We are finally done with big cities for awhile. They are stressful to get around in, not like smaller towns. We left the East Bay area and made it up the San Rafael, north of San Francisco. We took a roundabout way to get there as we were reluctant to try to get through the big city with it's hills to come over the Golden Gate Bridge. I know others do it, but in the interest of family harmony, we went the other way. Since we didn't drive over 'The Bridge', or even get close to the other end, we left the RV in San Rafael and drove the jeep down to the north end. On the western side of the road on a hill above the bridge were the remains of an old fort, also built for defense of the harbor entrance. With this fortification, plus the ones on the south end of the bridge (no bridge then) and Alcatraz (remember it was a fort before prison), the harbor entrance had 3-point artillery fire to cover the 'gate'. The view of the bridge from here is spectacular. (especially with Mary Lou in it, I'm forced to add.) To get to the east side of the road where the main tourist stop is, we had to park and walk under the bridge to get there. The other side had a monument to seafaring men who passed this way. There is a statue of the 'Lone Sailor', who, of course, became Mary Lou's new friend. Please try to read the plaque below. It is a very fine tribute. Since we didn't get to drive the bridge, we decided to walk halfway across and back. Many people do this from both side, plus many, many bicyclists, which were kind of a nuisance and sometimes a potential hazard. (I suppose walkers were considered a nuisance to them). It was an amazing feeling to walk out on this bridge. How many millions of rivets were used? Near the center of the span. Note the diameter of the cables. A helicopter flew under the bridge on two occasions while we were on the bridge. It's 220 feet to the water. Here's an artistic shot for our photographer friend. Leaving the bridge and heading back to the RV, we detoured to the seaside village of Sausalito. Built on the steep slope of a mountainside, the quaint and expensive mix of homes are on one lane roads and with cars parked on the side, getting around is tricky. However, Sausalito has long been know for it's houseboat residences. So here are a few pics of the varied architecture in the floating neighborhoods. Retrieving the RV and moving up the coast, we found another excellent campsite at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. These fairground campgrounds are great!
More later. Stay tuned.
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Who Are We?
Chuck and Mary Lou have been traveling in their RV since 2002 and have lately been taking longer, extended trips. This is our way to share our experiences. Trip Reports
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