I'm Baaacck!

I've been neglecting my blog for a few days here, so it's time to catch up a bit.  We stayed 3 nights in a Days Inn in Novato, CA, about 40 minutes north of San Francisco.  The first morning there, Buddy and I went up to visit Rhonda in Rohnert Park.  We had a nice visit and caught up a bit more with what's been going on in each other's lives.  That evening Elsie and I drove into San Francisco and had a great dinner in Chinatown.  The restaurant was pretty authentic and we were fortunate that the hostess/waitress was fluent in English and helpful in suggesting dishes we might like and describing them to us.  Thanks Tiffany!
We were planning to continue our drive the nest morning but decided instead to extend for one more night and do some wine tasting.  It was a good (but expensive) decision.  We visited 3 wineries and came away with 5 bottles of wine, all of which cost considerably more than what I usually pay at Costco, but you only live once, right?  Any way you look at it, it was a good time and a mind-broadening experience.
Finally leaving Novato, we headed toward Guernville to a state park to see some Redwood trees.  On the way we passed the Korbel winery, which is most known for it's champagne, and decided to stop.  What's breakfast without a little champagne tasting, right?  With 4 bottle in hand, we finally set out again to see the trees.   I had seen them as a kid but going there again was mind boggling to see the massive sizes of the mature ones. I've included the second picture here, with a pickup truck in it, for perspective as to the size of the trees.

From there we headed west to Highway 1 and continued north; this stretch of highway was every bit as twisty-turney as the stretch north of LA and was a challenging drive.  The scenery along the Pacific coast is just spectacular though!  We ended the day in Garberville, CA at a Best Western that is probably the nicest place we've stayed this entire trip.  Upon check in we were greeted with the news that there was a complimentary wine and cheese tasting going on in the breakfast room, and of course we went to partake.  There was a nice spread laid out of wine, cheese, salami, bread, and crackers, and the lady running things there was extremely kind, friendly and generous.  What a great way to begin a stay here!

I don't know what we will find along the route today, but we don't have anything planned other than getting closer to Portland.  We can get into the condo there tomorrow, so tonight will likely be our last night in a hotel until we head back to Michigan.  Bye for now friends!