Good Morning! Tuesday, May 11th, 2021
I hope today finds you frolicking free of frustrations!
Yesterday was a nice easy day. I got up and had the chance to say goodby to Felix and Stefan (and George and T) and started rolling north towards Petaluma to meet up with my cousin Eric, his wife Maggie, and Daughter Sahale. Eric had given me a couple of suggestions on places to go between San Fran and Petaluma, and they did not disappoint.
The basic structure of the day was to swing through Rodeo beach via Conzolman drive. Stopping in at Fort Baker first, and then drive up Highway 1 to Olema, where I would cut over to Petaluma.
Well, I had a happy error in navigation, and while I was chatting with Catherine on the phone, I got off one exit early from the bridge and ended up at a fantastic viewpoint for the city and the bridge. I took that opportunity to take Catherine for a walk around the area and check out some of the tremendous views of the bridge. From there, I went to the next exit and down to Fort Baker. I walked around the grounds a bit and out to the end of the worn-out breakwater that protects the rickety marina they have there.
Getting back in my car, I drove around the grounds a little bit. Alas, the museum was closed on Mondays, so I had to skip that. From there, I headed towards Rodeo beach. What a fantastic drive. At one point, there is a one-lane tunnel that is about 3/4 of a mile long. There is a stoplight on each end of it that that makes sure that cars don’t meet in the middle trying to pass each other. So that was kind of cool. A little beyond that, the road narrows down to a single lane, one-direction loop. It went up the hills above the golden gate and provided some fantastic views of the city and the bridge. There is a Nike missile site museum along the road, but it is also closed for Covid.
I walked out as far as I could towards the Point Bonita lighthouse, which was super cool. I couldn’t get to the lighthouse, as the final stretch is treacherous, and they only let folks go out there with Rangers. But it was a lovely walk anyway, and I got some great pictures. It helped that they have an excellent cell phone audio tour. You call a phone number and enter the number you see on the various signs along the route, and you get a super lovely explanation of what you are seeing and the history. I appreciated that.
From there, I headed down to Rodeo Beach, where I stopped and watched the surfers and walked down the beach. Before getting back into the car and heading towards Eric.
The drive to Eric’s place was excellent and uneventful. The drivers here were pretty courteous and took advantage of the turnouts when I got behind them, so I didn’t spend very much time stuck behind slower cars at all.
I pulled into Eric’s place, caught up with him, and then headed to a local tap house for lunch and a beer.
After that, we picked up Sahale from school, came back to their place, and just hung out.
Eric runs a business where he goes and fits out the vehicles that law enforcement departments buy with lights, electronics, and graphics, so we spent hours just geeking out over his garage shop, trailer, and van. He has things set up super nice. And I think that he converted me into a Milwaukee cordless tool believer…
Dinner was Carne Asada, and then hanging out and chatting.
Today, I think Eric and I are headed out to Point Reyes, and I am looking forward to that.
Love ya
Dan W
Weaties RoadTrip 2021 