July 17th

We awoke under the giant redwoods and had a nice breakfast of tea and granola bars. We were reluctant to leave but finally got on the road by 10. We stopped at the Chimmney Tree (big redwood that is hollowed out from fires but lives on in its 100 foot glory). Last time this attraction was combined with the highly cheesy Hobbittown USA. Sadly we found this time that the land of Bilbo and Frodo was in a state of abandonment and disrepair. Can it be that it was not attracting enough visitors? Doesn't anyone care about the hobbits anymore? It was sad indeed so we moved on.

Fortunately, our quest for cheese was satisfied in a few miles where whe found the Legend of Bigfoot shoppe right by the side of the highway. They had giant bigfoot statues carved with chainsaws and many other tacky delights. Hard to say if this is it art or a hideous waste of good wood. We pondered these thoughts as we drove further down highway 101.

At this point in the trip we traded in cultural cheese for the edible variety. We got off the highway on CA Route 12 to drive through some of the vinyards and farms of Sonoma county. It is so beautiful here! Sure, we felt like true yuppies doing the wine country thing but we can't help it -- it's really nice. We stopped in the town of Sonoma and walked around the square. Interesting place. The citizens seem to have no problem sharing the space with each other. There were a bunch of 18-22 year old kids hanging out on skateboards and openly drinking beer in the park (must not be an open container law), moms with small children played nearby not minding in the least. There were also a bunch of roosters running around underfoot and some Latin American tourists attempting to photograph them. We got a sandwich and watched this strange display of humanity and beasts for a while. We picked up some cheese and wine for our friends in San Francisco and headed off for the city.

Finally got to San Francisco by 7:30 and met up with Sara at her house in Glen Park. The house is gorgeous and has a fantastic view. It is so nice of her and Brian to put us up. Thanks! We weren't really up for going out after being in the car all day so it was fine with us that Sara was making some soup for dinner. Her good friend Carolyn was visiting and the four of us had a great dinner together.

July 18th

Gorgeous, sunny day in San Francisco -- sort of rare for July, we hear. We checked email and relaxed a little in the morning, then went for a walk on the beach with Sara and her dog, Finn. Then on to Portrero hill where we had a fantastic lunch at Eliza's (chinese food) and then some ice cream at Double Rainbow up the hill. Sara took us to some great thrift stores in the Mission district-- saw some weird and funny furniture, bought nothing, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Sara decided to head home and do some work in the yard so we headed downtown to do some tourist stuff. We took the BART (subway) to Powell street. The line for the cable cars was huge and we thought sort of rediculous on such a nice day so we walked up the hills to Chinatown. It was a hike but worth it. It was fun to be so immersed in such a different place. We just hung out and did a little shopping at some of the many shops full of cheap merch from China. We bought some paper lanterns, jasmine soap, and other stuff we don't need and headed up to North Beach. We made the pilgrumage to City Lights Bookstore, former hangout of many beat poets, and bought a book. We found some great postcards at another place.

After playing phone tag with her parents in NM and her here, we finally got a hold of Amy Mac. She and Eric just got a new apartment after the weird scene involving roommates with the last one. They hadn't even moved in yet but were so glad to have the place that we all went over there to celebrate. We ate takeout and talked until about 1:30 AM. It was so great to see her! We will get together with them again tomorrow.

	Bigfoot! Carved by chainsaws!
	Hobbittown, USA was unfortunately closed.
	Willits Cafe where we had some awesome blackberry pie.
	Funky scene in the park in Sonoma
	Vineyards in Sonoma
	Entering San Francisco on 101 - Golden Gate Bridge
	A nice walk along the beach with Sara and Finn
	A beautiful day in San Francisco --Ice cream in Protrero Hill
	Chinatown
	BART