San Francisco - September 2009

As part of Andy's Weekend Travel Series, I decided to visit the San Francisco area. I've visited the Bay area more than any other place in the US. My first big trip away from home was out to visit my aunt and uncle in Santa Rosa, about 45 minutes north of SF. On that trip I remember paying "only" $300 for a flight from Grand Rapids, Michigan to SFO -- and that was after a special voucher from a local grocery store. Fast-forward about 15 years and I paid a post-deregulation price of only $220 direct from Houston on Continental. Friday afternoon I left work and drove straight to the airport. The flight was uneventful (and completely packed). Picked up my $10-a-day rental car at SFO and -- wouldn't you know it -- they gave me a sea-foam-green New Beetle. Despite completely ignoring his directions, I eventually arrived at my cousin's house. He lives in the residential neighborhood of Ingleside, just a few miles southwest of what you'd think of as San Francisco. Chris' apartment is cute, spacious (but full of plants), and commands an impressive over-the-rooftops view of houses marching up a large hill to the south. To the west, on clear days, you can "just see the ocean". The entire back of the apartment is a dine-in kitchen add-on with essentially a wall of windows. Not a bad setup.

After a night on El Coucho motel, Chris and I hit the streets in his sporting late-model dark-blue Toyota Corolla (but it needs an oil change). I realize I tested the neighborhood by leaving my wallet and cell phone in plain view on the front seat of the Beetle. We headed toward Cliff House, on the Pacific Coast, and I marvel at the row of houses facing the boulevard along the beach. South of the Presidio on the Pacific coast, there is a narrow, sandy beach backed up by an area of low, wind-swept, bonzai-like, dark green shrubs. Beyond these shrubs is a nearly-always-deserted boulevard (I guess it's highway 1?). Just on the landward side of this boulevard is an endless row of 3-story houses, standing side-by-side and facing out to the ocean, many with gigantic windows for eyes. Inside these windows are the rich people who can afford a view out over 10,000 miles of ocean. Talk about the edge of the world. Here, we live our lives in our condo on the beach. Over there is nothing until you hit China.
We parked by Cliff House and strolled along a jogging trail that apparently connects to the Presidio. There were seals a-barking and plenty of dogs off-leash. I learn that San Franciscans aren't really the eye-contact, hello-how-are-you and smile type of people. There was plenty of fog, and the associated groves of gnarly, wind-swept trees for the fog to dwell amongst.
Eventually it starting raining a little (Chris referred to this as a "torrential downpour", but he clearly has not visited Houston), so we glanced in the direction of the Golden Gate and the eponymous bridge and trotted back to the car. The Golden Gate Bridge lost none of its splendor by having its top half shrouded by the fog.Back on the road, Chris showed me around various parts of the city. Eventually I complained about hunger so we stopped and got some gigantic hamburgers. Then we stopped at the elusive, trendy and back-alleyish Blue Bottle coffee shop. Just the fact that I've visited the place will probably cause them to go out of business. The shop is run by a particular type of person referred to as "hipsters". More on that later. The brown Beetle was outside the Blue Bottle.
We drove around SF more and finally found Coit Tower (yah!).San Francisco-ey neighborhood:
Back to Chris' then we headed north on The 101, bound for Santa Rosa.The fog lifted a bit - only very slightly - and it was possible to see more of the Golden Gate Bridge. And some pointy rocks adjacent to the bridge. The drive to Santa Rosa was uneventful. California used to seem so different than everywhere else when it was the only place I'd been outside of Michigan. Now that I've been all over the US it doesn't seem quite as foreign. Santa Rosa is still a beautiful town, but it seemed like some of the shine had worn off since my first visit about 12 years ago. The same cannot be said for my aunt and uncle's house. They've done a huge remodel and revamp, with a new open-format kitchen and a huge sunroom addition. I've always loved their simple and functional house, and it's even better post-remodel.

On Sunday morning we drove a windy hilly road over to Napa valley and indulged in a castle tour topped off with some wine tasting. I'm sure if you are a wine fanatic you will know this place.
The weather was cool, lovely and foggy. The whole crew came out for the Napa Valley trek -- cousins JP and Chris in addition to aunt D and uncle J.

Sunday evening I drove down to Napa to visit my friend Cari, who was preparing to move out of her apartment, which happened to be the same place she was living during my previous visit, some five years before. It was a brief visit since she had work the next day. On Monday, I attempted a local Napa hike but got sketched out by lots of undergrowth blocking the trail and the fact the first mile of the trail passed some type of prison facility. Jumped back in the car and cut across the scenic and marshy northern reaches of the San Pablo Bay. In Houston, a marsh is a swamp and it's a stinky, steamy place. The marshes of San Pablo Bay had a fresh, open feel to them, with the golden hills of Marin rising in the distance. I turned south on the 101, aiming vaguely to hit some of the parklands I knew existed in the Marin headlands area, just north of the Golden Gate. When I saw a sign for the Marin County Civic Center, I hopped off the freeway to see this well-known Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building. After exploring this quirky and interesting structure, I set off to find some redwoods before I had to bid California goodbye. I wound up at Muir Woods, which, in typical California style, didn't have enough parking and was crowded even on a Monday midday. The trees were spectacular, but I do like some solitude with my nature, so I must recommend coast redwood groves farther to the north.
Back to the airport on 101, which brings travelers right through the center of stop-light-choked downtown San Fran. Back to Houston.

Globetrots

It's been a long time. And I've been around. Since I last posted a little over a year ago, much has happened. Mostly work, but also the Sister and her BF moved to Houston. Then a hurricane arrived (Ike). Sister and BF got jobs. I went on a field trip to SE New Mexico and W Texas to look at ancient carbonates and eat wonderful enchiladas and hot sauce in Carlsbad. Over Thanksgiving Sab and I drove out to New Mexico and camped and hiked our way up through the state. It was cold and it got dark early. Over Christmas I flew back to Michigan to visit the fam. Debi drove up and stayed at her time-share at Boyne Mountain, where I also spent a few days. We both hit the slopes and went to a fancy Christmas dinner at the lodge, which I quite enjoyed. Returning to Houston I was bumped from my flight and received a $500 voucher (not enough). At the end of January I met up in Salt Lake City with my friend Erik from Tucson. We stayed at a nice cozy suite hotel and hit the slopes for few days. It was Erik's first time snow skiing.

My $500 Continental voucher was burning a hole in my pocket so I began to shop for cheap flights. Eventually I chose to go to Munich at the end of March. I'd never been to mainland Europe (just the UK and Ireland). I spent about 11 days in southern Germany and Austria. It was a bit cold and rainy at times, but the sun set late enough to allow me full days. I started in Munich after a long annoying flight with three connections. A few days in Munich and I went south on the train to Fussen, gateway to the Konigschlossen. I stayed at a quaint and tidy lodge in Pinswang, Austria and, the next day, hiked over the mountains, through the snow and mist, to see Ludwig's castles. The most romantic of approaches -- thanks Rick Steves! After being unable to find a car for rent in Fussen I moved on the next day by bus and train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and rode the cog railway and cable cars to the top of the (German) Alps: the Zugspitze. A sprawling complex complete with email and restaurants sits on top. This took nothing away from the stunning, breath-taking, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping scenery. I literally gasped with amazement when I stepped off the cog railway. After a day in uninspiring G-P I again trained to Salzburg, via Munich. Salzburg was a delight! Situated on a fast-moved, channelized mountain river, the city offers flat riverbank strolling and some craggy highlands right in the city. It's completely walkable and a joy to explore, with Mozart landmarks and wurst stands at every corner. In Salzburg I met up with my friend Erin from U of A and we enjoyed an evening at a beer hall, a bike ride out into the countryside (to see Sound of Music sights), and a trip to a salt mine on the outskirts of town. Finally I spent a day in Nurnburg, which was charming, but also housed a number of disquieting architectural relicts from the Nazi era.

Just before the Germany trip I'd been reassigned to a new group at ConocoPhillips. In April, the entire group had the chance to go on a trip to Minneapolis and Utah. Minneapolis / St. Paul is a lovely metropolis -- and is a city of bridges across the sizable upper Mississippi River. After a few days at a swank hotel in Minneapolis we flew to Salt Lake and spent some pleasant days examining the geology of the Book Cliffs. Our trip ended in Grand Junction, a place I want to live. Four geologists from my group rented a car and drove across the state of Colorado to Denver, straight through the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Twas a lovely week at work.

A week after this trip was Memorial day which I spent in Southern California. I flew to LA, picked up a car and headed out to Joshua Tree National Park. Spent a couple days there soaking up the desert beauty and snapping hundreds of pictures. Getting up at first light each morning I was able to pack in a number of hikes each day. Leaving JT I went north across vast expanses of the Mojave desert and over the color-striped mountains to Death Valley. The temperature reached a breath-robbing 110 F, but still I set out on a number of hikes through my beloved desert, reveling in the colors are bareness of the rocks. Picture-taking was good. Camped at the still-free campground just off the main highway out of the park. Following day, after an early-early morning hike up Mosaic Canyon, west again out of the park through some more remarkable scenery -- great expanses of craggy volcanic rocks jutting out high above wide salty desert basins. Over the next hill came a big surprise -- the scenery improved to a heaven-like level as I entered Owens Valley and the east front of the Sierra Nevada rose up before me. Like on the Zugspitze, my jaw hung open for some minutes. I've been to Owens Valley before, on what seems like a magic field trip about 100 years ago. I camped at the same place as we had then -- among the granite domes on BLM land just outside Whitney Portal. Hiked up to the portal in the fresh cold piney air with humongous white walls of glacier-polished granite blocking the sky on either side. Finally trekked back to LA, stopping off first at the Pinnacles near Trona, the only low point of a trip full of big highs.

Not long after, I got the travel bug again and began cruising the Continental website. I planned to take off the week of Independence Day, and I found a temptingly cheap ticket to Tokyo. After a few days of hemming and hawing I decided to go. I flew into Tokyo and took the shinkansen (bullet train) down to Kyushu. This trip was shorter and not as well planned as my earlier European excursion. Still, I had a nice time visiting Hakata, Nagasaki, Kumamoto and Hiroshima (again). Everywhere I found surprises but I also found a lot of uninspiring 3-story concrete architecture. However, what stands out are the endless miles of nearly cultivated rice fields; the green jungle hills of Nagasaki; the fog, rain and stinking mists of Onsen; the hot, milky waters of the public bath; the beauty of the sea off Kumamoto; the park/castle at said town; and the rivers of Hiroshima. Unfortunately it was the rainy season, which wasn't too bad, but on this trip I remembered a rule of travel: trains bring you to cities. If you want to get out into nature and hike and see the mountains, the US is a great place to do it, because you really need a car.

The end of Summer 2009 has been a bit slower for travel. My carefully sheparded vacation days (4 remaining) are waiting so I can take off Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks. Still, we get one flex day per month, and I used mine last weekend to visit friends and family in the San Francisco area, which I haven't visiting in about five years. More on that later.