San Francisco area has so much to offer and we are trying to get in all in. Muir Woods is amazing with all the tall giant redwood trees. After a local couple bought the 295 acres to protect the redwoods, it eventually became a National Park. You could spend hours just walking around the forest and enjoying all the various flowers and plants. A must see if ever in the area.

Next on our agenda was of course the wine country. We toured Napa Valley and fell in love with the amazing homes and wineries. Miles and miles of vineyards cover the rolling hills. One of our favorite towns is Sonoma. Another interesting town was Petaluma. If in the area of St. Helena, you must stop and enjoy one of the best hamburgers in the US at Taylor’s Refresher (according to Food Channel and we agreed).

Course you can’t visit San Francisco and not walk Fisherman’s Warf and enjoy the fresh seafood. For dessert we highly recommend walking to Ghirardelli Square. There are several modes of travel to get to and around San Francisco, and we are trying to take them all. We enjoyed the Ferry over to the Warf one day but if in a hurry, suggest taking the bus. Then we jumped on a motorized cable car and toured Union Square, Palace of Fine Arts, Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Japantown, Union Square, Chinatown and North Beach.

Sacramento is only an hour away so drove up to Old Town Sacramento for lunch. The town reminds you a little of a Western Town with cute but some touristy shops. The ladies enjoyed walking around in the shops while the guys went to the Railroad Museum. It was a sad day as it was our last day together. Our friends will leave and go their separate ways home – to Nebraska and Washington. This past month traveling together thru California has been unbelievable and hopefully we will all travel again down the road together soon. Jack and I will stay here a few more weeks to enjoy the sites.

We drove back in to the Golden Gate Park and enjoyed the amazing Japanese Tea Gardens. We can only imagine what the gardens look like in the summer. Next we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, which we now add to our list of favorite towns. Walking in and around the town, we were amazed at all the gorgeous homes nestled on the hillside overlooking the bay, at all the boats and sail boats in the marina, and especially at the houseboats that are permanently docked along the piers. This is definitely a place we would love to live if only we could afford the house, a boat, and way of life here. California is truly an amazing state and we plan to enjoy more of this area in the next few weeks.