I’ve spent a little time every morning this week trying to decide when I would leave town. Postponing my departure this far was easy, especially after Ian’s parents conned me into staying an extra day to hang out with Ian. (Trickery and arm twisting. So much arm twisting. 😉 ) Today, as I was looking at my rough itinerary, the options, the weather, the possibilities…I knew it was time to hop on the road again. That didn’t stop me from literally carrying my bag from the house – to the car – to the house – to the car – to the house and back to the car again. Even I was laughing at myself as I kept making u-turns and talking myself in and out of leaving. Nina would be back again in a day or two. Halloween is coming. I have no firm timeline or itinerary. But, it was time. I packed my stuff into the car and held back some tears as I said ‘good-bye’ to Peter and all that I hold close in Carmel/Monterey. The overwhelming sense of leaving ‘home’ subsided as I headed up the 1 and was greeted, once again, by the excitement of being on the open road.  To get back into the swing of things, we stopped along the PCH to see Pigeon Point Bluffs and Bean Hollow State Park, before making our way into San Francisco. I was hoping to visit with another friend, Shoshanna (a fellow Carolina girl!), as I passed through town. Before I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, I took myself on a touristy detour in an attempt to get a picture of the bridge. I ended up at Crissy Field (Golden Gate National Recreation Area) and, as luck would have it, in the same parking lot as where my friend worked! I’m almost certain I couldn’t have planned that better if I had tried. Once we realized we were literally in the same place, we met up and walked Charlie up and down along the water, until I could no longer feel my fingers.

Fun Cort Fact #7: I dress for how I want the weather to be…not how it actually is.

It was great catching up with each other as best we could in the brief time we had. When I return to Monterey next year, I’ll have to plan more time in San Francisco to visit.

Fun Cort Fact #22:  Shoshanna was the first friendly face I saw after moving to California in 2012. She met me at Half Moon Bay for coffee when the movers failed to arrive with our stuff.

I think that was the first time I had seen the bridge when it wasn’t buried in the marine layer. I kind of fell in love with the view of the bridge, the park area, and Crissy Field. (Businesses in old hangar bays?! Of course this aviation aficionado would love Crissy Field!) In fact, I could imagine living here one day. Maybe. 😉

I left San Francisco and set up camp at Petaluma KOA for the night. I had heard that KOA’s were really nice. This one was no exception. They had indoor plumbing and an outdoor cooking area – complete with stoves and sinks for easy clean-up! I didn’t take advantage of the kitchen, but thought it would be a really nice option if/when we come back through this part of town.

~malama pono~