Holiday Weekend!

The past weekend was a federal holiday weekend (yay!) and a nice mixture of being mellow and hanging out with family and friends.  This post will be scant on pictures.  It was a "live the moment" weekend instead of picture-taking, which I know, I know, does not make for very good blogging.

Gorgeous flowers outside of Neiman Marcus.  

 Anyway!  I took Friday off and was pretty mellow while SMS was at work.  I ran to his work and we met up for lunch.  I spent the rest of the afternoon at the shopping mall trying to find a specific lipstick but had no luck.  That night, we went to Tomi for dinner, which was pretty delicious.

ZZZZzzzzz....wake up!  The weekend gets more interesting!  On Saturday, SMS and I went to run club.  Neither one of us had been for awhile so it was nice to see our running friends.  Then, we went into the city to hang out with SMS's sister and brother-in-law.  We headed up to Tomales Bay, picked up oysters and had an amazing picnic in Pt. Reyes Station.  Afterwards, we drove out to Pt. Reyes lighthouse, admiring the happy cows along the way.  Does this sound familiar?   It's because we did the same trip with SMS' parents and his sister wanted to recreate it.

Smokestack!

After we dropped them off, SMS and I went out to dinner in the city.  I hadn't really thought of a place, so we ended up going to the Dogpatch and eating at Smokestack.  I loved the interior and the BBQ and drinks were delicious.  Another huge bonus is they had free water on tap- still and sparkling!  I love bubbles!  I ordered a salad b/c I wasn't very hungry.  SMS ordered some delicious BBQ, sustainably sourced and cooked over a woodchip grill only, of course.  I mean, really, we are in San Francisco (ha ha).

The next day, we met up with a friend of ours for brunch.  I really wanted the chicken and waffle, but went with a big salad instead.  Aiming for healthier eating is not always the most fun, but choices, choices.   Afterwards, we went to the American Heritage Museum in Palo Alto, which was pretty cute.  It was staffed by a lot of older volunteers, who gave us a tour.  We saw several old printing presses, staffed by a guy who had been a typesetter for 30+ years.  I really liked the interior of the house, since a doctor owned it and one room was an OR theatre.  You can't tell now, but the skylights were perfectly positioned for illuminating the operative field.  I loved it!

Since we had been eating out like kings and queens, we decided to eat at home.  I made a version of tacorisu, a Japanese dish that translates into....wait for it...taco rice!  It was pretty good so I'll be making it again.

Mozart Foundation Museum Tour

Oh my goodness!  SMS and I had the best luck on Saturday.  Due to serendipity and SMS' love of racing cars, we were able to take a tour of a private car museum owned by a local developer (who clearly has done very poorly for himself)!

Let me back up.  On Saturday, I got up early and went to the old apartment to straighten up before the movers came later in the day.  I headed back to the new place to pick SMS up for our Saturday morning run club.  We semi-regularly attend the Mountain View Runner's Club Saturday morning session, which is a 3.5 mile loop on Steven's Creek trail.  It's a really nice group of people and afterward, we hang out at the Starbucks for a little coffee-fueled socializing.

Not too different from some parking lots in Silicon Valley...

As SMS and I were getting ready to leave, he said he wanted to check out the Corvettes down the street.  I hadn't noticed but apparently, a lot of Corvettes had been driving by including two with racing modifications and vinyl appliques.  We said goodbye to everyone and walked down the street.  Inside an open gate, there was a mini-auto show in the parking lot that was filled with Corvettes!  I estimate there were about 30-40, which was very cool.  We wandered around and talked to a few people.  We didn't really know what was going on but then I started talking to a woman who had just pulled up in a more classic car with her husband.  I complimented her on her shirt, which was a gray t-shirt with a silver and light blue rhinestone Corvette.  She invited us to join them on their group tour of the Auto Museum.  I initially declined (what a moron!) because the movers were supposed to come between 11-1, but I fortunately came to my senses.  SMS and I each paid our $20 to the Corvette Club of Santa Clara President and with that, we were on the list!

Anteros also avenges unrequited love so maybe he'll help me get this car?!?!

While we were waiting to get in, we talked to a guy who had extensively modified two Corvettes about 10 years ago as a side project.  He had majored in auto design in college but spent his working years designing video games in Silicon Valley.  [Aside: We never exchanged names and I suspect that he is really well-known in certain circles but hey, we were there to talk about the cars.  Plus, SMS and I are just not super-in-the-know about that industry.  But he did mention that he was good friends with the guy who programmed Pong and the guy who hired Steve Jobs at Atari.]  Anyway, he had added a Super Charger to the engine to bring it up to 550 hP.  He had also taken off most of the panels and replaced them with carbon fiber elements so the car was about 100 pounds lighter than a normal Corvette.   He had the tooling done and panels made in a factory in San Diego.  He had 14 orders for the car but the factory went out of business so only two were made.  What was incredible to me was that the two cars were already committed so he had to deliver both of them; aka, he couldn't even keep the car he made!!  But, alls well that ends well.  He bought the car back from one of the purchasers about 7 years later so he now has Production #0001 in his possession now.  Incredible.  What a feat of design and a display of integrity to keep your word on delivering a product you promise! The car is called Anteros, after the Greek god of requited love I'm guessing.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Amazing supercharged engine!

At 1000, it was time for the tour!  We went inside the understated, but beautiful building.  The outside landscaping was very zen.  Inside, the docent gave a brief introduction.  They asked for no photography and everyone was very respectful of that request.  I did take one picture by accident as I silenced my phone, but it was of the floor so I think it's ok to display my masterpiece.

I am so funny and bad with my phone!  Photo taken accidentally while silencing my phone.

The cars on display were incredible.  There were many early cars, like three 1910-1913 Simplexes.  There were several Pullmans, Ferraris and Porsches.  Most of the cars were one of two/three known to be in existence.  My favorite car was a 1934 Bugatti with a deep mustard yellow alligator interior.  It was a breathtakingly beautiful car...the informational sign near it said that it drew such crowds, it was once hard for the then-owner to approach it and drive it away at the end of a car show!

Very few pictures can be found on the internet but here's one from the kitchen cabinet designers.  The gray Cadillac
in the middle/left center was in the museum and is a beautiful focal point with the interior design. Credit

Alas, all dreams must end and ours ended abruptly with a call from our neighbor that the movers there a few minutes before 11.  Argh!  When are movers ever early!?!?  Anyway, we rushed off and left, but felt incredibly lucky to have experience such an amazing museum.

Local Weekend

After a few out-of-town weekends, SMS and I relaxed around Mountain View this past weekend.

On Friday, we went to Morocco's Restaurant, featuring Moroccan food with belly dancing at 730.  The belly dancer didn't seem to have the best rhythm in the world with her little cymbals but it was still festive.  The food was pretty good and SMS and I enjoyed sharing several dishes.  Our favorite was the Briwatt sampler.  Briwatts are sort of like samosas with phyllo instead of dough.  They were delicious- beef, crab and veg.  The eggplant salad was good although almost chutney-like, which actually went really well with our lamb tangine to give it a little more flavor.  I don't think we'll be rushing back to eat there again (especially since we've found a new favorite- keep reading!), but I would recommend the place.

These birds were huge!  Picture from the long run and since the weekend was light on photos, this is what you get.

 On Saturday, J and I met up for our 20 mile long run.  I'm glad I ate carbs the night before!  The run went pretty well and we kept up a pretty good pace.  I slowed down a lot the last 2 miles because my legs felt so heavy but I'm confident that on race day, I can just push through and suck it up for whatever remaining miles are left when that feeling hits.  I mean, unless of course that feeling hits at the 3 mile mark.  Then I think I'd be pretty screwed.

I got back home, showered and took a mini-nap.  Then SMS and I headed to Palo Alto where we bought an office chair for him and then grabbed a late lunch at Sushirrito.  SMS ordered my favorite, the Geisha's Kiss.  I ordered a salad because I had eaten a big early lunch after my run and wasn't too hungry.  But then we treated ourselves to ice cream sandwiches at Cream.  I had a half sandwich, which is an off-menu item where I probably saved about 5 calories from a 600 calorie dessert by only having one cookie cut in half instead of two.  Ha, ha.  It's ok, I wasn't really doing it for the health benefits.  A half sandwich just sounded like the amount I felt like at that time (clearly, I must not have been right in the head.  When would anyone voluntarily choose half an ice cream sandwich?).

After Palo Alto, we went to Trader Joe's to stock up for my planned vegan Super Bowl feast.  A lot of our friends are veg and since we had invited them over for the Super Bowl, I wanted to make food everyone could enjoy.  I used recipes from OhSheGlows and ChefChloe to make sliders, enchiladas and cupcakes. It all ended up turning out really well and everyone really enjoyed the food the next day.

Our party was more successful than these game day Skywriting Doritos, I think.

Yes, we had a Super Bowl party!  It was a lot of fun with J and her family and a friend, some neighbors and a SMS co-worker.  People mingled well and seemed to have a great time.  I missed the second half because I was socializing too much but basically, a football game was on while people focused on talking, eating and drinking beer.  Perfect!

Pebble Beach, CA

Sunset at the tide pools in front of the Inn

Take two non-golfers and a world-famous golf resort and what do you get?  A great weekend!  SMS and I headed to the Inn at Spanish Bay this weekend after my boss gave us the stay as a gift.  Apparently, he and his golf partner each had a room through an event they were playing but his friend wanted to stay in the house he owned in the area.  Based on the houses around Pebble Beach, I'm sure it was a real dump.

Well, we were very happy and appreciative and off we went, battling rain and end-of-rush-hour traffic to get to the hotel.  The room was really nice.  The main room had a gas fireplace with two armchairs across from the two double beds that had really luxurious bed linens.  The bathroom had a separate vanity/sink area and an inner toilet/sink/shower and bath.  The bathtub looked like an amazing soaking tub but I didn't check it out because, despite all the recent rain, CA is still in drought status.

We saw a Chinese woman feeding the seagulls.  It looked dangerous.

We woke up in the morning and noticed that are room was a partial ocean view room- beautiful!  We lazed around until the siren call of pancakes became too great for SMS' stomach.  We headed over towards Sticks, the small restaurant by the first tee.  We shared blueberry pancakes and poached eggs and hash.  Fortified, we headed off to the Coast trail, where we walked 2 miles each way between the Inn and Bird Rock.  It was high tide and the ocean waves were pretty turbulent.  It was so beautiful.  It was nice to walk because I've driven on 17 Mile Rd before and it's hard to sightsee to my heart's content while driving.

After our walk, we split a club sandwich by the outside fire pit.  It was so delicious- lots of turkey on sourdough toast (yeah!) along with perfectly ripe avocado and cooked bacon.  So delicious, in fact, that seagulls tried to join our lunch (boo!), so we moved inside.  One gull was tolerable but then it opened its big mouth and called all its friends.  I know a flock of circling seagulls may not sound as scary as, say, hawks or vultures, but it was still disconcerting.  I was not about to share my sandwich!

Then we went upstairs and I laid down on the bed for 5 minutes.  It ended up being a two hour nap that even SMS participated in, which has never happened before!  It was awesome!  Unfortunately, the one experience does not seemed to have converted SMS to the love of naps but hey, maybe I can work on him.

I went for a quick run and cut it slightly short when I saw how beautiful the sunset and the light was on the nearby dunes.  I ran and got SMS and we walked along the shoreline, exploring the tide pools and walking on the boardwalks among the dunes.  It was fantastically beautiful.

After our sunset walk, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner.  I thought it would be nice to eat in one of the Inn's restaurants so I had made reservations at Peppoli.  We had a great Italian dinner.  The highlight was how amazing the pasta was.  It was super fresh and homemade.  It was the best pasta I've ever had.  The sauces didn't quite hold their own against the pasta, but they were still pretty good.  We ended with a shared almond cake for dessert and it was really a great meal.

On Sunday, I slept in.  I woke up at 7 but then started dozing until after 9!  Usually when I'm up, I'm up but I guess I was getting into the resort lifestyle.  We ordered room service because I've loved room service ever since ordering it with Jenny and Theresa one New Year's.  It felt very luxurious and I'm glad we did it!  SMS had the waffle and I had scrambled eggs.  After breakfast, we headed over to the tennis courts where we played for about an hour.  SMS was a total ringer since I didn't find out until we were there that he had been on a tennis team for two years.  Unfair advantage!

The Lone Cyprus

After tennis, we headed over to the main Pebble Beach Inn to check out the famed Lodge.  Along the way, we stopped at a few 17 Mile Dr. sites to include the Cyrus Lookout and the Lone Cyprus Tree. 

At the Pebble Beach Lodge, SMS wanted to see the clay tennis courts, which were waterlogged and closed but still interesting to see.  We ate lunch on the terrace even though I was completely underdressed.  Whah.  I like meeting attire requirements but apparently, they're loosened during the day and lunch was delicious so it was worth looking like a slob, I guess.  We went all out and started with a  dozen oysters (yay!) followed by an artichoke and a hamburger, which we shared.  It was really awesome and the view was spectacular.  We were overlooking the bay with Carmel across from us.  Even though they were setting up tents for the AT&T Pro-Am in mid-Feb, there was still plenty of beautiful scenery to take in and enjoy.

The Lone Cyprus' not-famous cousin, Pt Lobos

Whale watching!

 After lunch, we headed out to Point Lobos State Park, which was stunning.   We hiked in the Cyprus Grove, where the Monterey cyprus and other local trees are in their natural element.  We talked to a nice older couple manning the Park Service Info Booth and after turning over our car keys (yikes!), we got a pair of loaner binoculars.  I'm glad we had them because we got to see whale spouts and the backs of gray whales!  I was really hoping to see a tail or a whale flipping through the water like the old Echo the Dolphin Sega game, but I wasn't that lucky!

Near China Cove, Pt Lobos Park

After the park, we headed back to the Inn.  We decided to head back and be responsible adults.  No snow days for us unlike so many people on the East Coast!  It was a great weekend and a beautiful setting to stay and explore.

Christmas!

Our Christmas Tree!

SMS started our Christmas 2015 with a special Christmas Eve dinner request- Peking Duck!  We went to the Dim Sum restaurant on Castro and had a delicious Peking Duck dinner along with Wonton Soup.  It was really delicious.  The place was packed but we got our dinner in a reasonable amount of time.  It sounded like there were some other, unhappy diners but we were pretty set and definitely happy with our meal.

Christmas morning came and I was super-spoiled by SMS.  I had put my Garmin back under the tree and I also got a Narwal t-shirt and It Is Right to Draw Their Fur: Animal Renderings by Dave Eggers.  I also got a Santa Hat!  For SMS, I got a hiking hat with extra neck sun protection, Kona coffee and a "vintage" Japanese beer poster.  He's hard to shop for and I try to take notes during the year.  Currently, we're eying a super-chunky wool blanket so maybe we'll have a big joint New Year's present!

After Christmas morning and some breakfast, we hung out during the day.  We went out to Eagle Park to fly our drones.  That was a lot of fun!  It really is so fun to have a toy to play with on Christmas, even as an adult!

Cool, 3D glasses...so hipster!

That evening, we went to see the new Star Wars in 3D.  It was pretty good.  I enjoyed the references to the original trilogy and I'm slightly enthralled by the "Who are Rey's parents?" theories.  I'm not sure that I need to see it again but I will definitely see the next movie when it comes out!

Weekend, weekend!

This weekend was pretty nice.  SMS and I did a lot, but at the same time, it was all local and didn't feel particularly rushed.  It was just a really pleasant, overall relaxing weekend.

R&W Estate Vineyard

 On Friday, I went to my book club meeting.  We had read Pretty Girls, which I do not recommend at all.  The only reason why I even read it at all is this is the first book club I've belonged to where people actually read the book.  Pretty Girls is in the genre of sex crimes mystery/thriller and I just think it's kind of a gross genre.  I don't watch those types of TV shows either.  I know there are horrible things in the world, but I don't find them as a source of fictional entertainment.  I'm not trying to sound holier-than-thou (and I did read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, that was a huge trend a few years back), but it's just a genre I don't like.

Anyway, book feelings aside, it was a great club meeting.  We each write two questions- one book related and one not- and then put them in a bucket and draw them out.  On Friday, we also had a White Elephant gift exchange, which focused on nicer gifts rather than sad-sack gifts that no one really likes (which I think is what a White Elephant is about).  Anyway, I brought an awesomely funny mug that got stolen once, a key sign that the gift is awesome.  I had a wine glass stolen from me that said "Treat Yo' Self" and I ended up picking the last present.  Karma has rewarded me for all the bad presents I've brought in the past because it wasn't that great- a bunch of samples from The Face Shop in a cute tin.  However, the samples are still cool and I will use the tin for my work's upcoming cookie exchange so still, winner!

UC Berkeley's Sather Tower, too early on a Saturday morning

On Saturday, SMS was going to meet up with a "friend" to go rock climbing but the guy is turning out to be an A+ flaker.  Hopefully, SMS will meet other climbing partners soon.  I had to head up to Berkeley for a 7 am (ugh!) meeting and PRT with the NROTC unit.  I like the staff up there and I had a great run.  It's fun being the old lady and still beating a fairly sizable portion of the other, younger runners.  Comparatively, I didn't do as well as other PRTs that I've run b/c this one had several recent USNA male grads who are in very good shape and take the run seriously.  One guy even had his Theristick out, rolling out his muscles before the run.  Keep in mind, the run is 1.5 miles.  I ran it in 10:15 and the fastest guy ran it in about 8 minutes, I would guess.  

After the run, I headed into work and drilled some temporal bones in the lab for awhile. It's nice to practice and reinforce some anatomy lessons and relationships.  I got a text from SMS and we were invited to a party by the neighbor.  I stopped at the store to buy crescent roll dough and hotdogs for excellent pigs-in-a-blanket.  Not super elegant but definitely super delicious!

The party was a lot of fun.  Most people were from an electric car start-up so there stories were interesting, especially since a lot of them knew each other from the UK and working on Lotuses.  There were also some other start-up people and it was just really a lot of fun to talk to such a different crowd.  Everyone was super nice and mingle-y and it was a great party.  The food highlight for me, apart from my own, was homemade pork-and-cabbage dumplings with homemade dough.  Sagoy!  They were so good!

Mile 11 was our last RP mile, which was 7:57.

Yesterday, I went for my weekly long run with Jyotsna, my excellent training partner.  We went for 16 miles with 6 miles at race pace in the middle, which we ran even faster than race pace.  Our 6 miles ranged from 7:54-8:16.  We were very happy with ourselves and how we felt.  I felt like I was pushing myself but not hurting myself so that's good!

I like to pretend this is my home ;)

After the run, I felt a little wiped but SMS and I decided to head up to R&W's holiday party.  We sampled some wine, listened to bluegrass and took in the incredible view.  Afterwards, we went to San Pedro Market and had some tacos as we watched the nail biter end to the Panthers-Saints game.

Merry Christmas!  Maybe not Christmas Card worthy with the lighting, but still festive!

So, it was a pretty great weekend and with a few parties thrown in, it feels like the holidays.  I tried to decorate last night but I fear I pulled a Clark Griswold and ended up shorting out several strings of lights.  Hmmm, will have to try again (putting up lights, that is, not shorting them!).

Even dogs in Silicon Valley are smarter than you

Weekend Fun: Part 2, Pinnacles National Park

View from the High Peaks

On Sunday, we woke up in our awesome hotel and packed up quickly.  We were off to Pinnacles National Park for an awesome day of being outside and hiking!  We hadn't brought climbing gear but we thought it would still be a pretty good day.

Before we left Monterey, we stopped at Caffe Trieste for breakfast.  It was pretty good.  The portions were huge, though.  I like getting my money's worth but I hate wasting food.  It's hard to combine safe food handling and doggy bags when traveling so there were a lot of breakfast potatoes that went into the trash!

On Juniper Canyon Trail

Pinnacles was a little over an hour away and we drove to the West entrance.  We stopped at the Visitor's Center where I got an annual park pass for free, courtesy of the military discount.  Score!  I looked around the small center for a bit but SMS and I were getting a little antsy.  We drove into the Chaparral parking lot and decided to hike the 8.4 mile High Peaks to Balconies Cave Loop.  We set off along the Juniper Canyon loop which took us to the beginning of the High Peaks trail.  We took the "Steep and Narrow" trail since that one was reported to have better views.

About to enter the cave!

The rock formations were pretty epic.  They were so large and the rocks were starkly outlined against the bright blue sky.  It was a gorgeous day.  We spoke with a guy near the top of the Peaks who was holding an antenna that looked like it belonged on the roof of a house for an old TV.  He was tracking condors as a volunteer.  Apparently, there are just over 400 condors in existence, ~200 in the wild and ~200 in a captivity breed and release program.  This is up from a low of 22 in the early 1980s.  There are about 70 condors between Pinnacles and Big Sur.  We didn't see any but it was cool to hear about the condors and conservation efforts from someone actively involved.  I also learned about the differences between California condors and turkey vultures in flight but that knowledge also went unused since we didn't see any turkey vultures either.

Outside of the Cave

After traipsing through the High Peaks, we walked along the Old Pinnacles trail, which was about as wild as a gravel bike path.  This took us to the Balconies caves, which were pretty awesome.  It starts out in a slot canyon and then we actually climbed through a short cave system that had some vertical climb and a few really dark places.  Flashlights were definitely required.

I am strong like a rock climber too!

After the caves, we saw some climbers, which made SMS very happy.  It looked like the climbing was better than the reputation of the place gave credit for.  It may be too hard for me but I suspect SMS will be back!  The climbing was only 0.6 miles away from the parking lot so it would be a great place for a day trip.

After the hike, we got in the car and started driving home.  I was really hungry so we stopped in Gilroy for burgers.  I had the most delicious burger and sweet potato fries at Cafe 152.  I got the burger in a lettuce wrap and even though that's one of the saddest ways to eat a burger, it was still amazing.  If you're in Gilroy (outlets anyone?), a stop at Cafe 152 would be well worth it.

Then it was time to hit the road and head home.  I was so tired that night after such a great, active day!

Local Hiking- Purisima Creek

View on the descent!

SMS and I had a super active and healthy weekend!  What, on Halloween?!?  I know, we are very snooze-worthy in that respect but we really had a great time outside.

On Friday, we had a delicious salmon dinner after we took advantage of a sale on wild salmon at our local market.  I wanted to watch Hocus Pocus but alas, it wasn't available on Netflix.  Someday, I'll rewatch it.  I think it's been so long that when I first watched it, I was still young enough to be scared by it.  Yes, I was a big scaredy cat.  I still remember when I cried during the public library's showing of The Wizard of Oz and roamed the aisles, sobbing, looking for Mom, who had taken Ed home to change and left me because I was so enthralled with the movie.  Until those horrible roller skating monkeys came along (maybe that's why I never completely took to derby).  Actually, I was a bit of a wimp on Friday night too since SMS watched a cheesy zombie movie while I assiduously ignored the TV and read a book (or maybe internet gossip, my memory is hazy).

Another pretty, high-contrast view!

On Saturday, we decided to head out and do something fun.  I decided that a hike was in order and we headed out to the Purisima Creek Redwood Preserve.  It's closer than Muir Woods or Big Basin and I was in the mood to see some Redwoods!  The redwoods are part of second growth forest, replanted about 100 years ago after significant logging of the original forest.  We parked in the North Parking lot off of Skyline Blvd and ended up doing a ~7.5 mile loop down the Harkins Ridge Trail and up the Whittemore Gulch Trail.  There were beautiful views of the mountains, ocean and Half Moon Bay.  There were more open areas in direct sun on the way down but once we hit Purisma Creek, we were in lovely, shaded forest.  The gulch was mostly shaded with only the last mile back in the sun.  It wasn't too hot but the forest shade was appreciated both for the coolness and the beauty.

We really had a great time on the hike even though my knee was acting up a bit from my prior day's run.  I think it's better now but my knee was really achy and inflamed just above my kneecap.  I was worried about insta-PFS (patella-femoral syndrome) but don't worry, I think I'm going to live!

Daddy-o's.  This is the unnecessary caption of the post.

After our hike, we were hungry!  We ate some snacks in the parking lot to tide us over.  Then, we collapsed in the car and headed into Half Moon Bay.  We went to Daddy-o's, a converted railroad caboose on original tracks that now serves a lot of BBQ- brats, sausages, hot dogs and pulled pork.  The clam chowder is reputedly awesome and they have freshly-baked S'mores cookies.

Unfortunately, I have decided to do a stupid month-long diet but the only thing stupider than a diet is owning pants that don't fit.  I mean, I could just chuck it all and go elastic waist-style all the time but I am vain and that's not an option.  So, S'mores will have to be another time, but it did sound delicious so if you are not on a dumb diet, I recommend it!

Daddy-o's also featured a pretty creepy, stare-y kid whom I'm pretty sure was just trying to make misunderstood overtures of friendship to SMS.  I would love to include a picture but that just seems a little too mean.  Picture a tiny tot who stares.  A lot.

I know, I know, what's an RDER?
In case it's just killing you, the sign on the left says "Order here." 

Pomponio Beach.  This is just 12 miles down the coast- crazy weather shift!

After lunch, we headed down the coast to San Gregorio Beach, recommended by SMS' cousin Jeff.  It was super foggy and the beach had a ton of cool driftwood.  It was really beautiful.  I also wanted to go to the Fitzgerald Marine Preserve but that apparently is North of Half Moon Bay, a fact that eluded Google Maps and I for a little while.  So, along with S'mores cookies, Fitzgerald will have to be saved for another time.  We also went to Pomponio State Beach, which had a very cool cliff and was also shrouded in fog.

No, I will not tell you the name of my stylist!

Pomponio Beach

We took Rte 84 home which would have been a really fun road to drive if we hadn't been stuck behind a grandma driver who apparently thought she would die if she drove any faster than 10 mph under the speed limit.    She also had never been told what a turnout was for and it was really very aggravating.

Very cool (well, that may be relative) neighbor's house!

After we got home, we were pretty wiped.  We went out for dinner and walked through the neighborhood on the way, admiring people's Halloween decorations.  In particular, one Mercy St. house went all out as the "No Mercy Cemetery."    It was almost Disney Haunted Mansion level.  After dinner, we waited in vain for trick or treaters and then called it a night.  We had to get our beauty rest for the next day's hike!

Spooky!

2 Days, 1 Night in Napa

Last weekend, SMS and I went to Napa.  I was off-call and was able to venture a little farther away than normal.  We are going next month as well with SMS' parents but even though the two trips are close together, I kind of wanted to get my "Napa Newbie" trip done.  It was nice to get the lay of the land and see a few places that I had heard about to weed out the "Repeat.  Must do again" from the "Ehh...it's to somebody's taste, but not mine."

Coffee Scales for Pour-over at Ritual

On Saturday, I got up for a run and then we were off a little after 9.  We arrived in Napa by 11 and headed to the Farmer's Market.  It skewed towards ready-made goods more than produce but it was a a lot of fun.  We bought figs, which I hadn't seen in Mountain View for a few weeks.  We also had sandwiches for an earlier breakfast from "A Proper Sandwich."  We split the sandwiches- I favored the roasted delicata squash with caramelized onions, fig spread, greens and pepitas on a hearty bread. SMS ordered the pimento cheese sandwich which was tasty but basically, a holiday cheese ball smashed into a sandwich.  I wasn't quite expecting that but still, it's nice to try something different.

Oxbow Market- crowded but awesome

Although we were full, we wandered through Oxbow Market.  It is super cute and airy with lots of great stand-alone shops, mostly food service.  It is similar to the Ferry Building in San Francisco and the San Pedro Market in San Jose.  There's a Hog's Head Oyster bar, a restaurant called The Kitchen Door, Ritual Coffee, and C Casa, a great Mexican food place that is pricy for Mexican food but relatively inexpensive for Napa :/

How to strap that to a car...

After looking at Oxbow, we decided to make a big driving loop up the Silverado Trail and back on the 29 to Napa, where I had booked our last-minute hotel.  The whole area was very crowded- it's harvest time!  We stopped in St. Helena and window-shopped.  We found a motorcycle rental shop with some jet-engines out front.

I think this looks very Wild West...with gourmet tastes!

We also went to Oakville Grocery, which was smaller than I thought and although the building was historically interesting, I was a bigger fan of Oxbow.  I was definitely glad that we stopped though because I had heard so much about it.

Even the cheese at V. Sattui are crowded, ha ha.  But delicious!

Then we went to V. Sattui for a late lunch and glass of wine.  There are large picnic grounds there and  although the layout was nice, neither one of us really liked it.  And to be honest, most people's rave reviews are usually in context of when they had already had a few tastings and then went to V. Sattui and really, that's how it struck me- a place that would be more fun if you were drunk.  You know, get a little food, drink a little more, relax under a tree or on a picnic bench.  Definitely fun in the right mindframe but as a stand-alone stopping point in Napa?  I recommend a pass.

The French Laundry

Gardens

We stopped in Yountville to take ultimate tourist photos at The French Laundry.  We also walked around the gardens which were very impressive.  So well-laid out and perfectly ordered with excellent irrigation set-ups.  There was also a chicken coup/playground for chickens and a greenhouse.  It was really cool to wander in there.

Then we went to Napa, checked into our hotel, had a cookie and milk break at 6 and headed out to dinner.  We walked towards the downtown where we had dinner at Carpe Diem, which was really fun.  We each had a shot of yellow lentil soup and then we shared a salad and a flatbread.  I had a flight of the "interesting reds," which included a pinot noir I really liked (usually I find them a little too light and fruity).

Tasting Time!

Hess Courtyard and small pond with little goldfish

The next day, we had breakfast at the hotel which was carb-tastic!  We each had a waffle and then we split a homemade blueberry-banana mini-loaf.  Yum!  Then we headed out to Hess Winery, which was fantastic.  We went to the tasting room first where we tried a flight of three cabs (we liked 2010 the best) and a flight of four varied wine (I liked the Syrah).  Our pourer was really nice and the room was very cool.  We wandered around the gift shop and then went to view the attached museum/private collection of Mr. Hess, which is an incredible modern art collection.  After 40 minutes, we went on a tour of the vineyards and buildings which was about 30 minutes, but got the main points across.  It was a really pleasant, fun place and we were big fans!

Very cool collection and layout

Working winery next to the art!

After that, we decided to head home after a lunch at C Casa in Oxbow Market.  We stopped at UC-Berkeley and walked around for a bit. We also went to the top of the campus tower and had a great view on a pretty clear day.  Then we went to Stout Poutine so that SMS could get his poutine fix that he had had since reading about poutine in Berkeley.  They are really good but maybe a little much after a food-centric weekend!

Westward view from the tower

Then, we headed home and prepared for the week.  It was a fun weekend get-away and makes me really excited for our trip in a few weeks!  I've made some reservations and hired a driver so it will be a little more wine-centric.  Hey, maybe we should stop at V. Sattui!