Two Hundred and Eighty dollars richer!

With a wonderful refund in hand, and a few tears in our eyes as we watched our boat cruise into the Bay fog toward Alcatraz, we decided to make the best of our remaining time in SF and spend some money!

A few tee shirts and sweatshirt later, our spirits lifted somewhat....It really was disappointing not to be able to tour Alcatraz.  I don't know why the reservations were off a day.  I had called them in months earlier because I couldn't reserve so many slots at a time.  Who knows....

We eat sourdough at Boudins and chilled to the street musicians.  Michael flopped on benches and against walls whenever possible.  Ben attempted to climb out of his back pack, and Grace begged for cash to help fill a harmonic blowing guitarist's jar!

Most of the kids thanked me for helping them stuff warm raincoats into their bags!  We ate our sorrow away with Ghiradell iice-cream as well....was it intentional on the part of fate that Alcatraz is directly across the bay from Ghiradelli Square?

Around 6 PM we made our way back to the van, reloaded ourselves, a feet of which to be proud,and proceeded   across the Golden Gate Bridge toward wine country, and the eventual bottle of Cabernet  I purchased at Rite Aid for $11.99, on sale....it was originally $19.99.  I got it because it was the best "deal" and it was produced only a few miles from the Best Western at which we're staying, again in two rooms.

I'm munching one of John's pop tarts, blueberry, as I type this.  Ben is the only other Peterson awake...of course!!!  

We're planning on touring Alexander Valley Winery tomorrow...and tasting a few wines as well.  Then we'll swerve our way up to the Redwoods in NORTHERN, waaaaay Northern California:  Jedediah Smith State Park. (which I've heard is beautiful and very peaceful.)

I'll bore you with the supremely boring drive across CA desert, from Arizona toward LA, another time.  Put it this way, our continuous stream of songs "California Girls" etc...quickly died down, and was replaced with Hotel California...as in GET ME OUT OF HERE!  The last straw were the hideous windmill farms, that resemble something from a science fiction movie...those and the wind tunnel through which my van and its driver forged!!

Well, the Cabernet has kicked in, and Ben needs to bet to sleep!  It's 11:14 here.  Good night!!  and Cheers!