Time to say good-bye to the Turso & Mullaly clans, but we know that we’ll see you soon! I asked Gerry to take a picture of Catherine & I (which I promised to send to another of our former choir alto friends!), and he snapped this:
D’oh!!! So … he tried again … MUCH BETTER:
Catherine counseled us on three traveling points:
- She informed us of the Fruit Inspection stop on the Oregon/California border. Transporting fruit in even moderate amounts is against the local law, which is in place to insure no transporting of disease or vermin. Although I was surprised that they stop EVERY VEHICLE, Catherine assured us that it is perfunctory, and not to worry, just cheerfully say, “No fruit! :)” She even reassured us further by saying that she & Carl, on their own recent jaunt to San Francisco, were simply waved through without even being stopped. I sort of snarkily said, “So I guess I shouldn’t say, ‘You mean aside from the 4 bushels of cherries in the trunk??’ ?”, and Alice got fairly serious, and looked horrified that I’d even joke about it. No fruit, check! Sooooo … when we arrived at the inspection stop,
the kind State Inspector asked Gerry (who was driving), “Do you have any fruit in the car?” He panicked, blanched white, and looked over at me. Lord, kill me now!! LOL I, as instructed, CHEERFULLY SAID, “Nope! No fruit!!” BY THE GRACE OF GOD, although she hesitated for a second, she waved us through. When I asked G. why he reacted that way, he said he didn’t hear what she said. ?????????? Didja think they were asking how many giraffes we have stuffed in the glove compartment? All was well, and on we went. - Catherine also counseled us on the diceyness of attempting to get a photo of the Welcome to California sign. “It’s near the bottom of this really steep hill,” she said, “and is also on a curve. A lot of times the trucks are bearing down. Also, the shoulder is pretty narrow.” She also gave us the head’s up that there is a “OREGON THANKS YOU” sign about a hundred yards before the “WELCOME TO ..” sign. Undaunted, and frankly, on a mission let’s face it LOL, it all came together, and we saw it in time to pull over. I was smart enough NOT to get out of the car, and simply rolled down the window. BUT WE GOT IT!!
- Catherine also made a great selection for us for a lunch / restroom stop:
It’s a combination shop with every conceivable olive product, and small cafe where we had nice sandwiches, quickly served, and we were on our way again!
I decided that our first stop would be just north of San Francisco, Muir Woods, the home of a beautiful redwood forest. It’s often considered PART of San Francisco — many tours make their way up to the forest, and so as we were driving in from the north, it made total sense.
Lulu thought so, too. 🙂
Once again, it makes the most sense to allow the photographs of this lovely place tell the story of what we experienced.
Of course we had to make time for a few cuttin’ up with Lulu shots …
Don’t do it, Lulu!! (hee hee)
Time, now, to boogie on to THE CITY, to check in to our hotel, and hopefully get some dinner.
Yes, the “ghetto fabulous” Travelodge. Pro: very close to Fisherman’s Wharf; Cons: Really tiny, 3rd floor room & no elevator, etc. But, as DeMan said, “It’s a bed.” True.
At this point, I will admit to being travel weary. The lobby clerk was not very pleasant, and his English was marginal, and I really didn’t care to start reading maps. I did KNOW that we were very close to Fisherman’s Wharf, so we dropped our luggage, and went for a walk to find someplace to eat. We walked around for a while, in several directions, but
couldn’t find Fisherman’s Wharf! LOL We wandered into a place called Kennedy’s Irish Pub — actually sat down, and were given menus! — only to find out they served just Indian food. I just wasn’t feeling that adventurous! So … in the end … we wound up getting some sandwiches from ::drumroll::
Yep. Walgreens. LOL It’s OK … really. We had two really busy days ahead of us in the city, and did some amazing sightseeing … but on this evening, it was turkey sandwiches from Walgreens.
And so … early to rise tomorrow! Many fun San Francisco things on the agenda!
That is it!!!! I would have eaten everything on the Indian Restaurant menu before I would eat a sandwich from Walgreens!!!!! lol