Russian Gulch and Pt. Cabrillo and Pt. Arena Lighthouses

On Sunday, SMS and I continued our Mendocino County adventure.  After we packed up, we walked around Mendocino Highlands for a bit.  It was so windy and I think SMS was a little over it, but I wanted to check out the Northern part.  Yes, it did look the same as the rest but it was all so beautiful that I couldn't help but want to explore.

Russian Gulch Waterfall

On the way to the hike, I wanted to stop at Pt. Cabrillo lighthouse.  It was cute and we toured the museum, a preserved assistant light keeper's house.  The lighthouse was only open on the ground floor.  The views were spectacular and the lighthouse and surrounding buildings (including cabins you can stay in) were very cute with their red roofs.

My best picture of the day- with a real camera, not an iPhone!

Our main focus for the morning was the Russian Gulch State Park.  I had read about a 36 foot waterfall so we decided to check it out.  There's a pretty easy hike along a fairly level trail.  The loop is about 6.4 miles but we took the shorter part of the loop in-and-out for 5 miles total.  While the forest is pretty and it was nice to hear the creek along the way, the highlight was the waterfall.  It was very beautiful.  It was pretty amazing that such a seemingly small creek could cause that big of a cascade.  We took a few artsy photos since SMS had his camera gear.  That was actually pretty fun because we were iPhone-less for the weekend so I had to count in my head to measure his exposure times.  He hasn't developed his film yet so I'm not sure how well I did, but I hope it turned out alright!

The blowhole

At Russian Gulch, there's also a blowhole.  It's basically a big sinkhole with a fence around it to protect people from falling in.  It wasn't as dramatic as Hawaiian blowholes I've seen, but it's probably pretty cool during high tides and storms.

A banana slug!  SMS spotted it and I was very excited to see one!

A tree overgrowing the stump of another, older tree.  It reminded
me of a Cambodian temple!

After the hike, we stopped at Frankie's Pizza.  Despite glowing reviews I read before the weekend, I thought it was fine.  Nothing special but since it's pizza, it was still a pretty nice lunch!  Frankie's also has a sugarcane mushroom ice cream that's worth trying for the novelty.  It tastes a lot like butter pecan.

Pt Arena Lighthouse and our Prius!

Then we started along Route 1 on a meandering trip back home.  We stopped at Pt Arena lighthouse, just making it before 3:30.  This meant that we could go to the top of the lighthouse although our squeaking in under the wire earned us an eyeroll from the docent.  Who cares!  We ran up the 151 stairs and got a nice 5 minutes up in the tower where we heard about local history from a local Native American and just kind of looked out on our own.

CAPT SMS, up in the lighthouse keeping watch

After that, we just headed home on a beautiful scenic road.  North of Jenner, the hills were a vibrant green and looked beautiful in the golden hours.  No pictures except mental ones but it was really beautiful.  We stopped in the Marina district in San Francisco for dinner.  We were a little wishy washy about where we wanted to eat but then we saw Saiwalk.  It's a Vietnamese street food restaurant and after so much time in the (not so) chilly wind, pho sounded awesome.  It was pretty tasty, filling and reasonably priced so we were happy.  Then it was homeward bound.

San Diego Sunday

East Village with very retro-looking trolley

SMS and I had a wonderful Sunday in San Diego.  We saw so many things over the weekend, it made me wonder what I did when I lived in San Diego.  Oh yeah, work.  Not that I was terribly overworked but residency was busy.  Moreover, it's different to vacation in an area than to live in it.  Example A: All the people who live in San Diego and rarely go to the beach!

On Sunday morning, we were a little lazy.  Then we decided to grab a pre-brunch snack.  We were thinking of Hillcrest but ended up in Little Italy due to parking issues.  We went to Cafe Zucchero, where SMS bought the heaviest doughnut I've ever picked up.  It looked light but the middle was stuffed with dense, delicious cannoli filling.  It was delicious.   We split the doughnut (so restrained!) and had an espresso each before heading to Bottega Americano for brunch.

Bottega Americano

Beautiful sugar cookie, looked better than it tasted :/

The whole family was there for Rip's birthday brunch.  We had a great time.  The brunch got off to the perfect start with present opening.  Who wants to wait in suspense?  SMS and I went the classy route with a bottle of wine but we got beaten in every other way by his sister and Michael's gift.  Starting with the unicorn card, the present ended up being a squatty potty.  And in looking up the link for all of you gentle readers (you're welcome!), I realize even more how awesome the present is.  Especially when opened up in a public place.

Smoking Salmon

 We had a delicious leisurely lunch.  The food was awesome and everyone was really happy with their choices.  Afterwards, SMS and I went to the Hillcrest Farmer's Market.  I wanted to see if the handbag maker was still there, but I didn't see him.  There were also amazing food stands (poke bowls, uni, Thai food, BBQ, smoked salmon) but we weren't hungry at all.

Torrey Pines

We went to Torrey Pines and walked the beach and then into the cliffs along the path.  It was a really beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.

We went back to the house, had chili with a tamale and after our last Mexican food meal of the trip, headed to the airport to head back to San Jose.  I had such a great time and I feel very lucky to be able to head down to San Diego for a weekend!

Sunny San Diego Weekend!

SMS and I are in San Diego!  Yay!  As much as I try to pretend that there's no difference in the weather, it's definitely warmer here.  All Winters are not alike!

We came down Thursday night and were picked up by his parents.  It was pouring rain!  Apparently, it had been raining for almost four days straight.  There was some flooding earlier in the week, made worse by people thinking their cars were amphibious.  This was incorrect.

If you have a Amphicar, though, it's ok!

Friday was our errand/"work" day since we were in town for SMS to photograph our friends' wedding.  SMS went to the camera store to pick up his expensive Nikon rental.  Then we went to Miramar so I could pick up a medal for my dress uniform.   For some reason, I was unable to mount my medals well, sliced open my thumb on the bracket and bled on three of the medals.  That's about $25 down the drain, whah.  At least I didn't get it on the uniform.  After my year's quota of F-bombs, it turns out I wasn't even needed since one of the Marines backed out last minute (as happy as I was to get out of it, who does that the day of the wedding?!?!) and a Navy person had to volunteer to drop out.  I beat another guy to the punch and I got to change out of my uniform.  Yay!!!

The wedding was really nice and SMS got some great pictures.  I was his trusty assistant and it was a lot of fun!  I got to mingle a little bit but since we didn't know anyone at the wedding apart from whom we met that night, it was fun to have something else to do, too.

Saturday was our Fun in San Diego Day!  We got up and had a delicious breakfast of avocado sourdough toast and poached egg, made by Rip.  Yum!!!  Then we were off on adventures.

First, we went to Cafe Calabria.  It's my favorite coffee shop in San Diego and I was so glad to go again.  We each tried something new.  I tried a Bicerin, espresso+ steamed milk+ Nutella and SMS got a Caffe Vienesse, espresso, steamed milk, honey and cinnamon.  Both drinks were great and I also got a small coffee to-go.  Also, there is now a seating area in their roasting room so it was pretty cool to see the equipment up close.  Then we walked down the street to Pigment and looked at all of the super cute, on trend housing goods, cards and other awesome stuff-I-didn't-know-I-needed-until-I-see-it!

Farmer's Market

After North Park, we drove through South Park on our way to the Little Italy's Farmer's Market.  It wasn't the most direct way, but I wanted to see more of the two neighborhoods.  We were pretty lucky with Little Italy parking.  We walked through the entire Farmer's Market.  It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun.  We ran into a friend of mine from Yokosuka, which was pretty awesome.  He's currently at NMCSD so it's not as random as it sounds.

Beautiful view of Coronado from Cabrillo National Monument

Our lunch was from the Farmer's Market- two samosas, one butter chicken and one saag paneer.  Then we went to Point Loma and toured an Open House.  Someday...

So happy!

One of my favorite places in San Diego

After our Open House dreamfest, we headed to Cabrillo National Monument.  There was a slight backup getting in but parking was pretty easy.  We enjoyed the view and then headed down the road to the tidepools.  We walked down since the parking lots were full.  It was a lot of fun to take in the view by walking, even though it's slightly hazardous without a shoulder or sidewalk.

Although SMS is a great photographer, he is meditating on how his wife is able to take such amazing shots.  Is the
shoe there on purpose or by accident?  Is the rock the same size as his head?  How many drops of
water are in the ocean?  Imponderables...

The tidepools were beautiful and we walked around, looking in the pools and trying not to fall in.  We headed back up the hill and headed downtown to Zymology 21, a bar that specializes in shrub and bitters drinks.  The coolest thing is the Shrub Sampler, which is 5 test tubes of shrubs to mix into one spirit of choice.  Since the spirit is about 5 shots worth, we passed but we did enjoy the "Fire and Ice" show that accompanies the presentation when other tables ordered it.  The server lights 151 liquor on fire, swirls it, waits about 30 seconds and then pours it into the beaker holding the test tubes.  The beaker contains dry ice which causes a cloud waterfall-like effect while the fire goes down the poured out liquor stream.  It was pretty cool!

After Zymology, we headed to my favorite restaurant, Banker's Hill Bar and Restaurant!  Although there are so many amazing places in San Diego and new ones I should explore, I like going back to old haunts.  We had the potato chips, salad (a little yin/yang action there), charred brussel sprouts and roasted parrotfish in a cioppino-type sauce with calamari, tomato and sausage.  The chef was a little heavy with the salt but we will still go back!

Finally, it was time to go home.  It was a great San Diego day!

Mini Road Trip: Bodega Bay, Stinson Beach and Mt. Tam

Breakfast in bed!

On the third day of our mini-NorCal road trip, SMS and I awoke a little on the early side and packed up.  Our delicious Boon breakfast came at 8:30.  We had biscuits with honey butter, yogurt with berries and granola and French press coffee.  It was really nice and we got to have breakfast in bed!

The three main towns on the Bohemian Highway

We took off down the 116 and then made a left onto the Bohemian Highway.  It's about 10 miles long and goes through three main towns: Monte Rio, Occidental and Freestone.  The road mostly cuts through the forest but by Freestone, there is lovely rolling hills and pasture land.  Occidental seemed like a nice place to stay and I'd love to stop in Freestone to go to the bakery and creamery in the future but since it was early and New Year's Eve, everything was closed.

Bodega Bay on the left and Jenner by the Sea on the right

We made our way to Bodega Bay and walked on the beach for a little while.  The surf was pretty intense and there were a lot of surfers out there.  Salmon Creek meets the Pacific at that area and I wanted to see the entrance of the Russian River to the Pacific so we drove up to Jenner by the Sea.  The view was beautiful and I read that depending on the tides and time of year, the meeting of the two can be very impressive.  While it was very pretty, there was no great clash between the bodies of water and the river gently dwindled in size and entered into a little cove.  We saw two seals swimming in there.  The spot is probably great for whale watching so maybe later in the Spring, we'll check it out again.

Old friends and new!

We drove through Petaluma and stopped at Lagunitas brewery for lunch.  It was awesome!  Super laid-back vibe and lots of heat lamps and sun.  We sat outside and shared nachos and cream of mushroom soup.  Not a soup I'd normally order but I was told it was delicious and that was a fact!  We had a sampler there and I really wanted some more of the sour wheat with mango and passionfruit (citrus-y without sweetness like a Sour Patch kid), but they didn't put any of the limited releases in growlers so I will just have the little sampler memory!  At Lagunitas, we also saw the saddest looking dog we've ever seen under the keyboard.  I wanted to adopt him, but I think he's probably the brewery's mascot.

Amazing View!

After lunch, we drove to the East Peak of Mt. Tam.  We drove to the end of the road and parked near the lookout tower.  The walk is very short to the top and the views are completely stunning.  The area is an incredible contrast of preserved park land and high-density development.  We took in the views for a while before heading down to Stinson beach for a longer hike.

Another view with SMS in the foreground; L: a relief map of the area, we were on the top-right peak

Golden hour hiking

The hike started through the forest and went up into the hills overlooking the town of Stinson Beach.  It was absolutely gorgeous and I really wanted to do a complete loop hike but unfortunately, we had started too late so we turned back.  I was disappointed but we had seen so many other awesome things that day, I had to get over my pout-fest/temper tantrum that I couldn't control nature or the sun.  ("Sun!  Stop setting!")

The sun set.

We drove home and I made a pretty good NYE's dinner of rack of lamb and roasted cauliflower mash accompanied by champagne!  The lamb was cooked in two stages since after the first time period was up, it was still really rare.  It was still really tender and delicious though.  Then, we watched Ex Machina, which I had heard about in the pre-Oscar nomination buzz and it was pretty good.  Although our NYE wasn't party-heavy, it was exactly what I wanted since we were able to explore so much of the region in the last few days and to me, that's what this "year" (July 15- July 16) is about- taking advantage of this pretty cool opportunity to live in such a vibrant, cutting-edge area.

Mini Road Trip: Guerneville and Armstrong Redwoods

Across from our parking space- I can never resist a cut-out photo op!

SMS and I got up and decided that we should hit the road in order to explore Guerneville and Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve during daylight hours.  First, we needed fuel.  We stopped at Nido for scones (not as good as I remembered but still really delicious) and Temple Coffee for a tall French press.

Delicious!

We drove for awhile and SMS mentioned that he was starting to get hungry.  Well, I'm no fool.  I have been in the past but I now know that the slight mention means it's time to start thinking about a food stop sooner rather than later.  I did a little Internet sleuthing and found Yanni's Sausage Grill.  It had rave reviews and I know SMS likes his links.

Succulents

It was a completely awesome experience.  Yanni and his wife Fran are so sweet and nice.  They gave us their recommendations in addition to a free sample of their "Greek chili."  We ordered a lamb sausage with onions, Greek sausage with pepperoncinis and Greek fries, covered in dressing and feta.  The food was delicious.  At the owners' suggestion, we took it next door into the Penngrove pub where there was more seating and it was much warmer.  We sat at the bar with several locals who were quite nice and interesting to talk to.  There was one eagle-eyed woman who spotted the health inspector's car and told the bar tender to wipe up the water and lose his drink.  The bar passed with flying colors, although I think it would have been fine even without the tip!

After a really nice lunch, we headed to Guerneville where we went into a few shops on the main street.  The old bank has been converted to a few shops within its interior and Big Bottom market also had excellent food for picnics.

Devil chicken at the Boon.

Lovely linens

We decided to check into the Boon Hotel, which was very retro chic.  It reminds me a lot of the Pearl hotel in San Diego.  Our room was great but since the clouds were starting to part, we decided it would be best time-wise if we checked out the Armstrong Redwoods that day.

The forest is known for "tree animals"

Strange wildlife

 We went a little ways up the road and parked near the Reserve entrance.  There was only a charge if a car drove into the reserve and we decided to walk along the trail.  Nothing fancy or long, just enough to see some of the oldest redwoods, 1300-1400 years old!

Pushing the trees apart- so strong!

The park was really special and majestic.  The colors were brilliant thanks to the recent rain and lingering mist.  I loved the green-gray with hints of purple the best that I could see in some of the bark and lichenous material.

We headed back to Boon and warmed up in the hot tub.  We relaxed in the room for a bit and then SMS went out for a quick dinner.  I stayed behind since my stomach was suddenly under duress for a couple of hours, likely due to the crazy spicy green papaya salad that also, weirdly, smelled of hot dogs when we took it in a to-go box (which I threw out, to the annoyance of SMS who wondered why I even took it to go at all!).

When SMS got back, we lit a fire, which was super cozy.  It was a great day and we saw a lot, really making the most out of a day that was mostly gray and drizzle-y.