Petaluma, California

After dinner and a brief walk around Napa, we drove the 45 mins or so to Petaluma, where we had a hotel room waiting. Not much to say beyond the fact that construction and less than stellar lighting made for a nerve-wracking trip home. Especially because I couldn’t get out of my mind the notion that every other driver had been out tasting wine all day. Anyway, we made in one piece, to the end of a very splurgy, great day.

For the first time since we left Alexandria, both of us woke up feeling tired and something less than completely excited about the prospect of spending the day in the car. Maybe it stems from the seemingly constant packing/loading/planning/unpacking/etc. that we do. Perhaps it's owing to living out of a bag and a car for 6 weeks, or the fact that we didn’t get coffee until almost 10. Whatever the case – and I recognize fully how much I sound like an ingrate – other mornings have been easier and our attitudes have certainly been better.

Things got better as soon as we got the car packed, and left the hotel. Buoyed by a short convo with a cyclist from Toronto in wine country for an annual ride with his friends, we set out on CA-1 South toward San Simeon via San Fran, Pescadero, Santa Cruz, Carmel, and Big Sur.

Shortly after leaving Petaluma, we crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge and into San Francisco. The bridge itself was an incredible sight. Shrouded in fog and barely visible as we passed through, it was just as cool as I imagined it would be. Wish we had more time exploring the bridge, and the city itself. We settled for a very quick tour of Inner/Central/Outer Richmond as we grabbed gas and continued south. Can’t wait to go back.