Sunrise on Avalon Bay, Catalina Island, CA

Sunrise on Avalon Bay, Catalina Island, CA

Thursday 23 February 2023

San Francisco - Stormy day and Sausalito Feb 21 - 23

Tuesday morning we were woken at 5:30 am with the slide toppers banging and the MH wobbling a bit. I got up and put the dish down and that seemed to fix it. The wind came up much earlier than forecasted for today. However by 6:30 it died down significantly and I put the dish back up.

Today we decided to stay home with high winds of 30 mph with gusts to 45 forecasted. Might need to take in the driver side slides later on. Ray's back is pretty sore after 3 days of touring, so a day off will be good. We pushed to see everything as the weather is turning to rain tomorrow night and Thursday, our last days here. Glad we are not travelling with the motorhome anywhere today as we would definitely feel the wind on the highway. We can sit here and storm watch out the front window as the big bus beside us leaves today.

Ray headed out to the bakery 5 minutes away for donuts this morning. So good...

The wind continued to pick up all day forcing us to close up the driver side slides around noon. By lunchtime, we decided to drive the short way to the Pacifica Pier and have a sandwich at the little coffee shop at the beginning of the Pier and check out the surf. Wow! The waves were actually sending spray right over the cafe at times, splashing up on the window we were looking out.







Yup a few of those went right over the roof.

The rest of the afternoon and evening we just watched the ocean build. The highest winds were at around 9 pm with sustained winds of 45 mph and gusts over 60 mph. Definitely rocked the coach for most of the night.  We both slept good anyways inspite of the wind. My earplugs work well lol

Wednesday morning we woke up to clear skies with a few clouds. Still breezy with winds at 22mph and gust to 35. Much more managable so we deployed the slides.  As the winds were dying down to just high teens today, and the rain not supposed to start until later this afternoon, we decided to head out again and tour the town of Sausalito, on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Ray's always wanted to visit this place after the song "Sausalito Summer Nights" released in 1980 by Diesel".  The song even talks about the "Grapevine".



Out the door by 8:15 and of course a stop at our favourite donut place for coffee and something sweet.



After some stop and go traffic, here we go across the Golden Gate Bridge.


Our first stop, the Golden Gate Viewpoint from the other side, on the right side of Hwy 101.

Looking towards Oakland Bay Bridge



Highway 101 heading north after the Golden Gate Bridge.

Next we drove down under the highway to the other side and went up the windy road to the 
Top of Four Vista Points on Conzelman Rd. Stopped for a few shots and then carried up further to Hawk Hill and Old Battery 129. What a view.

These ones are from Hawk Hill.

Rodeo Beach

Point Bonita Lighthouse


This is the start of the road to the lighthouse, a bunch of bikers went down while there.


What's left of Battery 129.





Back down the hill to the other side to Fort Baker, Discovery Point Children's Museum and the Cavallo Point Lodge, a former military base made into an upscale hotel and lodge. They even have Valet Parking.




Here's part of the Children's Museum. We couldn't go in .... we didn't have kids with us. lol



Satterlee Point looking towards Sausalito

Presidio Yacht Club


Views of the Golden Gate Bridge from this area.





The Coast Guard is also stationed here.



After wandering around here it's time to find those houseboats Ray heard about. We drove through Sausalito to Waldo Point Harbour and wow ... yes there are a LOT of houseboats. here.











We drove back to downtown Sausalito and found a parking space close to where Ray chose to take me to lunch. The Barrel House Tavern, located in an old ferry terminal. They have delicious beer including N/A beer for Ray. For Happy Hour 12 - 5 we sat at the bar and ordered fresh oysters (where they offered the oysters on special) before moving into the dining room and having appetizers for our lunch.






Here are some Sausalito street scenes:

Sausalito Ferry to Pier 41









Time to head back home as the rain is a commin later this afternoon. We stopped first though, at Total Wine, 10 minutes from the RV Park so Ray could stock up on more N/A beer as they have the most choices available for him. Home at 3pm. Another great day.

At 4:30 the rain started, so glad we had a great day touring beforehand. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy so we shall see :)

Thursday morning the wind has quit, the surf much calmer. We did get rain overnight but it seems to have stopped for now. This will be a stay at home day for cleaning and getting ready for the next part of our journey tomorrow.

For the mountain tops in the San Francisco area they are getting snow today! Anything over 1000 feet. Amazing. Also with the wind there are 26000 people without power on the penninsula where we are. Fortunately we have power. This huge storm is going to last 4 days and affect 26 states the news says. Wow.

We have had a fabulous time here in the San Francisco area.