Before heading to my birthplace our friend took us to Fort Funston National Park, a really pretty outlook/park/dogpark/hang gliding spot.



Weeeee ya just run and jump. (Well, ya must be certified or go tandem with an instructor).

Saw CHIPS on the freeway, but didn’t look like Ponch.


That’s where we’re goin, so it’s all good.

Lunch break in Sausalito/Marin City courtesy of Trader Joe’s salads.

Stayin cool with Kalake’s new $5 sunglasses... you can see the planes in the sky for fleet week.

On...

our...

way...


Someone I know used to work here. (I believe it’s closed up now, oh the memories).



Here it is!


I guess I was a keeper!? Geesh.

Updated with my original form I’m about 160 lbs heavier now. I’d like to see that baby hold me, heh?


Not sure if it is the same floor but that’s where it would have happened.


Spent a summer here once. It was great.


I remembered that Guy Fieri, of Minute to Win it and The Food Network, was from Santa Rosa. I looked up if he had any restaurants in Santa Rosa and he does, two of them actually: Johnny Garlic’s and Tex Wasabi’s.

We thought of hitting up both but time was a bit of a constraint, we chose Johnny Garlic’s.

We ordered the Brick Wings and Volcano Chicken.

The wings were seasoned and served with a salsa verde. It was aite, kind of fatty.

The Volcano Chicken was better than the wings. It was served with green beans and mashed potatoes.
Overall I was sadly disappointed by first the appearance of the restaurant and the quality of the food, especially for the prices. The place looked like a simpler Apple Bee’s (it was next to a Taco Bell so what does that tell ya). The food was similar in quality (which, sorry to knock it for those out there that like it, is not a good thing). And the prices were like upscale restaurant prices. The restaurant does offer exotic meats (bison, ostrich, alligator, venison and more), which is interesting. The restaurant suffers from an identity crisis, appearing to be approachable for all but priced for profit, hmm!?


Off we went to our next destination:

Ratna Ling Retreat Center

Kalake got a LivingSocial deal for 2 nights all inclusive (vegetarian meals) meditation, yoga practice (Kum Nye), and of course housing. We didn’t expect much in terms of the facility we would be staying in but boy were we surprised. It is very nice, it’s like our very own house (cottage) inside the woods. I personally expected something really basic, like a monks quarters or something, lol. The house looks brand new and is very spacious.
Not only is the space nice but since we were running late they put our dinner (3 meals/day included) in our refrigerator, which was a very pleasant surprise and very delicious.

That’s a welcome note and our menu

Here’s a close up:


Yummy!

Here are some photos of our place:

Fire place, quite toasty, yes.

Cool dish rack that goes on the counter which has cut outs for the water to drain directly into the sink... smart!


Our living room and fire place.

Sink and counter. Across from this is the refrigerator and microwave oven.
See.

Our bed/room, slept like a baby (of course all of them pillows had to come off, silly).


View from the fire place to the entrance door.

What is really cool about this cottage is that most things are eco friendly:
Timberframe ceilings, cork floors (really smooth), led nightlights built into the outlets (push on/off).
Bathtub has jacuzzi jets, sweet! Wi-fi all over the entire facility.
The counters with the sinks are made out of an undetermined material (I’ll inquire) which is very smooth, nice and easy to clean.
There’s even an extra room with a murphy bed!

Alright off to sleep we go for we have an early morning of yoga/meditation @ 6am and breakfast at 8am.