CALIFORNIA DREAMIN', Day 6, July 29

This morning, Maureen left relatively early--by about 8 a.m. I got up shortly thereafter, wrote the blog of the previous day, and then had a cup of hot tea and a blueberry muffin. I had packed for our trip last night, so that was done already. By 10, Alexandra was up and was packed in a few minutes. When Maureen returned at 11:30, she changed clothes and then all three of us had lunch before leaving--leftovers from yesterday's birthday dinner. At about 1:00, we left for the Golden Gate Bridge. Crossing it took a long while, as traffic, once we hit SF downtown, was a long line going nowhere quickly. However, we took our time and were calm. Once we crossed,we headed for Bunker Rd. and the Marine Mammal Center. The center is an animal hospital that rescues and rehabilitates sick, injured, and distressed marine animals from the California coast. Said to be the largest marine mammal facility in the world to combine rehabilitation with an on-site research lab, the center treats 600-800 animals per year. Residents frequently include seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises and sea otters. We had a tour at 3 o'clock and saw animals in different pens being taken care of by the staff. In addition, exhibits provide information about marine mammals, ocean conservation, and the work of the center. Once the tour was ended, the fog had lifted and we headed out to Sausalito, a charming bayside town in Marin County. Upscale boutiques, art galleries, gift shops, and open-air cafes line Bridgeway, the main street, where we parked and walked around. I especially enjoyed the photo gallery of Rodney Lough's "Wilderness Collection," featuring fantastic wilderness landscape photography. Sausalito resembles a Mediterranean village, with residential areas climbing behind Bridgeway and Mount Tamalpais in the background. From there we drove towards Mill Valley, stopping on the way to admire the views of SF, the yachts in the harbor, as well as the interesting houseboat residences lining the bay at Sausalito. We drove to Mill Valley and found our Travelodge, where we are staying overnight. As soon as we had secured our room, we went back out and found downtown Mill Valley, which had an interesting combination Art Deco-Spanish Revival movie theatre called "Sequoia.". Close to that cinema, we had dinner at Pearl's Phat Burger. The burgers were excellent, and then we walked a bit more downtown, discovering a Catholic church and a private school (the Greenwood School) in the process. Lovely mellow light. We are now at the Travelodge, and the sun has almost set. Fine day--tomorrow, we proceed further north. As ever, SV