Author Archives: George Berry

Was sad to leave Big Sur behind, but despite being quite exhausted, I woke up and hit the road pretty early. Been waking up before my alarm, and actually GETTING UP soon after as well! Can’t believe I wrote that, or that it’s true!

Stopped in at Cafe Kevah for breakfast, heard good things about the view and the food, but decided to stick with coffee, as it cost about as much as the standard breakfast, turned out to be a good thing though, since it meant I had time to make a stop in Cambria for the BEST pastrami sandwich I’ve ever had. Maybe even the best sandwich, since I don’t usually like pastrami!

Cambria is an amazing little town, made a stop at my happy place…

Was planning on checking out Hearst castle on the way south, but I guess it’s closed until the 11th, so I settled for taking a peek at the elephant seals on the beach that shares their name. So cute! Forgot to grab pictures, but still!

Anyway, all this is preamble for the highlight of the day. Madonna Inn!! Holy cow! This place is huge, incredible, and so over the top, I stayed at the Irish Hills room, and… well, it may have been a bit extravagant for one person.

Couldn’t have been more thrilled though. Wandered around the property for a bit before taking a dip in the pool. Surprisingly empty when I went!

Wanted to check out San Luis Obispo while I was in the area, cool city! Tons of bike infrastructure and lots of trees overhanging the streets with lights strung between. Very cool vibe.

I was honestly pretty excited to head back to the Madonna though, there was a wedding going on and after a little liquid courage, I worked up the nerve to dance. Turned into a fun evening.

That’s all for now! Hopefully I’ll catch up to the present soon! I’m living a few days ahead of these posts at the moment.

Apparently that’s the original, full name of the area I just spent the last two days in, translated to English. In any case, I can see why Big Sur has the reputation it does. Driving down the 1, I couldn’t decide where to look; on my right, gorgeous cliffs and the eternal Pacific, on my left, the daunting and beautiful San Lucia mountains. There was so much to do here, I decided to limit myself to just what was within walking distance of my campground in Pfeiffer State Park.

Along the way, I stopped in at Monterey, had to see Cannery Row after all, and was glad I decided to see to famous aquarium while I was in the area, the deep sea exhibit in particular was stunning, and I could have watched the otters all day.

My campsite at Big Sur was the first place I stayed more than a night, and I couldn’t be happier with the decision, I spent a good portion of my travel-free day at the Big Sur River Gorge, reminded me a lot of my favorite spots along North Form back home, only with warmer water!

I took so many pictures of this area, it’s hard to pick only a few! While grabbing a drink at the lodge, the bartender let me know about the open mic at Henry Miller Library, so I perused the books hanging from the trees (literally) before subjecting the crowd to my quest to find the key (and stick to it).

The Scrub Jays here have no fear, one quite literally tried to fight me for my bag of hot dogs buns, I was almost inclined to let them have it!

In any case, this was already a high point of my trip, though I get the feeling I’ve said that a lot already. I could go on about the day I just had, but I think I’ll leave that for its own post, till then!

I can scarcely believe it’s only been a day. Woke up fairly early, and spent the morning ambling around Golden Gate Park. Lots of signs out for coyotes, pretty neat that they’ve been able to establish themselves. It was free day at the Botanical and Japanese gardens, so I took advantage of both. Incredible spaces.

Eventually, I found my way out of the park and back into the city. Stopped by Booksmith for a signed Charlie Jane Anders, and trekked up the hill (climbed up, more like, any steeper and San Fran would have to turn the roads into steps) to Corona Park / Hill. Easily my favorite place on the city. Amazing rock formation at the top where you can see the whole city. And when I went, I had the entire park to myself.

This could have been a full day all on its own, but impulsivity called me south, and I ended up in Santa Cruz, where I had an amazing dinner, and watched a bartender get hammered playing Yahtzee with the patrons at Red Room. All told, a very good, and very fun day.

Tried posting the first half of this the other day, but I’m running up against the limits of free blog hosting it seems, hard to upload unless I’m on Wi-Fi.

Anyway! A couple days of incredible travel! The Avenue of Giants is one of the best tree tunnels I’ve ever been through, and camping under the redwoods, with a light drizzle starting just as I was about to hit the hey, was a truly magical experience.

The next morning found me in high spirits, and after breakfast and a little meandering, I let a kindly old lady at the Chandelier Tree gift shop talk me into taking the 1, rather than the 101. Added 3 hours to the drive, but was worth every second. Stunning doesn’t even come close. Really, I don’t know what else to say. Someday, I’d love to spend a whole week just exploring that drive, I pulled over a dozen times to scream “wow!” Into the ocean, but only saw a fraction of it’s beauty.

Finally, I made it into San Francisco. I know it’s touristy, but the Golden Gate Bridge stills impresses me. First time I ever drove it as well! I was worried I would have trouble finding my cousin’s place, but it only took two turns! Having diner and catching up with her was lovely, and she gave me some ideas for tomorrow. Which it seems it already is! Ta ta for now folks!

Off to the redwoods! There’s a marathon happening in the avenue of giants till 2:30, so I can’t get to my campsite till then, but I imagine I’ll find plenty to do until it opens up. Beautiful weather as well! Time to bust out the shorts!