driving about

Today was the driving day. I reserved a car with Dollar Rent A Car and arrived early since I had read online that they can be pretty slow. I'm glad that I did because they were indeed slow. I guess with lower rates, you get poorer service. Well, the guy who was helping me decided to upgrade my car for free since I was so patient, which was pretty nice and totally unexpected. I first drove south to Half Moon Bay, since a friend's dad had told me a few years back that I would love it there. It was lovely, but pretty cool, so it was hard to stay out on the beach for very long. I went into the downtown area and saw the shops, then headed back north to see Napa Valley. I was surprised at how well I can get around when I just have a little faith in myself. I didn't get lost at all! I drove the whole winery strip on CA-29 to see Old Faithful. It was going off quite frequently today, so I got to see it over-steam three times in only thirty minutes or so. Strangely, "the management" also had a couple llamas and some lambs on display. They were pretty cute, but I felt bad for the close quarters that they were stuck with. After my fun at the tourist trap that is Old Faithful, I drove back along CA-29 and stopped at a winery to explore and taste a bit (but not much since I was driving solo). Napa is beautiful and I'm glad I made the drive to see it. On the way back to San Francisco, I got to drive on the top of the Bay Bridge (versus the bottom on the way out), so I was pretty excited.