Northern California

Dalen and Me in Yosemite

Another catch-up entry – what a whirlwind week we’ve had!

I’ve always heard that northern California was beautiful and now I know for sure. From the peaks of Yosemite to the sparkling views of the Golden Gate Bridge to the rocky cliffs surrounding the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean, it’s been travel-guide perfect! Judy, Al and their son, Alga, had arranged ahead for Chamber of Commerce weather, which we enjoyed every single day – WOW! Alga, who lived in San Francisco for a while, says the weather is always that perfect, but well, whatever.

Our California sampling started with a trip to the Volkswagen dealer in Merced. Al’s Passat had started acting funny on the way down from Sacramento and apparently needed $1100 worth of work! So, we transferred our luggage to a rental car (thank-you, Al) and continued on to enjoy Yosemite National Park and San Francisco before returning to Merced to regain the Passat.

Yosemite Valley was just as amazing as I’d imagined. The snowmelt and, apparently, some recent rain had the rivers full and the waterfalls gushing.  The valley floor was spring green and flowering, a tranquil beauty that was protected by the stark and stunning beauty of the giants all around it. We climbed the trail leading to the top of Yosemite Falls, from which we were gifted with precipitous long-range views at every switchback. Dalen and Alga actually sprinted to the top and back down; we more “mature” travelers took time to enjoy the views and only made it half-way before turning back to retrieve the cold beers waiting for us in the trunk of our rental car.

Our hostel

Next stop on the agenda was San Francisco where we stayed at the San Francisco City Center Hostel. Thirty bucks per person per night bought each of us a bed with clean linens, a clean towel, and a bagel breakfast. Our room had a bath and beds for 5, so we didn’t have to share the room with strangers. The hostel location was not pristine. In fact, the person who checked us in warned us to only turn left out of the hostel door, unless we were looking to score some crack. Thankfully, we had our trusty rental car and our own personal tour guide named Alga, both of which saved us from wandering into trouble. Responses to the hostel were mixed: Dalen thought it was overpriced, Alga thought it was nicer than 80% of the hostels he’s experienced, Judy felt too old to be staying there, and Al and I thought it very much worth repeating if we could keep strangers from sharing our space.

Judy on China Beach

San Francisco was everything I’d ever read or heard about and much more, thanks to the insider’s tour provided by Alga. As we drove into the Bay Area, Alga took us on a driving tour of the Piedmont neighborhood where he’d lived, including a stop at a wonderful market stocked with local, organic and sustainable foods and other necessities for the foodies of the San Francisco area. All of this within walking distance of his former apartment – do you detect a hint of envy?  Then we took our booty to the hills of Walnut Creek where we ate with a panoramic view of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco. Just wonderful! Tummies full, we drove around the north end of the Bay to take the Golden Gate Bridge into downtown San Francisco. Once again, Alga’s knowledge of the area took us to a viewpoint in Golden Gate National Recreation Area west of the bridge, a perfect place for taking postcard pictures of the bridge.

After settling into the hostel, Alga treated us to a walk in the Castro district, home of Harvey Milk and the nightlife for the LGBT crowd. Honestly, it was really nice to see people who might otherwise be ostracized enjoy themselves in a place where they can be completely comfortable and accepted. Some were more comfortable than others, though, and a tad more comfortable that my ability to be comfortable with their comfort J. The country girl in me was a bit taken aback by the large pro-wrestler types holding hands with each other, and the cute naked man in a stocking cap strolling along in front of us was an interesting surprise (“nice hat,” someone commented).

View from Cable Car

Alga on Greenwich Steps

On Sunday, Dalen worked out at a local climbing gym while we did the remaining super-touristy things like take a ride on a cable car, which is strictly for tourists, and a streetcar, which is still used for transportation by locals. Perhaps one of the highlights was our climb up Greenwich Steps to see Coit Tower. These steps are used by residents (and some tourists) to travel between houses and are absolutely lovely. They offer snapshot views of the Bay in the midst of flowering shrubs and tunnels of leafy tree branches. Residents along the steps use them to show off their gardening and artistic talents, which makes for a truly delightful journey.

After we picked up Dalen, we visited the Haight-Ashbury district, something I’ve always wanted to do since my days as a hippie wannabe. This may come as a surprise, but this one-time Mecca of the free-spirited, drug smoking, peace & love generation is now a commercialized parody of its former self. However, at the end of Haight Street is Golden Gate Park and here is where the Haight-Ashbury of my imagination now exists! A drum circle drew us to a meadow where people relaxed on blankets, swayed to the drum rhythms, sang, did handstands, etc. Whatever, wherever – including open consumption of weed and who knows what else!  Someone approached Al and asked if he wanted a “bud”. My initial thought? Why would he want a beer from a stranger?! I AM getting old!

Our food tour of San Francisco included being treated to a meal at Chez Panisse by Al and Judy. (Smug alert!! San Franciscans take their foodie-ness very seriously!) At Chez Panisse the menu describes which farms produced which foods and the wait staff can fill in the details, such as the date, time and state of Zen consciousness when harvested. Rumor has it that to be a chef in San Francisco, you must first do a tour at Chez Panisse, and each dish seems prepared as if an advertisement for its chef: unique combinations of foods with simple but delicious seasonings to bring it all together into an unforgettable meal. So, being me, I kept the menu to be sure I wouldn’t forget: Dalen had the Wolf Ranch quail roasted with butter and honey and I had the grilled Riverdog Farm asparagus with lemon preserved chick peas.

Another stop on our food tour was a pizzeria that Alga knew where we ordered delicious pizzettas with arugula and other unusual items. However, most of our meals were eaten out of the cooler of delicious cheeses, meats, olives, veggies, fruit and the obligatory baguette that Judy and Al brought and we replenished daily until arriving in Seattle.

The Northern California Coast

Crescent City Light House

The coast of Northern California is where we headed next.  Here I must apologize because I am running out of descriptors for the amazingly beautiful scenery in this part of the country. I am not that well traveled, but I have been to Greece and Costa Rica and Capri and the vistas in Northern California equal or exceed all of those places. It was also the trip you imagine when reading travel brochures: gorgeous sights, perfect weather and few other people. We followed Route 1 up the coast, traveling right along the shoreline and stopping whenever we felt the urge to hike or walk on the beach or take pictures or just enjoy the view without moving.

Our first night we called ahead to get reservations at a clean and reasonable place recommended by “Lonely Planet”: the Columbi Motel in Fort Bragg, It was indeed reasonable and clean, but reservations were not really needed since there did not appear to be any other guests. The owners of the motel, also own the Columbi Deli and Market and the Columbi Laundromat, which we were happy to use without worrying that we were being absorbed into “the Family.” For dinner we paid way too much for Fish & Chips at a local brewpub, but enjoyed sampling the beers they brew across the street.

Two other items on my list for northern California were to visit a winery and see the redwoods, both of which we checked off the next day. The Navarro vineyard was our choice for a winery because Al and Judy knew that their wine is good and reasonably priced. They were right! So, of course I had to purchase 5 bottles of wine because they had been so kind as to let me taste a dollar’s worth for free!

The Giant Redwoods

Seeing the redwood trees in a book does not come close describing what it feels like to stand at the feet of these giants. I took picture after picture trying to capture that Lilliputian feeling without success. They are majestic in the way they stand so straight and hundreds of feet tall. The tallest tree is said to be 436 feet tall and 44 feet in diameter at the base!

Snow Covered Bathrooms

We left California and crossed into Oregon, which holds it’s own in the beauty competition, but in a different, northwestern rugged way. The sunshine stayed in California, but the cloud covered skies and 12 feet of snow didn’t keep us from driving up to the rim of Crater Lake. The snow did keep us from doing much more than taking a quick picture of the lake and plan for the next visit to do some hiking around the lake. The metal tunnel through the snow to the heated bathroom was one of the more interesting sites on this visit!

Our last stop before Seattle was Portland, Oregon. Not a favorite of Al’s and Judy’s, we took a quick walk around, visited Powell’s amazing book store and headed north for greyer skies, rain, and the home of our west coast family.