Last blog

I am sitting in Joy, Hut & Sam's kitchen on Ulloa Street in San
Francisco writing this last blog. We arrived here about 4 pm
yesterday, and I am feeling like a new woman after a good meal, a
great visit with family, including Matt, and a long night's sleep.
The end is bittersweet, probably no surprise to any of you. I am
happy not to be swinging my leg over the bike today, and I am so sad
that this exciting adventure is over.

Let me tell you about the last two days. We left the Benton, CA, B&B
with dread in our hearts. The scooter was showing a disturbing light
the night before, and we had a grueling climb ahead. But in true
Mike style, he said, "It will be fine"", and I bought it. And it was
fine. We climbed from 6,000 feet to 11,000 feet entering Yosemite,
and then descended to 2,000 feet as we left. I would think, having
seen one national park in the west, one has seen them all. Wrong.
Each is unique and scenic. Yosemite provided vistas of steep stone
mountains, blue lakes and rock climbers galore. It is big and busier
this time of year than the other parks, but we managed to get a
flavor of the park. The first picture shows Mike taking a picture of
his favorite subject in the park.

We left there and descended into the wine country not far from
Stockton. Hot and scenic, vineyard after vineyard. I wrote about
our wonderful dinner with Mike's friend, Michael Baldinelli, who
grows grapes owned by his family for many years. He has retired, but
the work we saw him doing yesterday morning looked like anything but
retirement. The workers were harvesting the cabernet grapes, and he
was working along with them to keep things rolling. Not my "cup of
tea", but he seems to love it. Did I mention he and his wife take 6
months off each year to travel to Mexico and lounge about, so not all
work by any means.

We left mid-moring yesterday and rode to San Francisco. We went
through the delta area, stopped for our last road food, hence the
other picture, and crossed the Golden Gate bridge mid-afternoon. It
was a spectacular way to end the trip, and not nearly as terrorizing
as I suspected. Maybe I have grown more accustomed to the traffic
and flow, or perhaps it was the end, or even that it was not as
electrifying as the I-80 in Omaha. At any rate it was a great end to
a trip which I cannot yet describe. I will not do anything again in
my life that was just for me and so enriching and challenging. Mike's
friendship and support was invaluable and made the trip laughter-
filled, as those of you who know Mike can imagine. And now, I never
have to do this again.

Thanks for reading. Love, Jody