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April 2007
April 1
Sunday, April 1. Mike and I drove to Rockaway Beach this morning and Rita and I took the walk over the hill to Pacifica Beach. The path zigzags up the steep hill and it looked like much more of a challenge than it really was. We both enjoyed it a lot.

In the afternoon, we took them to see Ben and Jill's apartment, to see Haight-Ashbury, to Memphis Minnie's BBQ for some lunch, through the Castro, and to see a great view of the city from Twin Peaks.

We had a wonderful evening starting with co**tails at Ben and Jill's apartment. After that we took a cab to the House of Prime Rib Restaurant, another of San Francisco's choice dining establishments. The beef is aged in an old English style, cooked to perfection, deliciously seasoned, and absolutely wonderful. Other than a couple of fish dishes on the menu, that is all they serve and they really know how to do it. Check out the picture of the Prime Rib Cart in the photo journal. We all toasted to our anniversaries; Rita and Denny's 40th, Ben and Jill's 11th, and our 39th.
April 2- 8
Monday, April 2. What a wonderful day we've had with our visitors. The weather was gorgeous and we started out at about 10:30, heading north to Marin County. A stop at the Vista Point on the North side of the Golden Gate Bridge gave us some beautiful views of the city and the bay.

From there, we went to Muir Wood National Park where we drove around and around and around until we finally got a parking spot. We then walked some of the trails and enjoyed the wonderful smells and sights of the redwood forest. There was new growth of ferns and ground plants throughout the area.

The next stop was to the marina area of Sausolito for lunch. We sat on an outside patio and had a great lunch and enjoyed watching boats coming in and out of the bay.

Fisherman's Wharf was the next stop and we were all kind of thinking of hanging out until we were hungry again and could eat some crab. Unfortunately, we were all tired and only lasted an hour and a half before we were ready to head back home for naps. All in all, it was a very nice time.

Wednesday, April 4. After today, its back to work, so we got the house cleaning and laundry out of the way. This afternoon, we drove up the hill to the Milagra Ridge where there were some very nice hiking trails and a 360 degree view of Pacifica. Many wildflowers were in bloom. We were the only folks up there so had the place all to ourselves and we both really enjoyed the walk and the views (see photo).

A stop at the grocery store got us all stocked up for the next few days.

Thursday, April 5. WE'VE GOT WHALES! Just before my shift started this morning, Mike stopped by to let me know that whales are right close to shore and could be seen from the cliff. Sure enough, I could see 3 of them moving slowly and spouting. One had a gnarly looking head, probably full of barnacles. How exciting! I will have to try to get a picture for the website. There was also a large flock of brown pelicans flying by at the same time. I've been reading that their migration is also going on now.

Ben joined us for dinner this evening and dropped Ruby off, as she will be staying with us for the weekend. We are both excited to have a dog in the house once again.

Sunday, April 8. It's our Friday and we can't wait for the long weekend again. It's been another strange week working at the park - something different all of the time - mostly having to deal with the inept management. We have a hard time believing that a large corporation would hire a management team as they have. There is no direction and when there is, it doesn't make any sense. The best way to handle the job is to avoid the management as much as possible.

Having Ruby has been enjoyable as we get some play time and walk time in. It kind of makes us miss having a pet and we both keep looking at the rescues online, but are still trying to resist. Maybe another beta fish will suffice.
April 9 - 15, Pacifica
Monday, April 9. My computer died, so I'm using Mikes itty bitty one right now, since he is off getting an oil change. Its hard to type on it because the keys are so small. Mine started making loud noises last week and would just go blank. I did some research and found there was a class action suit for several Toshiba models, so it should get a new hard drive for free. YEAH! It might last a little longer now.

The work week ended yesterday, so we're on our 4-day off period. The weather was cloudy and foggy the last few days. Yesterday was beautiful and the strong winds are back today. The noises have Ruby kind of freaked - she can't figure out where they are coming from.

Last night and this morning, I made reservations in Calistoga and in gold country for when Pat and Roger visit in a few weeks. I'm so looking forward to their visit starting on the 20th.

Tuesday, April 10. It was a beautiful, calm day here in Pacifica for a change. I just had to get the windows washed, as they were covered in salt water once again. Mike's project was to put diverters on the rain gutters so the water would not run down the windows. When it does, it leaves streaks because it is running off the roof (salt, dirt, etc.)

When that was done, we headed south along the coast for a ride. We did have a destination of Felton, in the Santa Cruz mountains, to see an RV resort that was advertizing for a workcamper couple. It was a nice place but the position was already filled. It was probably too remote though - no cell phone & no internet - we must stay connected, you know.

Wednesday, April 11. After, doing some house cleaning and laundry, we went car shopping. Started at he Honda dealer but they were all too high priced, then to Saturn to test drive the Ion (totally towable). We drove a used that was junky and then a new one, but it didn't even come with AC. They had 2005 with 1800 miles that they dropped $4000 but that was still not enough for our budget.

As the day went on, it kept getting windier and by the time we went to bed, the gusts must have been 40 mph. Needless to say, it wasn't a good night for sleep. Will have to check the motorhome today to see if anything on the roof wiggled loose.

Yesterday, I bought some nice succulents to replace the flowers in my basket. It seems that just when new flowers form, the wind pick up and tears them up. The succulents should be able to handle the wind.

Saturday, April 14. Thursday was kind of cold and cloudy all day, spent grocery shopping and hanging around the house. Friday started the work week for us again, back to another beautiful day. Before my shift started, I hosed off the motor home to get the salt spray off.

I also planted my succulents. When I bought them, I also bought an artichoke plant because the plant itself is big and beautiful. The wind got it and within 2 days, the leaves are all beat up and shriveled from the salt. This climate is really hard on stuff, but looking around, there are gorgeous plants everywhere. Guess I just have to stick to the natives.


April 16 - 22
Tuesday, April 17. Today starts another 4-day off period, although we are only off for 3 days, then work 1 day, then our vacation starts on Saturday. Last night, we went to Ben and Jill's for dinner, a thank you for watching Ruby last weekend. We had some appetizers, a wonderful steak from Minnesota, asparagus, and tiramisu for dessert. Its always so nice to hang out with them.

This morning, we went to pick up my computer that was repaired for free. The hard drive and mother board were replaced and they also fixed the little switch for removing the aircard. It is so nice to have it back. After that, Jill found time in her busy schedule to cut my hair. Since I'm really trying to grow it out a bit, it was getting to a real awkward stage and then it was becoming kind of hard to deal with. I really like how she's been cutting it too.

Thursday, April 19. A 9:00 dentist appointment for Mike got us up and moving early this morning. That doesn't usually happen for us, although we don't usually sleep in too late, we just don't get moving too soon after getting up. That ended up taking almost 3 hours - I can't wait - my appointment is coming up soon. Guess it takes longer at the SFSU dental clinic because it is students working with instructor supervision. We both feel we have been very well cared for there.

Yesterday was a lazy day and we didn't get any of our chores done to prepare for our guests, so it all had to be done today. Mike took care of the laundry while I cleaned the house and got the groceries. Guess we've got it down to a science because we were all finished in about 3 hours. I love it - sure didn't used to be like that, but our life is so much simpler now.

Friday, April 20. A work day, started with some last minute chores before our guests arrived. Their flight landed in San Jose (booked while we were still at Moss Landing) and they called from Santa Cruz after getting their luggage and rental car. We advised they take the route north along Highway 1 and the coast. When we finished work, we celebrated their arrival with good old Wisconsin "old fashioneds" and great spicy shrimp dinner. As we sat catching up on the news, we saw people at the cliff pointing toward the ocean. Naturally, we couldn't resist checking it out and its a good thing that we did. There swam 3 whales; spouting and coming to the surface. Once again, they were pretty close to the shore. It was a good treat for all of us but especially for our Wisconsinite friends.

We all retired fairly early and watched Will Smith's movie, "Pursuit of Happiness", a story of a young man's struggle to support his family and avoid homelessness.

Saturday, April 21. This morning, we took a nice walk before getting ready for the day. After breakfast, we headed to the airport so Mike and I could be listed as drivers for the rental car. Then we headed for the city, starting at twin peaks where you get a beautiful overview of the city and can kind of plan your route. We were all hungry by then, so Memphis Minnie's BBQ (I think that has become one of Mike's favorite places) in the Lower Haight was our choice for the mid-day meal.

We then did a bit of a walking tour of Union Square and then of Chinatown. By then it had started to rain pretty good, and it was getting kind of close to co**tail time, so we drove through Golden Gate Park and headed to Nick's restaurant in Pacifica at Rockaway Beach. After that, we figured we needed to eat again so had a lovely dinner. Patty and I shared garlic shrimp and crab cakes - it was just enough for both of us.

On our return to the motorhome, we played Euchre for a couple of hours and the gals beat the pants off the guys 2 out of 3 games. It was a lot of fun and a lot of laughs.

Sunday, April 22. At 5:30 this morning, Mike found standing water in our bathroom, caused by the trap on the toilet not closing completely at some time during the night. I sopped it up and went back to bed for a while.

Once we all woke up, it was a little bit of a slow start because of the great fun we had last night. When we got going, it was off to Fisherman's Wharf, the Marina district, and the Presidio. We coming to a stop by Land's End, heading to show them where Ben lives, just as Ben and Ruby came walking by. He had his phone to his ear and was calling us to see where we were. What a coincidence! We parked the car and went for a walk to the Legion of Honor and around the coastal trail, then a stop at the Tee Off Lounge for happy hour. Dinner tonight was at the Pacific Cafe, one of our favorite seafood restaurants in the city.


April 23 - 29, Pacifica, CA
Monday, April 23. We all got an early start this morning and left Pacifica by 9:30, heading to wine country. The weather is expected to be beautiful for the next few days so we all are looking forward to our adventure to the wine and gold country of California. Our 1st stop was at the vista point just past the Golden Gate bridge to take in the views of the city from that point. All of us were hungry, so Marie Callendar's in Vallejo is where we decided to have some lunch.

The route along CA 29 took us through Napa, Yountville, and St. Helena, right through the Napa Valley wine country where we could see the beautiful estates and vines growing along the hillsides. By 2:00, we arrived at Calistoga and since we couldn't check into our hotel yet, we went to see the Old Faithful Geyser of California. It erupts about every 20 minutes, but while we were there it went off many times, more like every 5 minutes. The steam and water shoots up about 30 feet. It is not a very big park, but we enjoyed the sunshine and watching the frequent eruptions.

Before we could check into our hotel, the Calistoga Spa Hot Springs, we walked the main streets of Calistoga in search of swimming trunks for Mike because that was one thing that he forgot to pack. We were getting discouraged because all we could find were $65 Tommy Bahama trunks but then found some that were much more affordable.

After checking into our hotel, we proceeded to enjoy the mineral baths. There are 4 pools; a lap pool, a cool water pool, a hot tub, and another hot pool, but it was slightly cooler than the hot tub. It was nice and relaxing and we struck up a good conversation with some other visitors.

In the evening, we had pizza at Boskos Trattoria, a nice Italian restaurant.

Tuesday, April 24. This morning we started the day by soaking in the mineral pools once again and having good conversation with a woman from France. Our 1st stop of the day was the Beringer Winery, the oldest continuously operated winery in the Napa Valley. While we waited for our tour to start, we strolled the beautiful grounds and gardens. Our tour guide, Jack, took us on a very interesting and informative tour of the winery and taught us about the different wines made by Beringer. After the tour we got to taste 4 of their wines and made some purchases for later use.

At St. Helena, we stopped for some lunch before heading on to gold country. Today, the drive took us through some more beautiful hill country between Vallejo and Sacramento, then west on US 50 to Placerville, where we turned north to Coloma where I had reserved 2 cabins at the Ponderosa Preserve RV Resort on the American River. The cabins are nicely furnished park models. It had been a busy day, so after getting settled and checking out the resort, we had dinner in the small cafe there.

After dinner, we went to the clubhouse and played a few games of pool. They took us quite a while because all of us were a bit challenged at the game, but we did have fun.

Wednesday, April 25. We had a nice morning walk through the park and along the river where the water is fast moving and splashes over the rocks, a very peaceful setting except for the squacking of the many Canada geese along the shores. It is another beautiful morning and the temps today are expected to get in the upper 70s.

Most of the day was spent at the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park, the site where John Marshall discovered gold in 1848 while building a sawmill for John Sutter. The place that started the California gold rush. We paid $4 each so Russ, a man dressed like an authentic 49er would teach us how to pan for gold. We really got into it, so kind of overstayed our welcome. Small flakes of gold were the reward for our efforts.

From there, we went into Placerville and walked the streets of the historic district. We stopped at the Hanging Tree Saloon for a co**tail and then to Tortilla Flats for dinner. Since it was still light out when we got back to the resort, we headed for the river to try our luck at gold panning. Mike and I found a few little flakes but nothing to speak of. As the water flows over the edge of the pan, it just sparkled with gold dust. We rounded out the night with a couple of games of Euchre.

Thursday, April 26. Another busy day ahead of us, so we got an early start, leaving the RV park by about 9:00, arriving back in the city by about 1:00. After picking up our tickets for the Alcatraz tour, we headed to the Anchor Brewing Company for a tour. When we arrived, we found that tours are conducted by appointment only but since a small tour had just started, they let us get in on that one. The tour was very informative and we got to sample one of their ales.

Back to the Embarcadero for lunch at the Fog City Diner before getting on the boat for the tour of Alcatraz, starting at 4:30. The audio tour was very informative, recorded by former prisoners and guards that spent time there. It sure is not a pleasant place and after all these years, I am glad that we finally got to see it up close and personal. I will have a better appreciation when I see it from a distance.

Friday, April 27. My 59th birthday and what a nice day I had. We decided not to do any touring today, but to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather here in Pacifica. Patty and I did the laundry, but other than that we didn't do much. Mike picked up our mail and there was a birthday gift from Pat and Ben, a Holland Companion Gas Grill. We will be trying it out this evening. Mike got me a dozen multi-colored Roses and a bottle of dessert wine that we had tried at the winery. Patty gave me some pretty smelling body products and a "Home is Where We Hook Up" pillow and RV recipe book.

Mike had to drop the Suzuki at the garage to have a steering problem checked out - guess what - another $300 in the money pit. Mike's rationale is that its the price of a car payment. Oh well! We did walk to Dallas' restaurant for some lunch and strolled along the beach for a while.

In the afternoon, I started to get birthday phone calls from family and that really made my day. Ben joined us for dinner and we tried out the new grill by cooking potatoes and bison burgers. We need a little practice but for the most part it turned out good. It was a good day!

Saturday, April 28. The Hoovey's left here before 8am and we got a slow start to the day. The plan was to go help Ben with some cleanup in his yard, but the Suzuki wasn't ready to picked up until after 1:00. I washed the sheets and towels and cleaned the windows on the motorhome. By the time it was ready, Ben was stuck on the Bay bridge in traffic after running an errand to Berkeley. While we waited for him to get back home, we washed the 2-week old layer of salt and sand off of the Suzuki.

By the time we got to his house it was 4:00. We got busy right away and were finished cleaning up the patio in a couple of hours. By that time we were all tired and hungry, so had a beer and ordered pizza from Gaspare's. While we waited for the pizza, I lounged in the bathtub - something I really miss when I live in the motor home. Fortunately, Ben and Jill are always willing to let me do it when I visit.

After pizza, we enjoyed a birthday cheesecake that Ben bought from Zange's - a place that specializes in cheesecake. It was real light and airy and perfectly delicious. It was close to 10:00 when we got home and we both collapsed in bed.

Sunday, April 29. Our last day of vacation and we both slept in until close to 8:00 this morning. It sure felt good. The big event of the day was to drive to Half Moon Bay airport to see the Pacific Coast Dream Machines. It is an annual fund raising event and is a car, truck, motorcycle and airplane show to benefit functionally disabled members of the community. It was quite a show - you can check out some of our favorites in the photo gallery.

The big San Francisco news today is that a tanker truck exploded on the westbound ramp to the bay bridge early this morning, causing a section of the ramp to collapse. The driver of the truck survived. This will cause problems for some 80,000 people that commute to the city from the Oakland, east bay area.



Created on 03/31/2007 07:48 PM by bridge
Updated on 01/04/2008 06:38 PM by ben
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