01/04-01/05

01/04/11 San Francisco, CA - Bolinas, CA

Today turned out to be quite frustrating. We started off by exploring the Golden Gate Bridge. Very fun, and very necessary to visit if you're ever in town! As a tip to anyone who might use the bridge: it is only free if you are leaving San Fran. If you are going there via the bridge, you have to pay the big toll!

We continued to explore the national park area on the opposite side of SF. It was pretty, and gorgeous just as everything else in the area. But this is when the frustration began. As we were walking around, Damascus started limping and favoring his right, front paw. When we tried to see if he got glass in it or something, he would collapse and begin to howl and scream. Extremely worried, we rushed him off to the nearest veterinary clinic. We were very lucky to find one in the next town over. They were closed, but the secretary who happened to be there called the vet in. He looked him over, and to our surprise, Damascus was beginning to act a lot better. A few hours later, you would have never know he was hurt. Next time, we'll save the $40 and wait another hour or so before we bring him in. I mean, I'm really happy there was nothing wrong with him, but $40 on a strict budget is a rough plunge. I'm glad we had the peace of mind from it. Now we know he's just a cry baby, and we'll wait a bit longer next time.

Right after the vet's office, we went to the gas station, only to find the contents of our transmission spilling out all over the ground. By some stroke of luck, there were 4 different mechanics within a ¼ mile of each other right there in town. We found out the front seal on our transmission was wearing out, and was the culprit for the continuous stream of fluid we were leaving behind on the road like a trail of breadcrumbs. Enraged and hungry, we quickly had a bite to eat at Dip Sea. We split a pulled pork quesadilla, and it was sooooooooooo yummyyyy!!! It was a nice break from the mess we had to figure out.

I don't know how we thought this would be the best idea, but we got in our car and drove to the last hippie town in the world, Bolinas, CA. They took all the road signs down to prevent many travelers from coming in. We were tipped off about this place from Gina, Steven's girlfriend who we ate breakfast with the prior morning. It certainly was a gem! The bar, Smiley's, was really cool. The town had a really different feel to it. The community was really the best example of the term. Everyone was willing to go out of their way to help the other. We learned this after sharing about our car troubles. Some locals hooked us up with the local mechanic, who ended up looking at our car, confirming that it was the problematic front seal, and giving us a bunch of really good advice. For Free. It really is a wonderful community!

We spent the night in a park in our car. It was cold, and I was petrified the whole night. Scenarios of horrific content flashed through my head. I watched in the third person as the door I was leaning on was ripped open, and some ravenous creature pulled me by my hair off into the woods to eat me slowly and painfully. It was something like a scene from the movie Paranormal Activity. I know it sounds silly, but you try sleeping in a creepy corner of a parking lot in unfamiliar woods.

*shivers*

01/05/11 Bolinas, CA - Fort Bragg, CA

Knock Knock Knock

“Park Ranger! Open up!”

Ugggggggggggggghhhhhhhh. Not good. It was 7:30AM, and the park ranger was knocking at our windows. Turns out, we were illegally camping (in a car?) in the parking lot of a national park. The fee? $120. By another stroke of amazing luck (and probably some brownie points for cooperating with the ranger), he told us that if we could be packed up and off the lot in 10 mins, that he would let us go. WOOOOOOOOO! We were out of there almost immediately. No night in the car is worth paying $120 for.

We later ended up in the very quaint, very rich Petaluma, CA. We walked around town a bit, and visited a Seed Bank and McNear's for lunch. The Seed Bank was in an actual bank building, which was really, really cool! We stayed quite a while in McNear's using their wi-fi and admiring the decorations. Lunch was tasty, and the weather was warm.

The drive thereafter lead us through wine country. And, of course, I had to stop for a tasting! Roederer Estate was one of many fancy wineries with a room open for tasting. $6 got me samples of about 8 different wines, and all were delicious! They specialized in sparkling wines, which I have not had much experience in tasting. It was a special treat!

We crashed at a hotel in the coastal town of Fort Bragg that night. That is, after we enjoyed some gourmet pizza. So, the pizzeria pizza here is no good, but these people had it right for this gourmet stuff! And the draft root beer, a weakness of mine, was also scrumptious! Yum, yum, yum!

I tried really hard to blog and update pics when we got back to the hotel, but I was too tired to care about anything but sleeping – in a bed – . Hotels are oh-so-lovely and appreciated after sleeping in a car.

And something for you about sleeping in cars: It was not because we're dirty poor. We're simply saving money to prolong our amazing trip, and allow for more amazing meals. A hotel is a hotel just about anywhere. But the food and many other conscious experiences? I really don't mind a night in a car so I can have them. It's a pain, but it's worth it!