Back North from the Bay

Tuesday night was full of anticipation as Katie, Kyle, and I all bided our time in separate ways while we waited for Angella to get off of work. Katie and I spent time catching up with our families while Kyle worked on his computer and played with Sugar. Finally the call came and we all piled into the car, picked Angella up while still walking home, and went to get some tapas! Katie and I had never had tapas before, nor had we been to the Haight, so we were pretty excited about both. We parked the car and walked over to Cha Cha Cha's. We got a small taste of Haight street, but we were more interested in food than culture at the moment, so we passed up most of the interesting stops. Angella has promised to bring us back on a Saturday when apparently the streets are alive with people, so we happily focused on dinner instead. We got to Cha Cha Cha's and there was already a line outside. Fortunately for us the group in front of us did not have all of its guests present, so we snuck in right before them, grabbing up one of the last tables available. Inside, the place had an awesome atmosphere. Large groups of people everywhere talking loudly while Spanish shrines lined the walls looking strangely more decorative than religious. Since Katie and I were novices, we entrusted Angella and Kyle with our order, allowing us to sit back and enjoy our surroundings. Before we knew it, there was a pitcher of sangria in front of us along with 6 different plates of food! We ate until our hearts were content, not to mention our stomachs, soaking up every last bit of sauce with the extra bread we requested just for this purpose. After dinner there was some short talks about going out and experiencing the Haight some more, but Kyle reminded us that it was indeed a school night, for some people at least, so we decided to just head home and save the Haight for our return trip. We spent the rest of the night just hanging out and playing cards relaxing in front of the TV. In the morning, Katie and I packed up CJ and headed out on the road again. We left just as Sugar was getting picked up to go to her doggy day care for the day. When we walked outside the truck was pulling away and Sugar was in the back of a covered pickup looking out the barred window like she was being shipped off to prison. She looked at us longingly as we walked by and they drove away. It made us both give a little "aww" but then we had a good laugh about it instantly after. That morning, my friend JT who I traveled to Russia with years

ago, had contacted me. He had seen my post on facebook about being in San Francisco and heading north. Apparently, he had moved to Petaluma, a city about a half hour north of SF, a few months ago and was interested in meeting up for some coffee or lunch. This worked out perfectly in our plans for the day. Leaving San Francisco was much more epic than our arrival. This time we had perfectly clear day which gave us stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the bay itself. There was literally hundreds of people out walking the bridge and both Katie and I instantly agreed that we would be one of them when we came back to the city. We did some errands, stocking up on granola bars and getting CJ's oil changed, pulling into Petaluma about 1 p.m. to meet him for some lunch. He suggested a place called Dempsey's which was close to his work and also had an outdoor patio right along a river. We found the place easily enough

and he met us there for an overly extended lunch hour while we talked of our travels, both new and old, and enjoyed the excellent food and atmosphere. After almost 2 hours of chatting and eating, the man beckoned JT back, as the road did us. We parted ways with plans of getting together when we head up to wine

country, one of our planned sojourns with Angella. After lunch we headed to the coast. We took highway 1 for about a 50 mile stretch as it followed the coast north, giving us our first true taste of what the California coast had to offer. It was as beautiful as fame reported, strongly reminding us of our walk along Rialto Beach, just more expansive. Driving slowly to enjoy the scenery, it took us a while to make it up the coast. Our one big stop was to pull off to see a lighthouse which unfortunately was under repair and looked something quite less than beautiful and serene. However, the coast at this spot was beautiful and serene and

even had a small heard of sea lions right off the coast. We made it back to Eureka at around 9:30 p.m. and stopped off at Lost Coast Brewery for some food before bed. The place closed at 10 p.m. so we just sneaked in an order that they probably spit in for us, then quickly ate before getting forced out by the staff putting chairs up on the table and sweeping around us. Luckily there was about 20 people still in the place when we left, so we didn't feel too bad about it. Our hunger once again subdued, we went back to the same rest area we stayed at last time, again lucky to get a spot amongst all of our fellow "campers."