San Francisco Arrival

I probably shouldn't say San Francisco because we are actually staying in Larkspur across the Bay.  Marin Park RV was recommended to us by our friend Rose and we made a reservation months ago which was a good thing as this park is packed.  Our space is right down near the end of the park with easy access to the tidal flat which goes right out to the bay.  While walking the dogs on the various trails, Allan has seen stilts, plovers, Canadian geese, and a raccoon which seems to live in the mobile home park in back of our rig.

On Sunday evening, our first night here, we walked about a mile out of the park, along the freeway with San Quentin to our right, down a boardwalk, across the ferry parking lot, and up and over the freeway on a pedestrian bridge to the Marin Brew Pub for a pizza.   We also indulged in an ice cream cone for the walk home.  As we got back to our rv, we noticed a sign in the Prevost which is parked directly across from us.  The sign was a very large photo of the

book "Queen of the Road" by Doreen Orion, a self proclaimed Jewish Princess married to an Outdoors Guy who wanted to go on the road in an rv.  They are actually both psychiatrists who took a midlife break but her recounting of their first year on the road is hilarious and if you have a chance to get her book, I highly recommend it.   A couple of days later we were able to meet them in person.  You just never know who you will meet down the road.  www.queenoftheroadthebook.com 
On Monday, which was also Memorial Day, rain was expected, so we figured it was a perfect time for heading over to Berkeley to the bookstores.  No matter where we used to live in California, we

would always take an annual trek over to Telegraph Avenue to soak up some of the university energy and replenish our bookcases at Moe's books.  Moe Moscowitz migrated out from New York in the fifties and opened the bookstore in 1959.  It has been a go to place for all serious readers ever since.  There are four stories of used books.  There are very few pocketbooks or textbooks.  They took one of our bags of books in trade and we left with two bags of books.  Allan found a R.L. Stevenson entitled "Virginibus Pueresque" written in 1881, one of the earliest volumes of his collected essays for fifteen dollars.  He also purchased a book for five dollars by Sir Edward Creasey called Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World from Marathon to Waterloo.  Sir Edward was the Chief Justice of Ceylon and wrote the book in 1873.   I found a book on Cairo, the city Victorious written by a correspondent for The Economist who has lived in Cairo almost all of his life.  It's a combination of history and travelogue.  I also picked up Food Writing 2012, a collection of essays on food, a subject near and dear to my heart.  Another good find was a book by Peter Hessler called Strange Stones, which is some of his best essays, both foreign and domestic.  He is a correspondent with the New Yorker and I have always enjoyed his books.  Another travel book I found is Traveling The 38th Parallel and of course I found a few mysteries.  I love mysteries written by foreign authors, set in their homeland and I purchased quite a few, from lands as diverse as Japan, Malaysia, Sweden, China, and Iceland.  Well, after all of that book hunting, it was time for lunch.  We headed back down

University, stopping briefly at Dick Blick's Art Store, which by the way is sadly deficient in pastel supplies, and then moving on to Spenger's Restaurant which is an old favorite of ours from years past.  Allan had fish n'chips... I had coconut shrimp with orange marmalade and horseradish salsa.  It was delicious, so delicious that we forgot to take photos before we started eating.  So you will just have to imagine what a great meal we had.