Meet Me In Montana

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I booked a cabin in Montana this week. No, I'm not going to become the next Unabomber, my family is going there on vacation in June. After browsing every area web site, I finally selected the Apgar Village Lodge as where we'll stay. My parents and my sister are going to meet my wife and I there, and hopefully we'll be bringing my grandparents along with us, if they can get away from the farm for a week. We're also going to do some whitewater rafting while we're in Montana, possibly here.

Coastal California

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We slept in late this morning, then had a quick breakfast at Lori's Diner before we checked out of our hotel. The folks at the front desk tried to talk us out of driving down highway one to Monterey, saying we wouldn't see anything interesting. Oh, how I beg to differ. While there isn't much to see from Santa Cruz on, the drive from San Francisco to Santa Cruz was quite scenic for us flatlanders. Lots of fabulous beaches, hills, trees, and houses we'll never be able to afford.

After several hours, we arrived in Monterey, where we grabbed lunch at Carl's Jr. Then we got in line for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was worth the $22 admission fee, as it took us over three hours to go through it, and we still didn't get to see everything before they closed.

We then drove back up the 101 to the hotel I booked via Hotwire earlier in the day. We wound up in the Extended Stay America Efficiency Studios in Morgan Hill, but just barely. When we checked in, they said they were overbooked, and they were going to cancel my reservation until they realized that I was pre-paid through Hotwire, and they couldn't easily refund my money. So, we got our room, complete with rock-hard bed.

We dropped our bags off, then I hopped on the internet to find a place to eat. I found Scrambl'z, which was on the list of restaurants that gives me frequent flier mile bonuses, so we backtracked an exit on the 101, and got a bite to eat.

The decor there is enough to give you a seizure, but the food was pretty good, and the portions were enormous. Neither of us cleared our plate, and the service was prompt and friendly. Holly griped to me that her gravy was canned, not homemade, but I guess you can't have it all.

We then returned to our hotel, and are going to hit the hay.

San Francisco Day Two

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We woke up this morning (my 29th birthday!) and grabbed breakfast at the local Burger King before checking out of our hotel (I did tip the valet this time). We then made our way north to Fisherman's Wharf, where we parked in an another expensive parking ramp and got out to walk around the area. We eventually wandered down to the Jeremiah O'Brien, a "Liberty Ship" from WWII, and the only remaining operational vessel from the Normandy invasion.

The self-guided tour was actually really interesting. We were there early in the morning, and one of only a handful of people on the whole ship. They basically just turn you loose to wander around the vessel, and after I posed on the 5-inch deck gun for a photo, we found our way down into the Engine Room. Down there, I could have sworn we were the only one on the ship, as we climbed down the three levels of ladders into the bowels of the ship. I would not want to be down there when the ship was under attack, as the odds of getting out before the ship sank seem rather remote.

After leaving the O'Brien, we hoofed it along the rest of the wharf, past the shops selling touristy crap and the barking sea lions. We didn't really find too much else down there that was interesting, so after a few hours of window shopping, we went and paid the ransom to get our car back, and headed towards the Golden Gate bridge.

We wound through the Presidio, and found the Warming House near Chrissy Field had a picnic area set up along the bay. We bought some sandwiches, and retrieved our bottled water and chips from the car, and had a nice lunch there on the water, watching all the people on rented bicycles go by.

After lunch, we drove through Golden Gate Park, to Baker Beach, where we walked along the beach, and tried to dodge the occasional wave that came in much farther than the others. The view was great, but it's not some place you'd want to go swimming.

Next we drove a little farther to the Palace of the Legion of Honor, which has a large art collection, including many works by Rodin. They also had some Monet, Van Gogh, and far too many renaissance pictures of fat ladies and suffering Jesuses for my taste.

Downstairs, they have a nice collection of ancient art, including Assyrian, Egyptian, and Greek artifacts.

By this time, our poor feet were about ready to fall off, so we decided to head back across San Francisco to tonight's hotel, the Hotel Rex. While it's run by the same folks as the Adagio, I preferred the Adagio, as it had free internet access, while they wanted $9.95 for it here. I've opted for using my cell phone data connection instead. They were extremely friendly at the desk though, and gave us a free upgrade to a King-sized room. The Honor Bar is not as reasonably priced here, but they obviously stock it from the Walgreens across the street (there's one about every other block) so we just eat what we want, then replace it when we venture outside the hotel. I'm not paying $2 for a can of coke, or $4.75 for a tube of Pringles.

The Rex is in a nicer neighborhood than the Adagio, there are several art galleries nearby that we're going to see tomorrow morning, and fewer panhandlers, as we're a bit farther away from the Tenderloin.

After a shower and a nap in our big soft bed, we declared that we were hungry for Pizza, and marched off in search of it. We eventually settled (after much walking) on Pizza Prada, a little hole-in-the-wall on Powell, just southwest of Union Square. The place doesn't look like much, but the pizza was divine. It had that perfect crust that's not thin and greasy, but not too thick either. It just hit the spot after a long day walking.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped into another Lori's Diner location, and I got a chocolate milkshake at the counter, as my birthday treat. We then returned to the Hotel, and decided to go to bed early, as we're beat after a long day of sightseeing.

San Francisco Day One

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We woke up this morning, checked out of our hotel, and then attempted to find a McDonald's for breakfast that Holly claimed was nearby the hotel. We failed miserably at that, but found Highway 35, which led us towards the Golden Gate bridge that we needed to cross to reach Muir Woods. Don't ask me how, but they've managed to keep any place that might serve breakfast well away from Highway 35/1/101 all the way from San Bruno to Muir Woods, so we arrived there without having eaten yet.

The Golden Gate bridge was a LOT bigger than I'd pictured in my mind, and a lot longer too. We made our way across it, then wound through the foggy hills down to Muir Woods, still hungry.

We paid the reasonable $3/person entry fee, and checked out the gift shop, where Holly found a sweatshirt she wanted. She managed to forget to pack any jackets, which I've secretly delighted in, as when I'd reminded her to do so, she mocked me for pointing out the obvious, then forgot to do it.

We saw on the map that there was a cafe just inside the entrance, and hoped for some breakfast, but they didn't really have much in the way of breakfast fare. So, we each had a $2.75 "junior" hot dog and split a coke, a meal that would have cost us about a $1.75 at any gas station was $8 in the park. Holly insists that it was the best hot dog she ever ate, but I'm convinced that she was just suffering delusions due to extreme hunger.

We then started winding our way through the woods, and shortly came upon a ranger giving a great presentation about them. There's a paved path that leads through the "valley" that contains most of the redwood grove, as well as several trails through the hills. You're not allowed off the trails (to protect the environment, as they have over a million visitors a year) but we enjoyed the mile-long hike up the paved trail to Bridge 4, and then the mile-long hike on the Hillside Trail, which is a much more vigorous hike.

Muir Woods is a great place. If you've never been there, it's hard to describe. The redwoods seem impossibly tall, and even when on the hillside trail, halfway up the mountain, you're nowhere near the start of the forest's canopy. If you haven't been there, you simply must go, it's one of the most impressive natural sites I've seen in my life, completely unlike anywhere else I've ever been, and you can't help but feel close to nature there.

Having walked off our hot dog breakfast, we drove down into Mill Valley, a neat little town near the woods. After a trip up and down the main drag, we settled on Joe's Taco Lounge and Salsaria. I had the Tacos Con Carne, and Holly had a Monterey Jack Enchilada. I thought the food was pretty good, though my soft tacos were impossible to eat without a fork. Holly found it a bit too authentic for her taste, as she's more of a Taco Bell-style fan.

A guy from the table next to us leaned over and asked me if I'd graduated from Iowa State, as I was wearing an ISU T-Shirt. I said that I had, in 1999, and he revealed that he'd graduated in 2000. He's been working in the Bay Area doing landscape architecture ever since.

I paid the bill (about $20) and we headed back into the city. It was a $5 toll to cross the Golden Gate, but we got back into the city, and decided to try to find our hotel so we could check in.

I'm really not sure how natives find their way around without the aid of GPS, as I've found myself wishing for it many times already. San Francisco has the usual mess of one-way streets, but what's even more frustrating is the high number of streets that don't allow left-turns! You wind up having to circle a block every time you want to turn left, which gives you a lot of opportunities to get lost.

We eventually got lost near the Union Square district where our hotel is, and after about 15 minutes of circling blocks, we found the parking lot near our destination, the Hotel Adagio. Parking was $29 for the night, with unlimited ins and outs, which is average for the neighborhood, and completely ridiculous to those of us from the midwest. I'm really not sure what the parking lot attendant was saying to me, as his English was drowning in his Chinese accent, but I managed to give him my keys and he took the car away as Holly took the baggage into the Hotel. I wondered if I should tip him, but Holly had my wallet in her purse inside the hotel, so I didn't have any cash on me, and really, I don't think I should have to tip anyone who's charging me $29 to park my car for 16 hours.

We were met at the front desk by a friendly clerk named Karina, who chatted with us for a bit as she got our keys ready. This is a pretty nice little Boutique hotel, but I got a great rate off Hotwire.com, about half of what the rack rate is. I mentioned to her that tomorrow is my birthday as she looked at my ID (which apparently is required to use a credit card anywhere in this city, unlike Iowa) and tried to con her into giving me an upgraded room as a birthday present. She didn't cough one up, but gave us our keys and directed us to our room.

We found our room up on the 12th floor, with a great view to the west of downtown San Francisco. It's definitely a step above the Holiday Inn, with real free high-speed internet (the Holiday Inn's access was free, but slow, it took me an hour to download a 50MB file). We also got a couple of soft bathrobes, Aveda soaps, etc. and a reasonably priced honor bar, as those go.

We dropped our bags, rested for a bit, then hiked east into the city towards Union Square. I found the nearby Apple Store, which was filled with people, so we didn't stay long. We also went to Harry & David, Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, and several other shops that don't have a location in Iowa.

Holly and I eventually found our way to Chinatown, which was filled with store selling cheesy souvenirs and goods of dubious origin, like grey-market cameras. Holly bought some fortune cookies and I got some postcards, and then we hiked up Nob Hill, much to the displeasure of our legs. We eventually made our way back to Union Square, where we bought some overpriced Italian Bottled Water ($2.75) and basked in the sun.

After window-shopping some more shops, we ducked into the Walgreens on our way back down Geary to the Adagio, and stocked up on some water and granola bars so we didn't have to raid the honor bar if we got hungry.

When we returned to our room, I found a complimentary bottle of Merlot, some Ghiradelli chocolate bars, some postcards, guide books, and a note from Karina at the front desk wishing me a happy birthday. You don't get that at the Holiday Inn.

I checked my e-mail, ignored most of it, and then took a shower and put on my soft robe and crashed on the bed for a brief nap. I then got up and wrote this, as Holly planned our day for tomorrow, and we debated where to eat tonight...

South San Francisco

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We arrived at the San Francisco airport a bit early, retrieved our luggage and took the AirTrain to the Thrifty Rental Car location. We were surprised to find that we were given a brand-new Sebring with only 9 miles on the odometer. I don't think I've ever driven a Chrysler before, but we eventually found the Holiday Inn I'd booked for the night and checked in. Not a bad place for a Holiday Inn, as far as they go. No pool, but it wasn't a dive like some of them are.

Holly and I dumped our stuff in our room, then attempted to find a place to eat. We drove around for about twenty minutes, getting lost in several directions without finding much, before settling on In 'n Out Burger, which was quite tasty. I've eaten at the one in Las Vegas a couple times, too bad we don't have these back in the midwest...

Winding down

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It's been a busy week at work, but I can't talk about most of it, so that's why I haven't been posting much here. I've still got to finish the presentation for the talk I'm giving April 1 at a conference in Cedar Rapids, but I've got at least half of it already laid out in Keynote on my PowerBook. I'm going to try to relax some at my grandparents' house this weekend, where we're going for Easter, and maybe I'll do some more vacation planning while I'm there. We're thinking about making a trip to Glacier National Park via Amtrak this summer. With gas prices as high as they are right now, it's really not any more money to take the train than it is to drive, and they get a lot of visitors there who come that way, so there are shuttles that will take you around the park, or you can rent a car if need be. We never really got much of a chance to take a honeymoon, due to my wife's job when we were married, so this would be a nice opportunity for us to get away for a few days, and I think my wife would be glad to drag me somewhere without internet access for once.

Has anyone ever been to Glacier? Have anywhere you'd suggest staying? I'm leaning towards visiting West Glacier, as there seems to be more to do there, like rafting, boat tours on Lake Macdonald, and even helicopter tours of the park. I'd love to hear your suggestions, just post 'em below.