because we have also done 16 hour days! We got a tour of the premises and found out that the
cheapest bottle they sell starts at $35 and the best go for over $100!!
We drove back through the valley which is understandably a major tourist attraction and picked up some supplies for the evening meal. Bob managed
to come home early at 8-30pm so we managed to chat for a while.
On Wednesday, Kirsten worked on the computer to do a set of photo CDs for Bob and Suzanne and Anna and later, Suzanne and Bob showed us photos of
the medical mission they help set up every year in Tamasopo, Mexico and the surrounding villages.
On Thursday, we got ready to leave and went to a campground around the corner to use the dump station. After taking some photos with the kids we
said goodbye. Isabella, who is a real handful at the best of times, said goodbye to us with just a towel wrapped around her as she was about to
have a shower. The towel wasn't sitting right and so she opened it to pull it tighter around herself, consequently revealing her naked body to all
and sundry and somehow not even realising, that that was what she was trying to cover up with the towel in the first place!!
We had a great time seeing them again and we are hoping to meet up with them later in Mexico somewhere!
We left around 4-30 pm and drove towards San Francisco. On the way, we hit a big bump in the road (the Californian roads are terrible) and our
radio suddenly didn't work any more. It was only the radio so we didn't think anything of it. But when we found a possible place to stop for the
night which was right underneath the famous Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco, we found out that we had no lights inside the motorhome and no
power at all!
So, in the dark and using torches, we checked all the connections and finally found out that the connection from the back battery to the motorhome
had come off. We managed to connect it again but we would have to wait until it was light and then secure it properly.
We went down to the water front and got some shots of the bridge and San Francisco by night. It's a good job we did, because we had really clear
views and the bridge was covered in fog for the rest of the time we were there and we never saw it again!
Unfortunately the police came along and moved us on. They told us about a car park around the corner where we could park up, but when we got there,
there was a large sign saying "No overnight parking". So we drove through very steep back roads into Sausalito. The roads were so steep that we
even managed to scrape the back of Winnie on the road as we went around a hairpin bend! We eventually just parked up on one of the side streets for
the night.
On Friday, we drove back to the spot under the Golden Gate Bridge to take some more photos, but the whole bay was shrouded in thick fog. We paid
the toll for the bridge and drove over without being able to see a great deal!
We found a parking spot on the road at the side of Golden Gate Park. Then we caught two busses to Fishermans Wharf and got into the queue to get
tickets for Alcatraz. There was a sign up saying that the next available tour wasn't until Sunday, two days away. But we were lucky that a woman
in the queue wanted to sell tickets for the 12-30 tour today. So we bought two tickets off her and then had an expensive snack at one of the stalls
whilst we waited for an hour for our tour.
The ferry over was very cold and windy but it was well worth the $16 each we paid. Alcatraz was built as a fort during the gold rush and was only a
federal prison from 1934 to 1963. It is now a National Park and there is a really good audio tour included in the price. You pick up your head sets
which you can stop, rewind or forward whenever you want as you are guided around the prison.
Al Capone was here for 4.5 years of a long sentence and there was Robert Stroud - the birdman of Alcatraz who was here for the whole time that
Alcatraz was a prison. There were only three escapees - they dug a hole in the back walls of their cells using a spoon and made rubber masks to
pur in their beds so that they wouldn't be missed for several hours. Then they climbed up onto the roof and escaped into the water. The three were
never seen again so no one is actually sure whether they made it across the water.
At the time it was used as a prison, it was the only place that had warm water for showers - this was to stop the prisoners from getting used to
cold water in case they were thinking of escaping and trying to swim to freedom!
Well we only got sentenced to 3 hours at the prison but it was well worth it. Back on shore we walked along Fishermans Wharf and met the "bushman".
He was sitting down on an upturned bucket and hiding behind two branches he was holding. He would then scare innocent passers by, by suddenly
opening the bushes and in a deep voice saying "Hhhoooaaahhh". It was quite funny to watch people and their reactions. He was also getting quite a
bit of money!!
We wandered along the National Pier which is a heritage site, and then had a look at the National Maritime museum which is free and has some really
great models of various ships and schooners etc.
We got the bus back which was full to bursting and got very squashed. We stayed where we were parked for the night and managed to get a good nights
sleep despite being on a main road.
On Saturday, we got a bus into downtown and went to the visitor centre. We caught a bus through china town (full of chinese, surprisingly!!) and
went to Lombard street which is the crookedest street in the world. Not for Winnie.
Our San Francisco video.
We had a buffet lunch at an (East) Indian restaurant and then
wandered around China town where there is the largest population of chinese people outside Asia - 1.6 million. Lots of pagodas, painted balconies
and we even saw a Chinese wedding - the people were wearing very bright and gawdy clothing that looked really cheap! We also saw a brass band
coming down the street playing as they went along and then realised it was actually a funeral!
We went through the china gate which was a present from China and walked into the financial district, between huge skyscrapers. We fancied a cup
of coffee but first went to the huge Nike superstore as we had a leaflet that said we could get a free gift. The free gift looked like dog tags
with "Nike San Francisco" written on them, but the best part was the free coffee!!!
Then we got a bus to Alamo square where there are some victorian houses. Unfortunately the fog came down and it got really cold. So we got the bus
back to Winnie. We jumped off in between when we stopped outside a supermarket and made a rush decision to pick up a few supplies. When we got back
to Winnie we realised that we had left a large block of cheese behind that had cost us $2-50!
We headed out of San Francisco at 4-30pm through the fog and went down the coastal road. We stopped at a viewpoint for the night - great view of
the fog!
On Sunday, we continued south along the coast and stopped in Monterey. We went to the visitor centre and then strolled along the wharf which was
very tacky and touristy. But at least Kirsten found a $1 dollar note. Then we hunted for a place to park and found a perfect spot behind the
library which we wanted to use tomorrow.
