SFO 9 May 2016

We awoke early, but not especially frantic, and had plenty of time to handle last minute bits before our wheelman Dan Gjerde arrived to drive us to Santa Rosa Airport. Our sweet Sienna will watch over Pottsylvania in our absence. "Excited for you to be seeing new things; sad to have you gone," she said, summing up perfectly our own emotions.

Delicious brunch at Costeaux in Healdsburg, and then a very short wait for the Airport Express, and an easy ride to the airport. I love not driving: being able to see the sites along the way.

If you're just joining us, a good overview of the trip can be found here. Click itinerary, above, for the details in Catalunya and France.

Us in front of the Rhododendron, ready to leave. That's Sienna's shadow in the foreground; she took both pictures. We bid a very fond farewell to her and to our sweet cat Pi. We hope both of them thrive and enjoy each others company while we're gone, don't miss us too much (but at least a little), and are happy to see us when we return at the end of June.

As always, the airport is astonishing. So many languages, destinations, costumes. Dorothy, we're not in Mendocino any more!

All we had to check in with was a six letter code and my last name, but that was enough. TSA is mysterious as always, but much happier than before ...more the UK model of kindly mothers making sure you have all the requisite parts. Shoes off, pockets empty, computers in their own basket. Through the weird imaging machine, and then we're back to comfortable California.

As cabin class pax on Turkish Airlines, we're entitled to the quiet of the United lounge. There's a fog bank to the west, blue skies over head, airplanes coming and going with regularity. We board in about an hour. Next transmission is likely to come tomorrow from Istanbul.