A week ago, on a cloudy and chilly day that was one of a long series, we headed south in search of sunshine and an interesting break in our routine. We planned to head toward San Francisco in a circle including the wine country of northern California and the smaller towns along the coast.

This visit to the fabled city turned out to be one of our most interesting in spite of fog and a cool breeze. We took a lengthy tour with a knowledgeable guide, a brave and confident driver, and saw parts of San Francisco we'd only read about as well as sampling the usual tourist treats. Between the visit to Nob Hill and Golden Gate Park for tea at the Japanese Garden, we drove through the Presedio to admire the renovations,visited the Lincoln Park Municipal Golf Course (formerly the Chinese Cemetary), the Cliff House, the remains of the Sutro Gardens and took a walking tour through the alleys of China Town. The step into a different world at the Fortune Cookie Factory gave me the only San Francisco souvenir I brought home.

We located our favorite sourdough bakery for lunch with dessert at Ghirardelli but skipped the Sea Lion viewing, we have our own share of problems with those robber barons. This was our first time to walk on the Golden Gate Bridge and feel the vibration. I didn't go very far, that's not a sensation I like a lot, even on our local overpass.

We came home with a lot of new memories to absorb, reassured that the Oregon Coast is more user friendly than the northern California coast, and a list of things to see and do the next time we drive over the Golden Gate.