Keep rocking while you still can

To Mill Valley, CA to meet up with Dean and Patty Smith. Dean is an old college pal who has prospered in the west. We tour his three-storey mansion in Marin County and ogle the view toward the city. They have renovated an old hillside house into a modern hi-tech marvel. The fog rolls in off the Pacific through the gaps in the hills - they call this Granola County.
Next morning we head for Santa Rosa to visit the Zap showroom - they are trying to market the smart car in the US but without the assistance of Mercedes-Benz. We meet many members of staff who crowd the parking lot where we are stopped, taking pictures and asking questions, while feeding the parking meter. They have a selection of 'alternative' vehicles in the showroom, including smarts with 'not-for-sale' signs.
Back on 101 we stop off in Leggett to see the Skunk Train, a tourist railroad, and soon we are among the redwoods visiting a drive-thru tree, not very politically correct in this day and age. Next "The Avenue of the Trees", mile after mile of giant redwood trees up to 360 feet high and 2,000 years old.
We stop for gas at Rio Dell and head into Eureka (shopping at Safeway) and a quick tour of the old town before a nightstop at the KOA where we rent a cabin. For the first time it seems properly cold at night, next to the Pacific Ocean, and I put on all available lagging. Up at six o'clock next morning writing up my notes on the front porch swing before going in search of breakfast.
Coming events: Herman's Hermits (with Peter Noone) are playing Hot August Nights in Reno, Nevada. Peter Frampton is at the Marin Center in October.