Bay Area by Ourselves

We moved to Gilroy leaving the WINs behind for a few days. After setting up at the Elk's Lodge in Gilroy we drove to Monterey and toured the 17 mile scenic drive thru the Pebble Beach area.

On Sunday we visited the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. It started out as an 8 room farm house bought by Mrs. Winchester whose husband was president of the Winchester rifle company. She had a tragic life losing both a daughter in infancy and her husband.

A medium told her to never complete building her house and after building 24/7 for the rest of her life there is a huge house with over 160 rooms, doors & stairs leading to nowhere, 40 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms and on and on. We then headed to the coast and took a very windy and narrow road. Then followed rt 1 up to Half Moon Bay before turning inland.

Dinner was at Bob's cousin's. Jim and Dixie were wonderful hosts and Bob enjoyed seeing them after eleven year's. Another couple Chuck and Carolyn where there and all of them were very interested in our lifestyle and travels.

Monday found us on I680 around the bay area and headed to Napa. Lots of traffic and it wasn't rush hour. Donna did the driving and everything went well even at the very narrow toll booth. We tried first to park at the Moose Lodge but couldn't get internet and it was hot . We checked out the Elk's Lodge and then moved there. Got both A/C and internet.

Tuesday was catch up day in the morning. We both worked on our blog, internet business and chores around the motorhome. After a fantastic lunch at the lodge with interesting conversation we toured the wine country from Napa to Calistoga returning on another road. In the evening we talked with some other rver's here and walked along the Napa River Trail which runs behind the lodge.

Wednesday was our day in San Francisco. Donna drove in as she had been there before and with the help of our GPS it went smoothly. We stopped at an overlook before crossing the Golden Gate, then it was across it while Bob snapped pictures. We arrived at Fisherman's Wharf and found a parking lot with 3 free hours if eating at a participating restaurant. After dining at Alioto's we went on a one hour tour of downtown. Back in the car and heading out Donna decided that Bob just had to get a close up look at Lombardi street so down we went. What a trip. Big grin's on both our faces. After crossing back over the Golden Gate we went to the overview as the fog had lifted. What a view. On to Sausalito and then to Muir Woods where the peace of the big trees cleared our heads of the big city. Then it was back to reality and heavy traffic during rush hour. Bob did an excellent job of driving in it. An accident happened just 3 cars ahead of us and we managed to avoid it.