Day 50 – Vallejo, CA

All that partying yesterday apparently took its toll; our adventurers did a resounding sleep-in, with Don getting up just before eight.  At least he got to watch some of his regular Sunday morning TV programs.  He was good enough to take the time to escort me on a brief outing after he fixed my breakfast.  Geri came to life around nine, but there still wasn’t a whole lot of movement in the rig for quite a while.  Don finally got motivated to get his clothes on and take me over the nearby park for a good, full-fledged walk, and I got to do some meaningful running and rolling.  We met a little white furball lady, and her human lady, who asked if I was a good dog.  I love to hear Don tell people that he and Geri consider me to be the Best Dog In The World, and describe how well-behaved, mannerly and considerate I am.  I know it’s just the truth, but it’s nice to hear it, anyway. 

We stopped to buy a Sunday paper, and took it back to the coach, where they entertained themselves with it.  Lunch time came along, and no action was being taken to going anywhere.  Finally, Geri asked Don what he wanted to do; he replied that he wanted to drive to San Francisco to see what we could of the Fleet Week activities.  She asked when he wanted to go; he said, “Now!”  Well, of course, that didn’t happen, but by one-thirty, we were in the truck and headed for The City.  We were only about half way through Richmond when the traffic came to a near standstill, and we made our way to the Bay Bridge toll plaza in fits and starts.  Once we got on the bridge, the traffic moved pretty well, and we made our way down to the Embarcadero, where the Navy ships were moored.  It was a mob scene; there was a line a half mile long to visit one of the ships, and the traffic was wall to wall.  We’d had enough of that coming over, and it was getting along toward the time of the Blue Angels’ performance, so Don decided to get us to a good place to see them from.

He had a flash of inspiration, and knowing that some of the better-known viewing points would be very crowded, he headed for Buena Vista Park, which is located on a fairly tall hill which overlooks the downtown area.  We got there in good order, only to find that you could no longer drive up the hill to the parking area at the top.  The stone pylons blocking the road made it look like this had been the rule for quite a while.  Well, face it, Don hasn’t lived here since the early 80’s.  It was getting close to performance time, and he decided to go with his original idea, the top of Twin Peaks, the highest point in the City, with a commanding view in every direction.  On our way there, Don showed Geri and I a home that he and his real estate partner had considered buying, but decided that $40,000 was too much money for it.  It was a classical beauty, with pillars and ornamental stonework in the front.  The home was being sold by the estate of a movie star named Norma Talmadge.  Don said now he was sorry they hadn’t bought it. 

Sure enough, when we got to the top of Twin Peaks, the place was loaded with people and cars in every parking slot.  Luckily, as we cruised through the parking and viewing area, we saw a car backing out of a parking place; we zoomed in, and found ourselves well located for watching the show.  Don charged off in the direction of the modern, hi-tech rest room that we had spied on the way in.  He didn’t come back for nearly twenty minutes, when the performance was just about to start, and only told us later about the fight that he had with the facilities, which he had won only by brutally forcing the automatic powered door closed.  Anyway, we first watched the Angels’ support plane doing turns over the City, and doing a low bank over us at Twin Peaks.  Then the six F-18’s came roaring in from the north, doing low passes along the Embarcadero and the Marina Green.  They did all of their regular repertoire, including the slow barrel roll, the starburst, and a single aircraft hammerhead.  But mostly, they cruised over the city in formations of two and four, and sometimes singly.  They made several passes around Twin Peaks, to the delight of the assemblage there.  I was enthralled by the whole thing, and by the view of the City and the East Bay from the location.  Don told me that he had lived for awhile just down the hill a little ways from where we were, and this was the view that he had every day.  He said he got tired of it after a while.

Downtown San Francisco

Some of the crowd at Twin Peaks

Angels passing by!

Going round the hill

When the Angels had departed, we headed down the hill, and stopped by to look at the first house that Don had bought in San Francisco.  It was way further down the hill on a quirky little dead-end street.  When we found it, Don said that they had done a very poor paint job on it, and didn’t think it looked very good.  I think he might have wanted it back to redo it again. 

We got back to the coach just in time for my dinner, after a good walk over in the park.  Don and Geri went out and got themselves a pizza, resulting in a few good pieces of crust for me.  We watched some TV, got the blog done, and did a fairly early turn-in.  Think we’re going out to visit some friends tomorrow, should be fun!  See ya!