Muir Woods and the Napa Valley

Today was another super fun day. Travalon and I had coffee in the garden at the bed and breakfast, then the snippy hostess made a delicious breakfast, and we were joined by a delightful couple around our age who have a daughter at Berkeley. Then Travalon and I drove north on Highway 1, which was breathtaking, and we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and had amazing views of the bay. We thought it was a toll bridge, but we didn't get charged. We planned to go to Muir Woods to see the redwoods, but the parking lot was full, so we took the shuttle. That was a fantastic idea, because the road to Muir Woods is almost as harrowing as the one in Denali, and Travalon was relieved that he didn't have to drive on it. The shuttle was only $5, well-spent, because it dropped us off right in front of the visitor center while the people who drove in and parked had to walk for at least a mile to get there. We took a hike among the majestic, ancient redwoods, and it was peaceful until we got to a part of the trail along the side of a steep hill - I didn't enjoy that too much, being so afraid of heights. I spent a lot of the hike clinging to those redwoods for dear life as I inched along! They said the hike would take an hour and a half, and somehow we finished it in exactly that amount of time, despite my slow pace during the scary part.

Then we drove to the Napa Valley, which looks just like Tuscany, and we went to the Buena Vista Winery, founded by the same Hungarian count who founded Wollersheim. When we got there, the bad news was they weren't selling tastings anymore because they were closing for a wedding. The good news was when we told them our sad story about how we had come all the way from Wisconsin to visit Wollersheim's sister winery, they gave us tastings for free! Can't beat that! Then we went to Mass at a very cute, 193-year-old church in Sonoma. We drove over the Richmond Bridge and had amazing views of several tiny islands, and again we thought it was a toll bridge but they never charged us. When we got to Berkeley, we saw a protest!! A bunch of students want Berkeley to outlaw meat; they were chanting, "It's not food, it's violence!" That didn't inspire Travalon and me enough, because we had dinner at a Pakistani restaurant and had lamb and goat. We also drove around the Berkeley campus and found they had a road just like our Langdon Street in Madtown, with lots of frat houses. In fact, it looks like a hillier Madtown campus with palm trees. Nothing like the Italianate Stanford, but I think I would have loved it here. No matter, I loved going to school in Madtown.

Here are some photos of our trip so far. The first three are shots of Wyoming from the train.

I didn't get a really good shot of beautiful Donner Lake from the train, but here is the best one:

Now some shots of San Francisco! First, the world-famous cable cars:

Next, a hippie vehicle!

Here is the Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in the infamous San Francisco fog:

Next, a couple of shots of the Japanese Tea Garden:

Here is a shot looking down from the top of Telegraph Hill. Travalon says it gives a really good idea of how steep the city is.

Some more shots from the top of Telegraph Hill: The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz!

Next are a couple of shots of our voyage to Chinatown:

From the ferry to Angel Island, we saw this beautiful scene of two sailboats in front of the Golden Gate Bridge:

Here is the harbor on Angel Island:

This is a shot of the inside of Mission Dolores, the oldest building in San Francisco:

Next are several shots showing the interior (including Italian verbiage) and exterior of the delightful orange trolley from Milan.

This is the Tonga Room Tiki Bar, a very swanky place.

On the Stanford campus, there are a lot of original statues by Rodin. This is "The Gates of Hell."

This is the inside of the chapel on the Stanford campus. Unfortunately I did not get any shots of the campus itself, since I was too busy helping Travalon's 94-year-old cousin to stay steady on her feet, but he got some really good shots that he will share with me.

This is a view of the Golden Gate Bridge as we crossed it. I tried to take some photos of the bay from the bridge, but none of them turned out very well.

Here is my best shot of the redwoods at Muir Woods.

Proof that Travalon and I visited the sister Winery to Wollersheim!

This is the 193-year-old church where we went to Mass tonight:

Sunset over the San Francisco Bay. I missed the shot with palm trees in it...

And finally, some videos: the lights of San Francisco from the ferry back to Oakland, the light show on the Oakland Bridge, and the sea lions that congregate on Pier 39 of the Embarcadero.

Famous Hat