11. Oakland, San Francisco and the rest of California

Arrived in Oakland at my cousin Reuben and Eileen's house on July 17th and spent 5 relaxing and enjoyable days with them. Their son Seth lives nearby, and so was also able to spend a lot of time with him and his two dogs.

Driving tour of San Francisco on way to dinner in San Rafael - Seth, Reuben, Me, Eileen

After dinner in San Rafael  with Micah (older son), Jen (wife) and Elizabeth (10 months)

Happy grandparents and father, and tired little girl.

Toured U of Cal - Berkeley with Reuben

Oakland Aviation Museum - Reuben volunteers there, so I got a nice personal tour

Spent a day on my own walking around hilly San Francisco- Chinatown, Alcatraz, Famous seal, Street car

Monday, July 22nd, said goodbye to Reuben and Eileen, drove Northeast across Richmond bridge to Muir Woods but there was nowhere to park so drove on to Point Reyes National Seashore which was really nice.

That afternoon, drove to Petaluma, a nice town 40 miles North of San Francisco, where Micah, Jen and Elizabeth live in the country with Jen's parents, Bonnie and Noel. Spent 2 nights there, and had a really nice time. Noel and Bonnie have a 42 foot yacht, and Noel took us out on the bay (Bonnie was working). Reuben joined us, and we had a great day, watching the America's Cup trials, seeing Alcatraz up close and San Francisco from the water.

Micah plays ice hockey, Reuben joined us to watch.

Said goodbye to the Petaluma crowd, then drove a short distance to Sonoma where I took a quick tour of the very nice Sebastiani Winery, recommended by Reuben. Bought a bottle of white wine, then drove North 1 hour to Calistoga, where I stayed in their town RV park. Toured Castello di Amorosa winery, recommended by Noel, which was a real nice castle. Bought a bottle of red.

Next day, drove East to North Highlands, a suburb of Sacramento, where I visited a boring aviation museum. Got the RV oil changed, spent the night, then next day drove 1 hour East to Coloma, to Marshall Gold Discov ery State Historic Park, where gold was first discovered in 1848.  Took a short hike and toured the sights.

That afternoon, drove West to South Lake Tahoe, where I stayed for 2 nights at Campground by the Lake, run by the town. Used my scooter to drive all around the beautiful, blue Lake Tahoe - about 80 miles. Also visited the Nevada casinos, a 5 minute drive from South Lake Tahoe.

Drove Northeast 2 hours into Nevada, and spent the night in Reno. The casinos were old but cheap; found a $1 craps machine, so spent a lot of time there.

Next morning, bought my 3rd bicycle of the trip at a Goodwill store, then drove 1 hour East back into CA, to Donner Pass State Park. Saw the monument, watched the film and rode my new bike for an hour.

That afternoon, drove North on a great road into the California mountains and spent the night in Quincy, where I got the scooter oil changed. Next morning, drove 2 hours North to beautiful Lassen Volcanic National Park. Toured the park, did a few hikes, then spent the night in their nice Manzanita Lake Campground.

Bubbling hot mud

 Lassen Peak which blew in 1918

Manzanita Lake

Next day, drove another 2 hours North to Mount Shasta.  Used my scooter to drive the 16 mile road up to the base, did a little hike in Panther Meadow which had some really nice flowers (pics weren't good).

Overnighted there, next morning drove South to Shasta Dam, one of the largest in the US.

Drove on to Redding, which had a really nice bike trail on both sides of the Sacramento River, and a sundial bridge.

Spent the night 30 miles West in Old Lewiston, which had nothing to see. Next morning, the sewer overflowed as I was doing an RV dump. Drove to Weaverville which had some nice old buildings and a Buddhist temple from the Chinese gold miners.

In the afternoon, drove West almost to the Coast. Stayed at Blue Lake Casino which allowed RVs to stay for free. Spent much of the evening at a $1 blackjack table where I broke even.

Next morning drove up the West coast to Redwoods National Park. Did a few of the hikes which were really amazing.

Continued driving up the Coast and spent the last night in California in Crescent City.

Next morning, August 4th, drove 2 hours into Oregon.