This was the beginning of our three-week "short" trip up the West Coast, a shakedown cruise for the new RV and to see how we would do living in it, and what we would need to bring on the longer (one-year) trip, if that was to happen.

Well we set up camp--almost. Mark found out that now our back room won't slide out. At least the front one still will. He pried the baseboard from below the bed and crawled underneath to get at the motor, but it won't budge. We considered going back home on the 2nd, to see if Village RV can fix it. Decided that we can do the trip without the bedroom sliding out.

September 2: drove into San Francisco ($5 to cross the Golden Gate bridge!) and spent the day at Yerba Buena Gardens (at the Moscone Center) and Golden Gate Park. Katie got to ride on Two carousels today, and play in two really wonderful playgrounds. We took lots of pictures. Then we dropped by Sausalito and bought a kite and yummy Lambert's ice cream. Then came a near tragedy--Katie left her dearest Pigbear in the kite store, and we forgot all about him. She remembered when we got back to the car, thank goodness.

Jane visited us tonight and told us about her upcoming trip to the Grand Canyon. She gets to raft the Colorado for two weeks, all expenses paid (it's for her job).

September 3: Drove to see Jane at work and Katie got to meet her new doggie, Chester. Katie fed Chester a day's worth of doggie treats in 15 minutes. Drove out to the Point Reyes lighthouse, where it was Very clear viewing but quite a cold, windy walk. Once we got to the 300 stairs, Katie did them all by herself, down and then up again! Tried leaving camp and had more electrical problems. Found out that the Brake Buddy (the thing helping us to brake the car we are towing behind the RV) is blowing out the fuses in the car. Mark got around it by putting in a much bigger fuse. So far so good.

On the way to Point Arena, we stopped at The Sea Ranch, to visit with Janet and Terry Lowell. They invited us to stay for dinner, so Terry and Mark drove the RV up to Point Arena, and Janet walked Katie and I to the beach. It was so warm compared to Point Reyes, with cool driftwood and beautiful cliffs. We had a barbeque dinner that Mark declared would be "our best dinner on the whole trip." I sort of take issue with that. Katie had a blast playing with Kristen and all the Lowells, and Janet even painted Katie's fingernails. (Five days later, her fingernails still look sparkly.)

Here are pictures from the Olema campground, San Francisco, the Point Reyes Lighthouse, and the Sea Ranch (September 1-3)

Our campground at Olema

Katie helping in her way to fix the slideout.

"Bleep bleep the bleeping bleep!"

Yerba Buena Park carousel, built in 1906, which was part of the Funland amusement park at the beach until it closed. It's a great ride--you get to ride twice for one ticket and the horses all have real horsehair tails. The animals are authentic antiques.

The Golden Gate Park playground carousel (by the Sharon Building). This kiddie area was built in 1885. I'm not sure if the carousel was there then, but it is very very old, and very very beautiful. All kinds of animals, including a frog. Very tall giraffes. Painted scenes of the early Golden Gate Park decorate it.

Here is Katie riding on the ever- popular ostrich.

Here is the oldest-looking piece of equipment at the Golden Gate Park playground. The playground dates to 1885.

A cool cement slide. You sit on a piece of cardboard. But Katie rode it gonzo--just her pants.

The coolest things at the playground are the things too dangerous for modern playgrounds, like this thing. We had so much fun on it that Mark actually got nauseous.

Katie walked all the way down and up the 300 stairs to the Point Reyes Lighthouse all by herself.

On the beach at Sea Ranch with Janet Lowell

The pretty sandstone cliffs at Sea Ranch

Some boys had made a house out of driftwood, and also this teetertotter.