San Francisco area is a great place to visit. We were here for three weeks last year and will do the same this year. Once again we want to do some different things but we just can’t stay away from Fisherman’s Warf, Sausalito, or driving down Highway 1 to see the ocean view. Taking the Bart into San Francisco we spent the whole day walking from Pier 1, around Fisherman’s Warf, and ending up at Ghirardelli’s. Another day was spent walking around Sausalito and Tiburon, two of our favorite towns in this area where you dream about owning one of those million dollar boats or homes. Both towns offer a number of chic boutiques and restaurants to enjoy.

A Medieval Festival in Vacaville, CA was definitely different. It seemed like most of the town turned out in costume (some good and some bad) to enter into the costume contest. There are many events for the kids to enjoy including “throwing of the rat” (fortunately a stuff one). But we did discover a new instrument called the Chapman Stick. It is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. The stick looks like a wide version of the guitar yoke with 8, 10 or 12 strings, and is played by tapping the strings instead of plucking them. Very interesting especially for a Chapman.

The great things about this life style, is discovering the out of way places and sites. One of these is a neat restaurant in Rio Vista, called Foster’s Bighorn, established in 1931 by William (Bill) Foster. He was a great hunter and there are 300 different heads of animals, birds and fish in the restaurant of which 95% were shot by Bill in Africa, India, Greenland, Alaska, Mexico and United States. The collection includes a mounted head of full-grown African elephant with tusks weighing 110 pounds each and is five feet long. Another rare specimen is the mounted head of a giraffe, one of less than dozen like it in the world. Also a moose Forster claimed was the largest in the world, with an antler spread of 76 inches which was shot by guy in LA and not Forster. And the food was also good – stop and see if ever in the area.

We also got to spend a few days with old neighbors and great friends from Buffalo – Barb and Gary, and their son and his wife, Doug and Joelle and adorable granddaughter Avery. Had a great time visiting and moving the kids to another place in San Ramon. The following week we also met up with great friends Tim and Mary Jo and walked around the Haight Ashbury area. Talk about “walking back in time”! Then what a better place to be on National Marijuana Day but in the Golden Gate Park. Had no idea that April 20 was such momentous day (????) but guess it is for some. Just shows you never know what you find as you travel around. But it was great to be in San Francisco at the same time as our great friends and was happy we could see all of them.

Traveling on we headed to Cloverdale, CA for a few weeks. Keeping up with trying to see all of Highway 1, we headed over to Albion and drove down to Guerneville. We stopped at Fort Ross, one of the oldest parks in the California State Park system. In 1812 Russian and Alaska explorers and traders established Fort Ross at Metini, a centuries-old Kashaya Pomo coastal village. There we discovered a group of 4th graders that were doing an overnight as Russian immigrants, dressed in costumes and even had Russian names. The group we saw were cooking beef stew including making their own butter. The other half of the class were out ‘hunting and fishing” so have no idea just what they caught. They were to spend the night and leave around noon the next day as part of the 4th grade studies.
Driving on we stopped to see a very unusual building, the Sea Ranch Chapel (www.TheSeaRanchChapel.org) which was designed by a San Diego artist and architectural designer. The chapel features a cedar roof accented with copper and bronze spire, teak doors and local stone in the walls. Different areas are accented with sea shells to complete the décor. It was a gift of two Sea Ranch residents who wished to offer a nondenominational sanctuary in hope that all who enters will find a measure of peace in the blending of art and purpose amid surroundings of beauty and inspiration. A beautiful and interesting drive on Highway 1.

Another interesting town in the area is Calistoga with many interesting antique stores but more importantly Old Faithful of California. Unbeknown to us, there are three old faithful geysers in the world. There are geysers in Wyoming, Nevada, Iceland, New Zealand and Russia but these erupt continuously or less predictably. Supposedly only a few geysers in the world merit the name “Old Faithful”. California’s rank among the world’s few geysers that perform at regular intervals. Repeat performance was 10 – 15 minutes the day we were there and the water would shoot approximately 60 feet into the air. Can’t wait to see the one at Yellowstone. Also did you know that from two days to two weeks prior to an earthquake, Old Faithful gives warning by delaying it regular performance to longer intervals?

From here we drove down the road a few miles to see the Petrified Forest which was interesting but from what we heard, not as good as the Petrified Forest in Arizona. Must check that out next year.

Time to move on……………