{"id":59953,"date":"2014-08-22T05:58:48","date_gmt":"2014-08-22T11:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wend.ca\/?p=59953"},"modified":"2020-07-03T15:12:41","modified_gmt":"2020-07-03T19:12:41","slug":"san-francisco-santa-rosa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=59953","title":{"rendered":"Road Trip: Santa Rosa"},"content":{"rendered":"

The distance between San Francisco and Santa Rosa is roughly an hour without traffic. From Mountain View, it is about 2-hours with the drive to SF, the pass-through, and then the drive North.<\/p>\n

For this particular trip we left on a Friday, which means lots of traffic… but I love the drive through San Francisco, especially when it’s done along the Skyline Hwy \/ Great Hwy heading towards Land’s End and with a child (which means I can use the HOV lane). <\/p>\n

This particular part of San Francisco is windswept, covered in sand, and simply unique. It doesn’t feel like you’re in the middle of a congested, busy, dirty American city; it feels like you are driving through a small seaside town full of charm and character. And, for this journey, we were able to watch hang-gliders float their way along the beach. Fort Funston National Park<\/a> is a well known international destination for hang gliding.<\/p>\n

Once out of San Francisco, the drive to Santa Rosa doesn’t have a lot of fruit stands like the drive South does. Rather, there is a different attraction along these roads: wine. Sonoma is wine country, which means miles and miles of vineyards, unique estates, grapes, Wine Tasting<\/em> signs, and some of the most beautiful California scenery I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. This certainly makes the drive easier.<\/p>\n

Once in Santa Rosa the first thing you notice is the plethora of Peanuts<\/a> statues everywhere. Charles Schultz (the Peanuts creator) is from this city and for over 4-decades worked in his small workshop at One Snoopy Place. <\/p>\n

Note: the photographer in many of these photos is La Ni\u00f1a<\/em>.<\/p>\n