DAY 29: Vacaville, CA - Who Turned The Heat On?????

Monday, June 29: Vacaville, CA

It's  108 crazy, ridiculous, egg frying on the concrete, degrees outside!!!!!!!! Dang it's hot here. You know, when we were heading this way yesterday, Chuck was telling me he always gets San Francisco and San Diego confused.  He can never remember which one is where.  So my response to him was just remember that San Diego is always warmer cause its the furtherest south; and San Francisco is always "cooler" because its further north.  So now he thinks we are in San Diego cause its so HOT here.  

We decided since the temps were suppose to be so high today that we would get an early start to San Francisco this morning.  The town we're staying in, Vacaville, is about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco, so we thought if we left between 8:00 and 8:30, we would miss the traffic in San Diego......er, I mean, San Francisco.  So off we went.  We were dressed for the hot weather; after all, we're from Texas; we know all about hot weather.  We hop on the trike, manuever around the caboose thats parked next door (don't ask) and off we go.  We get about 15 miles up the road and notice its gotten much cooler and the wind is really blowing.  We promptly pull over and get our rain suits on (they're really nice and warm) and head on to SF.   Of course we had one stop to make before getting there.......we unfortunately passed an Ihop, and for those of you who know my husband, know that we can't pass an Ihop without stopping.  So, an hour later, we're back on the road.  By the time we actually get into SF, its really gotten much cooler......and by the time we got to the Golden Gate Bridge, I'm FREEZING!   I'm dressed for summer, except for the rain jacket, and my legs have gone numb and my teeth are chattering.  We do the normal stops along the edge of the bridge to take pictures and then go to get on the bridge itself.  Now, this was the most important reason we came to SF.  I wanted Chuck to be sure and videotape us on the motorcycle going over the bridge.  So I'm nagging him about getting the camcorder ready; is he SURE its recording...blah blah blah.....(we all remember what happened at Mt. St. Helens don't we???!) and he's starting to get annoyed.  About this same time, I notice a sign that says you have to pay to get on this bridge.  What?????  That's absurd.  But ohh noooo, they want you to PAY for their bridge repairs by charging $6.00 to cross this bridge.  Errrrr.....this means I must now pull over to retrieve my purse in the trunk of the motorcycle.  We're on the stinkin' bridge and I need to pull over??????  Seriously????  This also means I can't go back and forth on the bridge as I had planned to make sure we have a top notch video of this experience.  Long story short, we paid the stupid $6 to cross the stupid bridge and the video that Chuck took, well, it starts out real good........but ends with us looking like we're in an earthquake on the bridge.   Hummmm....I had kinda hoped for an earthquake while in California......

So we follow the "scenic route" signs all around SF; all 49 miles around SF.  Chuck only fell asleep once that I know of and my intercom kept falling off my helmet, but other than that, it was pretty cool.  There were parts of this city that looked like a third world country, but other parts that had some really cool architecture.  We finally get on the road to head back to the RV.  We're taking a different route back as we (actually, only me) wanted to drive through Napa Valley and the wine country.  So we're heading that direction when we come upon ANOTHER bridge that wants you to pay to go over.  I was very very tempted to take the SpeedPass lane, but with our luck, just knew I would get busted.  So we paid the stupid $4 to get over that bridge and headed towards Napa Valley.  By now, Chuck could care less about Napa Valley and just wanted to get to Costco for more pretzel sticks, but the driver of the bus (that's ME!) was not leaving without seeing Napa Valley.  We get into Napa Valley and what do I see???????  A Goodwill store.  JACKPOT!  The stuff at the Napa Valley Goodwill store has got to be some GREAT stuff, so I throw on the brakes, make a stiff right turn and wheel us right on into Goodwill.  Chuck is thoroughly annoyed now as he's just not the Goodwill type of guy, but he patiently waited for me to finish my shopping.  They really did have some good stuff, folks!

As we're heading through the beautiful wine country, it is getting hotter and hotter.  By the time we reach the highway, it is crazy hot on this motorcycle.  We just have a little ways to go, but its a blacktop road and the heat is almost unbearable on my legs as I'm driving.  We finally get to the exit for the Costco and I'm feeling really strange about now; I'm light-headed (no comments, please); I notice I'm not sweating although I'm burning up; and I've been drinking water since we left home this morning.  I know this all means I'm severely dehydrated and by the time we get to the Costco parking lot, I am having a hard time breathing.  We get in the store and get something to drink, sit and enjoy the cool air and eventually all is well.   Here I was from Texas and not able to take this heat.  What a WHOOS!!

And that was our day in San Francisco.  Oh ya, Chuck never did find his pretzel sticks at Costco......he remembered later they were at Sam's.  Errrrrr......

I Love You Mom!  We'll be home soon.........