11 posts tagged “road trip”

On Saturday, we got on the PCH (CA-1) and started driving south.  We were a little chagrined to find that the town of Cambria (our destination) was only 100 miles away, thinking – wow, what are we going to do all day?  It actually turned out to be a real blessing – as we used it as an opportunity to stop and admire views and pull off into state parks and go for 30-60 minutes hikes.

We stopped and did a nice hike to the beach at Andrew Molera State Park.  The scenery along Big Sur is drop-dead gorgeous (now I know why all those car commercials are filmed there) and it was fun to have my car on the twisty-turny roads.  We stopped at a beautiful little restaurant for a light lunch.
One of the highlights was stopping at Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP which had a few short trails that lead to a cliff over an isolated beach (it’s amazing to think of how inaccessible some of these places are), complete with turquoise waters and its own waterfall.  Truly spectacular.

We did run into some fog in the mid-afternoon which was freaky, but it was patchy and not in evidences further south.  About 10 miles north of Cambria, there is the beach at Piedras Blancas where (literally) thousands of elephant seals come to molt and breed during the spring and summer.
You could walk along a roped off path and at some points get to within 30 feet or so.  Awesome -- totally unexpected.  The seals made a cacophony of gurgling, belching and harrumphing which I worked hard at duplicating – I think the Beloved found it cute, except when we were out at dinner later.

Sunday, we toodled down the PCH for a bit more, stopping at Morro Bay, which has the distinction of having this huge rock in the middle of its bay.  It's this huge ~600 ft granite boulder in the middle of the bay.  Wild.  The town was an interesting mix of tourist motels, dive bars, fishing boats and tattoo parlors – so I’m not sure its on our next vacation destination list.  Cool rock, though.

After that, we angled over to US101, stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch and grabbed the 405 home with only some slowing near the Getty and LAX.  We were home by 4:30 -- not so bad!

This weekend we took a little road trip to Monterey.  Actually, I should refine that.  I took a road trip on Thursday to meet The Beloved who was already in Monterey on business.  The idea was that I would drive up alone and then we would come back together.

The Drive.  I got out of town around 9 a.m. and listened to the audiobook of "Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story", which is pretty much what it sounds like.  It was a really good choice -- fun story, slightly snarky, clever enough to keep you interested, not so thoughtful and consuming as to make me drive into oncoming traffic.  I made good time and was at our hotel by 4:30. We both wanted to stretch our legs and we walked for about 90 minutes along the bay, stopping at Cannery Row (which is all tourist shops now, no sardines to be found) and walking back through town looking for a place to eat.  We had some tasty Italian and retired.

The Aquarium.  Friday, we hoofed it back to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and spent a good half day there.  Several really good exhibits.  Sea otters, which of course The Beloved thought were super cute and the backlit jellyfish, which I thought were awesome.

There was a special exhibit on the Secret Lives of Sea Horses – which did not really seem all that secret, but was very cool nonetheless – the sea dragons (related to sea horses) were remarkable.  There was also a great shorebird (all rescues) exhibit.
The aquarium also had a number of interactive exhibits which were fun though I felt pretty bad pushing toddlers out of the way to get to pet a starfish (but it was totally worth it).  I, of course, felt the need to walk around and exclaim, “I’ve GOT to save those whales!”  but, alas, all I got were odd looks – 1986 was a long time ago apparently.

Out and About.  After the aquarium, we drove along the point, through Pacific Grove and to Carmel-by-the-Sea.  For you San Diegans, Carmel is like Del Mar, only bigger and with more money.  We had a fantastic late lunch (enough so that it became an early dinner) at a little French place and walked down to the beach – which really is a jewel (I left my camera in the car).

Afterwards,  we drove back and stopped and played in the tide pools at Asilomar St Beach near Pacific Grove as the sun set.

The Beloved had a couple of business events this week that took her to the Bay Area and so we decided to capitalize on that by extending her trip with a visit to Monterrey and Big Sur.  I'm going to drive up today solo and we’ll drive back together on Sunday.

It’s 432 miles to Monterrey.  I got a full tank of gas and I’m wearing sunglasses.*  Hit it.

*I am eschewing the half-pack of cigarettes for some Kashi bars and water.  It is also not dark.

On the penultimate leg of our east-coast swing, we journeyed from my sis’ place in Frederick MD to the “Northern Neck” of Virginia where the Beloved and her brother had arranged a 50th wedding anniversary dinner and party for their folks.  On our drive over, we stopped and had our great visit with the “P’s” and then made sure we would be ready for happy hour when we got there by patronizing on of southern Maryland’s drive-thru liquor stores!

The Northern Neck of Virginia is a peninsula between the Potomac River on the north and the Rappahannock River to the south as they empty into the Chesapeake Bay.  It’s really quite isolated and sparsely populated for being pretty close to Washington and the I-95 corridor.  As we drove along, farms became more prevalent than suburbs ultimately giving way to little fishing/retirement homes tucked along the many tributaries of the two rivers that crenellate the whole area.  I’d never been here before and it was really a lovely place – a nice cross between being in the south and being down the shore.

The hotel where we stayed was right on its own little inlet and had lots of activities, including a boat ride out onto the Rappahannock, kayaking and crabbing for the kids.

One of our excursions of note was to Christ’s Church, a small but gorgeous Georgian church built in 1735 (originally Anglican, but now Episcopalian as being Anglican wasn't so popular during the Revolution...).  The architecture was beautiful and we had a great tour and visits with one of the docents on site.

The weekend was a big success – the Beloved-In-Laws knew the family would be there, but didn’t know that we’d secretly invited other family and close friends making the weekend quite the she-bang.  It was really a great, fun weekend.

 
*bonus points for anyone that noticed that google-maps indicated Villas, NJ – where my grandmother’s house had been.

For such a small state, I’ve spent a fairly significant chunk of time in Delaware.  I earned my undergraduate degree at the University of Delaware (4 years), worked as a chemistry technician for DuPont (1 year), and worked for the DuPont again after I got my PhD (3 years).

As we were headed up to New Jersey during our recent East Coast swing, I took the opportunity to show the Beloved the house I used to live in with Roomie in Wilmington.  I figured we’d just do a drive by, because – well, its Wilmington. (Slogan: A Place To Be Somebody) – I hadn’t really given it much thought.

But we stopped and walked around the old neighborhood and it looked great.  We drove over to the Experimental Station, and I found myself pointing out things left and right  (that’s where so-and-so lived… oh, that’s the get-shot-Acme… and the bulletproof liquor store… and where we played tennis, etc.) – and remembering the city a lot more fondly than I would have expected.

We also stopped for a bit at an old converted mill where I would occasionally take my lunch break to get out of the lab for a bit – it’s a great place right on the Brandywine River near the original DuPont gunpowder mills.  And on our way out of town, we stopped for a bit at Rockford Park, which has a great stone water-holding tower (built around the beginning of the 20th century).

I hadn’t thought about good ol’ “Wilmo” in quite some time – our stop there was really an unexpected treat.

When I was growing up, we had a summer family tradition – no tradition isn’t quite the right word – "ritual" seems more correct.  Every (and I mean damn near every) Sunday during the summer, we would pack up the family and head “down the shore”. 

Specifically, we would drive down and visit my grandmother at her summer house and then head over to Cape May for several hours of beach time.  We’d then head back, get cleaned up, all go out to dinner (to the same restaurant) and then head home – often arriving back to the Ancestral Betz Home after 10 pm.  Did I mention that my father worked six days a week and that Sunday was his only “day off”?  Wow.

Now Dad liked to drive and since we were going to take all of Sunday, he liked to take the back roads down to The Villas. (The Villas -- where my grandmother's house was -- is a small town on the bay-side, just a few miles from Cape May, which is on the ocean side…).  We would stop at road-side produce stands (New Jersey is afterall the Garden State, you know) and pick up tomatoes and peaches for Nan and ourselves.  When I was about 12, Nan sold the Villas house, my brother married, my sis moved out of the house, and the ritual stopped.

So, while we were home and visiting my brother and his family, we decided to re-visit the family tradition.  So that Sunday morning, we packed up the family and headed down the shore – I even convinced my brother to attempt to find the backroads that Dad had so consistently kept to.

It was great fun.  We only got turned around the wrong way once (ok, maybe twice…) and we made it to the Villas in what we thought was surprisingly good time.  We went to see where Nan’s house had been (sadly re-sided in icky blue vinyl and the lot where I remember playing sub-divided), and went the few blocks down to the bay – an area that had seen better days.

After that, we were off to the beach (with me covered by both sunscreen and umbrella).  The lifeguards weren’t very busy as the water temp was abnormally cold, but we hung out for a while enjoying the sights and salt air, and the Beloved and I took a walk, watching kids play in the sand (just like when I was a kid…) and even New Jersey surfers (never there when I was a kid…), until a late thunderstorm sent everyone scurrying for their cars.

We had a great seafood dinner (sadly the family ritual restaurant was no more), and got ice cream, and headed back.  It was a really great day full of old and new memories.

I think Dad would have approved.

This past weekend the Beloved and I took a trip up to Pasadena. The reason for the visit was the last of her Christmas presents, which were tickets to see the Cal Phil perform Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos (some of her favorites).

Moreover, we coupled the opportunity to get together with some friends that we too-rarely get to see. We got together with them on Saturday afternoon at their home, went out for a great dinner and went to the concert. The orchestra played all six concertos, which made for a long concert (I don’t think we got out until after 11:00), but they did a really good job. Great day.

On thing that could have spoiled the day was that it’s apparently the start of another wildfire season in Southern California. On Saturday, it was a scorcher – near 100 and a big wildfire started up in the Sierra Madre region just southeast of Pasadena. It was a little disturbing – especially after the horrendous fires in San Diego last fall – that we could see the flames from our hotel window when we returned from the concert. Some folks were evacuated, but no damage was done to any homes or structures.

On Sunday, we spent the day at the Huntington Library and Gardens, which I had never been to before. I thought it was great. Wonderful collection of art, history, antique books, and gardens that kept me more interested together than any one of them would have alone. Also, ducking into one of the tiny museums was a good respite from strolling in ~100 degree gardens.

One thing you realize is that the Huntington is a massive library – and they have a great collection of historical books. We were able to see an original Gutenberg Bible and a first edition of Milton’s Paradise Lost among others. The scientist in me got a charge of seeing an original copy of Robert Hooke’s Micrographia – one of the most important “popular science” books of all time and an illustration of the new science of microscopy.

The other highpoint was walking around the different gardens on the Huntington grounds. The roses were really in bloom and folks were enjoying walking around and sampling their array of colors and fragrances. As gorgeous as they were, I think I liked the cactus and succulent garden – which was also in bloom (though not nearly as crowded) – the best. There’s something about their ability to thrive in the harshest of environments that makes me really enjoy seeing them.

On Monday, we slept in and had a nice easy mid-day drive back to San Diego.  Not a bad weekend at all.

Ok – so maybe The Beloved didn’t get to twirl around in a dirndl on a mountain meadow (something she really wants to do, actually), but one day we did rent a car and head south out of Munich towards the Alps.

 

We had a pretty and clear day and stopped first at the small resort town of Tegernsee.  Perched on a clear alpine lake (the Tegernsee), it was a lovely place to take a mid-day stroll – you got the sense that it was a bit touristy (but with Muncheners, not foreigners) who use the place as a bit of a getaway.

We wanted to get a little off the beaten track, and we took the advice of a Lonely Planet guide that suggested taking a little backroad to the little dorf of Jachenau.  Along the way, we actually passed briefly into Austria – it seemed to unnerve The Beloved a bit, I think she expected border guards with German shepherds and Uzis, or perhaps she was just looking for another passport stamp – but the 1.5 lane road (which was a little hair-raising at times) was worth it.  Jachanau was a tiny town in a hidden valley with a running stream, a couple of guesthauses and a small church (from the 1240s) on a hill.

We stopped and ate a late lunch/early dinner at the Jachenau Guesthaus which I think was the best meal we had in Bavaria – just us, a few old locals (who seemed to look at us with some bemusement) and a few cross country skiers that were staying there – sehr gut.

I think its pretty common that when people think of San Diego, they think of the pleasant coastal weather and “big” attractions – SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo.  And while those things are certainly a part of the area’s identity, San Diego County is actually quite large and incredibly diverse.

As large as the state of Connecticut, San Diego county includes both mountains that exceed 6000 feet, and a huge swatch of the Anza Borrego desert.  While my brother was here, I wanted to give him a taste of these different sides of greater San Diego.

We left on a gorgeous but windy Friday morning (temp ~ 65), and drove eastward up into the foothills, taking a little more than an hour to reach the little mountain town of Julian.  David seemed a little queasy at the twisty-turny mountain roads, though maybe it just the way I was driving them.

Julian is an interesting little town – originally founded as a gold mining town – turns out there’s not much gold in these thar hills.  It has since given over to ranching, a little farming and these days it yielded to “shoppes” (I always say “shoppies”).  There are a couple of good stores mixed in amongst the too-touristy ones.  We arrived to blustery winds, leaden skies, a little drizzle – it was probably 45 degrees. But it’s a good place to get a slice of apple pie – something else that its become notable for --  in fact, the apple festival was going to be that coming weekend, I hope it cleared up for them.

From there it was down down down more twisty roads to the desert floor of Anza Borrego State Park.  ABSP is the largest state park in the continental US – and its gorgeous in its desolation. (It was ~90 degrees there.)  More of a rock-desert than really a sandy one, the earth here is just scorched – and yet, poke around and life clings here. 

One of my favorite plants is the ocotillo – which sends its thorny branches skyward, and gets little “candle-flame” red flowers in the spring.

We stopped at the State Park visitor center and had a great tour of the grounds and learned a lot about how native Americans in the region used the plants (agave, ocotillo, mesquite, creosote).  It was also blustery here – occasionally dust devils and clouds could be seen on the desert floor.

We wound our way back through the high country – we had a great day, and I encourage anyone that comes to San Diego and has some extra time to take one day away from the beach and see the mountains and deserts of our county.

Unlike Jen, who had a very industrious day planned on Saturday, we had a bit of lunch adventure planned – heading down to Mexico with some friends to get grilled baja lobsters at a little town, Puerto Nuevo, which is located maybe 45 minutes south of the border between Rosarita and Ensenada.

The day was hot and clear and we got together at my friend Francisco’s house with (the erstwhile bloggers) The Beloved, blogmonicablog and her man, McP (who does not blog, and seems a little incredulous when we bring it up).  Everyone soldiered into my car – with five people going, it seemed a little wasteful to go down in two cars, and since I was driving, I knew I wouldn’t have to get wedged into the backseat…(kudos to McP who did the in-transit photography...)

It’s always interesting to go to a different country.  For lunch.  We crossed the border a little before noon.  Getting into Mexico is pretty easy.  This picture is us approaching the border crossing into Tijuana.

Ahhh Tijuana … what can you say.  Except avoid it.  And drive on the bypass road around it.  And put your air-conditioner onto “interior circulate” as you parallel the border to the coast.  Once you reach the coast however, you get onto Hwy-1, which follows the gorgeous coast along Northern Baja.  These houses were in a little town north of Rosarita.

One thing that you notice as soon as you get out of the Tijuana area is that this area is growing and growing fast.  Buildings, hotels, new houses are sprouting on the parched earth faster than weeds.  I’m not sure the infrastructure can handle it, but fortunately, I think someone’s got Their Eye on the folks here.

Arriving in Peurto Nuevo – which is really just a turn-off with (to quote Cori) a gobzillion lobster joints and souvenir shops you’re struck by the smell of the ocean and the aroma of cooking lobsters.  Having eaten a light breakfast, we were all ready to get down to business.  Our destination was Restaurant Puerto Nuevo Uno – shown below.

Yes, that’s a line waiting to get in.  Which isn’t too bad – on previous trips the wait could be more than an hour, but this one looked to be under that.  One of our traditions while we wait is to send someone across the street to the deserted “Restaurant Langosta” and bring everyone back what we lovingly call “Cheaparitas”.  The cheaparita is a 99-cent frozen margarita (in a 12 oz styrofoam cup – complete with salt on the “rim”!)  that we’re pretty sure is made with kerosene.

Anyway, a couple of those on an empty stomach, and you barely know (or worry about) how long you’ve waited outside in the sun.  Soon we were inside and Cisco deftly ordered (he was the only one that spoke Spanish fluently – my 3 years of German not helping me much here…) and soon the feast of grilled lobsters, beans, rice and hot home-made tortilla was before us…

And gone.

It is really phenomenal, and well worth the trip and wait.  Afterwards, we ambled about the dusty town – more to let lunch settle and put off getting back in the car.

But soon, we were back on the road to the US.  The drive back was un-eventful, but the border crossing into the US takes considerably longer than the one leaving it.  Although like the wait at the restaurant, this one was pretty short (relatively) too, about 45 minutes.  I snapped this pic as we were about to go through – getting in these lines always reminds me of the scene in “Traffic” where Michael Douglas’ drug-czar character is seeing for himself what crossing the border is like.

All in all, a great (albeit not very industrious) day – we were back in the late afternoon, well-fed and pleasantly tired.

PS  Some extra pics in a Collection as well.