"I will re-establish your honor"

Joey and I are playing chess in the common area.  After three consecutive losses, a French guy at the table asked if he could play a game.  When i ceded my spot he told me that he would try to "how do you say... Re-establish your honor".

The Hook and Ladder Pepper Sauce Incident

We left Santa Rosa yesterday morning and planned to spend the gorgeous (82 and sunny) day driving around the Russian River Valley in Sonoma county.  We mapped out a route that would take us north on the 101 to river road which we would take to Forestville to hook up with Gravenstein road which would in turn leads to the Bodega Hwy and eventually back to the 1.

Our plan went (happily) off track almost immediately.  The cars on River  were moving fast and we were in the mood for sightseeing.  We pulled off on an unnamed road which ran parallel to River Rd and before long came upon the Joseph Shaw winery.  We tasted a few varieties at the very small family run vineyard. I settled on a bottle of Pinot.  We stopped at another, larger winery on the same road before heading to Olivet Rd at the advice of the  2nd winery's owner (I can't remember the name of the vineyard, i'll add it in later).

Our first stop on Olivet rd was the Hook and Ladder winery which was staffed by Devon, a young guy maybe a year or two older than Joey who talked to us about his family's wine business and the Black Keys.  He also forced me to cleanse my palate with a white wine when I sampled their pepper sauce and ruined my taste buds which got a chuckle from a family (two parents and their daughter) who had just arrived . (It was worth it - the sauce was good.  I bought some).

Our next stop was the Sunce winery, just a couple doors down from the Hook and Ladder. We hung out there for quite a bit.  Played bocce ball with a couple, John and Sheila,  who claimed to have never played but beat joey and I 5 to 1.  After our defeat we sat in the shade, got some advice on local San Fran eateries from Sheila, and chatted it up with the Pinto family (At right- daughter Angela,  Esther, and Leo) who we first encountered during the Hook and Ladder Pepper Sauce incident.  Angela had flown in from Atlanta to see her parents who were throwing her a big BBQ in wine country for her birthday.  Angela is a Benefits/HR director at a small company in Atlanta so we were able to talk shop a bit.

We left Sunce after 90 minutes or so and headed up the road to DeLoach winery.  A much more professional operation than the previous 2 but still good.  We hung with the Pinto's at DeLoach for about 30 min before making our way back to the 101 for the 45 min drive to San Francisco.

Our Haul: 6 Bottles of red, 1 bottle of white, pepper sauce, and .75 liters of Hook and Ladder grown and made olive oil.

We arrived in San Francisco around 5, checked into our hostel downtown (the globetrotter inn), and called Sarah whom we had met on a ferry in Croatia 4 years ago.  She gave us a recommendation for dinner and we planned to meet up at Thermidor, a new bar near 5th and Mission that had soft opened on Friday after her dinner plans were over.

Joey and I ate at a small Sushi place called Ryoko which blended a warm hole in the wall feel, great sushi, and 1990's gangster rap to surprisingly pleasing effect (more pics below). After dinner we made our way to Thermidor where we would meet Sarah in an hour or so. The bar was very cool it had kind of a mod feel to it.  The bartenders were great - Brooke made my first Old Fashion and after her shift ended (about 10 min after we arrived) she sat down at the bar next to us for dinner and intermittent conversation.  I learned that she has acted as a bar consultant on several new openings.  She designs the cocktail menu, hires the bar manager and moves on.  She would be leaving Thermidor soon to help open another bar where she will stay on permanently.  We learned later from Sarah that her skills are well known and highly regarded on the cocktail scene in town.

Before she left, Brooke told us that she was heading to a whiskey bar called Rick House and that we should check it out later.  Around that time Sarah arrived from her dinner.  We chatted about old times and caught each other up on our lives over the past few years.  She had spent the morning and afternoon bike riding and after a few drinks and some great conversation she dropped us off at Rick House and headed home.  Joey and I were getting tired ourselves, but the place was very cool so we stayed for one drink.  The entire interior of the bar was paneled with old whiskey barrels and the bar boasted more varieties of whiskey than i could count.  I'm hoping we can  return there tonight when we're not ready for bed.

Croatia Crew Reunited

This morning we ate breakfast at the Taylor Street Coffee Shop which boasts an incredible California Avocado omelet (if you're ever in town try it out) and headed back to the hostel to do our laundry.  Tonight: most likely Indian food (not sure which one - there are about 50 within walking distance)

More Pictures from Ryoko:

Sonoma Pictures (To view, click just below the image and use the navigation bar that appears)

"...Fight Back Vigorously"

The signs posted at the backwoods trailheads and campsites in the redwood national forest advise: "If you are attacked by a mountain lion, fight back vigorously". Fortunately we didn't have occasion to fend off a mountain lion during our stay in the forest, but we did have to deal with mother nature, and fight we did:   while we did cut out long hikes from our itinerary we refused to concede complete defeat to the unceasing rain which began falling in Portland on Tuesday evening and continued for the next 60 hours.  We purchased rain jackets on the way out of Portland (best money spent so far) and resolved not to sleep in the car or use the countless drive in camp grounds that dot the 101. Instead, we'd stick to our original goal of (slightly) more primitive camping.

Camping in the state and national parks exists in 4 levels:

1. Drive in camping: closely packed paved sites with, hot showers and lots of kids nearby.
2. Environmental Camping: Drive in part of the way and pack a few hundred yards to the more secluded sites. Vault toilets and a bear locker are provided. Trash must be packed out.
3. Backwoods camping: Marked sites off of trails include a fire ring a bear locker and nothing else. Everything must be packed out.  
4. Dispersion camping: On your own.  Camps must be 200 yards from the road and 20 from the trail. No fires are allowed and food/trash must be hung from trees in the absence of bear lockers.

We camped for 2 days (i'll refer to day 1 as 01 Camp and day 2 as 02 Camp).  01 Camp  was more of a stopover on our way to our intended destination of Prairie Creek State Park just over the CA border.  We employed the dispersion method on day 1.  We simply drove until dusk pulled up to a trailhead (cummings creek), hiked in and set up camp.  With no fire, we pretty much just set up camp under the steady rain and went to bed.  The early bedtime allowed us to wake up bright and early and continue south on the 101.

We stopped for breakfast at a little house turned makeshift diner (a curtain fashioned out of PVC pipe pulled double duty as a backdrop to the pay counter and a separator between the restaurant and the house's old linoleum and Formica kitchen turned business office) called Kathleen and Nina's.  The menu consisted of eggs, pancakes, pig, potatoes and gravy combined in different ways. Simple but delicious.  After breakfast we headed south in the rain towards our destination.

We arrived at the park around 4 PM, and obtained an environmental campsite.  The road to 02 camp was treacherous - starting with a puddle turned lake blocking the access road.  After watching a few cars with slightly more clearance than our Camry wade through, we held our breath and went for it.  We made it across with no problem and continued up the 4 mile long windy pot hole riddled road to our campsite.  We reached our turnoff, opened the gate using the combination provided at the ranger station, moved a fallen tree out of the way and worked our way back to the camp.  We set up shop, made a fire and cooked dinner: steamed Squash, cucumber, potatoes, and onion with an appetizer of fire roasted yellow pepper.  After dinner we retreated to the tent, played a couple games of chess and were asleep by 9:30.  Somehow, despite the torrential rain and the ever loudening rush of the creek below our site we stayed relatively dry, and the next morning after some fresh brewed coffee , we packed up camp under a light rain and headed south towards wine country.

About half way through our drive, around the time the 101 gave way to the 1, the sun peeked out and we were treated to some spectacular views of Mendocino county wine country as we cut our way down the coast and over to Santa Rosa (for our Cincinnati readers, imagine 100 miles of Mineola Pike with sheer cliffs on one side) where beds and showers awaited.  We arrived in Santa Rosa around dinner time, showered, and headed into the very cool downtown for a delicious dinner and 5 dollar glasses of house wine (that I would have gladly paid double for) at Cafe Rendezvous on the square.

Today we're going to tool around Sonoma county for a bit and make our way to San Francisco in time for dinner.

We've accumulated quite a few pics over the past couple days.  Here's a selection in slide show form [don't click on the big play button - it redirects you.  To start the show click on the very bottom of the image and use the menu bar that appears.]

Rain: 100%

   

Portland, Day 2. Unfortunately our 1 day streak of good weather has not held out.  Yesterday was cool and cloudy. The rain started yesterday evening around 7 and hasn't let up yet.  But despite that we had a good last day in Portland.

We spent a good part of the morning hanging out in the hotel lobby which doubles as a Stumptown coffee house, reading, playing chess, and enjoying the vibe of the hotel.  At lunchtime we ventured out to the food
trailers that line the street (picture at right) and had a quick Korean BBQ lunch.   After Lunch we found an outdoor store and bought the final provisions for the Pacific Coast camping portion of our trip (which we'll commence in few hours.)

Pictures of the Ace Hotel                                                                          


We got back to the hotel around 4, got ready for the evening and took the MAX to Mississippi St to meet Roger (Debbie's brother).  We started out at Mississippi Station which was pretty good until the drunk patron next to us, upon being asked to leave by the bartender, stood up and vomited all over Roger's food (they offered to make him more food but surprisingly they didn't even comp us a beer).  After the incident, we headed to Amnesia Brewing, a cool local brewery, and hung out outside under the canopy until it was time for our show. (pics below are from amnesia, including the dog whose owner called her a whore for nuzzling up to anyone who would scratch her head)  We parted ways with Roger after getting some great information about camping and scenic spots along our route to the coast and headed to Mississippi studios for our Sera Cahoone Show.

The venu was really cool - very similar to Schuba's in Chicago but with a smaller bar upfront that was separated from the music space by a garage door that was opened in between sets.  After a very sparsely attended (it was a rainy Tuesday after all)  but great show, we caught a cab back to the hotel and ended the day.

We're currently sitting in the coffee shop planning our exit from portland: We plan to stop by the grocery for some provisions, the hardware store for plastic, and then head out I-26 bound for the coast.  We'll be camping for the next 4 or 5 days and will likely be incommunicado.  Unless we happen upon some random internet you'll hear from us again in San Francisco.

Why Is It Dark Outside?

We arrived in Portland yesterday morning after what we hear had been a depressingly long stretch of rainy days, but the clouds broke for us and our first day on the road was warm and sunny.  Our room wouldn't be available until 4:00 pm so we dropped off our bags and wandered around downtown in search of a watering hole.  We started off with lunch at a bar and grill type place that boasted a huge array of draft beers (we stuck with oatmeal and espresso stouts).  After lunch we made our way to the hotel bar where we enjoyed some expertly made Old Fashions* and chatted it up with Gabby who had just moved to Portland from Puerto Vallarta, MX on Friday and was scouting her new city.

We checked into our room around 6:30 with plans for a quick 20 min nap before dinner.  We woke up at 1:00 AM.

Today, with hangovers and jet lag behind us we plan to get an early start exploring the city.  Tonight we'll be heading to Mississippi Studios to catch a Sera Cahoone show.

*Interestingly, I learned from our Bartender that the term old fashion refers not the familiar whiskey drink but to a class of drinks made with spirit, sugar, bitters, and citrus. (I tried a gin old fahion - i'll be sticking with the whiskey variety from here on out.)

The Ace Hotel, where we're staying. Very cool place.  More on that in a later post.




















Around Town



From Our Room

On The Road Again... Almost

It's almost time now.  Mom, Dad, and Joey arrived in Chicago Saturday morning.  We spent the morning running errands, including a trip to Isaacson and Stein Fish market to pick up some fresh grouper for dinner.  Once back we enjoyed the beautiful Chicago weather (surprisingly i'm not being facetious), tested out the tents and cooked dinner.  This morning I woke up at 4:30 to drive Dad to O'Hare for a trip to FL to help out Grandma and Grandpa.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.  Next post will be from the road.

Scenes From The Fish Market

Testing The Tents

Around the House - Saturday Dinner and Sunday Morning Playlist Compilation

Guidelines

I won't call it an itinerary.  If everything goes according to plan we won't hit a single one of these dates.

• 31 May - Arrive Portland Oregon
• 02 June - Depart Portland
• 02 June - 12 June Drive the PCH
• 13 June - 14June Vegas
• Choose your own adventure:
• The Southern Route: 14 June - 19 June: Texas (with a day in Austin)
• The Northern Route: 14 June - 19 June: Utah (Salt Lake City)
• 19 June - 22 June: Colorado (Ft Collins/Denver)
• 23 June - 26 June: Louisiana (New Orleans and Surroundings)
• 27 June - 29 June: Savannah, GA
• 29 June - 4 July: Edisto Beach, SC