NorCal Trip Posts
Day One began a bit roughly. First I dropped Stacy off at my mechanic's place to get a leaky oil line fixed while I walked to Supercuts to get my hair shortened. After getting my hair cut, I discovered (much to my displeasure) that the oil line will take quite some time to fix and is not likely to break during the course of my trip, so they decided to give fix the part after I get back to Thousand Oaks (T.O.). In the meantime, I'm driving around with the oil line in the back of my car, praying that it won't fail me.So I set out from T.O. around 11:30am with a dream in my eye and a prayer in my heart. My only stop along the way was for a Caramel Frappuccino at Starbucks in Fresno. The drive was beautiful, if somewhat dairy-scented, but it went by quickly enough. A little fall of rain gave me a free car wash along the way, and I finally arrived at Adria's AMAZING house after ~332 miles. I had the pleasure of meeting Adria's admirable mother and incredible father along with her two sisters and brother, and Stephanie, and the rabbits and non-dog and the gorgeous Plymouth Prowler.
After a delicious meal of elk meat and steak and the appropriate side dishes, we set out on our evening adventure in Modesto. First we headed out for some pretty sweet indoor rock climbing, where I became certified to belay (I'll try to scan & post my belay certificate later). Lots of fun was had at various altitudes, as seen to the left.(Clockwise from top left: (a) Adria belaying for Seth, who reached the top of a really tall wall, (b) Adria ascending the same really tall wall, (c) Adria having completed her ascension of said wall, (d) self-portrait from the top of the same wall)
After our rockclimbing adventures, I went with Adria and her sister Laralyn and their friend Stephanie for a walking tour of downtown Modesto. It was tough keeping those girls out of trouble, but I was successful and we didn't get caught for anything (even jaywalking). The pictures to your right show the four of us with a statue built in remembrance of... some big movie that told the story of Modesto. (Girls? Help! I think Gina washed her face or hands!)After experiencing a wonderful view of Modesto's skyline and a quick stop at Cold Stone (yes, we got ice cream. I knew girls were crazy!) we headed back to the aforementioned AMAZING house for a bit of wind-down before going to sleep.
At this point, I feel wonderfully obligated to thank the Murphys for their A+ hospitality. My lodging included my own bedroom, bathroom and living room, complete with Christmas Tree (left). Thus endeth the first day of my trip... a wonderful day indeed. Day Two began very nicely when I woke up at 8:30 with that tingling sensation peculiar to a rainy day. As soon as I looked out the window, I knew I'd be drying off Stacy's seats. The rain was coming down slowly but steadily, and very wetly. I proceeded to take a shower and prepare for the first full day of my road trip. It began with a yummy breakfast of elk sausage and scrambled eggs, followed by a quite enchanting walk around Adria's neighborhood to enjoy the variety of architecture and creativity visible in the houses. We were accompanied on our walk by Adria's unspeakably adorable little sister Kendall. It was a bit cold and wet, but that was hardly a factor when compared to the warmth and friendliness of the company.
Upon returning to the house, we sought out Laralyn and played a little DDR while waiting to make contact with Stephanie. Once we had reached her, we agreed to meet for lunch at a trendy cafe called Picasso's in downtown Modesto (L to R: Adria, Laralyn, Stephanie). The roast beef tasted a bit funny and the sandwich was massive, so I left Picasso's wishing I had bought a half-sandwich rather than a whole sandwich. Anyway, we had a great time there and next decided to visit Loard's Ice Cream "just to check out the Christmas decorations" available for purchase. I noticed that they had chocolate-dipped frozen bananas, which just might be the greatest things in the world, so I bought myself one and also bought Adria the best hot chocolate she has ever had.
After driving home with the two Murphy girls, I packed Stacy up and said my farewells, then headed off to Stockton around 2:00ish. As I drove off, God smiled upon me with some of the most incredible clouds I've seen in quite some time. Little did I know that I wouldn't see such meteorological conditions for an undisclosed (but loooong) period of time.I arrived at Amanda's place shortly after 3:00, having taken a left turn getting off the freeway, thus making the first wrong turn of my roadtrip. Not bad considering I had about 400 miles under my belt by that time. So I spent a bit of time engaged in conversation with Amanda and her charming mother before enjoying a nice dinner of chicken and rice and a nice glass (or two) of cabernet sauvignon. Oh, and Amanda's brother and father also made it back in time for dinner, so we had the whole family + me at the dinner table. Good times.
After dinner, Amanda and I headed out with her parents to an upscale bar/restaurant to experience "Cafe Diablo" which is quite definitely the strongest hot drink I have ever had. It was a mixture of Kahlua, Brandy, Grand Marnier and some other liquor heated up and lit on fire (see picture), then combined with (decaf) coffee and a half-cup of sugar and served nice and hot. Great stuff. Strong stuff. After that, we headed back to the house and watched a movie before going to sleep. It was a good day.
We kicked off the Third Day with a special treat: a water tour of Stockton in the Riisager's 22' boat, captained by the experienced Cap'n AJ. The fog didn't lift enough for us to go out until about two hours after we arrived at the Marina, so we enjoyed a hot breakfast at "Bob's at the Marina" then watched a few episodes of the Tarzan cartoon. By the time we were done watching TV the fog was almost gone, so we prepared the boat and headed out for a day on the water. It was pretty cold, but nothing I couldn't handle like a man.During the course of our river tour, we passed a few canoes and one massive (and empty) cargo ship by the name of Great Gain out of Hong Kong. It was pretty awesome. Amanda also went full-throttle through a 5 mph zone and we got some special tug boat to honk at us. Those were the highlights of the boat cruise.
Once we returned to dry land, the rest of my time in Stockton was spent conquering The Underminer. Once that was done, I drove to Auburn to meet up with El Jeffe Gigante. Sadly, Yahoo! gave me bad directions and a very unexpecting Seth nearly drove his beloved Stacy OVER A MISSING BRIDGE. The picture to the right shows the exact view that I found while searching for Jeff's house on a dark and rainy Thursday night. Beyond the warning sign, of course, is a FLOODED RIVER that would have enjoyed sucking me and Stacy to our deaths. Fortunately, I had a cell phone and was able to get much safer directions directly from Jeff's mouth.About 45 minutes after arriving at Jeff's place, we headed out in the rain and mud to meet my Aunt Gail in Folsom. Unfortunately, she is terrible at giving directions and NorCal's road nomenclature is absolutely LUDICROUS. Once we found her place, we headed out in her Tahoe for a free dinner in the town. We found a fun Mexican restaurant with really good food and delicious margaritas. After a little chat, Jeff and I headed home to crash.
Day Four began nice and late. Jeff and I set off to Roseville around noon to pick up Hannah Christensen before heading to Old Sacramento where we met up with Amanda. It was at this point that I began to suspect that rain might be something that doesn't go away very quickly in Northern California. In fact, I learned that Old Sacramento has a phenomenon which is commonly known as MASSIVE RAINDROPS that make you really really wet. As a result, I was quickly reminded that Stacy leaks pretty badly in the rain.Anyway, we walked around Old Sac for quite a while, browsing the shops and having a jolly good time. After we got some hot fries with barbecue sauce, the oversized raindrops forced us into the Railroad Museum, where we spent a great amount of time walking in and around the huge train engines and assorted cars. A good time was had by all.
Due to the previous day's rain, I altered course today and decided to forego Calistoga (Gina) in favor of spending New Year's Eve in Castro Valley. Day Five included a two-and-a-half hour stretch in which I drove approximately 4.5 miles. The 80 was closed, and I was on it, which obviously presented quite a problem. Being tired of driving and near the freeway to Gina's house, I foolishly decided that the sunny skies would mean that Calistoga was no longer inaccessible due to flooding... I was wrong.
Being a Sunday, Day Six began with church. We then picked up Tegan's sister Shannon from her friend's house. Not surprisingly, Shannon opted to ride with me and Tegan in Stacy rather than with her parents in the family van. We proceeded to Josh Sikora's house to celebrate his engagement to Alisa Schmid. We ate hors d'ouvres and played Taboo.
After leaving Josh's house, Tegan and I went to see The Producers in a really nice theatre with wonderfully comfortable seats and everything. That was great fun. After the movie, I grabbed some Taco Bell tacos to stave off my hunger, then we drove up near Oakland and found a beautiful place to get out and go for a walk on a hill overlooking the Bay Area. After a grand time standing in a very wet field, our feet were greeted by Stacy's foot heater after we kicked off our shoes. From there, we headed home.
After enjoying the photo gallery, we grabbed some Clam Chowder at a restaurant... it made me long for Disneyland's New Orleans Square. *grin* Next, we watched the sea lions for a good while before deciding to make the journey to Ghirardelli Square for some Ghirardelli hot chocolate.
After much unintentional procrastination (I passed the 1000th mile of my trip!), I finally arrived on DAY EIGHT in Napa Valley to visit Ginarina. Shortly after arriving at her house, we hopped in Stacy and dried off the seats (a necessity) before heading up for a view from Mount St. Helena (pronounced “mounsainelena”) as seen on the right. From there we headed into the cities of Calistoga (pop. 5190) and St. Helena (pronounced “sainelena”) and had a loverly walk in the incredibly watery rain. It made us wet… very wet.One of the highlights of the (wet) walk was a tiny little bookstore with hundreds of old books ranging from Frankenstein to Winery Dogs of Napa Valley. I almost bought a book of Celtic myths, but decided not to because it was wet outside. Overall, the bookstore earned eleventy-billion points for St. Helena, thus branding it as one more success on this NorCal road trip.
Oooh look... I found a picture of us after our walk. As I said, we were wet.
Yes, very wet.
After St. Helena, I decided that my conscience absolutely must learn how to drive my chariot, so we found a deserted (and wet) parking lot in which she could learn. It didn’t take much teaching… I just told her how to drive and she drove. For her sake, I won’t mention the whole ditch incident. In any case, I was very very proud of her.After our first driving lesson, we drove back into Calistoga for dinner at a (not wet) Italian restaurant called Checkers. She ordered a Chicken Marsala and I had the Linguini Carbonara with a glass of Pinot Noir (my first, and not my last). With our bellies satisfied and our hearts bubbling, we declined dessert and came back to Gina’s Gina-like home to watch Camelot with her father. Definitely a quality flick… I smell a lobby party!!
Day Nine was an absolute blessing from above. It began with the sunlight piercing the fog as we walked (in rainboots!) through the vineyard to the rushing river. SUNLIGHT. Yes, SUNLIGHT and SUNSHINE. It feels so very good to write that word again. SUNLIGHT. Because words do such little justice to the experience, I will have to settle for posting pictures. I'm sure you'll forgive me...
(Yes... that's the rushing river.)
Following our walk in the vineyard, we headed north to the gas station where we met Chris Irwin who joined us for the day's adventures. Our first point-of-interest was Chateau Montelena, a winery in an old castle nestled between a large hill and a beautiful lake with various islands and walkways.
After Chateu Montelena, the three of us proceeded to take the ultimate tourist snapshot with the Napa Valley welcome sign. From there we went on to the Niebaum-Coppola winery which is owned by Francis Ford Coppola. While there, I decided to do some wine-tasting which included tastes of four incredible wines. And now, pictures...
(This window was created by Gina's dad! It's incredible!!)
(Bonus points for identifying the above car. Anybody?)
(Gina was the Queen of the day)
(Incredible Chardonnay! I even bought a bottle for myself. Now I just need an occassion...)
(Coppola Rose... not quite my cup o' wine)
(Tasting a very unique Merlot)
(Finishing off the taste of Cabernet Sauvignon)
After we finished at the Niebaum-Coppola winery, Gina led us to a deli in the city of Napa where Chris and I shared a pint of ravioli and Gina had a half-pint of Minestrone. It was a quaint deli with several items on the store shelves which I wouldn't expect to find anywhere outside of the Napa Valley. After our hot meal the SUN WAS SHINING so we put Stacy's top down (for the first time since December 26th!) and headed off to our third and final planned winery visit. Before I show pictures of the winery, though, I'd like to show just how SUNSHINY it was.
Assuming you're still with me, the next winery on our trip was Darioush, a winery whose elegance distracted me when Gina told me to turn in to the driveway, thus prompting a U-turn. Should you choose to visit the winery's website, you'll learn all about the very expensive varieties of wines which are produced in the magnificent structure. Below are several photos (surprised?) from Darioush...
Can I get an award of some kind for this picture?
When Gina's bun rebels...
And up in the nursery and absurd little bird is popping out to say...
After Darioush, I chose another vineyard to visit called Silverado Vineyards which was appealing to me mainly because it was at the very top of a high hill. The view alone made it rank pretty high on the "favorite places" scale, as you will see below.
(no, she wasn't drinking... just smelling it)
(I, on the other hand, was drinking it)
Following these (and a few more) wine country escapades, the three of us went back to Gina's house where Gina began preparing dinner while Chris played the piano and I fell asleep on the couch. The rest of the evening has pretty much faded into a wonderfully pleasant blur.
Thus endeth Day Nine: The Day from Above.
Note: In order to drastically boost the quality of my Xanga, Gina has graciously agreed to write the memoirs from Day Ten. Without further ado, here they are!
After Seth bounded downstairs and the two of us shared a quick breakfast, we headed out to greet another stunningly SUNNY morning. With Stacy happily winding through the trees and My Fair Lady on the breeze, we traded one valley for another, ultimately ending up at Chris' house in Santa Rosa. Chris hadn't been expecting us yet, so we let him finish breakfast while Mrs. Irwin provided some excellent suggestions for things to see/do in the area.
First stop: Ledson Winery. 'Tis a foreboding, almost intimidating castle of a place when seen from a distance - a dark stone structure nestled a ways back from the road. But when you see it up close and pass through its doors... tis actually rather charming. Wood inlays in the floor, carved wooden ceilings, and a great chandelier hanging in the foyer (I suddenly had this tremendous urge to send it crashing to the floor. Shh, don't tell). Beside the parking lot ran a small creek with a lonesome bridge, upon which we took up three posts and... stood. There's just something nice about standing on a bridge.At Chris' direction we drove into the city of Sonoma, particularly aiming for the main square. With a wedge of garlic jack cheese from the local cheese factory and a flour-dusted loaf of Italian bread, we had ourselves a picnic out on the grass.
We even conversed with two very nice homeless gentlemen, one of whom kissed my hand. *blush* Gentlemen, take note.A quick tour of the square and we were off back to the Irwins' homestead for two rounds of Clue (Col. Mustard strikes again), a delicious dinner of soft tacos with Chris' warm and hospitable family, and a rousing game of Rook. Three teams of two: Chris and his sister Joy, Chris' parents, Seth and his conscience. I think I really like that game... and not just because Seth and I, well, thoroughly vanquished the other teams (though that may be part of it). At one point, I believe the scores looked something like 180 to 240 to 510, the highest score belonging to Seth and myself. Yep. 'Tis a good game.
By that point, the clock had long since struck ten PM, so Seth and I bid adieu to the Irwins and ventured back over the hills into the now-slumbering Napa Valley, quite ready for a night of sleep ourselves.
Gina
Knowing that this would be my last day in Napa Valley for some time, Gina and I decided to take a walk through the glorious vineyards under the cosmic cotton balls poured out across the sky to bear
witness to Apollo's awesome power. We visited a nearby reservoir and found hundreds of rather large tadpoles that seemed a bit agitated about our presence. The ground was still muddy, which we expected, but I learned a little bit about grapes, grapevines, and growing methods. Beyond being educational, it was an immensely enjoyable walk.Shortly after returning to the house, I said my goodbyes and set out for Monterey. For some insane reason I decided to drive the entire way to Monterey on the Pacific Coast Highway, beginning at the Golden Gate Bridge and passing through Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. Somewhere between Santa Rosa and San Francisco (after several miles of being lost), my trusty redhead turned 190,000:
As I neared San Francisco on the 101, I spotted the Golden Gate Bridge from afar (at this point, I was talking to Matt on the phone for a minute or two) proceeded to pay the toll and cross the (surprisingly narrow!) bridge. As Ray Centanni instructed, I took the very first exit after the bridge and parked my car to wander around under and around the Golden Gate Bridge. Here are some of the views that opened up before my awestruck eyes (time approx. 12:30).
Yes, that was a beautiful sight and a great place to rest after about 1:45 hours of driving. Already slightly behind schedule, I drove about 4 miles in hopes of finding my way back to PCH. By this time I had learned to simply accept the fact that NORTHERN CALIFORNIA DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO MARK STREETS. Eventually I found my way back and got lost two more times (without even leaving PCH) before I arrived in Half Moon Bay around 2:30 and decided to grab some lunch (again following Ray's suggestion). I found the Moonside Bakery that sold salted sourdough pretzels for $1.50 and, feeling quite bankrupt by this time (especially after buying wine in Napa Valley), I decided to have a pretzel and a Gatorade for lunch.From there, I drove on through beautiful roads toward Santa Cruz. By this time, the drive was becoming a little bit boring with perfectly straight roads and dense fog cutting out any hope of a nice view. In order to cure my boredom I picked up a hitchhiker named Frank about 10 miles out from Santa Cruz and gave him a ride home (he lives just off of PCH). Frank works for a place called "Kiwi-U-Pick" and hitchhikes to and from work every day. He had been walking about 7 miles by the time someone (yours truly) decided to give him a ride.
After filling up with gas and cleaning my windows in Santa Cruz, I settled back into the driver's seat and set off toward Monterey. Once I got there, AAA helped me get a hotel room for only $49, about $30 less than I could have found by myself. I asked them about the various STUPID STREET SCHEMES of the area but they didn't have an answer. I then attempted to watch the sunset from Carmel-By-The-Sea, but was unfortunately fogged in and couldn't see more than 100 yards away from me. Oh well... no sunset for Seth tonight.
After missing the sunset, I checked in to my hotel and then headed out for a lonesome dinner at El Palomar which was recommended due to their superb margaritas. I can vouch for the superbness of the margaritas, but my chicken burrito was a bit lacking. After a quick conversation with the waitress, I strolled to downtown Monterey where I found just what I was looking for: a bookstore/coffee shop. Hoping to find The Four Loves, I entered and began to browse. Several minutes later, after combing all of the shelves, I realized that they had ZERO Lewis, ZERO Bibles and only ONE copy of Tolkien's The Lost Tales. They didn't even have Harry Potter! I left feeling quite disgusted and began my trek back to my car.One last thing, then I'm done. While walking back to my car, I ran into a street evangelist who asked me just two questions: (1) "Who do you believe Jesus is?" (2) "How do you believe a person gets into heaven?" I gave the correct answers to both questions, and he bid me a good night. I think if the traditional Catholic notion of St. Peter at the pearly gates were true, he would ask these two exact questions. If you get them both right, you pass. If you miss either one, you fail. Amen.
After checking out of my room at the Quality Inn of Monterey, I hunted down a place called First Awakenings in Pacific Grove. It was only about five miles from my hotel room, but I got lost twice along the way and it took me about 20 minutes to find the place. Again, it's entirely the fault of BAD STREET LABELING. Trust me... I normally don't get lost. Because I couldn't decide which picture of First Awakenings to post, here are three:
Sitting alone at my table right next to the blazing firepit, I ordered two hot cocoas and a plate of cinnamon raisin french toast. The service was exceptional, and my bill was quite small, so I left a 30% tip to make up for the table which would have otherwise been occupied by a family of four with a much larger bill (and a much larger tip). I thought that would make Kevin proud. Shortly after leaving First Awakenings, I cleaned my windows and added another quart of oil to Stacy's engine and took off in anticipation of the crazy-fun roads which I knew were awaiting me.
Over the course of the next ninety miles, I drove some of the most insanely amazing parts of the Pacific Coast Highway. To my right was the ocean in all its majesty and opening before me was the road which rarely provided more than 1/8th of a mile visibility before the next turn. Altogether I tallied eleven cars (mostly SUVs) which either pulled into a turnout to let me pass or which I passed when the opportunity presented itself. Needless to say, I never saw any of those cars again.As the mountains began to flatten and the road began to straighten, I knew I was approaching San Simeon, the home of Hearst Castle. Using my AAA card to receive a 10% discount, I paid $18 for the "Experience" tour and boarded the bus not quite knowing what to expect. Once again, I have come to a point at which words cannot do justice to what I saw, so here's another series of photographs to stimulate your eyeballs.
After leaving Hearst Castle, I continued on PCH until I got to Becky's mom's house in San Luis Obispo. We walked to the historic parts of SLO and got dinner at a diner, then went back to her house to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory until I was sure traffic in Santa Barbara wouldn't be a problem. The most important part of Day Twelve is summed up in this video. Watch it carefully... next semester the whole lobby crew will be doing it!! I took PCH all the way from SLO to Santa Barbara, where I got on the 101 and ended at home. The day's drive had earned me bragging rights about having driven every mile of PCH between San Clemente and the Golden Gate Bridge.
posted by Sethicus at 7:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home