Guest Blogger

D & A adventure

With months passing housebound due to the pandemic D & A were ready to get out for a mini vacation adventure.

The idea came together on a Monday night.

By Tuesday they had rented a 1997 VW Eurovan camper from a private owner in the neighboring city of Pomona via the website Outdoorsy  which is like an AirBnB for RVs.

Then they looked for some of the best gravel bike rides within a day’s drive.  They found this one in central California, http://sloridetohell.com/ near San Luis Obispo.  This is not far from Paso Robles where we used to do the Great Western Bike Rally on the quad tandem many years ago.  It is also modest driving distance to the Pacific coast.

Next they booked 3 nights on Memorial Day weekend at a KOA campground site that included access to a pool, hot showers, a general store, etc.

They picked up the van Friday morning, packed up and headed out.  

At the campground in Santa Margarita

Saturday they did the main ride

including a stop at the historic Pozo Saloon
(photo from both 1870s and more recently)
where they got root beer floats and listened to live music.  

Summary of Saturday's ride

Sunday they drove the van over to Moro Bay and cycled
along the coast up to Cayucos and back. They met a group of
riders making the trip from San Francisco to Malibu on their bikes.  

Monday morning D rested and A had a wild solo adventure around Lake Santa Margarita.  Then they drove back, unpacked, returned the camper van, and shared their adventure.

Crossing Things Off My List

 Last week I went through the pile of Christmas cards. This week I did a puzzle I had borrowed last year.

I have a puzzle of the US by this same company.
A map of California counties is much more difficult for me.

But I did it. San Francisco County is so
small it does not get its own piece.
Some day I will learn about the political
process that determined county size. 

Next I will finish this puzzle,
which I started in December.

One Final Travel Post

In addition to San Francisco and the capitol

we stopped in Davis for crepes,

to wander around campus,

and to gawk at bicycles. It is hard to imagine what it
would be like when students are on campus.

In Sacramento the other two went to the train museum, which I regretted skipping after seeing

lots of pictures about the mailroom on board

and table settings from different lines.

On the other hand, I found the library next door fascinating!

People use the archives (timetables, maps, photos, menus) to do
research for books they are writing, family history,  or simply out of curiosity.

I just happened to find what has been called the essential book about cable cars (The Cable Car in America: A New Treatise upon Cable or Rope Traction as Applied to the Working of Street and Other Railways, by George W. Hilton). It is in the rare book collection a few blocks away so I may go read and learn more.

We met up and walked past the marker for Transcontinental
Railroad Mile 0, through Old Town, and along the river.

Our last outing of the trip was to Santa Cruz for 

running

and cycling. A good time was had by all.

We slept in Paso Robles

and had a beautiful drive home.

Happy new year, everyone!

Travel Adventures

After an easy and dry drive to San Francisco we joined my sister's Christmas tradition of hanging out and eating. Even with thirteen people in the house (but only eleven people sleeping in the house that night) there were still quiet places to just be on one's own, but plenty of people to play and chat with.

Cable Car Museum
And a small example of why this is such a
great city to have automatic transmission

The next day we were lucky again because the sky was a beautiful blue and my sister was willing to drive us to the cable car museum taking the scenic route. It is great to see a city through the eyes of a local.

The cables cars themselves do not have engines so
this is the place to observe the engines for all the lines.

I was happy to see all the special tokens in the museum and was only a
little sad that I did not live in SF in the late 1970's in order to collect them.

From the museum we walked to  City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, another place I had never visited. 

It does make me realize how many books I have never heard of.

We rode the California Cable Car (line C) past Chinatown

and enjoyed hearing the bell

and watching it in action.

A. found a good Italian deli for lunch 

before we went to Japantown to look at stationery, pens, and so many tempting things.

And that was it. We took a couple buses back to my sister's place, packed the car (which we charged while we were sleeping and gallivanting around town - thank you!!) and headed to the next part of our adventure.

No bridge toll on the way out of town - yippee.

Bucket List

The list of places I would like to visit is very short and now it is shorter. I don't think I will make it to all 50 capitol buildings but I wanted to see the one in Sacramento. Done!

I really did enjoy the historical and legislative aspects, but my pictures are all of small parts of the building. I could imagine going back and taking a tour to learn more about the state government.

Preview

We are home from a little road trip and the weather was perfect! I'll post more later, but here is a picture from each day except the first.

Transamerica Pyramid
San Francisco

Bike Barn
Davis

Wilder Ranch State Park
Santa Cruz

I-5
The Grapevine

Underground Plumbing System

There are so many posts to write, but the biggest surprise on our vacation was the Hot Creek Geological Site.

It would be easy to miss the sign off of I-395, but we found it. Not long after leaving the main road the pavement ends and changes to gravel. We brought our bikes and decided to cycle the last couple miles.

It is not a long hike down to the creek.

We thought this sign was very American - no nude bathing!

It is easy to see the steam from the colorful pools,

But we were surprised to see bubbles coming up in other places, too.

It was tempting to take a dip, but in the end we enjoyed
just walking around before cycling and driving back.