4th of July

Playing blog catch up as we are having so much fun in California :)

We are fully on US time now having had a good few days of waking at 2am, 3am, 4am as our body clocks moved from Spanish time to US time.

Sausalito - a lovely walk along the seafront saw us revisit some familiar sights, the city in the distance, the San Francisco - Sausalito ferry chugging it's way across the bay and we spotted seals lolling about and being admired by tourists - just not quick enough with the pic to capture them.

Lots of groovy little shops and cafes and the place was humming with holiday weekend visitors.

Great to see elephants in the Viña Del Mar Plaza again

The  elephant statues  come from the Court of the Universe during the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.  Today they help light up the Viña Del Mar Plaza.

We had a great walk from the top of Mt Tamalpais  down to Stinson Beach. We started in mist at the top and by the time we got to Stinson beach the sun was out - great walk followed by some holiday weekend cocktails with the neighbors -  fun day! 

Then our first 4th of July holiday celebrations.

We were heading north to have a holiday lunch with my nephew in Ukiah so we made a day of it.

We stopped in Healdsburg,  an iconic wine country town very much like Martinbrough in NZ - village square, boutique stores, galleries and eateries in a gorgeous setting. 

This was the place to be on Independence Day - great community spirit, people all ages having fun and relaxing in the square, the band playing, lots of Stars and Stripes on hats, bikes and bunting.

They had activities for the kiddies with a 4th of July kids' parade, bike decorations,  a Duck Dash and no one went hungry with free lemonade, hot dogs, snow cones, popcorn, and Mexican street corn!

 Awesome job by Healdsburg Rotary making such an inclusive free event for the community when times are tough for so many.

As we were leaving the square we spotted the only museum in America devoted to fans, the Hand Fan Museum. It was closed but if the window display is anything to go on it could be pretty interesting inside.

https://www.nextavenue.org/the-ultimate-fan-of-fans/ 

As we were driving further north we heard the devastating news of a fatal shooting in Chicago  at a small town 4th of July celebration, tragic and shocking.

On the road to Ukiah for a family lunch and time together with a spot of dog walking :).  Fun fact along with  grape growing, Ukiah is home to a bumper crop of Bartlett pears every season.

On our return journey to San Rafael we stopped at Coppola Vineyards - wine tasting meets pool party in beautiful grounds.

Reached via a grand staircase from the parking area, there's a pool and cabana area, tasting rooms,  a rustic restaurant with a gorgeous patio overlooking the  vines.

Spotted an impressive cork chandelier.

The winery is also used to share the Frances Ford Coppola movie memorabilia.

Among the objects on display are a Tucker car,

Don Corleone's desk from The Godfather - with a note not to go behind the desk....yeah right :)

Coppola's 5 Academy Awards and a range  of movie mementos for the ciniphiles.

The grounds are lovely with a kitchen/restaurant garden you can wander through lush with produce - peaches, zucchini, figs, chillies, herbs, onions, beans and plums. 

Our first ever 4th of July day has been brilliant and we feel very lucky to be here having the time with our US family  who made our day so special 💓