California continued

After we left Oakhurst on Friday, May 14, we drove north through Mariposa, a cute little town, then as we drove west we came upon thousands of windmills, more than we saw in Texas.  We drove until we arrived at Travis AFB famcamp around 3:00 p.m.  We set up and decided to go eat at the Mess Hall.  They had a great salad bar and selection of food.  We had a nice hot meal with a large salad all for under $9.00 total.   The next day we decided to go for breakfast, although still cheap it was actually more than dinner.   We checked out the base, going to the passenger terminal where we can fly to Hawaii for $10.00 each.  Parking the RV is only $9.00 a week; if it wasn't for the dogs we probably would have gone!  Some day we will take advantage of this military benefit.  We filled the gas tank in the car so we would be ready to leave for San Francisco in the morning.  At the base, the Jack Rabbits were everywhere and of course Ty was on the back of the couch looking out at them and whining. 

  It only took a little over an hour to get to San Francisco the next day.  We drove through the streets including Lombard Street and stopped at Coit Tower, where you could look down at the city, Alcatraz and Fisherman's Wharf. 

We then proceeded to Fisherman's Wharf for some Chowder at Blue Mermaid, a little walking and back to the car to head towards the Golden Gate bridge.  We parked and walked some more a the Golden Gate Park; it was windy and cold but there were so many people out flying kites, running, walking, biking and sailing.  We visited Fort Point which is right under the Golden Gate Bridge where we climbed to the top of the Fort; I could not believe how cold and windy it was coming off the pacific!

  We left and headed north over the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping at Fort Baker and  Point Bonita before we headed back to Travis.

The following day we stayed around the base and Bill caught up on some emails.  Tuesday we went to nearby Fairfield and Downtown Vacaville. Vacaville was a nice, quiet little town with pretty parks. The roses were beautiful throughout the town.

The following day we drove west to the coast, driving through Wine Country. I loved all the roses that are planted and growing wild along the borders of the wineries to ward off the bugs from the grape vines. We went through miles and miles of grape vine groves on our way to Bodega Bay.  We first stopped at the Coast Guard Base in Petaluma to check out the small RV Park they had there and there were alot of turkeys on the property. 

It was not a great weather day but the view of the Bay and Pacific were awesome anyway.

We then drove south through Point Reyes Station to get to Point Reyes Lighthouse. There were many ranches in the National Seashore that were grandfathered in with cows all over the place. The wildflowers along the way were really beautiful on the rolling hillsides. As we continued driving up to the Lighthouse the weather became more and more misty and rainy. By the time we got to the top, we saw a sign that said the Lighthouse was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and the steps leading down to it closed at 4:30. We got to the parking lot at 4:25 so of course it was closed. Adding to that the fog was so thick we could not even see the lighthouse and could barely see the pacific.

It was a long drive for a disappointing view but it was still a great scenic drive to get there. We turned around and drove back to the Air Force Base to get some dinner and turn in for the night.

We spent the next day around the base, walking at the really nice park and jogging trail with a lake.  There were quite a few ducks, Canadian Geese, rabbits of course and turtles.

 The houses around the base were really nice, not a bad place to be stationed.  The weather was great....too bad we didn't go to Point Reyes on this day! 

On Saturday, we drove to Sacramento and drove past the capitol building, and a little through the city.

 We then headed to Old Sacramento and parked to walk around and see the historical buildings and train station.  There were quite a few shops and restaurants over several streets and it was somewhat crowded.  

 They were setting up for their annual festival on Sunday.  We decided to leave and drive to Davis, CA, a pretty collage town where we found Sudwerk, a brewery.  Of course Bill was in heaven with his 33 oz

handpulled cask conditioned IPA beer!  

We ordered something to eat and we left thinking we might take a scenic tour that I had mapped out but the weather had turned stormy so we headed back to the base.

 We got back to the RV and within minutes it started hailing and raining.  Thank goodness it was small hail and did not do any damage.   We have decided to stay at the base and in the area until Friday May 28th so even though I am posting this now, there will be more of California in the next week or so.......