![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
A lovely day
2004-05-09 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mdlbearAfter the daughters nearly tore one another apart like Kilkenny cats last night, the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
flower_cat and I were a little concerned about heading off for lunch by ourselves today. But they came down after breakfast all sweetness and light (or as much as they could manage on a limited amount of caffeine). So around 11:30am we started out, leaving the kids to set up for an afternoon of gaming.
The original idea was to go up to San Francisco to a museum, but it was very much a "let's get on the road and see where it takes us" kind of day -- we stopped first in Palo Alto to have lunch. Our first choice, a Mexican place of good repute called Estrellita's, was closed on Sundays, so we hung a left on El Camino (after noting that Chef Chu's was open, as a possible fallback) and went to Trader Vic's. Found that they were indeed serving a Mother's Day buffet brunch, and had space. Excellent, if somewhat pricey. Lots of fish (including Ahi tuna just barely seared on the outside) for the Bear, lots of non-fish (including roast beef) for the Cat. Lots of yummy-looking tropical-style drinks; Colleen had a Scorpion. I abstained except for a couple of sips, since I was planning on at least a couple of hours of driving. I can handle driving after one drink, but not if I'm also tired.
Colleen suggested driving up El Camino to see what had changed, so we did that. When we got to 92 I turned (*virtual) West and headed toward Half Moon Bay, intending to go South on either Skyline or Highway 1. The hills were beautiful and green, so even though the traffic was mostly stop-and-go we went all the way to the coast and headed down 1. Lovely drive. Curvy and hilly enough to be interesting without being narrow enough to be dangerous, and very minimal traffic. Headed back on Highway 9, which winds through the redwood-covered slopes of the Santa Cruz mountains.
Just short of Felton we stopped at the Henry Cowell park for a walk through the redwood grove (and a bathroom break). It's a .8 mile/1.3km loop trail; not really enough for me but about all an arthritic Cat can manage these days. A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk -- sorry, wrong song. Anyway, we headed home feeling refreshed from our stroll, and arrived about 6:15. Since we'd told the kids we'd be home between 6 and 6:30, that was just right.
All-in-all, a delightful day.
(*) Note: Virtual West is toward the Coast, virtual North is toward San Francisco. The San Francisco Peninsula is laid out such that San Francisco is almost exactly northwest of San Jose, so our trip "virtual east" from Santa Cruz to San Jose took us almost directly due north. I can get on South 880 near my house, turn left onto South 280 (going almost directly due East), and go a couple of miles to where it wraps around the South end of the Bay and turns into North 680. Got that? And they wonder why kids in California have trouble with geography.
flower_cat and I were a little concerned about heading off for lunch by ourselves today. But they came down after breakfast all sweetness and light (or as much as they could manage on a limited amount of caffeine). So around 11:30am we started out, leaving the kids to set up for an afternoon of gaming.The original idea was to go up to San Francisco to a museum, but it was very much a "let's get on the road and see where it takes us" kind of day -- we stopped first in Palo Alto to have lunch. Our first choice, a Mexican place of good repute called Estrellita's, was closed on Sundays, so we hung a left on El Camino (after noting that Chef Chu's was open, as a possible fallback) and went to Trader Vic's. Found that they were indeed serving a Mother's Day buffet brunch, and had space. Excellent, if somewhat pricey. Lots of fish (including Ahi tuna just barely seared on the outside) for the Bear, lots of non-fish (including roast beef) for the Cat. Lots of yummy-looking tropical-style drinks; Colleen had a Scorpion. I abstained except for a couple of sips, since I was planning on at least a couple of hours of driving. I can handle driving after one drink, but not if I'm also tired.
Colleen suggested driving up El Camino to see what had changed, so we did that. When we got to 92 I turned (*virtual) West and headed toward Half Moon Bay, intending to go South on either Skyline or Highway 1. The hills were beautiful and green, so even though the traffic was mostly stop-and-go we went all the way to the coast and headed down 1. Lovely drive. Curvy and hilly enough to be interesting without being narrow enough to be dangerous, and very minimal traffic. Headed back on Highway 9, which winds through the redwood-covered slopes of the Santa Cruz mountains.
Just short of Felton we stopped at the Henry Cowell park for a walk through the redwood grove (and a bathroom break). It's a .8 mile/1.3km loop trail; not really enough for me but about all an arthritic Cat can manage these days. A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk -- sorry, wrong song. Anyway, we headed home feeling refreshed from our stroll, and arrived about 6:15. Since we'd told the kids we'd be home between 6 and 6:30, that was just right.
All-in-all, a delightful day.
(*) Note: Virtual West is toward the Coast, virtual North is toward San Francisco. The San Francisco Peninsula is laid out such that San Francisco is almost exactly northwest of San Jose, so our trip "virtual east" from Santa Cruz to San Jose took us almost directly due north. I can get on South 880 near my house, turn left onto South 280 (going almost directly due East), and go a couple of miles to where it wraps around the South end of the Bay and turns into North 680. Got that? And they wonder why kids in California have trouble with geography.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-09 09:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 12:46 am (UTC)Left to go North
Right to go North
Straight to go North
no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 04:23 pm (UTC)BTW, your trip is one of my favorite loops.