Day-03: Crossing the Golden Gate into the Land of Tall Trees

Saturday, September 28, 2013

We were awake and out of the hotel as planned by 9 AM this morning, headed north through San Francisco to cross the Golden Gate Bridge en-route to Muir Woods National Monument. It was a near perfect day to see the huge trees, crisp air, bright blue skies as a back-drop to the green giants.

Just A Seedling In The 10th Century

Is that John Muir?

Muir Woods NM

Fort Bragg, CA

We continued north along CA Highway #1 to Bodega Bay for lunch with a Naval Academy classmate. Lunch was at Lucas' Wharf and fresh caught Salmon was on the menu.  Excellent choice for lunch, not only the food but the setting as well, on a wharf, watching birds and sea lions on and around the docks.

We departed Bodega Bay and continued north along the rugged California coast. The bright blue skies we experienced through lunch began to transition to near total cloud cover and in fact we experienced a little of the California coastal misty rain.

Continuing north we arrived at Fort Bragg, our stop-over for the night. We stayed at The Beachcomber, a "local motel" (code words for a "not so best" western). Fortunately Sheila was able to get us an upgrade to the "Spa" room (not what you think); "spa" meant lots of space with little in the way of furnishings, spartan but comfortable.

Before dinner we accomplished some logistical tasks including gassing up the car and visiting the local CVS and Safeway. Lest we forget that we were in California, we were offered the opportunity to either carry our purchases out of the Safeway item-by-item in our pockets, in our hands, on our heads, etc. or for a modest surcharge we would be provided paper bags, yes we paid extra for the paper bags. Also we paid a surcharge because the Coke Zero I purchased was being provided in cans; I suppose we could have opened the cans and poured the soda into paper bags, saving the can fee but incurring the bag fee. Good news though, California did not tax our use of the grocery store parking lot, or so I think.

My Beer Sampler

With the shopping completed, we stopped for dinner at the North Coast Brewing Co. Restaurant in Fort Bragg. They have a good locally brewed beer selection and a great recipe for Mac & Cheese. Sheila showing signs of missing the OBX ordered Carolina Bar-B-Que and cornbread.

Beer at North Coast Brewing Company
1. Top Right: Brother Thelonius Belgian Ale (9.4%)
2. Lower Left: Red Seal American Amber Ale (5.4%)
3. Lower Middle: Acme California Pale Ale (5.0%)
4. Lower Right: Scrimshaw Pilsner (4.7%)

We ate well then returned to the hotel and were quickly asleep.

Day-02: Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

Friday, September 27, 2013

The day began between 3 & 4 AM this morning, at least for one of us, the other sleeping or some semblance thereof until closer to 7. After officially awakening we proceeded to empty and rearrange our suitcases and bags, after all we had been gone from home for over 24 hours. That chore being done we packed into the car and headed into San Francisco in search of Oracle #17, the winning boat of the America's Cup. Three days after the great victory, little was to be seen other than signage and workers disassembling the venues along the Embarcadero.

Following the unsuccessful boat search, we headed east over the Bay Bridge toward Oakland; this trip was solely to see and ride across the new bridge that had just recently opened for service. The new span replaced the old trestle style bridge that was damaged during the October 17th, 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. I suppose 24 years wasn't too long to wait. The bridge is a single anchor suspension design. 

Returning to San Francisco, for some reason we decided to get mixed in with the downtown traffic and construction, after what seemed like two hour of turns and detours we headed to the hotel but en-route stopped by the local Red Robin for a late lunch. The Whiskey River BBQ Burger with Mac & Cheese and a beer on the side was excellent.

After a brief stop at the hotel, we again loaded into the car and headed to AT&T Park to see the Padres vs Giants baseball game. Baseball at AT&T Park ain't like baseball at "The Trop". First of all can you believe $35 to park on a boat pier?

From the car we walked to the park via the bridge over McCovey Cove and eventually circled the perimeter of the park arriving at the Willie Mays Gate. 

Here we were observers to a local protest demonstration with the pickets chanting something like "Enjoy the game, don't eat the food!" Seems to be some issue with Giants players making gazillions while the concession workers haven't had a pay raise in years.

 

Once inside the park we proceeded to our seats via a purple haze transport tube where upon we saw before us the AT&T Park scoreboard.

Realizing that we were 3,096 miles from Fenway Park in Boston one would not expect to find too any people from Massachusetts. This was not to be the case. The 30-something woman to my right was from near Boston and the usher for our seating section was none other than "Bob from Boston", they're everywhere. Bob from Boston and Sheila had a delightful evening of discussion.

It was good to see D.J. Kitty at the stadium cheering on the Rays and hoping for the best for the Giants.

Here are a few sights from McCovey Cove.

Good picture of Sheila on a warm night at AT&T Park; yes that's a scarf, mittens and a hot chocolate to be used as a hand warmer.

So, in the end, the Giants prevailed over the Padres by a score of 7-3; there was plenty of action throughout the game to hold our interest.

Lastly, during the final couple of innings, the sea gulls begin to arrive. They get in for free and apparently after the game there is prime gull food strewn throughout the stadium. In this image yu can faintly see the gulls lined up on the upper deck roof, waiting for the final pitch.

It was a nice evening, a good game and an opportunity to visit one of the nations newer stadiums. 

We arrived back at the hotel around 11 PM, and were soon asleep.

Day-01: Fall 2013 West Coast Travel

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Don’t usually wake up at 0445, but Sheila’s alarm sounded, the lights came on and the water started running; so after 20 minutes of pretend sleep I was up 10 minutes ahead of my alarm. Having packed last night there was little to do other than tend to ourselves, pack the car and be on our way.

To my surprise there was activity on Ivy Lane before 6 AM. Lawn sprinklers were on, early birds were leaving for work, pre-dawn risers had exercised and were returning home but what I assume to be somewhat unusual, this morning the typical quiet was punctuated with the hollering of a local domestic dispute; yes even on Ivy Lane. A quick visit by the KH police quelled the shouts and threats and by 0615 peace and quiet had been restored.

Meanwhile, the car had been packed and we were ready to go. Traffic was light en-route to Norfolk and after the traditional stop at the Wawa for gas ($0.48/gallon cheaper than in KH and $1.29/gallon cheaper than California) we arrived for our flight. Carrie dropped us at the United Airlines departure area and within a few minutes we had checked in and were headed for security. Nothing exciting with TSA this morning though there did seem to be an inordinate amount of confusion amongst a few of the travelers. In any case it was on to Gate 28 after stops for drinks, papers and snacks for the flight.

Lucky us, for the 1.5 hour flight from Norfolk and Newark we had 1/C seats on a propeller driven Q400, no big deal there, if only those seats had been for the longer EWR-SFO segment. Air traffic was light and with everyone aboard, we waited at the gate because of a rule about not taking off more than 10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time, that’s a first for me as best I can remember.

Arriving at Newark (Special Note: Sheila beaming to be back with her “Jersey peeps”) with a two-hour layover we ambled to the next gate, picked up lunch for the long haul to SFO and proceeded to wait. What to our surprise we see a friend waiting in the same gate area. Sitting at the departure gate counter was none other than D.J. Kitty.

Around 1320 we boarded our United B737-800 and proceeded to our exit row aisle seats, stowed our bags and made ready for the longest non-stop flight we’ve taken since the AUS/NZ trip of 2012, training for next February I suppose. For the next six plus hours we enjoyed the creature comforts of a packed single aisle jet with 160 of our newest friends or at least closest (physically) friends inside a hollow tube with repetitively running TV ads and infomercials on the miniature screen at eye-level. Lunch today consisted of a chicken Caesar wrap for Sheila and a salami and cheese sandwich for me. This trip was a clear reminder of what were often monthly flights between EWR and SFO in the late 80’s and 90’s.

Was a good day for flying, smooth sailing for the entire trip across the U.S., no “short-landing” at SFO for us, looks like we landed about a ¼ way down 28R. After deplaning we strolled though the terminal to baggage claim taking in a sampling of local artwork on display in the United terminal. With bags in hand we were off to get our car, a GMC Yukon not so different that our own Tahoe. With the car and all bags accounted for, we headed to the hotel for a quiet evening.

With all the great restaurants in San Francisco, for tonight we finished off lunch leftovers in our room while watching Mariano Rivera throw his last career pitches at Yankee Stadium, all the while hoping for a Rays victory and series sweep. Now we prop open our eyelids, stay up late and attempt to acclimate to the Pacific Time zone overnight. In any case I expect to be awake at about 4 AM local time. It will give us an early start to our day in the “city by the bay”.

Well there’s a change of plans, “…let’s go down and have a glass of wine and/or “Arnold Palmer”, “Okay, let’s go!” One of us lasted 5 minutes; one of us stayed and watched the Niners beat the Rams. Okay, that’s it, the night is ending, and it’s after midnight East Coast time. But I need to hang on for another couple of hours, well maybe not. Say goodnight.

                      Okay, “Goodnight!”