I can’t tell ya how great and helpful — and funny — the bulk of the advice I’ve gotten from readers has been. I’ve tried to respond to everyone, but if I haven’t my apologies (email is sketchy up here). Anyway, our new thinking is that we’re going to load up and leave the San Juans for good next week. Part of the problem with the mini-vacation idea was that we’d have to make it a round trip. Then we’d stay here for another couple days and leave again. This way we can make the long drive home more scenic. So we may head down to S.F. after all. The downside is we need to bring Cosmo, and he’s no great fan of strange cities. So, we’ll see. Anyway, thanks for all the tips.

Oh and one last thing, lots of folks say Mendocino is great, but I’m still getting a shocking number of tips like this one (See the last item):

G,
I’ve done the trip it sounds like you are considering. A couple of points:
1) The drive along the coast takes forever. If you have the time, it is worth it. If not, you become Jack Nicholson from the Shining.
2) Napa is not what you will expect. It is a day trip if you make a few stops and let the vineyards entertain you. Imagine stopping at five farms in one day to sample their special brand of corn. If you are a wine nut and like being pretentious in front of strangers, it is a blast. If you are a red-blooded American male it gets a bit boring after the first stop. If I were to do it again, I’d hit one place and call it a day.
3) San Francisco is a city you need to visit with a plan. There is a ton of fun stuff to do, but it is not always obvious. Otherwise, it can be like Seattle with worse traffic.
4) Mendocino is full of dragons and evil dwarves.
Enjoy the trip