Driving South

It's Thursday and time to pack up the "new" (actually 1 year old) Toyota Sienna for a road trip to warmer climes, and hopefully sunnier weather. It has been a cool spring in the Pacific NW and only a few days to get in a few miles in the bike.

In late May I'm doing a 2 week ride in Macedonia and Albania, and I need a few more miles on the body to be ready for the infamous climbs which are the hallmark of that area.

John Hemmen and I are leaving a few days before the "official" first day of the group riding to visit his sister and brother in law in Marin County.

I t was NOT an auspicious start. I put on the wipers as we left Seattle, and they were on all 750 miles. And it wasn't a drizzle, it was "car wash drive-through" heavy. They reported 5 inches in Larkspur (Marin) the 24 hours before we got there.

But we woke up to a dry Saturday AM and headed to San Francisco (via the ferry) to visit the Museum of Modern Art and then the DeYoung. I loved SFMOMA and look forward to the next time I can visit. Interesting and well curated exhibits. And the "topic exhibit" on the Age of the Machine in art was fascinating as well.

Today, Sunday, we did a 5 mile walk on Mt. Tamalpias 

and then had a late lunch in Stimson Beach.

Here you can see the effects of the deluge in the Stimson Beach State Park parking lot.

Tomorrow it's off to Healdsburg to begin a few days of biking, and, of course, the usual post ride camaraderie as we share stories and a couple of beers. 

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