By then it was sept. 4th...

Up the coast was a breeze. Beautiful rolling hills lacing up and down with windows looking out the ocean once in a while. So gorgeous! Then we were in Monterey and decided to quickly get out of there as the traffic was just terrible. We continued up the coast through Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. Waou! That was fantastic. So wild and untouched. We followed for few hours a couple in a convertible (Nancy made a french song about them.... Don't ask) You will see the picture and understand. The gentleman was seating on the right (hard to tell with that type of hat....) they were precious.

We stopped for a quick look at San Francisco from the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge and continued up to South of Santa Rosa.

Next day we stopped in Glen Ellen at a winery called Imagery. http://www.imagerywinery.com/ They have wonderful Rhone style blend at this winery. Nancy and I love that juice. My Mom had no trouble sampling from 10 to 12 either.... The winery commissions artists to make all their labels. The require for the artist to put the Parthenon building from Athens somewhere in the painting. The original pieces are on the wall of the winery. It is so nice to be able to see them up close. Anyway we ended up buying two cases plus of a nice variety of wines. We were ready for few winters to come... We even managed to have lunch at "the girl and the fig" restaurant downtown Sonoma. http://www.thegirlandthefig.com/html-sonoma/index.html It was such a treat. The walls are adorned by pastel paintings of Julie Higgins. Sensuous painting with Girls, figs and ravens mostly with few exceptions...http://www.artistjuliehiggins.com/html/main.asp Do not hesitate to buy me one of those if you feel that generous.... just kidding! Anyway it was a delightful interlude. We were back on the road by 2pm and I was stopped by a cop by 2:30 in Napa with a speeding ticket... I guess I didn't deserve this one but probably deserved plenty of other ones in all my years of driving. It was my first one and I hope this to be my last. The afternoon and the evening was spent driving and driving and driving until we reached Ashland, Oregon. The road was really pretty most of the way. Nancy ended up finishing the last stretch so I had time to look and relax holding my puppy in my arms. So fun. Thanks Nancy.

We didn't get to see Ashland much. We arrived too late and too tired to do anything. The next day was another long day of driving with a stop in Lake Oswego where we had lunch in a French restaurant. Nice little town. We were at Bunny's in the afternoon where the Mom Squad rallied again to help find a vet for Gaia who was taking the plane with my Mom the next day. Another Saga Roxane's style doing things at the last minute. All is well at the end though so no problem!!!! Right! Thanks to my wonderful friends and family who can help with patience.... Why do they do it for me....????? I have no clue but I am grateful and thankful to have them in my life. I should also mention that we had champagne and cheese for diner. So nice. Just hit the spot. Mimi came to see us and meet my Mom in the morning and then have lunch at the Boarding house in Gilman Village in Issaquah. There nothing better than that. Then it was time to get to the airport to drop my Mom and Gaia of and then to the port to drop the car of and take the ship... But that is another story...!!!!