Travelogue

Lolo with Oakland Twisted TreeOur drive back to Petaluma was uneventful. After all we had been through with the motorhome, uneventful was good.

The next morning we brought the motorhome back into the repair shop to have the calipers replaced, hopefully avoiding future issues through mountain passes.

To kill time while we were waiting for the motorhome repairs to be finished, we strolled along Petaluma’s Historic Riverfront. As with most old manufacturing towns, all the action was along the river, and fortunately many of its pre-1906 Earthquake buildings and Victorian homes have been preserved. The Historic Downtown was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. There is also a theater district and many interesting shops and restaurants.

Petaluma is one of the towns we are considering moving to when we eventually head West, so it was really a shame that the weather that morning was so foggy, cool, and damp. Herb loves hot and dry, and would be very content living in a desert. I, however, hate the heat, and have been trying to convince him of the merits of living in Northern California. It was almost noon before the fog finally cleared and Herb stopped mumbling about hating the cold and damp.

The sun did come out, however, and once it did, it became a beautiful warm, sunny day. The volatility of California weather – just within a single day – is so different from what we are used to in New Jersey.

Lolo and Andrew on way to Oakland PicnicAfter picking up the motorhome, we spent the rest of this beautiful sunny California day packing up to go home and hanging by the campground pool.

Usually when we leave to fly home, we take a cab to the Petaluma Fairgrounds and then the Sonoma County Airport Express to the airport. This time, since we were flying home on a Saturday, Andrew invited us to spend Friday night in their new apartment, so he could drive us to the airport the next day.

Sounded great, but first we had to figure out how to get down to San Francisco after we put both the motorhome and Subaru in storage. We worked out a rather convoluted plan, where on Friday we drove down to Oakland to see Andrew’s office and take him out to lunch, which was a very nice thing to do. Then we took his car back with us to the campground, stored the vehicles, and drove his car, packed to the brim with our stuff, back down to San Francisco. From that point on, we could just relax and enjoy our last evening on the West Coast.

We met Andrew and Celeste at Planet Granite, their rock climbing gym and spent a few hours climbing. Surprisingly I am really starting to like climbing and have been working really hard at it at the gym at home. Andrew and Celeste even noticed how much I had improved from the last time here – or maybe they were just being nice to me.

Oakland SkylineAfter climbing, Andrew suggested that we have dinner at “Off the Grid,” which is a mobile street fair, complete with dozens of food vendors and live music. Each day of the week, it is in a different location. Friday nights were on the waterfront by Fort Mason.

When we got there, our first stop was the beer vendor, who definitely could have used some help. The line was really long and moved slowly, as this one poor guy tried to keep things moving. Finally, his partner came back and things started to move

There were so many different food vendors that Herb and I didn’t know where to start. So, we just followed Andrew and Celeste’s lead and had some kind of Thai burrito or something. Whatever it was, it was delicious.

Despite the crowds, we managed to find a table which made juggling our beers and burritos a bit easier. By this point, the live music had started and I was feeling pretty good and happy. This was fun. Then Herb had to say, “Look around you. We are the only ones here over 30.” Thanks, Herb for pointing that out, just when I was feeling hip.

That night we slept on Andrew and Celeste’s new IKEA Futon that opened up into a much more comfortable bed than I would have expected. The next morning, Andrew got up early to drive Celeste to her Soccer League game and came back with delicious fresh pastries. I was starting to like this B&B, and the price was certainly right.

After helping Andrew with a few home repairs (Herb that is, not me), we left for the airport, picking up Celeste from her game on the way.

It really was a much more civilized departure than our usual scramble to store the RV and get to the airport from Petaluma.

Description

The Petaluma KOA is an award winning camping resort located within an hour’s drive of San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma Valley Wineries, giant redwoods, and Sonoma County and California Coastal Beaches. It is considered to be the RV resort in the San Francisco Bay area.

On its 70 acres, there are 312 spacious RV sites, 32 camping cabins, and 10 Wine Country lodges.

Other amenities include:
• Guided tours of San Francisco (from May through October)
• Huge heated pool and spa
• Inflatable waterslide
• Rock climbing wall
• Huge playground
• Petting zoo
• Karaoke
• Hayrides and live weekend entertainment

The campground is open all year.