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After the rush hour traffic and goodbyes to Kim and Sam we joined the highway north and out of San Francisco across the Golden Gate bridge for the last time, pleased to have the car back and felling back in control. This feeling was crushed the moment the 'check engine' light lit up and the car started making odd noises about half an hour after being on the road. Not wanting to take any chances we stopped at the 1st garage we could in a dead-end town and asked for a full safety check - this took most of the day and so we wandered around the streets aimlessly and miserably waiting, getting a taste of what its like to be carless in California - bad, feeling very negative about our travelling future in the USA.
By 5pm the garage had done their work - changed the timing belt, replaced a couple of the coolant hoses and fixed a small oil leak and we were $350 to the lighter. Not wanting to stay in this town any longer than we had to we continued north for a couple of hours, this was easily the best part of the day as our route took us into the Napa valley which was gorgeous in the evening sun. Passing by the vineyards, small wooden towns and rolling countryside lifted our dispair. Too tired to bother with camping we checked into a motel for the night and the evening ended well with us meeting a chatty Irish couple and sharing their wine in the Jacuzzi.
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