Cayucos: La Playa

As we were driving down the coast, I spotted what looked like a nice town and I asked Elizabeth to pull over. A few hours later and we're still here, enjoying the gentle breeze and cool 70 degree weather. We'll likely stay a bit longer before continuing down the California coast. Where we stop and camp is, as usual, up in the air!

Rafael

P.S. That's a pic of Elizabeth and Orion tossing the frisbee. Oh and this beach rating is a solid 6.

California: Avoiding the Wildfires

We took the road more traveled and got on 101 (instead of US 1/Big Sur Hwy) to avoid the fires and road closures on the coast near Pfeiffer. It does stink to miss about 50 miles of the beautiful ~90 mile drive, but there's nothing we can do about it.

For those following on the map, we'll emerge at Limekiln park and then work our way down US 1 from there.

Rafael

Carmel: Coffee

We woke up this morning to thick fog and cool air. It seems surprisingly chilly for California in July. From there we headed down to Carmel by the Sea for some internet and coffee. Here is the coffee shop we found tucked away in a town block.

Orion

Monterey: Veterans Memorial Park

After securing our site, we ventured into the town and hung out for a bit before grabbing dinner and strolling through Monterey's farmer's market. What deals! Baskets of ripe, fresh strawberries for $2! Orion and I couldn't resist, so we split a basket; Elizabeth opted for cherries and apricots.

Now we're back at the site and about to start a game of poker. Until tomorrow,

Rafael

Monterey: State Park and Beach

It feels good to be back at the beach. Here we are at the state park, where a couple 16 year olds just walked by with a handle of rum. Ah California, where anything goes.

Rating on this one: 5, because there are seals and there's a good view of Cannery Row off to the left. We docked points for weather, lack of people, and amount of beach space.

Rafael

Monterey: Thai Bistro II

After making a quick stop in Santa Cruz (the conditions weren't favorable for surfing), we moved on to Monterey to get some lunch. This is a picture of my pad thai and I at the Thai Bistro II. With great service, delicious food, and good portions, our book has made another great recommendation. Now we are off to the beach,

Orion

Santa Cruz: On to Monterey

Orion and Elizabeth scoped out the waves and they were at low-tide and very small. We're thus taking a pass on surfing.

After then driving through town, we got back on the highway and now we're driving towards Monterey. We'll get a picture up soon.

Rafael

Woodside: Thanks!

After getting everything ready (hopefully we didn't forget anything) we bid adieu to Rhonda (Editor's Note: she was the only one home and/or awake when we left in the morning) and thanked her for everything. We'd also like to thank the whole Gessow family here on the blog for the great place to stay, all the delicious meals, and of course for the great company as well.

Now we're off to Santa Cruz (or that general area) to hopefully surf or at least sightsee.

Rafael

Woodside: Shutting It Down

We had a great dinner when Rhonda cooked up her special sauce with pasta. But the "shut it down" refers to what happened before...

We were all messing around at the pool, practicing flips (well just Orion and I) when I decided to do a front flip. Turns out my left arm was not tucked and I ended up dislocating that sucker for the 8th time. You can book me for surgery when I get home... in the meantime, I'll be shutting it down for golf. Too bad, yesterday I was on pace for a 40 on the front nine! Editor's Note: we only played 7 holes because we were holding up the pace so badly. We skipped holes 6 and 7. Through 7 holes I was +3 but we skipped a par 3...

After dinner we headed out to Jeremy's friend's house and we had a lot of fun hanging out and watching movies.

Living it up,

Rafael

Santa Cruz: bike riding adventure

Today I headed to Santa Cruz for some bike riding and to check out the town.  When I arrived I rented a bike and headed out on a 2 hour ride along the cliffs/ocean and then down to the boardwalk with all the amusement rides.  I saw tons of pelicans as well as other boards and watched the surfers.  It was gorgeous and perfect weather, 70 and sunny.  After my ride I walked around the town a bit and grabbed lunch.  The town had many cute coffee shops and lots of local stores.  All and all a fun day! -Elizabeth

How To Road Trip Successfully (Installment 2)

Our first post in this series appears to have been well-received, so we're continuing with our "behind-the-scenes, back-stage-pass, top-secret, blah blah blah" view into our road trip.

Today's topic: independence. Shah-zam! Now you might say, "ok guy, you don't need to play this whole independence angle just because Independence Day is coming up this weekend" or you might not even be saying that at all, but it really is a key to a successful road trip. Por que? Because otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy being with the same people for 2 months straight... and sometimes you just need a break or simply what people call "alone time".

Since day 1 we'd been aware of the need and importance of alone time, but it wasn't until our journey into Canada that our first "break" from each other came to fruition. That took place (loyal readers: sorry for mentioning this again, but this is just for the uninformed not-so-loyal friends of ours!) when Orion wanted to go to Victoria and Elizabeth and I preferred going down the Washington coast.

The second "break" took place this past Sunday when Elizabeth and Orion went into San Francisco while I played golf at Menlo with some buddies.

And, now that we're all caught up, the third "break" took place today when Elizabeth went to Santa Cruz to kayak and/or bike around whilst Orion and I watched the ground-breaking (literally) movie called Wall-E.

So, readers, when you're on any sort of extended trip: make sure you leave space for alone time, otherwise, no matter how much you love your fellow travelers, those little quirks everyone has will begin to drive you nuts. Plus, at least in our case, you just need to recharge on your own.

Join us next week when we talk about something else that may or may not apply to you...

Rafael

Redwood City: Movies and More

Today Raf and I went to go see Wall-E in Redwood City and the movie was quite good. It has turned into a nice day to walk around. After some lunch we went by a See's Candy before finding a coffee shop with some free wifi. Now you have this coffee shop and Raf to thank for the updated legible formatting. Until next time,

Orion

Woodside: Wall-E

The plan for today was to surf but when we woke up the temperature was in the 60's (vs. tomorrow's forecast of 70's) so we decided to postpone surfing by 1 day.

Instead, I chose to go see Wall-E and Orion came to see it as well. Elizabeth didn't want to see it, so she took the van to Santa Cruz (for the unaware, that's about an hour away from Woodside) to either kayak or bike ride.

My take on Wall-E? Really good. I'm glad I saw it today and I'm more amazed at Pixar's chutzpah in making this type of movie (go see it, you'll see what I'm talking about). Now it's off to a late lunch at Chipotle. Yum!

Rafael

Woodside: The BBQ

After playing golf with Jeremy and my new pals David and Pat, we made it home to the Gessow's for a BBQ. Jody and Rhonda were kind enough to prepare a great dinner of burgers, steak, etc (don't worry parents, we helped out!) Their friend Chip Adams came over as well and the whole
dinner was a lot of fun with some great conversations. We're definitely relaxing and having fun here in Woodside!

Rafael

San Francisco: Lunch in Mission Hill

We met up with Marylyn, a friend from Atlanta, for lunch on Mission Hill. We ate at a great brunch spot called Andalu. It was a lot fun to see a different area of San Fransisco and to catch up with Marylyn. -Elizabeth

San Francisco: Presidio

We headed into San Fransisco for the day with Orion's friend Ben, while Raf hung out in Woodside for some running and golf. Our first stop was the Presidio which followed along the water and had great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.
-Elizabeth

Woodside: Culture of Fitness

Last night was a stay-in and relax night, which is always good, and it led to a good amount of sleeping today. I was actually woken up with the great news that my cousin Pablo just won golf's French Open (makes waking up much better).

Soon after waking up Orion and Elizabeth were picked up by Ben, a friend of Orion's from Stanford, and they headed into the city. As for me, I took Rhonda's advice and ran "the loop": 4.2 miles around Woodside. It was a great workout with a sweet kick over the last .5 miles.

One thing I noticed on my run is that there were probably 50 bikers and 10 runners/walkers out and about. If today is the norm then I'm very impressed by Woodside's culture of fitness!

For me today's plan is to do a bit of reading and then watching the Euro 2008 finals (go Spain!) followed by golf with my two new pals Jeremy and David. Today has the makings of another great day!

Rafael

Napa Valley: Two Thumbs Up

What an experience! After pit-stopping in Berkeley and grabbing some local grub, we kept heading towards Napa. A bit later we arrived at our highly recommended first destination: Rutherford Hills Winery. By highly recommended I mean my dad told me to go there. Cool!

Anyways, it was a great wine-tasting experience. 5 different wines (of your choice) and a port to finish it off. Orion's favorite was the '03 Merlot Reserve, while Elizabeth and I enjoyed the Devil's Peak blend (a blend of four different grapes). I can't forget to mention that our server was incredibly friendly, though I did manage to irk her.

The story behind that is we were finishing up with our ports when I tossed the rest of my glass. Of course, I didn't know she was going to offer a taste "test" with their chocolate blueberries, and she was kind enough to fill me up with more port. It was great to see how those chocolate covered blueberries actually masked the sweet port.

Then it was off to Robert Siskey Winery. Orion did not partake in our second tasting, which was unfortunate, because the four wines were paired with delicious appetizers. Elizabeth and I also agreed that the best wine was the newly released Pinot Noir Four Wines. More interestingly, we made another new friend who happened to know a different pal of ours from Galloway. Small world!

Finally, we ventured over to venerable Pine Ridge Winery. I was the last man standing, so I tasted wines on my own. I decided to focus on the Cabernet Sauvignon menu, since Napa is pretty much known for their cabs. It turned out to be a good choice as all four were delicious. My favorite (and personal new recommendation to our sophisticated readers) is Pine Ridge's Stags Leap District. Warning: it is a full-bodied wines.

Overall the experience was fantastic. For the uninitiated, a wine-tasting experience is what you make of it. If you talk with your server, they'll have great stories to tell. If you interact with
other enthusiasts, they'll share their stories too. I'm glad we came out here and opened up to everyone we encountered. We even met some people from Atlanta!

Now it's back to Jody's for some quick R&R and then dinner.

Cheers!

Rafael

California: Off to Napa

After making it to the Gessow's, we hung out a bit and then headed out to sushi and sake with Jeremy and his friends. The place was packed and it seems like everyone had a really good time.

From there we met up with more of his friends and headed out on the town. Palo Alto was surprisingly "pretty happening" and the mix of students, yuppies, and others created an interesting social environment.

The night was great and after a little bit of sleep we have started heading towards Napa for wine-tasting and touring.

We'll post from there,

Rafael

Stanford: The Tour

The three of us snuck into a prospective students tour that was passing by at 9:30am. We kept quiet until she asked for some help naming a few authors... at which point Elizabeth and I each answered, prompting our guide to exclaim, "oh my I have a smart group today!"

It's actually been informative and fun... though I may be biased since our guide is from Atlanta!

Representing Atlanta,

Rafael