Travels With Rover 10/30 Content

From Sonoma, we followed the Russian River West, to Jenner. Then we headed North on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) to Salt Point. The State Park was deserted, so we enjoyed the peace and quite and a huge bon fire. The next morning we wound our way around the curves until we hit the Golden Gate Bridge. On the way, we stopped at Goat Rock (N 39° 31.736', W 104° 57.649'), one of Allison's favorite places to escape, when she was in college at Sonoma State.

We found Ted, Mary and Livernose's place in San Fran, as soon as we got in town. They are friends of ours from Truckee who built Good Dog Ranch. While in town, Marty played chess with Thai Joe on the corner of 3rd & Market.

On Thursday morning we got an email from Jeff, who had seen our truck on Broadway, and reported that surf was breaking at Ocean Beach. Funny enough, when we pulled in to find parking, someone yelled "Hey, I sent you an email this morning" and we told him that's why we were there... small world. Allison attempted to paddle out and Marty surfed about five foot over-head, on this clear blue, sunny day. We met Chris and Max at the break. Chris had already driven from California to Argentina, a couple of years prior, so we got some good tips (like tinting the windows and pad-locking the doors). Thanks to Max, we also picked up a new sponsor, StoraKey, which gives us a secure way to store a spare Rover key. Ok, it's not a Genuine Land Rover part (Mark), but it sure is handy when you're surfing without any pockets :-). That afternoon, we headed South to check out Mavericks. On the way, we found a great learner's break in Pacifica. That night, we hooked up with Brad in San Carlos, drank some fine ale, and played good darts at The Prince of Wales. Try their Habanero Burger if you're brave.

10/20/01 Cameron & Michael's Wedding, Sacramento, California, US

Congrats Cameron & Chris! After Allison arrived from Denver, we headed to Sacramento to celebrate the wedding of Cameron, Allison's Cousin, and Christopher Beck. Actually right before the wedding, we found a Kinko's and updated travelswithrover.com. At the reception, it was great to see friends and family we haven't seen since Mike and Shannon were married last November. Liberty, Cameron's sister, gave the best speech of the evening. We hope to join her for sushi at Cal Beach in Hermosa when we pass through So. Cal later this month. After spending the night with Mike and Shannon, we finally found a bar to watch the end of the NASCAR race on Sunday. We spent the rest of the afternoon with Allison's great Aunt Elsie & Uncle Larry. We showed Uncle Larry our web site trip logs and he shared his journals that he has kept of all of his trips over his 93 years.
10/21 Sugar Loaf Ridge State Park, Sonoma, California, US

After spending the night at Sugar Loaf State Park, we found Buchanan Cellars at the bottom of the mountain (8450 Sonoma Hwy.). We met Linda and Alan, owner, of this two month old winery. Alan drives a Range Rover and uses a Series II Land Rover around the vineyard. Next, we drove to Marty's favorite vineyard, Gundlach Bundschu, which also happens to be the oldest family-owned vineyard in the U.S. Keith, from Gundlach, checked out our web site the minute he saw Rover, and then gave us a special tour of their impressive caves. On our way back North, we stopped at the Jack London State Historic Park (London Ranch Rd., Glen Ellen, CA) and the remains of the dream house he built called Wolf House. By the way, the Benzinger Winery, on the the way to Jack's, has $1.00 off parking coupons.
10/22 Salt Point State Park, Salt Point, California US

From Sonoma, we followed the Russian River West, to Jenner. Then we headed North on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) to Salt Point. The State Park was deserted, so we enjoyed the peace and quite and a huge bon fire. The next morning we wound our way around the curves until we hit the Golden Gate Bridge. On the way, we stopped at Goat Rock (N 39° 31.736', W 104° 57.649'), one of Allison's favorite places to escape, when she was in college at Sonoma State. We found Ted, Mary and Livernose's place in San Fran, as soon as we got in town. They are friends of ours from Truckee who built Good Dog Ranch. While in town, Marty played chess with Thai Joe on the corner of 3rd & Market. On Thursday morning we got an email from Jeff, who had seen our truck on Broadway, and reported that surf was breaking at Ocean Beach. Funny enough, when we pulled in to find parking, someone yelled "Hey, I sent you an email this morning" and we told him that's why we were there... small world. Allison attempted to paddle out and Marty surfed about five foot over-head, on this clear blue, sunny day. We met Chris and Max at the break. Chris had already driven from California to Argentina, a couple of years prior, so we got some good tips (like tinting the windows and pad-locking the doors). Thanks to Max, we also picked up a new sponsor, StoraKey, which gives us a secure way to store a spare Rover key. Ok, it's not a Genuine Land Rover part (Mark), but it sure is handy when you're surfing without any pockets :-). That afternoon, we headed South to check out Mavericks. On the way, we found a great learner's break in Pacifica. That night, we hooked up with Brad in San Carlos, drank some fine ale, and played good darts at The Prince of Wales. Try their Habanero Burger if you're brave.
10/26 The Hossack's Place, Truckee, California, US

Party Time. We made it back to Truckee on Friday night for a party at Allison's parents' house. We got to see Brenda, Lisa, Anthony, Ally, Sandy, Rocco, Judy, Sam, Margie and Samantha. Ted & Marty also drove up from San Francisco for the big event. We said goodbye to Don & Lenna on Monday morning, as they were headed to Mazatlan, Mexico. We'll see them again in December, somewhere in Mexico. Also, much thanks to them for the Zodiac dinghy they gave us for motoring to surf breaks and ocean fishing. Now, we'll be able to join the cruisers' raft-ups when we hang with Don & Lenna on their Islander 36', Windward Luv. We spent the rest of the week gambling at Harrah's in Reno and fixing up the truck. Marty added a shiny Rovers North stainless steel grill plus a redwood platform to sleep on, with storage underneath. Allison loves our new kitchen that is now organized in drawers with access from the rear door. Marty also replaced the standard interior lining with redwood and installed a rear, fold-down Series seat for passengers. Allison sewed curtains and also made tire covers for our spares in the front and rear. Rover never ceases to amaze us with the contacts it generates. While Marty was returning videos this week, he met Michael Okie, admiring the truck. When Okie commented Rover wasn't an NAS, Marty new he was a fellow Land Rover Aficionado. In deed, he's owned his fair share of Defenders (both a 90 and a 110), a Series III and a Range Rover. M. Okie designs and hand makes creative metal works and offered to help us finish our external roll cage with detacheable security bars across the windows. We ate dinner with Okie at Java Sushi later in the week, and had some of the best sushi we've ever tasted - yes, in Truckee, CA believe it or not. Next time you're in the area, stop by Java Sushi on Donner Pass Road and try some incredibly creative rolls made with fish flown in from Hawaii daily while you listen to a nice beat, and admire some of Okie's metal works (Marty likes to call the metal fish modern Taxidermy).