We returned home October 1st, 2013 after 13 months, and 40,000 miles of travel in our 17 ft. Roadtrek.  After a great month at home in Albany, we moved across the Bay to San Francisco for two months…to live on one of the 20 San Francisco houseboats (“Floating Homes”).  Sally’s brother is a cruise ship physician…let’s see if you can guess the cruise line: 1) picture the whale tail smokestacks in red and blue; 2) recall the company with the stupidest Captain, driving his boat onto the rocks to show off for a friend ashore; and 3) the company with the cruise ship towed to shore in Mexico after an electric fire that wiped out all systems, escorted home by an aircraft carrier. Carnival! Fortunately, the last instance was my brother’s ship, and there were not only no medical emergencies, but passengers remained healthier than usual as passengers did not go ashore to eat and drink themselves into illness. With my brother at sea for months at a time, we were invited to housesit on the water in San Francisco. How sweet is that?

That last building at the far end of Mission Creek, sits on a big lagoon with water views out two sides. We are always pleased to see the CalTrans divers checking out the concrete pillars as we are the only boat…sitting…directly…under…the massive concrete freeway bridge. During an earthquake, if it goes, we go. Living on the water in a spacious home allowed us to entertain old friends, including those who arrived by boat.

The bird life is extraordinary, and the neighbors friendly. It is easy walking distance from our boat  (below on right in the shadow of the freeway) to AT&T Ballpark seen behind our boat. Humm Baby! Go you Gi-dogs! Let’s see a little bingo round the bases!

That means the entire Embarcadero is available for strolling, filled with sculpture, great restaurants and bars, views of the Bay Bridge with a nightly light show from LEDs set in the suspension cables…

…and of course, the tourists and citizens, in all their diversity of fashion and attitude, the best of City Life.

Our first few weeks involved walking 40 miles each week getting to favorite sites: Coit Tower on its’ 100th Birthday, Golden Gate Park with redwood trails, fountains, tea gardens, and museums, the Beach, Twin Peaks and 5 other hills, and favorite neighborhoods where we lived as young adults.

We walked with Steven’s nephew Mike, 13 miles, along the Bay and over the Golden Gate Bridge, along the water into Sausalito, taking a ferry back to a favorite cocktail place on the Embarcadero. We really earned those appies and Lemon Drop Martinis!

We also got extra lights for our bikes and our bodies and became San Francisco bicyclists, trying out new bike lanes, “The Wiggle” (a meandering ride from GG Park to Downtown, avoiding hills), “The Green Wave” (miles of an urban commute street with lights timed for bicyclists traveling at 14 mph) and valet bike parking at public events. Sally trained to be an Ambassador (eg. fundraiser extraordinaire) with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and enjoyed volunteering weekly. Sadly, four bicyclist deaths last year, in our SOMA neighborhood, requires sustained political action to ensure that San Francisco becomes just like Copenhagen, with 22+% of the populace commuting to work and school on bikes, with cars and taxis trained to “giv’em a brake”. The Coalition’s goal of a hundred miles of bike paths across the City this year is ambitious, but doable. As Captain Jean Luc Picard of Star Trek said, “Make it so!”

The Drought, punishing California terribly this year, has made for warm days, and little rain this winter… perfect for biking. Lety, R.I.P., our darling dog pal, loved being outside all day on the dock, entertained by the neighborhood seals, night herons and egrets, requiring her constant supervision of course…almost as entertaining to her as the flying monkeys at the San Francisco Exploratorium, sent swinging only with rhythmic drumming by the participants.

This week we had to euthanize our sidekick, our baby, our great traveling companion, our gorgeous girl, Lety. We are so very sad; she was only 7 years old. Complications of Canine Typhus from tick bites I had her treated for in Mexico 4 years ago, caused her mental state to deteriorate. Instead of staying calm, knowing we would protect her from confusing/scary situations, she began to respond to new sounds, sudden movement, and new dogs, with extreme aggression. The “Fight or Flight” response was triggered even when we routinely played with her in bed each morning. I am sure she never meant to hurt anyone, but was just biting to intimidate, to try to create a safe space around her. Unfortunately, with time, there was no place she felt safe, even with Steven, her true love.

My son Jacob and I met Lety during our year living on the Bay of Banderas in Nayarit, Mexico; Lety was the resident feral dog at a local salsa dance club, getting kibble and water there, along with a lot of french fries from the patrons. I treated her for fleas and ticks for 4 months, while Lety lived outside, hiding under cars, on cobblestone streets.  Due to my sister-in-law’s kindness, we brought Lety inside to save her from the cab drivers….who had started a game trying to run her over. She flew back to the States with us 7 months later, and Steven met her for the first time a month after that.  It wasn’t love at first sight; to Lety, he was an unwelcome intruder in “our” bed. Steven was patient, and plied her with treats, walks, and lots of play. He really won her over when he began to take her with him every time he left in the car. She was his baby.

Never was she happier (and better behaved) than during the 13 months we all lived together in our tiny motor home during our roadtrip. She matured, became confident and predictable, even around other dogs….as long as she was on a leash.  Off leash, she felt she had to protect us, and her feral dog, “fight or flight” behavior, came right back. We tried to find trails and beaches with no other dogs where she could run free, streaking back and forth past us, stretched out low like a greyhound. She was flying!

She was a terrific traveler, loving all the new experiences: sea birds up close during kayak trips, moose and buffalo right next to the van, dead seal to roll in, eat, and then vomit onto our bed, lots of treats and pats from strangers, breaking her collar to take off after a deer into the Florida swamps for an hour, and countless hikes and beach walks, ferry rides, and sleeping with us on cold nights.  We cannot imagine setting out on our next road trip without her. She loved us deeply, and gave us her best. We are so grateful to have experienced life with her these last years. We miss her terribly; we thank our friend Charlie Denson for the featured image of Lety, that caught her beauty, intelligence and intensity, and those amazing ears.