Day 10 - Monterey - Woodland, CA

On our final driving day, we headed back north from Monterey.  After checking out the wharf area, including Cannery Row (think Steinbeck) we headed back towards Santa Cruz on California 1.  Just north of Monterey we saw that today, being Monday, migrant workers were out in the fields working and harvesting crops.  Although it was hard to tell what was growing, we're pretty sure more than one field had lettuce or spinach, maybe broccoli.

Further north, near Pescadero, we finally saw surfers trying to catch some waves.  Additionally there were two wind surfers using big crescent shaped kites to go in and out from the shore.  On the way out, they would go airborne as they jumped each wave.  It was fun to watch them and I was happy to see the quintessential beat up VW bug with a surfer hanging out in the parking lot!

Our lunch stop was at Half Moon Bay in a wonderful Italian place.  The owners had just built a new building having lost their lease at a previous location.  The new digs were really nicely done.  An open air market kind of feel.  The best part of the meal (if you know me at all) was dessert:  Ghirardelli butterscotch pudding!

After lunch we continued our northern trek and were soon in the outskirts of San Francisco.  We wanted to avoid the city as much as possible so we continued up California 1 to the Skyline Highway then the Great Highway, entering San Francisco by Golden Gate Park from the west.  Cutting through The Presidio we were soon on the Golden Gate Bridge with Alcatrez off to the right.  After crossing the bridge, we made our way up the mountain to visit the vista point that I've been to before with my family.  It offers great views of the bridge and the city in the background.  Today was a bonus in that the wind was gusting off the ocean.

Our next stop was Muir Woods, a surprisingly short drive north of the Golden Gate, but yet another fun, curvy road.  We arrived mid-afternoon and were soon on the trails headed into the woods.  This site is run by the National Park Service and it's clearly the spot for city dwellers to venture into nature.  It was busier than Redwood Nat'l Park and the Park Service was doing extensive renovations.  They are working to increase the salmon population in the creek that runs through the middle of the park in addition to making path and trail improvements.  What that meant for us is lots of chainsaws and some front loaders.  The site itself, however, was very beautiful and a great tribute to the man for whom it's named.

We had to skip Point Reyes on a previous day due to time, so we ventured that way after Muir Woods.  Back on California 1, we passed the overlook for Muir Beach where the fog was blowing in and up over the hills.  A little further north, we stopped at a pullout to look back at where we had just been when out of the blue a coyote sauntered in front of our car and walked to our left.  No bear sightings on this trip, but coyote...yes!

We arrived at the Point Reyes Visitor Center after it closed and as I looked at our time, I knew we needed to just move on in order to get to our hotel near Sacramento.  Point Reyes will have to make a future itinerary.  Moving back east, we motored through the hills, knolls, and mountains around Novato, Petaluma, and then down into Sonoma and Napa:  wine country!  Wineries and vineyards were all around, literally covering entire hillsides with grapes.  A neat sight to see!  Dinner was in downtown Napa at a wonderful spot that had few patrons, surprisingly.  A short time later, we were near the Sacramento Airport at our hotel and packing things for our return trip.

This has been a wonderful adventure and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to go.  Big thanks to Carolyn for always been a wonderful traveling companion as well.

I'll end with a quote that was at Muir Woods; a fitting end for sure!

I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. -- John Muir

Day 1 - Conway, AR - Sacramento, CA

Over the summer, I was feeling the call/drive/motivation for a road trip and was fortunate enough that my good friend and travel buddy, Carolyn Scott, was up to accompany me.  We most recently (in April 2018) did a trip in the Pacific Northwest.  This time, we're back on the West Coast, but a little further south:  Northern California and Southern Oregon.

We had an uneventful flight this morning from Little Rock to Las Vegas.  Clouds obscured much of our view until Arizona, but I was happy to be able to see the Grand Canyon from 38,000 feet.  Unfortunately we flew directly over Hoover Dam, so no spotting of that on this trip.  Our approach into Las Vegas was interesting as it was to the southwest so the Strip buildings were literally zooming by right outside the window.

After a short 30 minute layover, we were on our next plane and off to Sacramento.  Soon Lake Tahoe was passing the right side of the plane and we turned into our approach.  After landing and on the way to the baggage claim area, we took note of how nice, airy, and beautiful the Sacramento airport was.  Other airports should study it.

We grabbed our rental car and made our way to our hotel.  After unpacking and having a small rest, we headed to Old Sacramento which is a historic waterfront area downtown.  With 53 historic buildings, Old Sacramento has more buildings of historic value condensed into its 28 acres than most areas of similar size in the West.  A boardwalk sidewalk sits above the former streets which flooded in the 1850s.

The two hour time difference caused us to be really hungry by 5:00 so we snuck into Fat City Bar & Cafe where we had a terrific dinner surrounded by Tiffany-style lamps overhead.  A block away from Fat City, there's a nice path along the Sacramento River from where we saw the Ziggurat Building in West Sacramento.  Nearby was also the Tower Bridge, a vertical lift bridge that is on the National Register.  Recently, it was part of controversy as the city voters selected the paint color, gold.  Many of said the final result didn't accurately represent the gold color they chose.

Following our brief after-dinner walk, we got back to our car and did a driving tour of Sacramento.  We passed the State Capitol building, made our way through Midtown, and then ended up enjoying driving up and down the roads of East Sacramento where amazing homes have been preserved and improved.  This "Fabulous Forties" area includes Tudor, Colonial Revival, Arts and Crafts, California Bungalow, and Craftsman homes with broad streets and overhanging trees.  It was a real treat to see these beauties.

That's it for today.  We start driving tomorrow as we head to Sutter's Mill and then through the Stanislaus Forest up to Lake Tahoe!