We made our way to San Francisco, slowly but surely. Our rumbling bellies forced us to stop in Carmel, CA, and good thing they did! We had a delicious breakfast at Stravaganza Café and Marc found his new favorite chili sauce.

 We picked up Mama T. at the San Francisco Airport.

The next day we were determined to see as much as possible in San Francisco by foot. I would say we accomplished our goal. 

We walked from downtown to Fisherman’s Wharf and along the piers with their beautiful views of the Bay. Mama swears she could swim to Alcatraz. It doesn’t look that far, right?

We walked out onto Pier 39 and saw the sunbathing sea lions. Then we hoofed it up through Chinatown and back to the car. On our way out we stopped North of the Golden Gate Bridge for a gorgeous view of the city.

Between all of our walking and sightseeing we somehow forgot to eat lunch. We were very relieved to find The Lunch Box in Stinson Beach where we had pink and green sandwiches and empanadas. Yum!

From there we survived what we believe to be the curviest part of the Pacific Coast Highway to arrive at Salt Point State Park. It was 90 miles North of San Fransisco, and the closest campground to the city that was not booked solid. 

Mama next to the M.I.L.T. (Mother in Law Tent)

Although very chilly, the view from the State Park was beautiful.

 After two nights at Salt Point we drove through wine country to our next destination. We found the most amazing little store, the Dry Creek General Store in Sonoma Valley. They had every delicious little goodie that you could ever want to eat. We had bagels and blueberry scones.



Eldorado National Forest is stunning. Their campgrounds are very well taken care of and set among towering Douglas Firs. We camped at Sunset Campground next to the Union Valley Reservoir.

We were happy to be back in the forest again!

We took an "easy hike" of eight miles and had lunch at a pretty spot next to the water.

Get on the boat, the banana boat!

Down dog by the lake. How's our form, Erin?

The sunset was so pretty, we were jumping for joy!

We decided to make a day trip to Lake Tahoe since we were so close. Now Mama can mark Nevada off her list as well!

We all got in the water even though it was ICE COLD!

That's Mama underwater there. Good for you, Mama! 

Marc and I went snorkeling. So what if it was only for two minutes!

We very carefully walked out to a picnic bench that was perched on a boulder off the shore of the lake. While climbing up, Mama grabbed on to the bench to pull herself up, and to our surprise the bench was not attached! We almost lost her onto the rocks below!

Lake Tahoe was absolutely beautiful. It has to be the prettiest lake we have ever seen.

Barely.

Mama got to pose with her first bumper sticker.

Well, we are headed back into the mountains for a few more days in Eldorado National Forest and then we're heading South to explore some more. Until next time...