Friday, December 24, 2004

6:45 PM Saturday December 25, 2004

There isn't one RV park in Pleasanton, CA. There are eight spaces at the Elks Lodge a few miles away in Fremont but by the time we found them, all but one space was full. With hookups in the parking lot, about the only thing it had going for it was the food and drink at the club which we didn't have any need for so it wasn't a great choice for us either. We had already paid for five days at the Alameda County Fairgrounds RV parking and even though it was less than wonderful there, (lots of mud, no cable TV, telephone or Internet) it was only a couple miles from my sister's house. We didn't plan on hanging around the motorhome anyway so since we had made our bed ... well you know the rest. We really enjoyed our time visiting with Robin, her husband Walt and their family. Walt (and his garage full of tools) helped Phil for half a day and they replaced our old 13" living room TV with the 20" Sanyo flat screen we bought. It's the perfect size for the motorhome and the surround sound was a wonderful bonus we didn't realize it had. Robin's homecooked meals were a welcome treat and I used her washer and dryer to get our laundry caught up. On Sunday our last day in the area, Phil and I experienced our first ride on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). Getting to San Francisco was fast, very inexpensive and a great way to see the country side without the stress of driving in heavy traffic. Going under the bay made me a little nervous but it only lasted a few minutes and we were soon back on solid ground. I was born in Oakland and San Francisco has always been my favorite city on the West coast. The sun was shining and the weather was perfect for sightseeing ... as usual. In all the times I've been there, I've never seen bad weather. I truly believe this beautiful city loves me back! We chose the famous seafood house, Alioto's on Fisherman's Wharf for lunch because of the view of the bay where we paid $5.45 for a cup (yes, A CUP) of mediocre clam chowder. Robin and I ordered a calamari steak (I'd never eaten it before) sandwich which was a disappointment. It came openface with a bland, fried square of squid meat which tartar sauce totally overpowered on a hard, dry sandwich roll that was difficult even for Robin to chew and she doesn't have dentures. Phil ordered fish and chips which was okay but Walt's Shrimp "Louie" was a joke. He received a small plate of iceberg lettuce topped with a handful of medium-size shrimp. Oh well, the view was interesting as promised, the company was perfect and it was enough food to sustain us until dinner but we'll know better next time. We learned that Robin and Walt are planning a riverboat cruise through Europe next year that will be a trip to remember. On Monday, December 13th we packed up and headed down the road for Bakersfield. My California family asked us, "Why?" I'll explain next time ... ha!

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