We did a big loop, from San Francisco to Point Reyes to Petaluma to Napa, and back again. I got a Hertz rent a car (had a zipcar for going to the Dead on Sunday, but that didn’t seem like the best deal for this trip).
We left San Fran, and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog – couldn’t see much. We stopped at Muir Woods, and did a short walk to see the giant redwoods.
I liked how they patched the path
This is probably my best shot, lighting-wise
The lying on my back shot – only looks good back lit on the phone
Another too-dark one
All the parking lots were full so we had to park about 3/4 of a mile away, on side of the road, and I fell on the way back and ripped up my knee. Same knee I also fell on, rushing to meet the kids for dinner at Big Star in Chicago, back in November. I wonder if maybe I tend to fall when I’m low blood sugar – we hadn’t eaten any breakfast, except coffee. I cleaned up my knee with water from Mark’s filter bottle and paper towel, and we headed for Stinson Beach. I had blueberries and bread and peanut butter and jam that I had bought at the urban Target on 4th street on Sunday, to take to the Dead show (Target will be a recurring theme of the day – Mark had paid a visit to the same downtown one first thing in the morning, to try to replace the charging cable for his fitbit that he forgot to bring). I ate a bunch of the blueberries and started feeling revived.
Damaged knee, shown with undamaged for comparison
We drove past marshy areas and coast to get to the beach. We made sandwiches and we sat in the sand to eat them. We saw a sea gull steal a sleeve of Ritz crackers with just a few left in it, out of a girl who was playing frisbee’s beach bag. As soon as it figured out how to shake the crackers out, six other gulls appeared to help eat them.
Back into the car, and onwards to Point Reyes. We stopped at the visitor center for maps, and then headed for the Point. We went the whole way to the lighthouse. It was a good walk, but foggy again, so couldn’t see much.
We returned to the visitor center, and I plugged in my phone to get back up to 50% battery. We decided that going to Napa by way of Petaluma, instead of Novato, was the better route. John & Al’s dad lives there, but what were the chances we’d see him? (Remember the recurring Target theme) We were hoping for a coffee bar, where we could change clothes and charge phones, and there were like 5 Starbucks plus a couple of local places in Petaluma.
The nice sounding local coffee place was closing at 6:00 and it was already after 5:00 so we opted for the Starbucks on the main drag in Petaluma. We had coffee and got changed & plugged in phones. Getting a car charger at Target seemed like a good idea – and there seemed to be a big one close by. On the 5 minute drive over I idly wondered if it was the one where Jeff worked. We got the charger, no fitbit cables, and headed out. Once we were passing the office for the 2nd time, I thought, “nope, not running into Jeff this trip”, then we did. He had time to talk, so that was nice. It was fun in a Grateful Dead tour-ish way – on Dead tour, you’d travel far from home and run into people, some you knew from home, some you only saw at shows.
Our big dinner was at a Thomas Keller place, Ad Lib, at the Silverado golf resort in Napa. I was a little put off when I realized it was at a golf resort, but then reasoned that at the Bouchon in Vegas, Keller had made a French bistro with no Vegas tackiness whatsoever, so surely his spot in wine country, even at a golf resort, would be genuine.
And it was – and another slice of California life – the country club set. We had drinks at the bar – sitting under umbrellas outside – Negroni for me that was kind of syrup-y, water for Mark. Then we moved inside for our meal. I had the wedge salad and the “True” Rib Eye of Snake River Farms Beef – because we’d seen so many cows (and grapes) on the hillsides on the drive over – and a big glass of a dark strong red, Hourglass, Meritage, HGII 2012. Mark had the heirloom tomato salad and the porkchop. It was a little too dark, and a little too loud, but the parker house rolls were amazing, and so was the food.
We got a table by the window, but Keller himself was not there, making Caesar salad tableside, our night
Part of the reason we wanted the car charger was so that Mark could have the Google maps lady navigate instead of having to rely on (half-drunk, sleepy) me. From there it was just over an hour back to San Francisco, by way of Berkeley and the Bay Bridge this time. In the rain for a good bit of the time. I helped navigate to a gas station – that took a little more human intervention than the Google lady could manage. Parked the car in the ramp for return in the morning, and we were tucked into our bed at the hotel by midnight. Ish.
posted while watching the last Dead show in the world on couch tour, simulcast – I think it’s time for my third beer and dancing, and drums —> space —> some kind of grand finale. More fireworks?
