All refreshed from our last four weeks immersed in nature - from the Oregon coast to Yosemite National Park - we thought we were due for a little city mischief. So, we repacked the car and headed off towards San Francisco. Jess's friend, Kendra, whom she met during her time in Sheffield, happened to be in the area visiting her boyfriend so we planned a rendezvous. We thought it couldn't hurt to take a minor detour through the heart of California's wine region, the Napa Valley, first though...

More than a few locals had recommended Sonoma rather than Napa, which is the less touristy and more laid back wine-growing valley next door. So, after popping in to Napa quickly to see for ourselves, we decided on Sonoma and were instantly glad we had. The friendly lady at the tourism centre was full of good local tips and recommended we stay in the Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. This beautiful, peaceful campground was near the small towns of Kenwood and Glen Ellen, both within the Sonoma Valley and holding their own against the competitive Californian wine industry.

After a good sleep at Sugarloaf, we jumped on our bikes and began the day flying down the steep road which led from our campground into Kenwood. We tried not to think about how we would manage riding back up with our bellies full of wine!

Our first stop was Kaz's winery, a highly recommended, small scale organic vineyard. The owner, Kaz, was as friendly as promised and his wines set the bar high.

Our next stop was something we were a little sceptical about but happened to have free tasters so thought 'why not!'. We both left Naked Wines very glad we stopped by. This company sponsors talented independant enthusiasts with the grapes, equpiment and funds to produce their own amazing wine. While sipping away on the balcony, we were lucky to meet one of the in-house wine makers, who told us all about an experimental batch of white zinfandel he was currently creating in his backyard with some buddies. Even our server was in an experimental phase of wine making, hoping one day to eventually be contracted by Naked Wines herself. The whole experience was fantastic and we love the idea that this company is able to give people such an awesome opportunity. The wine, by the way, was also fantastic and we left with two bottles!

We had a great lunch at a nearby vineyard owned by an Italian family, 'VJB Vineyards & Cellars'. It was literally like stepping into a cafe in Florence, with musicians roaming around, white bricks, deliciously simply yet flavourful pizzas and fantastic wine. It certainly flared a taste for Italian cuisine and we impulsively stopped by a local olive oil maker on the way out, adding some more bottles to our backpacks!

For our last stop of the day, we went to Loxton, an Australian-run vineyard that Kaz had recommended. We managed to actually meet the winemaker, Chris Loxton, who was singing praises for the Sonoma Valley's geography and climate. You would have to drive half way across South Australia, Chris exclaimed, to find the same variety that you can find within 30 kilometres in the Sonoma Valley. While chatting to Chris, we befriended a nice couple from Ohio. They invited us to visit the well regarded Russian River Brewery with them in Santa Rosa, a place we had been extremely tempted to visit anyway. The beer was great, the food fantastic, the band entertaining and our new friend's were excellent company to top off an awesome day. As a bonus, our new friends were driving, so we left our bikes at the Loxton vineyard for the night and managed to save ourselves the dreaded climb up the hill back to our campground!

Kendra's boyfriend was working in a farm not far from here but security was pretty strict, so Kendra met us at her friends place in Sausalito, just across the bridge from San Francisco. Halloween was in a few days so we all agreed to head to the hills until then and return to the big smoke to celebrate Halloween in style. We found a gem of a campground called Samuel P Taylor, close to the Point Reyes National Seashore, with lots of great hiking opportunities and one of the prettiest campsites we have stayed in yet.

S'mores are an American delicacy comprising marshmallow roasted over a fire and squished between crackers and chocolate. We were excited to do this with a real American, so we purchased fire wood and gathered supplies. As we began chopping up veggies for dinner, the brief sound of rustling plastic caught our attention. We shone the torch around and realised that the marshmallows - the KEY ingredient for s'mores, were missing! We hadn't heard footsteps, animal noises or anything else to suggest they were in danger. Aidan and Kendra searched the area while Jess minded the rest of the food, but couldn't find a trace. Ten minutes later, Aidan heard them. Just a few metres away from us below the creek embankment, a group of raccoons were fighting and screaching over the bag of remaining marshmallows. Within a flash, the entire packet was empty and the raccoons had vanished into the night air... This calm didn't last long as we soon had an entire nursery of racoons running around on sugar highs. They were bolder, fiercer and more aggressive than ever, and more than once during the night did we hear huge gang fights break out. Impressed at their cunning and stealth, from now on we promise to be a lot more cautious of raccoons when there is sugar around!

Over the next couple of days we hiked, visited local cheese makers, hole-in-the-wall coffee shops and micro breweries and generally caught up on lost time with Kendra. We even managed to visit the high security farm where Kyle was working. These couple of days went quickly, and before long it was Halloween and we were driving back towards San Francisco.

Not wanting to deal with the car in the city, we decided to park out the front of Kendra's friends place in Sausalito and catch a bus in. As we were getting organised, we got chatting to the neighbour who's daughter was driving into the city and offered us a lift. In a mad dash, we gathered up our Halloween costumes and a little overnight bag and jumped in. As we were crossing the Golden Gate bridge, we realised we had left our camera behind! So we apologise for the lack of photographic evidence, but we promise you our costumes were both scary and ridiculous!

San Francisco proved to be a good choice for Halloween. We befriended a group of costume-readied peers in the common room of our hostel and headed out for a crazy, fun and slightly hazy night. We conveniently stumbled across a karaoke bar and kicked the night off with some tequila shots and a terrible rendition of 'Rocky Raccoon', a tribute to our infamous friends in Samuel P Taylor. We then moved on to a more happening part of town were the bartender, so impressed with Jess's costume, kept giving her free shots of Fireball whisky, many of which were passed on to the rest of us! Here we befriended a quirky transvestite in her 50's who bought us all cocktails, and watched two girls who we thought were straight passionately making out on the dance floor. Overall, we think we got a pretty good glimpse of San Francisco by night, but thought we should come back after dropping Kendra back to the farm, to get a more sober, holistic impression of the city...

On our trusty bikes again we explored the city the best way we know how. We rode along the bay past the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Warf. We grabbed some snacks at the impressively authentic Chinatown, which reminded us exactly of Beijing, odd smells and all. We spent hours at the Ferry Building, with lots of fresh organic produce and tempting treats. On a recommendation by our Ohio friends from Sonoma, Jess spent half an hour lining up for a coffee at Blue Bottle - which was actually worth the wait. We finished our tour by riding back through Golden Gate Park, past gardens, weekend picnickers and scenic lakes. We loved everything about San Francisco - the happy, chilled vibe, the vibrant night life, the peaceful parks and the variety of food. Two days, however, is all we need in a city to start to miss the quiet, star-filled nights. So, we've loaded up the car again and are heading south to the Californian Central Coast!