Hilton Garden Inn Napa

... anything on time? By 6:30 the toast were well under way and the video camera was still in Dave's Dad's room. Ooops. We had a lovely time at the BBQ which was very well catered. It was nice to "be adults" for a night and seeing everyone was a real treat. We stay up late and slept in the next morning. Thank goodness for grandparents!

... the hot sun, with only crackers, cheese, and sliced meats to keep you satisfied...after five, six hours of the same routine, you're ready to crash back at your hotel by 5pm. Don't get me wrong, it's a fabulous time, but you have to pace yourself, knowing that you'll be back to Napa/Sonoma sometime in the future (hopefully soon) to visit the other wineries ...

... All he remembers of the drive was that the ashphalt was a nice colour. haha. It was beautiful, but not for the faint of heart. For example, there were no guard rails on these massive cliffs, not because they were unecessary, but becasue there was NO ROOM on the shoulder for them. That's unreasonable. The only thing I've ever seen in my life that compares to it was the Furka ...

... from a street vendor. The food in Switzerland was medium overall though at the hotel Mimosa, the husband was a chef and prepared some really good meals. The meals we had in France were also mixed. We really could not afford to eat at the really nice restaurants however, and this may have had something to do with it. We did cook some very tasty meals while staying in Valros and Vaqueyras with Micki's parents and cousins. Bay far the best thing about the food in France was the ...

... the city, however, we didn't climb the tower as it was closed. We approached Washington Square, a park just ourside of Little Italy - behind The Coit Tower. Behind the trees in the park we saw spires of a chuirch. We both walked towards the church, in order to get a closer look. It was magnificent - the church is called The Church of Saints Peter and Paul and is a massive structure which overlooks the park - it almost felt as if it were looking over the people in ...

... friend too and we gladly accepted her company in the van. Jan got to ride in the back on the bed and that suited her just fine. The trip back to Maine was relatively uneventful with the exception of a few bad drivers. The breaks in the van work well. We arrived at Carl's at dinnertime last night and he had a beautiful soup with corn bread ready for us. This is the place we had stopped before when we scared his son by camping in the driveway. The welcome here this time ...

... victim's head to later resurface in a vat of concrete. Now that puts Andover's schools and their problems in context. This will be my last blog until I get to Australia. I fly tomorrow night and will lose a whole day during the 14 hour flight because of the time difference. So Saturday will be completely lost on me - a day that doesn't exist. Bizarre. But onwards I shall boldly go to the frozen plains of Oz with my winter wardrobe pret a porter!

... he's just divorced his wife. I wonder if he's attending any cheque presentations in town in the next few days? I spent my first evening in SF on Alcatraz Island doing the audio tour and enjoying the view of the sunset foreshadowed by the Golden Gate bridge. I spent all of today doing a tour of the city - the farmers' market at the Ferry Building followed by the boat to Sausalito - cruising past Andre Agassi's pad - then a trip ...

... prisoners of age describing what they had done to be in Alcatraz, it was horrible. It also showed how 3 of the prisoners used spoons to dig hols in the walls and managed to escape to the shores but have never been seen since! They are still reported as missing people. No-one knows what happened to them. After Alcatraz we caught out boat back to the Pier and we were really hungry so stuffed out at the Wipeout bar and grill and washed it all down with the nicest chocolate and ...

... of the university (the oldest building on the grounds) is the thing to see. From there it was another short hop back into San Francisco in order to see some more things that I missed on my first visit. I immediately headed to the SF Museum of Modern Art. This museum had some stunning exhibits that are, unfortunately, ending soon. The most impressive was called Full Moon which was an exhibit of pictures from the Apollo moon landings that were reprinted and, in some ...