The ride to the "redwoods"...

The Catholic Graveyard at Tomales CA.
Originally uploaded by S'mee.

Thor and I headed out the last day of our trip for a "quick look" at the Redwoods. Thor had visited them as a child and wanted to shared their beauty with me! Unfortunately childhood memories being what they are, Thor hadn't quite calculated the distance to the redwoods from San Francisco and we ended up on a freeway headed north. The freeway was a glorified parking lot and luck being what it is, we turned off and drove west! (My favorite direction!) Although we never made it to the redwoods, we had what turned out to be, one of the best driving day trips ever.

We turned off the 101 at the 12, driving through some of the most picturesque land. This map shows the route. Sebastopol is an artsy, wine country introducing, bed and breakfast-y kind of town. After the redirection from a road block caused by an accident we then went north through Forestville (self explanatory name), Guerneville, and on to Jenner at the coast. I felt a bit thrown back to my old hippy days (at least wannabe) as we drove through these little earthy towns with all natural food stores, hemp purveyors, rainbow pretty-much-anything-you-want, and art and craft boutiques. And lots of alternative couples feeling comfy in their own shoes to put it politely. The flip side being the white folks in dreads and India batik. Talk about mixing your cultures with fashion. But that's those darned artsy types. For me, it looked like heaven, for Thor, well that's another story.

The photo above is (terrific segue) a portion of the Catholic cemetery in Tomales. (looking at the above map, find Cotali and go straight west -and slightly lower- to the tiny little angle on the red line. That bend in the road near the water is Tomales.) A small historic town of (what the town sign said) 5. We think perhaps someone has erased the extra zero(s); but it's not for us to say. That aside, It is a quaint little town, very quiet the day we visited and we only saw about 5 actual folks walking around (so perhaps the sign was correct although the housing states there should be more.) We took the side street up the slope to the hill where the wrought iron gates waited wide open, and drove into the grounds. To the left of the drive way were the tombs. All had the raised curb and further raised cement borders; with the unused graves still grassy and full of wild flowers. Once "furnished", evidence shows a cement slab covers the crypt; and head stone or foot stone mark the resident(s). Interesting.

After leaving Tomales we drove out to Point Reyes in hopes of visiting the light house. It was closed, but after researching what we missed, I am a bit glad we got there too late. This website tells the history (very interesting!), but also that it is equivalent to climbing a 30 story staircase to get down to the light house, and then back up! Hello knees! So I am content (for now) to read all about it. You should too! Have fun!

Carlton's Log: Day Three, traffic JAMMIN'!

Traffic Jammin'
Originally uploaded by S'mee.

First off can you believe that freeway? I have found the secret to driving in L.A. -hit the road at 5:30 a.m.

We had an early start for our trip home. We needed to travel into Hemet (south east of Riverside in the Inland Empire of SoCAL) for a baby blessing. Yowsers! This little guy actually lives with his ma, pa, and two big brothers in Viva Las Vegas! But the majority of family lives near Hemet where both set of (you guessed it) Grandparents live! The drive was faster than we thought it would be BECAUSE NO ONE DRIVES AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING - ON A SUNDAY IN L.A.! hahah! We be jammin!

Carlton's Log: Day One, the drive!

We had wanted an early start. Thor got a call and needed to go into work to settle some things before we hit the road. He gets home about 1:00, then some more "at home work" and we finally get on the freeway at 2:30.

The weather where we live was windy, bright and sunny. Off into the distance I can see dark storm clouds and the hot beachy plans begin to fade. But not to fear, I will be perfectly content no matter the weather... I will be at the beach!

Along our drive we encounter wind, rain, sprinkles, bright sun and back to sprinkles and rain by the time we drove through Thousand Oaks. I was worried for a bit, but the skies above Santa Barbara were filled with spring and the outlook of a sunny weekend was on the horizon!

Our drive was the kind that inspires folks to "load up the truck and move to Beverly! Hills that is. Sunshine. Movie Stars!" The skies above L.A. were clear as can be. The wind had swept the air clean and you could see across the valley for miles. The hills were very green and amazingly enough - the freeways were moving fast and with all 6 lanes loaded!

on a clear day you can see forever!
Originally uploaded by S'mee.

As we drove I kept thinking of my Gramma, who lived in Michigan in the 50's, decided to visit the friends out west in "Los Angeleeze" in December. She saw what winter was like here and that was that; they never went back home.

S.B. with Channel Island in background
Originally uploaded by S'mee.

We drove through all kinds of pretty scenery, but when I caught my first glimpse of that blue ocean my heart skipped a beat! Have I ever told you how much I love that ol' Big Blue? Our Hotel sits right on the beach and is quite lovely. We were staying at the Fess Parker Resort. This 4 diamond resort meanders along the beach front for an entire block. The south corner has a gorgeous open air pavilion and the hotel lobby, offices, conference rooms and restaurants. The one, two, and three story buildings (all named after flowers) that house the guest rooms are placed in two rows facing the beach and are followed on the north corner with tennis courts. We found the entrance and drove around. We were greeted warmly by valet, porters, and bellmen who welcomed us and removed the baggage from the car. They directed us through beautiful etched glass arched doors, flanked with beautifully carved wood. The large window in the lobby was also etched and gorgeous. The desk clerked got Thor registered in about 2 minutes flat. This is probably the quickest registration (save Hawaii) that we have experienced. They offered us hot coffee (no thanks) and plunked two huge warm chocolate chip and walnut stuffed oatmeal cookies (thank you very much!) into Thor's waiting hands. Although we didn't eat them right away, they were the perfect combination of moist cookie with a crispy edge. Yum! The gal at the desk directed us back out to the valet, who in turn directed us to drive our car around to our building - Camellia; "It's quite a walk. Driving can get you almost to the front door. Inside you'll find an elevator to the right and you're there." O.k. then. We get in the car and he was correct. This is an all time first. A valet who wants to save you money and walking! Our luggage arrived about 3 minutes after we did and the bellman was terrific.

The view from our 3rd story room is of the back side of the building in front of us. But if we look to the north a tad we can see the ocean, and even the Channel Islands. It's a spectacular afternoon and the weather is cooperating well. To the left is a botanical garden, swimming pool, spa and 18 hole putting green. To the right shuffle boards and tennis courts. Our room is nice, with a king bed facing the sliding glass doors that lead to a tiny, but effective enough porch. At the foot of the bed is a cushion covered dressing bench. Nice touch! There are a love seat, an over stuffed over sized wicker chair, a desk with two chairs and a dressing area. The bathroom is o.k. When I say that, I am comparing it with other hotels we have stayed in of the same rating. Trust me, it was better than home, just not the best I have ever seen in a hotel. The floor tiles we typical ceramic tiles, about 3 inch squares and the tub had the same tiles in a 5 inch version around the walls. The water was HOT, which may have given the 4 star rating a boost!

Thor was given his itinerary for the conference and within that a personal letter from the host suggesting certain places for this and that. Where he would go for dinner, etc. We drove around and got our bearings of Santa Barbara and ran into, quite by accident, Arnoldi's; one of the suggested eateries. More on our experiences there next post.

So here we go. My impression of Samantha Brown and her Great Hotels segments. I may never get my passport to Europe but I'll let you in on whatever places Thor and I are blessed to go to. I am quite spoiled and very lucky. Sit back. Read a while and let's see what else Santa Barbara had in store for us!