From Sean & Carla:
Woke late with the white noise of the hotel air conditioner humming, very nice to sleep in but we did want to spend more time in San Francisco, especially along the water front where all the action seems to be taking place. And a free, if skimpy breakfast always helps motivate when 10AM rolls around. Ended up in Fisherman’s Wharf at the same 21$ parking lot. SF Bay was blowing again and with an opposing tide looks like a formidable place to sail, certainly not for the faint of heart. The 105s here must have a blast but you can see where the AC45s and AC72s would be on the very edge of sanity at full plane.
Wandered the waterfront, visited Starbucks to rejuvenate then headed for lunch at an authentic, yet not cheap place (forgot to check the menu outside). It included valet parking which would have been fun for the MRT to be parked amongst the Mercedes and BMWs. But it was tight outside as Scoma’s sits right on the dock and features among other things, its own fish landing facility. Your server details what is available from the fresh fish list. With some excellent clam chowder (for which they are famous), a shrimp cocktail and a crab cocktail, we were stuffed. The entire wait staff seemed to be well heeled and in their 60s at least and looked like they might have been there for ever but the service was impeccable and the food perfect in taste and presentation. No Monterey guppy & spuds here. And certainly not a bad lunch for a bunch of lowly RVers from Novi 😉
More time spent on the waterfront but the weird and wonderful seem to come out later in the day so not as colorful as the previous day. And no serious AC sailing taking place, damn! Left mid-afternoon and headed for Sausalito and West Marine, groceries, propane, gas and a few other necessities. But we did get to stop at the Golden Gate overlook and what a view!
Panorama SF Bay
As we were approaching Sausalito on the freeway, an older pickup truck pulled alongside and yelled over, “Where you from in Nova Scotia”, I responded with the typical Halifax and he yelled back he was from Cape Sable Island… small world what? He finished with a “Welcome” and then blasted past. His truck had California tags so he might have escaped from Novi some time ago. We did yell back at him that Cape Sable is a very nice place.
By time we actually hit the road northbound it was getting on for 17:00, well past our usual roosting time but we did travel the Pacific Coat Route 1 through some spectacular forest so that kept us in awe. Rolling hills then we would encounter massive trees that formed a perfect canopy above the roadway. And it was slow going. Through one section of the state park for Samuel P. Taylor we would have lost dentures had we possessed any it was so bumpy, but once we were out and traveling on the much improved ‘Waverley-Road’ like sections, the rattling stopped (too many wine bottles from Napa/Sonoma perhaps).
After passing through the village of Point Reyes Station we rounded a curve and saw a police car blocking the road ahead with lights flashing and a very firm hand-waving that meant turn around and go back. The body-language suggested that pulling up to ask the obvious questions would have resulted in a much firmer response than desired. We and a few others promptly turned around with great difficulty on the narrow road and headed back. We stopped at the Point Reyes National Park info center near the village center. They checked with the police department to see why the road was blocked and how long before it would re-open (there were no options to go around without adding many hours to our drive). A returned call said it was an accident and that it would be ‘some time’ before it was cleared. We have seen too many accidents on this trip and it always causes a pause for reflection and hopeful thoughts for those involved.
The park staff told us the village had a small campground so that made our decision to stay put easy. A nice meal of salmon (this was likely farmed salmon at 18$ a pound versus the advertised special of wild Pacific salmon at 28$ a pound – doesn’t pay to shop for groceries near yacht clubs), asparagus and rice on the Q followed the laundering duties. It was too cold (15C) and windy due to our position just over the dunes from the Pacific to sit out with a fire so perhaps tomorrow night.