For All You Worriers Out There

Both Monday and Tuesday evening, we stayed in places that did not have internet access. We are fine--very good, in fact. It's 12:13 a.m. on Thursday morning. I'm going to treat it like it's Wednesday night, though.

We left Crescent City on Tuesday morning and started the drive down the infamous Hwy 1. (Craig, have you driven this? It's crazy!) I wish we had kept track of the average miles per hour we traveled. I was actually in the mood to drive, not knowing just what I was getting into. From Crescent City to Gualala, CA, we encountered the curviest roads either of us had ever seen. It was curve after curve of 15 and 20 m.p.h. (many of them hairpin) turns. It seemed like it took forever. Tim got a bit nauseous while I was driving. The scary part about the road, is that much of it sits on a ledge between the edge of a mountain and the Pacific Ocean--sometimes hundreds of feet above the crashing waves and rocks--yikes! Needless to say, it took a lot of concentration. As we cruised Hwy 1, we knew we would really be taking a chance when it came to a place to stay--many of the places looked acceptable on the outside; it was difficult to tell what it was like on the inside. We stopped in the little town of Gualala, hoping to find something decent. We stumbled upon the Breakers Inn. It was a bit more than we had been spending, but as weary travelers, we were happy to find anything. We were pleasantly surprised to say the least. Our room had a fireplace and a jacuzzi tub--what a treat for tired bones. The restaurant next door was incredible as well. Tim had a mussels and clam fettuccine that was delicious, and I had the special--fresh halibut with a pico de gayo, sugar snap peas (really good) and jasmine rice. Of course they served sourdough bread, but the special touch was a fresh herb combination to put in a green and fruity olive oil for dipping--excellent.

We slept in and got a late start to finish up the Hwy 1 drive (with Tim behind the wheel this time). We weren't sure where we'd stay (or for how long), so we eyed some hotels in the Corte Madera area on the way in on Hwy 101. We did not enter the city, but drove up to the San Francisco State Park before crossing the Golden Gate. The view of the bay, the city, and the bridge was another of Tim's favorite. We discussed whether we liked the Seattle skyline or the San Francisco skyline better. It's a tough choice, especially getting to see Mt. Rainier in Seattle. Both were sights to behold. We did some investigating in the San Francisco State Park and found a group of bunkers that were built in 1905 to protect our coastline against enemies. It was eerie to know that our soldiers had stood right where we were, scouring the horizon for signs of an enemy attack. There were quite a few bunkers that could be viewed from the roads leading to the bunkers we visited.

Once we left the park, we headed into the city. Tim is a great driver under any circumstances, and even with a directionally challenge navigator, he managed to get us to several different destinations. First, we stopped at Fisherman's Wharf to eat. There were rows and rows of stalls in front of restaurants serving seafood fresh off the boats. For dinner, we decided on a crab salad sandwich, a shrimp salad sandwich, and a crab and shrimp cocktail between us. Oh my. Tim liked the shrimp salad better, and I liked the crab. Both were great. While we procured and ate our dinner, we fought off the pigeons and seagulls. Both birds have no fear of people. They were a bit pesky! We walked part of the wharf, then went back to the car to explore some more. Since Ghirardelli is on the far end of Fisherman’s Wharf, we got in the car, parked on the street (cheap), then got a hot fudge sundae at Ghirardelli Square. The curvy block of Lombard Street was our next destination. It doesn't look like much from the top, but once you head down, it's hard to believe that anyone would build a street so winding. The view from the bottom was beautiful (see picture). I couldn't believe the flowers. We stumbled upon Coit Tower trying to get to Chinatown to check it out for tomorrow. The view from the base of the tower is breathtaking. We decided not to go up until tomorrow--the sun was directly behind the Golden Gate Bridge--not a very good photo op. We took a look at Chinatown, but didn't stop--again, that's on our agenda for tomorrow. After Chinatown, we headed back to Corte Madera to settle in for the evening. We will spend two more days in San Francisco—taking a tour of Alcatraz on Friday.