California - Day 20 - to Los Gatos, through SFO, and on north

San Francisco North/Petaluma KOA, Petaluma

Sunday, 20 March 2022

the part of today's route on the map of northern CA

the part of today's route on the map of southern CA

a closer view of the Bay area route

I couldn't do what I usually do with 2 maps, which is to put them together to take it all as one photo, because the maps of northern and southern CA were back to back.  But you can probably figure out where I went.

When I left the campground among the redwoods I went south to Santa Cruz, figuring it was too close to pass it up.  What I'd really wanted to do was take a ride on the carousel at their waterfront amusement park.  They have a Looff carousel from 1911 that's still operating.  They charge $6 for a ride, which is more than I've had to pay for other historic carousels but still in a range I'd be willing to fork over.  The problem was that it operates only in the afternoons and I'd've had to come in yesterday to ride it, which I was too tired to do.

The carousel, along with a wooden roller coaster, built in 1924, were together declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.  Both are apparently still going strong.  Here's information about the carousel from the National Roller Coaster Museum   https://rollercoastermuseum.org/santa-cruz-beach-boardwalk-looff-carousel and the Wikipedia page about both attractions.   https://en.wikipedia.org/Santa-Cruz-Looff-Carousel-Roller-Coaster

You wouldn't think I could get lost in the very light early Sunday morning traffic in a smallish city (about 55,000) like Santa Cruz, but I did.  And I had to wander around for a while before I got found, but I did.

Back on CA-17, on the way north I saw a sign with flashing yellow lights, saying "Winding Road Next 8 Miles - Drive Carefully."  I don't remember seeing a similar sign when I was coming south, which would at least have given me some warning of what I was about to have to deal with.  Well, it's done now.

Part way along the road I came to Patchen Pass, elev. 1808'.  Another sign I didn't see going south.  You might not think that pass is a very high one, but it is in comparison to the elevation of Santa Cruz - 23'.

I'd intended to stop at the Safeway in Los Gatos, only to discover its parking lot was very small because it relies on a parking garage, which I can't fit in.  Other people apparently didn't want to fool with the garage because the small lot was completely full - at 8:30 on a Sunday morning.  So I went from there down the road to the city park where I was supposed to meet Morgan.

I got there almost 2 hours early for the 10:30 meet time, but I'd expected that.  I was afraid the parking area might get crowded there too and didn't want to try to hunt for a space for the RV somewhere else.  And it turned out I was right.  It was a beautiful morning, especially after yesterday's rain, and it looked like half of the population of Los Gatos (33,529) was showing up.  The parking lot was completely full by 10:00.  It turned out that there was a large celebration going on in one area of the park - the Hindu Festival of Color.  Lots of people had come wearing bright colors, and there was music and dancing and a general good time, as far as I could see.  But it accounted for the full parking lot.  

This park, though, is connected by a walkway to the county park next door, and that's where my friends ended up parking.

I haven't seen Morgan and Michael since their wedding a lot of years ago, and it was really nice to see them again.  And especially to meet their daughter Layla, who is 2-going-on-3.  She's a beautiful girl and everyone (grandmother Paula agrees) is glad the terrible 2s are coming to an end.  Though the guys both told me how much they were enjoying seeing her develop into her own person, even as young as she is.

They say they're really happy to have moved here to California, where the weather's much better than in New York City where they'd been living.  They have good, challenging jobs and in general seem to be doing very well.  Always nice to see.

At 12:30 we all got moving - them to errands and me on up the road.  I saw a California license plate on a Corvette that read "XELER8."  Wonder how often he got stopped by the CA Highway Patrol.

US-101 runs right through the middle of San Francisco, where it's called Van Ness Ave.  I drove past a beautiful building for the San Francisco Unified School District, but I can't find an uncopyrighted photo online - or much of any kind of photo.  But I also passed City Hall, which is absolutely stunning.  The most magnificent city hall in the US.  Take a look at this internet photo.

San Francisco City Hall

Looks more like a state capitol than a city hall, doesn't it?

Downtown SF is a mix of old and new buildings, and some of the old ones have unusual decorations.  For instance, I'd never have been able to take a good look at the one below if it hadn't been for that red light.  I didn't see anything that told me what this building is and don't even know where on Van Ness Ave. it sits.  But that carving's pretty unusual (though I'm guessing the bears represent California).

see detail enlarged below

At one point, US-101 turned a corner and became Lombard St.  When I saw what Google was telling me to do, I quickly looked it up to be sure the route wasn't including that section of Lombard - the famous one that's claimed to be the world's most winding street.  It has 8 hairpin turns in a 1-block section on a 27° incline.  I've driven it before, and it requires the same level of faith in gravity as downhill skiing does.  There are houses with gardens all along the edge of this block and I sure was glad to learn I wouldn't be taking my RV down it, just to stay on US-101.

Not only is San Francisco on a peninsula, surrounded by water on 3 sides, but the entire settled area here is equally set apart by water, so to avoid a long bridge I'd've had to drive hours and hours around the entire area.  Of the 4 bridges in the Bay area, the Golden Gate was the most direct route and the shortest and the cheapest: northbound there's no toll.  (They want you to leave town, not come into it.)  So I took the Golden Gate and am only sorry I couldn't get my own photo of it.

I think this is the photo most commonly used for
the Golden Gate Bridge.

At 1.7 miles, it's one of the longest bridges I've driven on, and the only reason I tried it was because Google showed me it has 3 lanes in each direction with a divider in between, plus a wide pedestrian walkway - at least there's one on the northbound side.  So I knew I could drive in the middle lane without worrying about faster traffic, and I'd be able to avoid the terrifying feeling I get on some long bridges that the slightest mistake on my part, or a strong wind, could send me over the edge.

For years this bridge was the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world.  Even now it has the 2nd longest main span of suspension bridges in the Western Hemisphere, after only the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York.  

Sadly, the Golden Gate can claim top of the heap in another category: it's the most used suicide spot in the world.  They estimate 1,500 people have jumped to their deaths from this bridge.  Authorities planned for nets to be installed to catch would-be jumpers, but that project has been held up for various technical reasons.  Current completion date is next year.

Today I definitely didn't want to be part of that statistic and, in fact, the drive turned out to be relatively pain- and terror-free for me.

On the other side, I still had about an hour of driving to get to tonight's campground, through country that was fairly rural, which surprised me considering how close it was to a major city.  The map shows several towns written in prominent letters, but they're spread apart and even they aren't particularly large per the 2020 census: San Rafael (58,704), Novato (53,225), and Petaluma itself (59,776).  Petaluma is known for its historic and attractive downtown, but I was too tired to do anything but go straight to the campground.