Day 35 California - Through San Fran to Petaluma
Petaluma,
California,
United States
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Day 35 San Francisco - Petaluma
As we mentioned yesterday we were taking the Golden Gate bridge north to Muir Woods and then on to the KOA at Petaluma. No big deal one would say, That is off course unless you travel in the Castle and have Mandy as the guide.
Gee it all appeared so simply, Take the 101 north and then turn off after the bridge, how hard is that?
Well everything went well until we came to a point (mind you peak hour traffic heading into the city) that Mandy told me to keep left and take the left lane, Karon tells me the same thing, BUT the signs indicate that the 101/Golden gate Bridge is the road leading to the right!, Having experienced this challenge before Rick chose to follow the signs that indicated the highway north via 101 and Golden Gate bridge.
WOW what a lot of fun, negotiating through the traffic along roads in the middle of the roller coaster roads that appear in movies with barely the length of the castle between intersections.
Well we managed to achieve "the what appeared the impossible" and found the 101 and the bridge. (I do not suspect we will revisit this to explore why or what the difference was between the routes, except to say, I figure Mandy knew we were required to skirt some of the steep and short slopes, ESPECIALLY in the Castle, BUT HEY, we can say we did it!
We crossed the bridge and pulled into the vista area to look back at this famous icon, the memories of the trip through town faded quickly enough to allow us time to enjoy the view.
We jumped on board and rolled out again following the signs and Mandy again,
This time they were in cohesion, we turned off for Muir woods, The signs suggested anything over 35 ft should not take the road, GEE we are only 30ft we will be ok! Well the training driving in the Lake Tahoe area was sufficient to give us the experience to travel down this road, JUST! Again I reckon it is only Castles with the Aussie Flag in the back that would take this scenic trip. Just ask Karon about it if you remember, it was, an "interesting" ride.
The end result was well worth it even though the parking is rather tight for Castles, but to wander in and around these magnificent and ancient tributes to nature, was worth any challenges we faced getting there,(and out!) they are truly a statement to man and the strength of nature. To top it off as we quietly absorb the atmosphere and ambience of the grove, walking quietly along we came across a White Tailed deer grazing on the undergrowth amongst the ferns and woods. We managed to come as close as 6 ft to this animal, apparently comfortable in the safety of the woods and having no fear of the humans that were taking in the beauty. How fortunate are we?
We drove up the lovely road, with Karon attempting to have the Castle be on the "other side of the double yellow line" we managed to re-surface safely and find the highway.
This was a straight run to our home tonight, another KOA ( they are a good RV park group we have come to look for.) and arrived to "Get our spot and have lunch"
Into the nearest shopping centre to stock the groceries and fill with gas( petrol) and home to do the washing and attempt to sort the next few steps on our journey.
We are still having fun and this is new territory for us all, so we have no idea where the roads will takes us, nor what we have to enjoy over the next few days.
Talk about "Being just free" certainly a dream come true.
