Sunny January Weekend

 



Not bad for my iPhone, huh?  Taken at the cliffs by the cute town of Davenport.

 

This weekend, temperatures were "unseasonably warm"--whatever that means.  A year ago, temps were about the same.  Mid-70's.  Sunny at the coast.  Crazy-high waves.  Even if I did have previous plans, I would have cancelled them to escape to my favorite place on earth.  This place is great even when it's foggy and cold, even in the middle of the night...  But on a day like this--heaven.  I didn't even care if there were more people than usual at a lot of my happy places.  I was glad that people were getting out there to enjoy all that the Bay Area has to offer!  I always have to remind myself about this place when I get too crabby about having to pay so much to live in Fremont, which is getting more congested and charmless by the day.

 

I turned around from the first picture and saw this.  Dan teased me for taking a picture of the sun, but another guy walked by to take the same shot right after me.

While most people head straight down 17 to Santa Cruz, and still others head straight up to the Golden Gate and points north--our favorite place is the San Mateo Coast (although Sonoma Coast is starting to grow on me).  Lined with peaceful and picturesque beaches, cute restaurants and markets, and so much nature it takes your breath away, the SMC is a short hop and skip over the mountains from the Bay Area.  The best way to go is straight from Fremont on Highway 84, crossing the Dumbarton Bridge and following 84 as it goes past the flatlands of Redwood City, up into Woodside to where the rich tech guys live, and up a windy mountain road over the hill, eventually taking you to La Honda, then down to the coast past pretty coastal ranches, and into San Gregorio and Pescadero.  Check out a map to see which way makes the most sense to you.  While out there, you will see roads that speak to the agricultural history of the area--this wasn't always Techieland.

Not a bad view of Pigeon Point, with no other cars around, as we ate a late lunch.

Since the weather was so nice in the entire area, our sometimes plan of traversing Highway 1 all the way up past San Francisco, or down past Santa Cruz, was out.  It was jammed right past Half Moon Bay, and we assume jammed into Santa Cruz, too.  So, we made loop-de-loops in the area, and found lunch at New Leaf Market, which I wish they had one of in our area (it seems to be Santa Cruz-centric) (WAIT!  There is one in South San Jose and one in P-town!).  It's what Whole Paycheck WISHES it could be.  Cheese from Central Point, Oregon (near my grandparents), made with Rogue Ale hops, an olive medly, date sweets, and uncured Italian salami.  Acme bread slab not pictured but very much enjoyed. 

 

Our lunch, courtesy of New Leaf Market.  Includes a little cheese knife we bought for $4, our new favorite kitchen gadget.  Note:  My chilled glove compartment makes an excellent table.

After lunch and a bit more driving around, it was time for sunset, so we headed back to our favorite spot, Pescadero State Beach (where we had been earlier in the day).  You can see a bit in the picture below, but the beach was packed with people who had the same idea.  It was hilarious to see everyone race to their cars and jam up the exit as soon as the sun set.  But at least they were outside and not watching reality TV indoors.  So, we take what we can get.  I took a few pictures of the high waves, but they don't turn out as impressive as they look--similar to taking a picture of something steep.

I hope you enjoyed this little "travelogue."  I hope to share some of our travels here and there on the blog.  Traveling can be a cheap thrill, and if you took into account our cost, it was half a tank of gas in my diesel car, and our lunch.  You can do it even cheaper than us if you pack your own lunch.

For more information on parks and attractions in the area, visit here or here.  For hiking in the area, visit here.