We did it again. We turned a 4:30 hour trip into 11 hours. But it wasn’t all our fault. And it ended just fine.

As mentioned yesterday, Garberville was selected for last night’s stay based purely on logistical considerations. Serendipity was at work because not more than a mile up the highway this morning we discovered the Avenue of Giants, a 32-mile drive though the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Talk about redwood trees! The Avenue parallels Highway 101 (and is in fact the old Highway 101) so we were even on distance, but we didn’t escape until 11:00 AM after an 8 AM start. The only thing Muir Woods has over this place is proximity to San Francisco. And that’s a blessing because this huge park has far fewer visitors. We took two extended walk to “groves” of trees, including one created by the National Association of Women’s Clubs, and stopped at several other groves along the way.

The Park was rescued from loggers in 1918 by concerned citizens, including the Boone and Crocket club and the Garden Club of America. Today it’s a California state park. Say what you will about California, they have a genuinely fine park and recreation program.

GPS said we’d hit Grant’s Pass by 4 PM or so – a sensible, low-stress hour to arrive. Part of our trip on The 101 followed the coast so there was some risk of stops for a few hundred more surf-crashing-against-those-funny-rocks shots but fortunately the coastal fog and cool temps (upper 50s) put a kybosh on that.

Who would have thought it, but on the outskirts of Eureka we saw a sign for the Humboldt Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The Nissan’s Self Drive feature learns driver preferences and automatically steered us off the road to the Sanctuary. A few dozen bird snaps and we were back on the road. GPS estimate: 5 PM. Still OK.

We stopped in Eureka and found a Subway, took the sandwiches to a county beach, hoping for a picnic table. No table and it was too cold anyway, so we ate in the car. We made our non-refundable hotel reservation while we ate. Efficient use of time.

I was feeling nappish so Judy took the wheel up The 101 headed to Crescent City, the jumping off point where we were to leave The 101 for US 199 toward Grant’s Pass. I was asleep for maybe 45 minutes when I sensed the car had come to a stop in the middle of the highway. Now what?

Turns out, there had been warning signs, and even Google had notices that this route, the only route north, was subject to a potential two-hour delay due to construction. Sure enough, we were car #15 in line for two hours. The price of those bird snaps. A nice lady came down the line to explain. Nothing to do but wait. We walked around a bit, Judy took her nap, and I processed some pictures.

The ride up and over the mountains was another spectacular event. First redwoods (through a National Park forest) then following a series of streams and rivers. We only stopped once for a brief photo shoot.

We finally found the Riverview Hotel and before checking in, walked next door to a very nice restaurant right on the river. Judy had Sockeye, I had Halibut. Tomorrow we’ll be able to enjoy what promises to be a most appealing view from our room’s deck.

Tomorrow, Crater Lake and then we’ll see where after that.

Somehow, we managed to turn what google calls a 5-hour trip into 10. And we didn’t get lost even once.

We started with our backtrack to Bodega Bay – about 20 minutes – and it was well worth it. We saw (and photographed) many miles of beaches complete with waves crashing against stone offshore structures so characteristic of California’s Pacific coast. At one stop we saw a pair of nesting Peregrine falcons. They did little flying; Mom was hidden most of the time sitting on the nest while Dad stood guard.

I wanted to stop at Shell Beach, one of literally dozens along Highway 1, the costal route in Northern California. I wanted to find a souvenir shell and dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean. The trail from the parking lot to the beach was a steep descent of 100 vertical feet or more, built with log walkways that did as much harm as good. Somehow, we made it.

At the beach we found a woman sitting on a rock reading a book. Judy and she exchanged life stories while I doffed my shoes, rolled up my pant legs and waded into the surf. Judy, after a while, joined me. Mission accomplished: toes wet. I’m still shedding skin from the burn I got on the Gulf of Mexico during Jeff’s visit two weeks ago. Maybe I’ll go for a dip in the Atlantic when we get to Melrose to complete the trifecta.

The woman, Melisa, from near Reno had walked the beach and rocks for over a mile. It was a dicey proposition in spots so, with a rising tide, she wisely decided to take the land trail back to her car. Before leaving, she blessed us with a towel to dry our sand-encrusted feet. When we were done, we climbed the hill and drove back, found her car and Judy hiked the trail back to find Melisa to return the towel. Thanks, Melisa!

And the shells? Ground into sand.

We followed California Highway 1 for most of the day, reaching its end about 20 miles short of tonight’s destination, Garberville, CA. CA-1 has a personality. Its preference is to hug the coast as closely as possible, aligning itself with every twist and turn of the shoreline. That makes for a twisty road. When a mountain intercedes and hugging the coast isn’t possible, CA-1 cuts a switchback path up one side and down the other until it can rejoin the coastline. More even more violent switchbacks. Only occasionally will CA-1 find a relatively straight and level space where one can achieve the posted speed limit of 55. My arms are tired tonight from twisting the steering wheel all day.

Our other notable stop was at the Point Arena Lighthouse. Like most lighthouses, it’s no longer in service. A local man purchased it from the Coast Guard and charges $5 a head to visit. County Covid regulations preclude climbing the lighthouse but there is a small and interesting museum and gift shop. We ate our picnic sandwiches on a picnic table.

Later on, we scored ice cream in Fort Bragg, CA.

We selected tonight’s hotel while at the lighthouse, choosing Garberville mostly based on distance to travel. As it turned out, we arrived here about 6, checked in, plotted tomorrow’s route and went to a fun little Creole restaurant next door – the only restaurant open at the late hour of 7:20 PM. Judy had butternut squash raviolis and I had penne pasta with crayfish. Delicious.

Speaking of tomorrow, we’ve decided that there’s more to California and Oregon than seashore so we’re driving up the coast for a bit and then cut in toward Grant’s Pass, on the way to Crater Lake. We’ll see how that pans out!

We’re really on the road, on our own with no plan and no commitments. Well, except for that 9:00 AM reservation at Muir Woods, about 1:15 hours from Yountville. So, alarm for 7:30 and on the road at 8:30 with breakfast at a drive-thru on the way.

But guess what? No drive-thrus on our route without a detour. Breakfast turned into a granola bar in the Muir Woods parking lot and blueberry scones two hours later in the Muir Woods snack bar. So much for stress-free vacationing.

We’d been to Muir Woods forty-odd years ago with my mom and the redwoods were no less awe inspiring than they were back then. Some over 1,000 years old; tall, majestically high and set in a reverence-inspiring lush green glen with a small flowing brook. See the pictures.

Judy and I discussed whether the Giant Sequoias in the Sierra Nevada range are more spectacular than the redwoods. Sequoias may be somewhat bigger around but the redwoods may be taller. Sequoias suffer from winter weather that causes them to lose their tops. “You should have seen how tall General Sherman, the biggest tree in the world, was before it lost its top!” they say. Doesn’t matter; both places are worth the price of admission.

A volunteer guide at Muir Woods pointed us to the Muir Beach Overlook as a place to get great views of the Pacific and maybe spot a few birds. We saw both. Again, see the pictures.

Lunch was calling so we motored a few miles up the highway to a funky little restaurant in Stinson’s Beach. Order at the bar, pick up at the window, seat yourself outside. Many California restaurants have only been open for a few weeks and many, but not all, offer only outside seating. Shrimp tacos for me and, you guessed it, crab melt for her ladyship.

Our path on California 1 took us through Reyes Point National Seashore. Not knowing anything about it, I pumped Reyes Point National Seashore into Google Maps and let it have its way, thinking at the end of the line we’d find a nice park ranger in a green uniform with a park brochure. Google, however, took us to the nearest point in the Seashore, which turned out to be a parking lot for a trailhead. In fact, most of the Reyes Seashore is just that: trails. It’s a huge area with lots of trails. Beautiful countryside.

The drive to the parking lot passed through a huge antenna farm: tall masts scattered across several miles of open hills. I didn’t bother with a good picture, but it turns out it today is the Communication Area Master Station Pacific (CAMSPAC), part of a network of transmitting and receiving sites that handle U.S. Coast Guard communications across the Pacific. It’s also near the site where Guglielmo Marconi established an antenna farm for his global morse code network that provided near-instantaneous communications throughout the world, stating in 1913. I regret not knowing about it to visit the historic museum in the area.

The parking lot had an added attraction: a shady parking spot that served admirably as our napping station. Twenty minutes at two PM does wonders for old folks like us!

Judy, panicking slightly, by lunchtime found a hotel in Jenner, about an hour and half up the road and we made a reservation. Whew,             now she can relax. Turns out it’s on the Russian River. So off we went.

But wait, Old Jon needs one more shot at the Point Reyes Seashore. I pulled into a visitor’s parking lot for a quick look-see. As we expected, it’s closed. In fact, the whole Seashore has been closed due to fire danger and just opened up recently. I met a ranger who pointed out a nice loop trail that shows the effect of the 1906 earthquake. At one point on the trail there is a fence that spread apart by 16 feet in the matter of less than a minute during the quake. Good stuff on a beautiful afternoon hike.

Then it’s Jenner or bust. Part way there the guy at the hotel called. “When will you be arriving?” “About 20 minutes.” “Good, I’ll go down to the hotel in 20 minutes.” The place is advertised as having a restaurant and continental breakfast with rooms overlooking the Russian River. But the restaurant was closed, we got a bag breakfast for the morning and our room, the last available, doesn’t have a view. No big deal since we didn’t get back from dinner until after sunset. We ain’t in Napa Valley anymore!

The fellow sent us up the river to Duncans Mills for dinner. Good grub: ribs for me and rib eye for Judy. Outside seating, which was chilly after the sun went down.

So tomorrow, who knows. We really do have no plan. We think we may drive back south 10 miles or so to Bodega Bay where we saw some great ocean views and interesting rock formations. The setting sun made for poor photo ops this afternoon so back lighting from the rising sun should work well. We’ll see!

As usual, the photos are in random order. 

Another day that didn’t go exactly as planned but that came out just fine anyway.

The unplanned part that was really great was breakfast from Starbucks that daughter Rebecca provided. What a nice and thoughtful Mother’s Day treat! It took the pressure off finding a place to eat on our way to our scheduled 10:30 meet-up in Napa.

The trip from the St. Francis to Yountville took a little over an hour, passing over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Judy and I like wine, enjoy wine tastings and have done them all over the world – New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Virginia, the Finger Lakes, and probably a bunch I’ve forgotten. But we’re not wine connoisseurs. We know what we like but don’t make a science or art of evaluating wines and we don’t remember names of vineyards or their products. Judy likes sweet wines like Rieslings and dessert wines. I like just about anything; my pallet is very accommodating and undiscriminating.

Our objective today was to experience Napa Valley, sample some wines, stock up for the coming summer at Onawa and to have a much more relaxing and laid-back day than yesterday’s forced march from one end of San Francisco to the other.

Our strategy: 1. Consult with niece Amy who knows her wine stuff inside and out. She gave us a list of hotels and wineries to visit. She also recommended hiring a car and driver to take us on the tour. 2. We did as Amy suggested, having the hotel arrange for Manny to do the driving. I gave him Amy’s list. I must confess I didn’t give him the list until two days before our arrival.

Manny, in his infinite wisdom, I’m sure, set us up with three entirely different wineries plus a stop for lunch. And we didn’t ride with Manny. His guy Kara was behind the wheel of the Mercedes SUV. Kara has an interesting story. His other gig is selling Turkish rugs (he’s from Turkey). He used to work on cruise boats in the restaurant operations. He was recently in charge of Mediterranean restaurant but quit to be near his pregnant fiancée.

The first stop, Reverie II, had little in the way of sweet wines but was interesting in other respects. It’s an operation that originated when a New York investment banker and wine connoisseur convinced his firm to invest in several Napa Valley wineries, creating a large holding operation in California. The banker went on to set up his own vineyard that he sold to a Chinese hotel operation who needed his real estate. He started yet another vineyard, Reverie II, which he then transferred to his business employee. I’m guessing that that’s a familiar story in Napa: wine lovers start, buy and sell properties willey-nilley. The nice thing about this visit was a Kawasaki Mule ride up the hill for a nice view as we sampled another wine.

Napa Valley shows the effects of recent fire damage. A fire in October of 2020 encroached on the Reverie II property. Other fires in 2017 caused even more widespread damage elsewhere in the valley. In general, the eastern hills that define Napa Valley are burned. The western hills not.

Lunch was pleasant at Sam’s Social Club. We’ve fallen in a rut: we had crab cakes benedict for the second day in a row. The temperature got to the low 80s today and the air circulation where we were sitting was poor, so we got pretty warm.

I texted Manny complaining of the lack of sweet wines at our first stop. Be careful of what you ask for: he redirected our second stop to the Prager Port Wine operation, a family-owned winery that has Judy as it’s target market. Having been exposed to Port wine in Portugal, we had some idea of what Port wine should taste like. At least one version passed our test as did a late vine Riesling. We sampled in the shade and relaxed. No great vistas to photograph but a very laid-back way to spend a couple of hours.

Stop three was at the Sattui vineyard, a much larger operation with a much broader selection of wines. Judy did four sweet wines while I tasted five reds. Again, not being an expert, we can’t swear that this is the best wine to flow from Napa, but they tasted just fine to us.

Net result: a pleasant day in beautiful weather and beautiful scenery and a stock of wine to serve at Onawa. Stop by for a glass this summer! Next time we’re dragging Amy along to do it right.

Napa is, if nothing else, expensive. Think gas for $4.25 per gallon and a 12-inch pizza for $32. Everything else is proportionally high. I won’t tell you how much we’re paying for our very nice room but Memorial Day weekend it’s going for $1,200 a night. We got an absolute bargain compared to that.

Speaking of pizza, we had a really great three onion pizza at Ciccio’s down the road from our hotel.

I’d tell you what the plan for tomorrow is but there isn’t one. At least I won’t have screwed up the arrangements this time. Judy is sitting next to me on the couch strategizing. So far, we’ve committed $8.50 for a 9:30 AM parking spot at Muir woods. After that, we’ll see.

Again, pictures are out of order. Look at them in reverse order – that’s closer to chronological then the other way!

There’s no two ways about it: the best way to see a city is on foot. We’ve done the rest, from private car and driver to small group excursions to mega bus tours and hop-on hop-off buses. We’ve done motorized toc-tocs and pedal bikes. River boats. You name it. But if you want to get a real feel for a town you’ve gotta expend some shoe leather. 

That’s what we’ve done today, leaving the St. Francis a little before 8. As I stand here in line at Ben and Jerry’s near Fisherman’s wharf at 5 PM (double scoop Cherry García in waffle cone = lunch) we have done 20,667 steps, 8.85 miles and 180 flights climbed. We still have our harbor cruise and dinner at the Franciscan Crab at 7 yet to go. We’re going to slack off and Uber it back after dinner. 

The original plan was to hoof it down to Pier 39 to see the stinkin’ sea lions before the tourist crowds gathered and then go to Mama’s for breakfast (“You won’t have to eat for a week,” the guide blog says). But by the time I had a fix for loading pictures into the blog (ask me sometime over a beer) we decide to skip the lions and go direct to Mama’s. 

Bad idea. Mama’s didn’t open until 9; we didn’t want to cool our heels for :30. Better idea: the guy at Mama’s directed us to Pat’s a few blocks away where we had a delightful breakfast of mimosa and crab cakes Benedict. Perfect. 

And guess what? Pat’s is only a few blocks – uphill – from the famous really curvy section of Lombard street. We drove down it 30-odd years ago with the kids. I climbed up this time. Judy held down the fort at the base. 

Next stop: the Ghirardelli chocolate shop (shared chocolate chip cookie and a bag of assorted dark chocolate pieces). The park just across the street had nice views of the Golden Gate Bridge with tons of swimmers swimming from buoy to buoy in a sheltered portion of the bay. We wished Reagan was with us to give it a try. 

We sauntered up the Embarcadero, planning on reaching Pier 33 in time for our 1 PM sailing to Alcatraz. We covered the stinkin’ sea lions on the way. Not too many tourists and the winds were favorable. 

We made Pier 33 with time to spare only to figure out that the Internet entrepreneur I booked the tickets with pulled a fast one and moved us to the 2 PM departure without warning. I didn’t receive the tickets until last night, and then from an email address I didn’t recognize. Grrrr. Let’s see. With a 2 PM departure we’ll. Be back by 5. With luck we can make the 5 PM boat cruise and thus be able to make 7 PM dinner. Ok. We’ll go with it. 

Bonus: with an hour to kill I can climb Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower while Judy does ice cream. It was a hike, only 0.3 google miles but all up hill. Turns out Coit Tower is closed, which was ok by me since it meant I could claim bragging rights without having to climb the blamed thing, which we’d done before with the kid’s way back when. 

Alcatraz, which again we did before, was great. We did the iPhone-based audio tour of the cell blocks. Well done narrative carefully designed and controlled to avoid big crowds. The grounds are quite beautiful with lots of flowers in bloom and nesting gulls and cormorants. Beautiful views of the city too. it’s hard to realize we were 15 and 16 years old when Alcatraz was closed in 1963. 

We made it back at 4:45 with a 15-minute walk to make the 5:00 departure. Inspiration: I hired a bike cab guy to take us. Arrived with 10 minutes to spare. 

But the info I received last night said, in the fine print, that the voucher needs to be converted into a ticket. Shame on me for not reading the fine print. Shame on the Internet guy for sending the details so late. As much as we cursed the Internet guy we wouldn’t have been able to do Alcatraz if he hadn’t bought up tickets for resale, bundled with bay cruise tickets. Smart fellow even if his execution leaves a lot to be desired.

But bottom line, we made the 6 PM boat, had a nice bay cruise including a brief pass under the Golden Gate Bridge (it’s really rough and windy out there) and got to Franciscan Crab at 7:01. 

We weren’t seated until 7::30 (Mother’s Day diners were dawdling over their food) but it was worth the wait.  Mojito and sangria drinks to start, a shared crab salad and then a whole dinginess crab with lots of butter – five legs each. Unbelievably tasty. Look out lobster. Here comes the crab. Best meal we’ve had since Biah and Rick served us crab on their houseboat in Vancouver. 

Uber was prompt and we’re back home. Tomorrow: Napa

San Francisco? We’ve done it. Mark it off the list. 

Here are the pictures, in no particular order. Someday I’ll figure out how to sort them Not tonight; it’s too late!