The trip from Mariposa to Novato was relatively easy. After about 35 miles on two lane roads, we were out of the Sierra foothills and into the Central Valley and limited access highways. The route took us north in the valley which, as described previously, is an agricultural area. We then took interstate highways west to Oakland and then north to Marin County. We crossed the northeastern part of San Francisco Bay on the Richmond Bridge. As you cross the bridge into Marin County, you see the yellow buildings of San Quentin Prison, which is not one of the places we plan to tour.

Novato is in northern Marin County, about 25 miles north of San Francisco. We selected this campground because it was a good location to visit Napa, Sonoma, San Francisco, Point Reyes, Muir Woods and other Marin County sights. Our primary reason for coming to northern California was to attend a wedding next Saturday. Had we not had the honor of attending this wedding, we probably would not have come this far west. The San Francisco area is one that we have both visited previously, most recently when Carrie was living in Mountain View, south of San Francisco. For a number of years, I had come to San Francisco an average of five times a year to visit one of my accounts. We are both looking forward to visiting some of the places we had been in years ago and some that we have never seen.

What a difference a couple of days makes. After several weeks of temperatures near or over a 100 degrees Farenheit, we are now sitting in an area where the temperature may not go above the mid 70s. This morning when we left Mariposa, the temperature was in the upper 60s. When we got to Novato, the temperature had not climbed much. After we had been here a while, the wind started blowing strongly from the west to the point that trailer was shaking. I had the awning out but it was acting like a sail so I lowered it for fear of having it tear apart. Lowering the awning reduced the shaking, but not by much. The long range forecast for this area has us enjoying these low temperatures for at least the next week.