The Bay Area

The drive from Oregon to I-5 started with an hour of back roads through wide open prairies, with a nice view of Mount Shasta for a bit. From there, our first stop in California was, of course, an In-and-Out Burger. Definitely didn't go an hour out of the way, no, definitely not. We then spent the night just south of Napa, before going to Wine Country on Wednesday morning.

After coffee and pastries at Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, we went to a free tour of Mumm Napa at 10am. Cool look at their facilities and production. We had two tastings before lunch-- V. Sattui & Rombauer.. what we saw as the most economically sound path. V. Sattui was busier with some better wines, while Rombauer was a much smaller winery with a neat atmosphere. They even gave us the wine glass as a souvenir. Went to Calistoga for lunch, which was a tiny town with the little shops, decent restaurants, and some cool public art. From there, we drove back south into Napa after lunch for a look, and a final tasting at Uncorked on Oxford. Ended up walking in on a guitarist doing an audition, and a bartender who made us an off-menu cheese plate. Friendly folk!

From Napa we went into San Francisco, where we were lucky enough to get put up by WWP expat Christine Wilkinson in the Mission. Mega, mega hat-tip goes out to her. Wednesday evening saw us grab some authentic burritos before a night out in the city. Morning after, we got a behind-the-scenes look at the California Institute of the Sciences, where Christine works. Some pretty cool biodomes, exhibits, and catwalks! Grabbed some Vietnamese sandwiches before being day tourists-- Lombard St, the Wharf, Coit Tower, and City Lights Books. That evening, I was able to grab dinner in the evening with an old family friend in Alameda.

Friday took us north of the Bay, over the foggy Golden Gate, and into Muir Woods. Huge, old trees. Nice and quiet in the morning, too. The drive on CA-1 to get out there & back was reminiscent of the road to Hana in Maui. Hairpin turns, over and over! We got lunch in Sausilito at a small Italian sandwich shop overlooking the bay. Once back in the Mission, I went for a quick run to AT&T Park before we hopped on a BART train to the Oakland Coliseum for an A's game. A two-run homer got hit about fifteen seats over from us within a minute of us sitting down in the left field bleachers. Stadium is an oldie, with almost the whole upper level tarped, but the fans really make the place loud. Cool environment.

We got up early Saturday morning for our first ad-libbed plans of the trip-- a jaunt down to Santa Cruz before Yosemite. We had scoped out a beach campsite a few miles south of the town, and managed to snag the last walk-up site around 9am. Grabbed coffee, brunch, and a parking ticket downtown, before hitting the pier, beach, and boardwalk. Very beachy, cute town.. almost like if you picked up Princeton and dropped it next to the Monterey Bay. Caught a flick (Blue Jasmine) at the local theater, before stocking up on food for our week in Yosemite and heading back to camp. The skies were cloudy at camp, but at night on the beach I got the clearest view of the stars (and nearly full moon).

Sunday morning, we left on the four hour drive for Yosemite National Park, where we'll be for four nights. Next Thursday, we'll be coming back thru the Monterey Bay area. The plan is to stop in Carmel & Monterey before camping in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park that night. Great sights in SF, I mean San Fran, I mean Frisco-- as well as a nice beach day in Santa Cruz. Northern California, thanks for the good vibes.

Note-- posting this one from east of Yosemite, in an RV park. No cell service at all for the last four days there. So, this is last week. You'll have to give me a day or two for something on this week. For now, know that Doch & I did this beast of a hike on Monday: https://www.strava.com/activities/76512616