And We Are Back.....

After a very long hiatus and so many things to blog about - but there just wasn't the time to write it all up and get it published. Perhaps there will be some retrospective blogging in future to fill in the missing months.


So now The Hunter's are back in California for "The Final West Coast Tour 2011" because this is probably the last visit here for a while - and almost certainly will be as a five-some. So  it seemed a good time to record and share the adventures of the next 3 weeks.


We begin, as so many times before, with a very early start at 4am on the 4th July 2011. 
It is Independence Day in the USA and we are off to join in with the celebrations.


This time via Amsterdam on a KLM 777 all the way to San Francisco on a 10 1/2 hour flight.

By the time we arrive (after travelling for 16 hours)  it is still only noon in "The City By The Bay" and so after clearing customs and collecting our enormous Chevy Suburban, we have a quick trip around the city and remind ourselves why we like San Francisco so much.

The Hunter's and their Chevy Suburban

The weather was very warm but as usual there was a wind from the Pacific and as we were to discover later, it had brought in a fog over the Golden Gate Bridge.


Here you can see down the steep hill of Hyde Street all the way out to Alcatraz prison in the middle of the bay.


Of course only one man ever escaped and lived to tell the tale - mainly because the water currents are so strong and the water is very cold.


This is a great street to ride the San Francisco "Trolley" all the way down to the beach and Fisherman's Wharf.

Our destination for the first 3 nights of this holiday is Napa in the heart of the wine growing region of California - and is about 1 hours drive north of the city.


So the most picturesque way to get there is to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and over to Marin County where some of the richest people on the planet have their homes.
Many of course made their fortunes in Silicon Valley which is situated to the south of San Francisco.


The bridge had fog swirling around it and although the city itself was warm and the skies were clear and blue - just 3 miles to the west on the peninsula where the bridge crosses it was cold, windy and foggy.

And so we are back in California and on our way from north to south around this huge state.

This time we will travel to the warm balmy weather of the wine growing region. 
Then to the huge granite peaks of Yosemite National Park followed by bright red rocks of Zion on the southern edge of Utah. 
Finally we will travel west back to Los Angeles on the coast before heading north on Route 1 back to San Francisco and our flight home.




View Larger Map




On our drive north to Napa the temperature changes from 62°F to 88°F in 10 miles - having left the foggy coast line behind we start to see the fields of vines with the nearly ripe grapes hanging from them.


All of which is something we look forward to exploring - but tonight we are tired and all we need is a bed to sleep off the jet lag.


So welcome to the Napa Valley Marriott and a good nights sleep.