Ely, Nevada

We visited our adventurous and dynamic friends, Louise and Birdie at their summer home in Ely, Nevada. They have a wonderful place overlooking a nature park where the deer show up as the sun goes down. Louise took us off-roading in their fun 4-wheeler jeep and gave us a tour of the town. Ely is a friendly little western town with lots of history. When we returned to Birdie, he had a fire roaring in the fire pit. We spent hours talking by the fire. I believe it was the first time in weeks that both John and I sat back and kicked up our feet up and really relaxed. Good conversation, good friends, it was a good night.

Maggie, their dog, just may be
the smartest pooch we've ever met.

Lake Tahoe

Went to Lake Tahoe, one of my favorite places. Still as beautiful as ever. Lake side beaches, lush evergreen tree covered mountains, and gambling. What's not to love. We ate lunch at the waterside Beach House and walked on the beach and some trails.  Later, we won $150 at Harrah's casino.

 

San Francisco

Continued sightseeing in San Francisco today. There was a fog all around the Golden Gate Bridge, we drove though it and it was freezing. We toured Alcatraz and the Presidio. Rode the rocket boat and ate lunch at the Eagle Cafe on Pair 39. The Eagle Cafe grills some fabulous seafood.

 

Just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge sits the idyllic San Fransisco Bay town of Sausalito. We walked around the town and enjoyed a delicious dinner at A Taste of Rome which is next to the marina. 

 

San Francisco

Today we were total tourist in San Francisco, we spent most of the day riding on top of an open-air double-decker bus sightseeing and later we drove down Lombard Street, the crookedest road.

 

Robert Mondavi Winery

We revisited Napa Valley, this time we toured the vineyard at Robert Mondavi Winery. It is a beautiful vineyard with some wonderful artwork.

Fisherman's Wharf

Today John and I went to the Fisherman's Wharf area of San Francisco. Had a good lunch at the Fisherman's Grotto overlooking the  docks and water. We toured the old ships and the art galleries. We finished the day by watching the harbor boats come and go while enjoying a glass of wine.

 

Sacramento

I lived in Sacramento from 1986 to 1994 while I was in the Air Force.  I took John to all my old hangouts today and then we got together with one of my dearest friends, Denise, for dinner.  Terrific seeing her.  She looks amazing and so nice to see how happy she is.  We had a wonderful time catching up and reminiscing about the ol' days.

Sterling Vineyard

On Wednesday, we moved to California and set the RV up in the FamCamp at Travis AFB. Today we visited the Sterling vineyard; love Sterling wines.  We enjoyed the tram ride and the lovely views. We did the select tasting and Melanie was terrific as our private wine tasting host.

It is wonderful to be in California!

Redwood National Park

We had a relaxing Monday, just chilled-out at the RV. Today, we visited Redwood National Park in Northern California. A beautiful place preserving amazing groves of redwood trees. We loved walking the trails - the trees are absolutely majestic. Before leaving the area, we drove to the beach. We ended our day back in Oregon with steaks at Texas Roadhouse.