Tommy arrives, cooking & feasting continues! Redwoods amaze us!

Tommy arrived safely from Hawaii. We shopped, napped, cooked and ate the first day of his arrival. So good to see him!Tommy said I could never pour wine for him at Turtle Bay.....they would go bankrupt! Lol! When Tom & I were in the City we purchased another Sourdough bread. We are so hooked on all the cute shapes. Tommy is an expert at creating gourmet meals out of leftovers, my breakfast yesterday. Muir Woods National Park was our destination yesterday while Kellee worked. We enjoyed all of the Redwoods and their beauty. We then traveled over the Golden Gate and over to the Cliff House and the Cliff overlook to see the Sutro Bath ruins. What a great view of the Pacific Ocean from here. There were many surfers in the water waiting to Catch a wave. Today everyone endulged and endured my love for Repurposed treasures that they affectionately call my junk. We went thru Berkley to Urban Ore and Oakland to East Bay Depot. We fueled up at Off the Grid a Food Trucks which is an experience all on it's own.

Adventures in Alameda

Wow! Over a thousand views on our blog! Hope everyone is enjoying reading as much as we are enjoying sharing! Looking at boats in Alameda with Kellee on her lunch break proved to be very entertaining day before yesterday. We had one Marina Owner come running out. He said "I'm the marina owner & I should know about any official visits" After we assured him we were not on "official" business we enjoyed looking at a couple of boats. We came close to considering an offer on one, but their were concerns out of our comfort level. The search will continue! We had some relaxing time yesterday. We washed the rest of our camping stuff & we are getting things ready for the next leg of our Trip. We still have 2 weeks of adventure here. We enjoyed a fun night at Spice I Am of Thai Cuisine. The presentation was interesting. Today Tom & I took the Ferry over To San Francisco for the day. We took the street cars and cable cars to get to Lombard Street to walk down the famous crooked street. We walked over to Chinatown from there, working up a great appetite. We ate at a fabulous place called New Asia. The whole process was very interesting. They brought food around on different carts that you were able to chose from. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but we had a feast. We then found the Golden Gate Chinese Fortune Cookie Bakery. It was down a small alley, that we may have missed if I had not read about it. I've always wondered how they were able to get those fortunes into those little cookies, now I know! Next stop was Boudin's for more Sourdough. We enjoy watching them make so many different varieties. Our trip was complete with one more trip to see the Sea Lions! Tommy flies in tomorrow! Yay!

Point Reyes National Seashore

We spent the day being thrilled and awed around every corner we traveled in this 71,000+ acre park and preserve. We started off traveling through several historic farms with mostly dairy cows. We saw many Elk and Deer on the way to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. It was a walk equivalent to 30 stories down to the lighthouse. We opted to stay up on the viewing platform. Which ended up being smart of us as we saw 3 humpback whales in the surf. While traveling over to our next stop we were delighted to see the fast bird, the Peregrine falcon. I was able to get great photos with my camera zoom. Our next thrill was getting to see About 30 Elephant Seals on the beach along with porpoises in the water. Next stop was the McClure Beach. We hiked down a steep .4 mile trail to view the beautiful cliffs & ocean.When returning to the car we saw a yellow barn owl swoop down around us twice. Such a perfect end to perfect day.

Gustatory Tour of San Francisco

Kellee, Tom & I decided it would be a great day to eat our way thru San Francisco, so that's what we did! We took the ferry over to Pier 41. Tom has been dreaming of great Cioppino for a long time so we started off at Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf. We remembered to take a picture after he had already eaten half. It was as anticipated and a very hearty dish. We sampled fresh crab & cakes, truffle fries & clam chowder. The need for walking was needed after that meal, so we headed for some entertainment on Pier 39-41. Many street performers were serenading us as we ventured over to the sea lions, who were so much fun to watch. They made lots of noise and kept knocking each other in the water. That helped us work up an appetite for Dessert! So where else but Ghirardelli's for hot fudge sundae bowls, oh my goodness they were GOOD! We enjoyed walking by the waterfront & seeing Alcatraz. We are looking forward to our night tour there next week. While waiting to board the return ferry we had to get some sour dough bread. Tom had to get our daughter who loves turtles, a turtle shaped bread. The flippers were the first to go and it keeps getting nibbled on bite by bite!. What a wonderful day! Time for more rest!

The Best Alameda Chill

The last two days have been so relaxing, giving us time to run errands, restock and rest. We enjoyed a nice walk to the San Francisco Bay to take pictures & enjoy the beautiful day. Tom said it feels like a beautiful October day in New England. We then walked back along the pond with a view of Kellee & Chris's home. . We then all pitched in to make an amazing dinner of marinated skirt steak with chimichurri Sauce and the best mofongo I have ever had. We watched the movie "Broken" which I recommend. It seems weird to be watching TV after a month of watching so little. It has been good as it has been a great opportunity to read several books. Off to explore the Great city of San Francisco tomorrow.

Lake Tahoe to San Francisco Bay/ Alameda & Kellee Hug the best!

Hot,Hot,Hot was the ride thru the rest of the Sierra Neveda. We followed most of the Emigrant Wagon Train trail. I give the pioneers a lot of credit for their arduous journey! After going thru Reno we crossed into California. The scenery changed dramatically as we started to climb the mountains to Lake Tahoe at an elevation of 6,225 ft. The twists and turns and sharp drops were breathtaking and scary at the same time. The Lake was so much larger than we imagined. The water was very clear. Unfortunately we also saw effects of the severe drought this area is experiencing.Dry timber ripe for a fire, dusty roads & campsites. Showers were locked at the State Park Campground also, which left us disappointed after our hot dusty ride. We were very happy to get to Kellee's & bathe! The traffic coming in from Sacramento to Alameda was heavy even before noon. We arrived & had showers before Kellee came home from work. Nothing better than waiting for a special hug from our daughter. Now waiting for one from our son next week. We are sorry we will miss the special hug from our son in law who is in Spain & will not be back before we leave. He wrote us a very sweet card.Thanks, Chris!We will miss you this trip! It has been a great trip so far going coast to coast. We have logged 5,500. Miles so far. AND the adventures continue.........

Winnemucca, Nevada

Enjoying a hotel night after a warm ride thru the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.While doing laundry I played the slots and won $27.00!I also updated the last week with some photos. Did not take photos to post today. Tomorrow California side of Lake Tahoe, then onward to Kellee & Chris's.

Yellowstone to Massacre Rocks State Pàrk and everything in between!

We had a slow start this morning due to the temps being so cold for us Floridians, i I am wearing 3 layers that I gradually peeled off during the day. Tom started making coffee & I stopped him and told him we needed to go hang out in the lodge dining room & have a leisurely breakfast. ##smartest idea of the day! It is amazing that it goes from cold to warm as soon as the sun comes out. We packed up and headed to the south entrance\exit of Yellowstone. The bison gave us a break & picked on othe cars today. We were beginning to wonder if the red motorcycle was getting them excited! There was a beautiful River gorge\ canyon just before we exited the park. We then rode directly into the Grand Teton National Park. We were rewarded pretty quickly with beautiful views of the majestic mountain views across from Jackson Lake then Jenny Lake. A few still had snow and one had a glacier.We then went thru Jackson Hole,Wyoming and ate at the fanciest Dairy Queen we have ever eaten at. We wish they had one in Palm Coast, they are very popular everywhere we have traveled since Iowa. We would have loved to explore Jackson Hole more, seemed like a happening place. We needed to keep to our schedule so we could set up our next camp in the light. After we went thru town we entered the Grand Teton Pass that brought us over the Tetons from Wyoming into Idaho. We climbed very steep pass thru the mountain and very steep decent down. They close this during the winter.I'm getting good at taking pics at 55 MPH. We just can't stop for every photo op! After the thrilling ride up & over the pass we went through another pass called the Targee Pass toward the Snake River. We followed the Snake River into Idaho for about 150 miles to Massacre Rocks State Pàrk. What a beautiful park & campsite overlooking the Snake River. There was bad behavior on both sides. Indians attacked 3 wagon trains passing thru & killed 10 settlers, then the pioneers attacked the Indians and killed 40.

Mud Volcano, Bison shenanigans, Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful

It was hard getting out of our toasty sleeping bags this morning with a brisk 39 degrees. Tom is such a sweety he delivered hot coffee to me in the tent even though I have been known to spill! It warmed up quickly and we were on our next adventure. We started off playing chicken with the Bison in Hayden Valley. There were herds everywhere and several in the road & walking along side the road. It is only 10 min. From our campsite and we go by there often. A few of the Bison were frisky this morning and every time Tom would start to drive forward they would turn and stop in the road again and stare at him.This happened several times until they finally let us pass. We then headed to the Mud Volcano's, which were bubbling pools of mud. They were pretty cool to see. We then drove around a good portion of Yellowstone Lake which is enormous & beautiful. We then headed to Old Faithful to see the eruption of the famous geyser, which did not disappoint. We were also able to see another smaller geyser near it erupt about 15min later.We also stopped at the Continental Divide. After the trip back we saw more bison, it never gets old. We had a great camp fire & started preparing for our next leg. Tomorrow we leave Yellowstone and head to the Grand Tetons

Rain, Rest, Sun & The Canyons of Yellowstone

We had a giggling group of kids camp for one night next to us. So we did not get as much sleep as planned. Tom & I got a charge out of the gigglers. Then about 2am the wolves were close and howling. This morning 3 deer sauntered thru our campsite like they owned the place....I guess they do! We have the largest crows waddling around as well as rabbits, chipmunks that are cute to watch. After breakfast we were going to go exploring and it started sprinkling. We looked at each other & said perfect time for a mid morning nap, which was glorious! With the sun breaking thru & warming us up, We then took a ride and explored the Upper & Lower Rims of the Canyons and Waterfalls that are fed by the Yellowstone River. Lots of photo ops esp. At Artists Point. Absolutely magnificent. We both did not realize it was this beautiful & we are really enjoying the history & views. I also had forgotten the park evolved from a volcano and most of the park is in the Caldera. The area is still active with hot springs and steam vents everywhere.

Yellowstone: Tower Falls-Mammoth Hot Springs-&Norris Loop

Leaving Cody and heading into the East entrance of Yellowstone we encountered a little rain.We put our rain gear on and continued our journey to Canyon Village Campground. On the way we had to stop for a herd of Bison in the road. I got off the bike to stretch my legs since we were at a stand still.As I walked along side the bike I came very close to 2 Bison, after getting my pics I moved to the other side of the bike and encountered 2 more that started looking at me as lunch. Just then of course the traffic started flowing & I needed to run behind the bike. Quite the site! We passed by several other herds & Tom asked if I wanted to stop....ah NO, enough for one day. The rain luckily had stopped prior to that but the mist added to the mystique of this beautiful park. We had a cool but wonderful & peaceful night for a change. Our campsite is awesome and large. We are right next to the bathrooms which is always a plus. I am blogging tonight next to a nice toasty fire.Equipped with our bear bell, bear spray & knife we ventured out to explore this very large & diverse park. We had a full day of riding up to Tower Falls & Mammoth Hot springs loop.We hit about 10 miles of construction near Norris that was not pleasant but we were rewarded with a huge Bison sighting after. After a nice dinner & shower it was so relaxing by the fire planning our next adventure tomorrow. I will edit the more recent posts in a few days & add pics.