The drive to Freemont was beautiful. The crazy winter in California was melting, the hills and mountains were turning green, the wild flowers and almond trees were in bloom and I was soaking it all in. There were beautiful green rolling hills that Aaron said were normally barron and brown. I am so glad I was able to see them covered in green. We could see that the lakes, rivers, and reservoirs were filling more than they had in years. It was fantastic to witness.
We made it to Freemont, home to Tesla, part of Silicon Valley and the location of Aaron’s company’s west coast home office. We stayed at Coyote Lake just outside of Freemont. Poor Aaron had to commute to work…he hasn’t had to do that very often in a very long time. We were close to San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and lots of beautiful scenery. We parked our home and settled in.
Aaron and I hadn’t done laundry since Louisiana so, it was time. The next morning we grabbed our laundry bags, I dropped Aaron off at the office and headed to the laundromat. It felt good to be driving without the house behind me. The advantage of using a laundromat is that what would have taken all day at a house only took an hour. Multiple washers and dryers make things go a lot faster. After that lovely hour I had the rest of the day to explore.
My goal was to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. My route took me right through downtown San Francisco, which was challenging in the F-250, but I did it like a champ. The city is beautiful, artistic, and full of money and homelessness. I drove the Golden Gate and once across the bridge I decided to check out the town of Sausalito. I thought driving the truck in San Francisco was challenging. It was nothing compared Sausalito. It was a charming town with small, windy roads and an incredible view of the San Francisco Bay. I got myself into a few tight spots, but was able to get out of them with no harm to the truck (or so I thought). I made it back over the bridge and decided it was time for lunch.
I went to my first In-N-Out. It was really good for fast food. Then I decided I wanted to drive the Bay Bridge. I crossed the bay again, drove through Oakland, and headed back to Freemont to pick Aaron up from work. On our way back to the house on wheels, we both heard a weird noise from the tires. We thought that maybe there was a rock stuck in one of them. Boy, were we wrong. During my day of driving all over, I picked up a really big bolt.
Luckily, Aaron was able to get the tire repaired and we didn’t have to buy a replacement. But, that was a reminder that things can and will happen. We were fortunate that the damage wasn’t much, there was no blowout, and we were safe.
We put away our laundry, fixed dinner, and settled in for the night. I had birds to watch, walks to take, and cameras to learn how to use. It felt good to know we were going to be here for a little while.
Wandering Cindi 