Day One Wrap Up

Never. Go. To. Salinas. 

I'm sure there are great people there, but trying to get gas and a bathroom in that city explained so much to us about the perceived tone of so many of John Steinbeck's books.

With that speed bump passed, our adventure continues to delight us. We made our way to San Francisco where we made our first intentional stop of the trip: "pilgrimage" to the "first craft brewery in America" for lunch and a tasting of some pleasant beverages.

After thoroughly enjoying some pizza from the vendor set up at Anchor Brewing we wandered to Golden Gate Park where we opted out of paying to see the botanical garden and Japanese Tea Garden in favor of wandering about the lake area. Despite how tired I was getting, this stop was so worth the energy and time. We saw turtles, fish, paddle boat people, a squirrel, a lady doing Tai Chi like motions with a sword as she walked the path, a row boat (complete with a couple inside),  hiked to the top of a waterfall(!), and surprisingly saw no children on leashes.

As my energy levels failed us we made our wandering way to our first sleepy space of the trip in Sausalito, via a drive across the Golden Gate bridge, which was a must for our adventure, and the weather was so on our side. I don't think I've ever heard of the sky being so clear and blue in San Francisco.

Now, if you haven't been to the beautiful city of Sausalito you should. We have found it just the right amount of touristy, windy, whimsical and kind. Our Air B&B host had an amazing and beautiful home where we were able to charge phones, drink coffee and not get on the internet (nooooooo.... Wait. We're on vacation!) We opted out of China Town dinner in favor of walking to the waterfront from our temporary home and wandering around the shops, restaurants and tourists. We shared a pasta dish at a little Italian Cafe and wandered our way home again and into bed by 9:30pm.

Now, as we sip coffee and discuss our plans options today it looks like more nature, redwoods even, and some tasty beverages are in our future before we land at a 97degree F campsite in Oregon.

Can't we just stay here?