Dreams, Moments, Travels
While the sunrises on the Pacific are gorgeous, Arizona sunsets are spectacular. Today was my one full day at home. I’m not looking forward to the 500-mile drive back across Arizona into California. You ask, why not fly? Phoenix to Santa Barbara is $465 and I still need transportation to and from the airports.
Attention: These posts following our coastal Christmas-thru-New-Year’s trip are named a bit specifically, that’s because when these were originally shared, they only had one photo each due to bandwidth limitations back in the day. Since that time, I’ve updated them to include images that relate to the details of each day.
I’ve been in California since December 10th, aside from a 12-hour run to drop Caroline at home between the 12th and 13th before I came right back. Now, after our short vacation together up the coast, we’re heading back to Arizona.
While the weather isn’t perfect, the rainbows are.
The weather follows us back across the California desert, but there’s only a tiny chance it will come with us all the way to Arizona.
I was wrong about the weather following us into Arizona. My return back to our home state will be brief. In just three days, come Wednesday, I’ll be driving back to Santa Barbara to check on Uncle Woody’s recovery. The plan right now is to only be there until the 12th so I can get back home for our 12th anniversary.
Attention: These posts following our coastal Christmas-thru-New-Year’s trip are named a bit specifically, that’s because when these were originally shared, they only had one photo each due to bandwidth limitations back in the day. Since that time, I’ve updated them to include images that relate to the details of each day.
Wow, what a find – The Seabreeze Cafe in Santa Cruz, California, and they were open on New Year’s Day!!! We had originally stopped a few days ago on our way up the coast based on a tip from the cashier at Dharma’s Vegetarian Restaurant. This was Caroline’s plate: it is an oat and corn flour waffle topped with fresh pineapple, banana, kiwi, mango, yogurt, and a dusting of toasted macadamia and coconut with a hint of ginger. A great start to the new year and a future stop on our journeys up the Pacific coast.
It’s overcast and stormy, making us happy on one hand that we bailed out of the north as maybe they are taking the brunt of it, but then again, we could have had blue skies, which would have been a nice touch. What wasn’t nice was that we got a flat with a nail through the tire. There was no way I was going to drive on the spare all the way back to Phoenix, especially down Highway 1, which already offers a goodly amount of pucker value due to the narrow road that hugs the coast, er, um, I mean cliffs.
Barely visible on the right is the Bixby Bridge, and while it might be argued that the coast is less than stellar on overcast days, I’d like to offer that being able to see this amazing coast in any condition is a gift.
Clouds rising from the forest with redwoods hidden back there add to the beauty.
The waterfall is a part of the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, but the greenish/brown turbid water must be from some nearby runoff as we’ve seen this waterfall before, and that tiny amount of water is certainly not what is discoloring the ocean.
Oh shit, landslide ahead. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that I honestly and desperately wanted to turn around rather than face what might lie ahead. My mind is racing as to when half a mountain will just slide into the ocean, and with all this rain we’ve had in the last few days, I can easily see just that happening any minute.
And then it’s our turn to run the gauntlet, passing observers who are monitoring what’s going on above. Oh my god…are those rocks an indicator of a much larger fall that’s about to ensue? I’m not happy, though maybe I would have been more unhappy had I turned around and skipped the rest of the coast. Once we are out of the danger zone, I start to breathe again. Though I’m done taking photos for the day I just want to reach someplace dry without cliffsides that drop an infinity down to the furious ocean below.
Attention: These posts following our coastal Christmas-thru-New-Year’s trip are named a bit specifically, that’s because when these were originally shared, they only had one photo each due to bandwidth limitations back in the day. Since that time, I’ve updated them to include images that relate to the details of each day.
That bad weather we were experiencing yesterday got serious. By this morning, the water had already receded and had drained from the building nearest Tomales Bay. We learned from the manager that if the water hadn’t crested during the night, they would have woken us to evacuate our room, which was across from the white car on the left. Some of their units on the right, not pictured, did flood with guests needing to beat a retreat. Well, lucky us. Nope, not so lucky us. They were expecting more rain that night, and they were welcoming us to leave, except…
There were landslides and flooded roads on the way out in both directions.
We’d seen this boat before when it was sitting right next to the shore.
The sky is clearing, and the water is going down, but work is being done on the road south as the authorities want to get that segment cleared first so people can get away from the area.
So, we headed north about as far as we could get, and with our good luck in full force, the sky opened up to a beautiful blue, and we hoped to come across an accessible beach we could spend some time at until the road was open.
The chickens seemed to be enjoying a worm bonanza, or would that be a buffet?
There’s a lot of moisture in the air, but at least we have some spectacular views out of here of the silvery ocean.
The McClures Beach Trailhead looked passable, so off we went. Other than some very minor slides of rocks and sand along the trail, it was easy to navigate our way to the ocean.
It is the last day of the year and winter to boot, so you just know that Caroline would have to kick off the shoes and take a stroll in the icy northern California coastal waters because what better way is there to celebrate the New Year?
And so we spent a good bit of our day walking the beach.
Taking photos of ourselves to remember that we were once young and enjoying some amazing days on grand adventures.
A lone elk in silhouette against molten silver is not something we’ve ever seen on the California coast, a truly once-in-a-lifetime moment of wow.
When we got back to Inverness, where our motel was, we were informed that some people had left, but the Highway Patrol had warned that there was still small debris on the road and that at a few crossings, we’d be driving through moving water. We were welcome to stay but opted to get outta town before things deteriorated.
We reached the town of Fairfax, California, and saw a sign for famous organic burgers at M & G Burgers & Beverages. That sounded great, and so we pulled in. The place is popular as there’s a good line going, so that should be a good indicator, right? But while we’re waiting to get our order in, Sean Penn steps in behind us. He’s a bit dirty with some serious muddy boots on; he must be dealing with the effects of the flood, too. After we got our order in, we headed to a table to wait, and I pointed out that this was Sean Penn behind us. Caroline looks over and says, “No way, but it does kind of look like him, doesn’t it?” So, I grab my camera, trying to be discreet so I can snap a photo to compare this guy’s image to Sean Penn’s after we get home, but as I do, he turns and gives me the finger. I swear I had been discreet, but the guy had an eye for camera movement; that had to be Sean Penn. As I picked up our order, I apologized for the attempt, explaining I thought he was some guy who looked like a famous guy and that I didn’t intend to cause him stress. No, I didn’t take a photo anyway, and while I was a bit miffed about the finger, I guess I can understand it too.
It’s never too late to have one last walk on the beach, and so here we are, somewhere between San Francisco and Moss Beach, capturing the last glimmers of daylight.
Another stop at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse because it’s just beautiful, and will have to stand in for fireworks celebrating New Year’s Eve. We stayed in Santa Cruz and dined in celebration of being warm, dry, alive, and ready for 2006 at the Las Palmas Taco Bar. We definitely know how to live large.
Attention: These posts following our coastal Christmas-thru-New-Year’s trip are named a bit specifically, that’s because when these were originally shared, they only had one photo each due to bandwidth limitations back in the day. Since that time, I’ve updated them to include images that relate to the details of each day.
Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco offers a unique menu of not just vegetarian but also vegan fare, and not just that: nothing is cooked. This cafe’s claim to fame is that they serve 98% of the menu RAW. To say I was skeptical would be a gross understatement. After reading a few snippets of some of the writing praising raw ‘cooking,’ I was left with the idea that raw foodies were the new-age alien chasers of the culinary world, way out on the fringe with those who believe the reptilians are amongst us. I must say, I WAS WRONG. Breakfast was at the original location on 2400 Harrison Street. I had live granola made of sprouted buckwheat, apple, almonds, cranberries, dates, shredded coconut, and cinnamon topped with fresh almond milk; Caroline had sprouted and steamed quinoa topped with fresh fruit, cinnamon, and agave syrup.
[Another interesting thing about Cafe Gratitude is that their menu items are all named “I am XYZ,” and the XYZ is something positive and/or uplifting. I think our breakfast orders were “I am Great” and “I am Peace.” It sounds a bit silly, but you end up saying things about yourself you wouldn’t normally say out loud, and that is a clever concept, in my opinion. – Caroline]
The weather wasn’t participating today, and in any case, we had to stock up on provisions for the next couple of days as we were heading up to Point Reyes to stay on Tomales Bay in Inverness.
We are at the Ferry Marketplace in San Francisco, a veritable gourmet heaven for those who include the indulgence of taste as an important part of their experiences.
Sadly, we have no way of cooking mushrooms in our motel room, and these fragile fungi won’t survive our trip home. We’ll just have to satisfy ourselves by ogling these beautiful specimens.
Our breakfast was so good that we returned to Cafe Gratitude for another meal. Lunch was at their newest location at 1336 9th Ave where I had live nachos, salad, stuffed mushroom, olive tapenade, live hummus, Thai coconut soup with an assortment of live crackers, and almond toast. Caroline tried a live pizza made of a buckwheat and sunflower seed crust topped with spicy raw cacao, chipotle chili mole, and avocado; the cheese was cashew ricotta and brazil nut parmesan, sliced tomatoes, and microgreens finished it off. For dessert, we shared a slice of lemon meringue pie made of tart lemon topped with a coconut meringue on a macadamia nut crust. A third visit to Cafe Gratitude is in the cards.
As I said, the weather was not behaving to our benefit. When we arrived at our motel directly on the bay, we decided to remain dry and wait for the heavy downpour to take a break; it never did. Tomorrow, I’ll show you why there were no other photos of this day.
Attention: These posts following our coastal Christmas-thru-New-Year’s trip are named a bit specifically, that’s because when these were originally shared, they only had one photo each due to bandwidth limitations back in the day. Since that time, I’ve updated them to include images that relate to the details of each day.
Today, Caroline and I visited Alcatraz Island for the first time. Great place, well, as long as you are coming and leaving of your own free will. On the ride over to the island, the last man to get on the ferry was an elderly gentleman who wore a National Park Volunteer patch sewn onto his hat. I’ll introduce him to you later.
There’s nothing here that hasn’t been shown a thousand times before. I’ll bet a million people a year take this exact photo.
But then again, from the state of some of the ruins and the proclivity of the area being prone to earthquakes, maybe much of this will fall to the wayside someday.
Why is it always the places forbidden to us that hold the greatest interest for me and where I’d like to wander?
And who placed a key in the lock and closed this iron door for the last time?
It’s a strange idea that, at one time, this little walkway was once part of the path of freedom. People who worked on the island moved within the manicured landscape with walkway lights and housing on the bay with some of the best views.
While prisoners behind bars might hear the ocean and smell the ocean, only rarely would they see the ocean.
In their regimented universe in which these abominations to public safety were warehoused, a club of felons established their own government with rules that survived within the captivity of other men with equally harsh rules. But for all the discipline an incarcerated man can bring to bear while in prison, it’s ironic that they weren’t able to live on the outside with a similar set of guidelines.
What the National Park Service here at Alcatraz can never share with visitors is what it sounded like back during the days when Al Capone called this home.
Five feet wide and nine feet long with a ceiling just seven feet overhead, this is where some of the worst of the worst lived and died.
About that volunteer who boarded with us, it turns out this guy was a prison guard while Alcatraz was still operating. Now 84 years old, John Hernan visits the island at least once a month to break out of the routine and tell some of us lucky tourists stories of his time on the Rock. He enjoys having his picture taken, unlike Sean Penn, who we ran into on New Year’s Eve at a small burger joint. He promptly gave me the finger as I raised my camera – no, I didn’t take a picture of him or his finger.
Update January 2025: John P. Hernan passed away in January 2015.
The kitchen looks as though you could put it back to work today.
Back in early 1963, the prison was closed and started to fall into decay. Ten years later, the island prison became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area with things starting to be stabilized. Finally, in 1986, the island was opened to visitors.
I’d like to believe that guards had cushy jobs out here, but it can get cold and windy out on San Francisco Bay; I’m pretty sure those guard shacks were not heated back in 1934 when the prison was first opened.
Remnants of an old history are tossed everywhere, in the surf, too.
So much of the island is off-limits to us visitors; I’m certain it’s all the most interesting stuff, too. We could have explored the island and what’s left of the buildings all day, but our time was over too soon.
This is Michael Masley, known as The Artist General. He’s on the street playing his Cymbalom, and you bet we bought a CD from him. Amazing watching and listening to this man play his unique instrument.
With plenty of time before dinner, it was a great idea to grab a tiny snack at the Original Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop. Why split a sundae when you can have two, along with a hot chocolate? Okay, one of those hot fudge sundaes was mine.
After our ice cream indulgence, it was a short walk to the Maritime Museum for a quick tour.
And not far away, well just across the street really, are the Hyde St. Pier Historic Ships.
This photo was taken on the Eureka, a 19th-century paddle steamboat.
We weren’t about to eat a thing here at Fishermans Wharf as we had bigger and better plans.
We had reservations for Millennium Restaurant, a vegan affair created by chef Eric Tucker. If I could employ this amazing chef to cook for Caroline and me in Phoenix, I’d convert to veganism in a second. Our rather pricey dinner here was one of the best meals I’ve ever enjoyed.