We arrived at the Petaluma KOA yesterday evening at 5:30. It was a beautiful drive from Nevada, but I rediscovered how painful driving in California traffic is! The KOA is very nice with lots of trees, level pull-through sites, and it is remarkably quiet. I can’t believe how big the roses are; there are individual blooms as big as my outstretched hand. In general the place is nicely landscaped with lots of flowers in addition to the trees. The sites are quite spacious for a private campground too. It is expensive for us, though not unreasonable for a popular vacation area like this ($55 for Sunday through Thursday, $75 for Friday and Saturday for a water and electric site). We got a discount with our KOA card, and Saturday night was a special fee which made it less expensive. We also used some of our KOA points to reduce the cost.
Today we took a tour to San Francisco. There were 14 of us, a driver, and the tour guide. The guide was informative and the stops nice. We did all the standard stuff – Golden Gate Bridge, Presidio, cable car, Fisherman’s wharf, Golden Gate Park, Fort Point Historic Site, and Chinatown plus just driving some of the wonderful neighborhoods. They picked us up at 9:00 and we got back to the campground just after 6:00. This was worth every penny so we didn’t have to drive (and park) the truck in town. Here are some of the pictures.
We were very lucky in the weather. It was cool and windy, but no fog or rain. I really like San Francisco, but it is still a big city with traffic, congestion, and no parking. I wish I could stay for a week sometime but I doubt it will ever happen. We just like open spaces too much. I always feel closed in when I am in a city. I guess I am just a western girl at heart.
Tomorrow is a wine country tour (driving ourselves), and dinner with an old high school friend.