San Francisco & Napa Valley

We planned this trip as a weekend rendezvous while Brian was consistently traveling forth and back to Elko, Nevada. The plan was to meet in the Salt Lake airport Thursday night, but mid flight Brian called Nicole and said for some odd reason he wasn’t going to make it and that he would be getting to San Fran the next morning and she would have to get the rental car, find the hotel and then make it back to pick him up in the morning. Little did she know he was waiting for her by the San Fran baggage claim and she was so determined to get her bag and the rental car that she walked right by him.

On the way to the hotel we had to cross the Oakland Bay Bridge while traveling many miles on the freeway, which is still busy at 11:00 pm. Nicole made sure to point out the IKEA store. We didn’t realize the bridge was a toll road until we headed for downtown San Francisco to take in the sights the next morning. We were able to navigate all of the one way streets through the towering buildings and safely parked the car for the day.

We started at Fisherman’s Warf and walked everywhere, including Peir 39 where we could look out and see Alcatraz. The weather by the bay was a little cool, but not too bad. After seeing a bit of the ocean we turned south and walked up hill after hill in amazement that people actually made these busy streets their everyday, living in their tiny apartments and parking their motorcycles on the sidewalk.

We soon found ourselves in Chinatown and chose to have a once in a lifetime lunch while we were there. After we ate our fortune cookies, we bought passes and boarded the trolly, ding ding, and made a pit-stop at the trolly museum before hiking all the way up to the the crooked street (Lombard Street).

There was so much to see downtown but we had to get going so we could see the Golden Gate Bridge. So we jumped back into the rental, paid our outrageous parking fee and headed towards the bridge. It was the most amazing bridge we have ever driven across not to mention scariest since we were gawking tourists amongst the busy city life. We stopped on a pullout on the other side of the bay to take some pictures before heading to find a bit of surf.

It was cold by the ocean but not too cold for the wet suit clad surfers. After writing in the sand we turned to go and saw some city deer. We knew they were city deer because of their gang colors. On the way back to the hotel, Nicole convinced Brian to stop by IKEA, which was another whole vacation in its self.

The next morning we arose early and headed north to Napa to make our wine tour appointment. We didn’t quite know what to expect on the tour but it turned out great. Our guide had four wineries chosen for the tour; Luna, Peju, St. Clement and HaGafen. Plus he was able to put in a special call to visit a fifth, Castello de Amorosa which was built as a European castle replica. It was amazing. Everything about the wine tour was amazing.

For one of the quickest trips we have ever taken we sure saw a lot of neat things. Being in the hustle and bustle of the city made us appreciate our small town life.