Hello from Haight-Ashbury

Rodin, The Thinker

Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco

Yes, by George, I am still in San Francisco. The Guppy got its new engine and I was ready to take off yesterday in the late afternoon. However, the engine stalled out three times within a few miles of the garage, so I finally just had them tow me back and I spent one more night with my friend Joni. Today they have discovered that there was a part that sent the flow of gasoline into the carb (if I understand this correctly) that needed to be replaced. The garage is doing this at their expense and they will also carefully check out the vacuum hoses and whatever else may have contributed to the engine quitting on me and then I can be on my way...again.

The Sharon Art Studio in Golden Gate Park

I have some General Delivery mail to pick up in Santa Cruz and I may not get there before the Post Office closes today, so now my plan is to spend the weekend in Santa Cruz. This will give me a chance to meet Mikey and Stacy Thurber in person some time over the weekend (finally!), then I can pick up my mail on Monday morning and continue on my way. It means I will spend a shorter time at some of the other Central California Coast locations that I'd picked out.

Lemon Trees

I had picked out places to stay for the first six weeks out on my trip, but in actuality I have only spent one night where I intended. I'm going to try to keep some of the really terrific reservations that I've made ahead of time, such as my two weeks in Palm Springs at a couple of Coast to Coast resorts, but after that I'm just going to play it by ear. It's too frustrating to be constantly making, changing, and canceling reservations.

Tulips in February!

So I've spent an additional couple of days here in San Francisco. The garage's initial prediction of when they'd be done with the motor was Wednesday noon. Now it's Friday at about 1:30 pm and I am still here, using the Internet at the world famous Red Victorian Bed, Breakfast & Peace Arts Cafe, which is on Haight, just a few blocks from the garage. These past two days, I've been able to see more of San Francisco, get to another A.A. meeting, and enjoy more of Joni's hospitality and companionship. It's really been nice, but I am ready to go! I wanted to be camping on beaches this week.