July 4th in San Francisco - A night with new friends - the next Day July 5th

On the 4th, we left M&S's place about 2:30.  Traffic was surprisingly light until somewhere around Pier 39 on the Embarcadero.  We were moving along, and just like that it was bumper to bumper between lights.  Patrice (Mulholland) and Michael (Pedroni) live not too far from the Coit Tower.  They were hosting a party for the Fourth.  Their rooftop has a great view  of the Bay - perfect for fireworks,  That last 1/2 mile took FOREVER!  We finally got there and Michael took Mark to park his car at a school yard a couple of blocks away.  We brought fresh pineapple, salad stuff and a few bottles of champagne.
We were the first people to arrive, which was good because we got a chance to meet Michael and Patrice one-on-one.  Actually, we met them about 6 years ago.  We did a trip to Seattle and then flew to SF to spend a few days with M&S. I was when Susan turned 60.  We were there for her milestone birthday.Turns out we met other people that came last night on that last trip, but we didn't really remember the people that well.  This time seemed to be more intimate. Maybe meeting them on their turf instead of on M&S's turf made a difference?  Who knows?
Patrice & Michael live in a house in SF that had been different apartments.  They had the wall between the apartments knocked out and effectively doubled their space.  They raised two girls there.  We met their daughter Gina and her boyfriend Brian.  Very nice people.  Patrice works for the state.  I believe she works with students coming to the US from other countries.  That may not be exactly right, but it's close.  Her friend from work, Marilyn, was also at the party.  Very nice lady.  I liked her.

New San Franciscan Friends

There were a couple of young ladies (22 and 24?) there, from Melbourne Australia.  One of the girl's aunt has a friend who is a friend of... Actually, I never actually understood the exact story.  Suffice it to say they were there and not feeling out of place.
Jay and Sally were another couple that were there.  Jay had a guitar and showed me some of his stuff.  I was sufficiently wowed.  Turns out Jay made gold fill bracelets for Danielle and Monica that had their names in gold wire, when they were kids.  We may be commissioning him to make one for Ivy.  Mark, Sally, Janice and I took a walk to the Embarcadro to walk Lila, M&S's dog.  Jay and Sally were very nice people.
Michael's brother Glenn was also there, he lives downstairs, but I was not formally introduced to him and didn't really get a chance to meet him.
Michael is an artist, and as Mark describes him, a true iconic San Franciscan Artiste.  He took us down to his studio, in the bottom floor of the house.  A true man cave - not an ode to the sports gods - but a tabernacle of the man's incredibly creative mind.  Turns out he has created many projects for Burning Man.  You can look up Burning Man.
Fireworks started about 9:30 PM from 2 barges on the Bay - one almost directly in front of us, the other further west, closer to the GG Bridge.  The Bay is maybe a 1/2 mile from their place.  Fun to watch eventhough the fog was hanging over the Bay.  It was low enough to hide some of the higher fireworks exploding, but we got to see plenty.  And then behind us, like a block or two away, some enterprising people were setting off fireworks.  These were close and loud and bright.  All in all, a good night.
Mark was supposed to pick up his car by 10:30, but because of traffic, we all thought it would be a while before he'd be able to get it from the school lot.  I went with him to get the car.  As we got there, at 11:07, the attendants, school volunteers it turned out, were waiting. Boy were they pissed!   Grid lock!  We finally got the car parked.  We hung out a bit longer then went back to Malory (M&S's) about 1:30 AM and went to sleep.

This morning (July 5th), we left Redwood City and headed north. We stopped at a place in Sausalito to get some bottles of water and an adapter for charging our phones in the car.
The cashier told us to stop at Healdburg and check out the plaza.  Fancy little shops and restaurants and wine tasting places.  Janice said it reminded her of Monterey.
We decided to head to Mendocino instead of going directly to Garberville. An hour and a half of switchbacks on RT 128 through some beautiful forested land on the way to 101 - the Coastal Hwy.  We ate at a place in Mendocino then walked around till about 5:00 PM.
Mendocino











Then up 101 for some more beautiful west coast magical views, through more winding ancient Redwood forested land and finally to Garberville.
We're beat and settling in for the night.
Tomorrow another long day.  Avenue of the Giants then east, then north.  We plan to drive by Mt Shasta on our way to Klamath Falls.  When I get home, I hope to add some photos to some of these blog pages.

   Redwoods                                                                           

 

                                      
                                         Mt Shasta -  on the way to Klamath Falls