Back Home in Reno

Monday, after breakfast with Paul and Sandy, we headed north.  Traffic was light since we got a later than usual start.  Took mostly back roads home, rather than using the Interstates.  Nice seeing the farmland and workers in the fields (sure glad I don't have to do that - it's mostly manual labor).  Some of the most beautiful fields were the mustard fields with all their waving golden crops.  Nice to see poppies (California state flower) along the roadsides.

We did get on CA 99 for a couple of miles in order to get to Costco in Turlock to fill up for the return trip.  After traversing several county roads for an hour or so, we ended up on CA 88 to go over the Sierra Nevada.  Beautiful drive through the foothills and then up into the snow-covered mountains.  There was no problem coming through Carson Pass, although the snow was piled high on the roadside.

When we got to the top of the pass, there's a rest stop in a small building.  Over six feet of snow was piled on top of the cabin!  At several spots on 88, they had plowed out the viewpoints so you could park.  The only problem was that the snow was so high, you would have needed an eight-foot ladder to see any of the surrounding mountains

After a stop in Lake Tahoe at Harrah's (supposedly just for a rest stop, but who can resist trying our gaming luck), we arrived home.  Good to be back.

Leaving for Reno

Last night we had an excellent dinner at Fandango in Pacific Grove.  It was a restaurant which Paul and Sandy had been to before and they wanted to celebrate Paul's birthday there.  Fantastic food and outstanding service.  One of the nicest things about being in the Monterey area at this time of the year is the lack of tourists and the accompanying crowds, limited parking, long lines, etc.  Not so good for the restaurants and retail establishments, but fine for us.  As you can see from the picture and the empty parking lot behind us, we were the last ones to leave.

Fun coming back to the room and enjoying some wine and conversation.  Tried to solve all the world's problems (and some of ours), but I guess we couldn't cover them all.  That'll have to wait until another time and place.

We plan on meeting P&S for breakfast and then head back to Reno.  Usually, the trip back is done in one day rather than the extended time we take coming over.  Audio books make the trip go by quickly!

Salinas, CA

Today was a touristy day, exploring the countryside between Monterey and Salinas.  We had some distinct ideas in mind, so I'll start us on the road.

After breakfast, we headed out to visit a Farmers Market on Carmel Valley Road.  In reading a story about Monterey Jack cheese, we saw that it was available only in local supermarkets and farmers markets.  Checked the local markets and found a small farmers market way out.  Carmel Valley Road starts at CA 1 and heads east over the mountains/hills.  The farmers market was small, but interesting - had some of the biggest strawberries we have ever seen.  Most of the other stalls were for handicraft and food, but no cheese.

Leaving there, we continued on Carmel Valley Road. One of the most twisting, turning roads we have ever been on.  It rivals Route 66 through Arizona.  If I hadn't been sitting in the back seat, I swear I could have seen our taillights on some of those curves.  Paul did an excellent job of maneuvering the scenic route.  On the Carmel side of the mountains, there were some beautiful ranches and estates.  They gradually morphed into no habitation, just valleys, black oak forests, and beautiful hillsides covered with green grass and eucalyptus trees.  You can certainly tell that they have had a lot of rain in the past month.  Eventually, we came into some more mundane homes, which all seemed to have the de rigeur broken down tractor or truck in the front yard.  Lot of evidence of cattle, but not much else can be grown or raised on that hilly countryside.

As we came down on the east of the mountains into the valley/canyons, we started to see vast vineyards.  It wasn't an area where they had tasting rooms - that was more on the other side toward Carmel.  Always fun to see the expanse of vineyards - just wish that they would put signs on the fences telling us which grapes are grown there.

Eventually we ended up on Highway 101 just south of Soledad.  After a quick refreshment stop at a Starbucks, we continued north to Salinas.  Our first goal there was to find the Schoch Family Farmstead which is supposedly famous for making Monterey Jack cheese.  We found the farm, but it was just a dairy farm with no visiting room or outlet store.  We left the private drive before someone came out with a pistol or shotgun :-).

The second goal in Salinas was more successful.  We wanted to visit the National Steinbeck Center which is dedicated to John Steinbeck.  Had to have lunch first at the Monterey Bay Brewing Company to fortify ourselves.  The Center is located in the CSUMB - California State University of Monterey Bay.  An interest exhibit with a short introductory film (about thirteen minutes) on JS'slife.  I knew he was a prolific author, but didn't realize the full extent of his writing ability.  He was born in Salinas and grew up living in the area and writing about events and times in his backyard.  East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, The Red Pony - the list goes on and on.  The exhibit chronicled his life both as an author and screenwriter, but also as a journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner, and war correspondent.  Highly recommend visiting there if you're ever in the area.

After the Center, we drove back to Monterey on a much shorter and quicker route.  Still scenic, but it went by much faster!  Came into Seaside north of Monterey and drove along the Bay, so we got to see all aspects of the countryside.  Tonight we're heading out for dinner to celebrate Paul's birthday (it's tomorrow, but we think we're heading home on Monday).

Monterey, CA (Cont'd) - Laguna Seca Golf Course

In the morning we met Paul and Sandy for breakfast at the hotel (more on the hotel later).  Since it was Saturday, it wasn't very crowded, mostly families on vacation.  We had a tee time at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Carmel, CA. Drove over in both cars since we and all the clubs would not fit in one!

We had played the course on a previous visit and it was a beautiful sunny day, although for the first couple of holes, there was a cool wind blowing.  Enjoyed the day - didn't keep a very accurate score but had fun nevertheless.  The view from the first tee (taken later in the day) is impressive.  The first hole is in the center, with eighteen on the left and nine on the right. There are some beautiful (and large) homes in the hills around Carmel.

As at San Juan Oaks GC, there was plenty of wildlife.  One of the interesting sights was a hawk flying through the trees with lunch in his talons.  Going back to feed his young ones since he landed in a tree off to the side of the course.  More wild turkeys roaming the sides of the course.

On the way home, we stopped at Tapy's for some liquid refreshment and appetizers (turns out that was dinner as well).  Neat place set in the hill with old style stucco and rock architecture.  Went back to the hotel and Paul and Sandy joined us for the end of the ACC championship.  We kept the TV on in the background for the Pac12 championship game (which Univ of Wash lost to the Ducks from Oregon).  Fun evening with a little wine and a lot of conversation. Made our plans for Sunday.

I keep referring to where we are staying as the hotel.  It's actually the Navy Inns and Suites at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.  It was originally the Del Monte Hotel, but was taken over by the Navy in the 1940's and used as a training school.  The hotel is a beautiful piece of architecture with grand rooms and huge lobby and bars and dining rooms.  It actually opened in May 1926 and was the center of attraction in Monterey for many years.  The story is that when it was sold to the Navy, the Del Monte family used the money to build Pebble Beach Golf Course.

Monterey, CA

Friday dawned sunny and beautiful.  Such a difference from the last couple of weeks/months in Reno!   Started out from the Best Western in Merced - its' proximity to Yosemite makes it a favorite jumping off spot for visiting the Park and that was quite evident from the families/people loading their cars in the parking lot.  As we left Merced on CA 140, we saw the majestic Sierra Nevada on the horizon - beautiful sight.

Our first stop of the day was to visit the nearby Buchanan Hollow Nut Company which we had been to several times before.  It's a great little company in the middle of all the almond/pistachio/walnut groves in that section of California.  Sadly, we learned that the matriarch whom we had met before had passed away three weeks ago.  Charlene was a fun lady and had told us much about the nut farm (no pun intended).  She was the one who years ago explained that there was one male tree for every ten female trees.  I had made the comment how lucky that tree was and both Charlene and Vi said I couldn't handle it (there's just no respect any more :-).  We had a nice conversation with the Renee who explained that she had known the family for many years.  Nice talking with her about the farm and the family.  Buchanan Farms is hung up in an estate trust right now, but the family seems not to be in an acrimonius fight.

Heading further south, we stopped in Chowchilla, CA to check out Pheasant Run Golf Course.  Nice course in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley.  Unfortunately, it was very crowded because of the weather (terrific), so we decided to forego the pleasure and check out another golf course in Hollister (more on that later).  Driving west from Chowchilla, it was great seeing all the fields in various stages of cultivation.  The only field that a sign explaining the crop was one for cilantro - who knew they had huge fields of that spice?

Traveled across I-5 and over Pacheco Pass through the Coastal Mountains.  San Luis Reservoir is in those mountains (actually just glorified hills) and because of the heavy rains the area has experienced this year, the reservoir was almost full.  There was no big ring around the shoreline as there had been in years past.  Bodes well for the water shortage in California - as does the snow pack in the Sierra Nevada.

In Hollister, we took a short detour off the highway to find San Juan Oaks Golf Course.  After a long drive up the entrance road, we arrived at a beautiful clubhouse.  After talking with the people at the desk, we decided to take the time to play.  Loaded up the cart and started on #10.  It was only then that we found a note on the cart that almost half the holes had cart restrictions.  Didn't think much of that until we encountered some of the hilliest terrain and widest fairways we had played in a long time.

Long story short, it kind of detracted from the beauty of the course and made for a long afternoon on the course.  Still didn't take away from the beauty of the course.  It's near a wildlife preserve, so there were flocks of wild turkeys on the course as well as some deer.  Quiet on the course (except for some of the comments we made about the cart restrictions).

Skipped some holes because of the difficulty, but still enjoyed playing the course.  Left to head over to Monterey to meet up with Paul at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.  Although we have stayed here before, the rooms have been renovated and I'm sure we will enjoy the stay.  Paul met us and helped with the luggage and we had a good time talking before dinner  Sandy was due in later that evening, so we decided to go to Gusto's for dinner.  Good thing Paul made reservations as it was very crowded.  Good meal, but when we were almost finished, Paul got a phone call from Sandy that her plane had landed early.  Totally unexpected because he had been on the same flight the day before and it was an hour late!  Paid the bill and hurried over to the airport - thankfully it wasn't that far.

Unfortunately, Sandy's luggage had been almost destroyed in transit so she was tied up with United getting that squared away. After that was completed we came back to the NPS for some conversation and wine.  Got the news that Duke had won, but UNR had lost.

Merced, CA

We had an uneventful trip across the Sierra Nevada.  Amazing how much a week can make in driving conditions over the Donner Summit pass.  While there was plenty of evidence of the earlier snowfall, the roads were clear.  You could tell by the depth of the drifts on the side of the road that there had been a lot of snow this year.

Took the Capitol City Expressway into Sacramento to the CalExpo and after a couple of wrong turns, we found the Quilt and Arts Craft Show.  Not too exciting, but we were able to check out some different types of sewing machines.  Mostly just looked at the machines - too crowded to do any in-depth research.  We marvelled at some of the machines which did computerized stitching - Vi does hers by hand.  Some awesome quilts on display.

Afterwards, we got on CA 99 and drove south to Merced.  It's kind of neat to drive that route in clear weather because you can see the Sierra Nevada far to the west and the Coastal Mountains far to the east.  Orchards are starting to bloom, although the vineyards looked like they had some time before they started to come alive.  Got to Merced earlier than we anticipated and checked into the Best Western.

Wanted to play golf, but the only golf course in town is the Merced Country Club - members only please!  While we were out in that area, we drove over to Yosemite Lake which was pretty low.  I'm sure that will change when the snow melt begins.  Later found out that it was fed from a canal off the Merced River to the north. 

Explored around town and then came back to the hotel.  Tried to go to several different places for dinner, but weren't impressed by any of the local establishments.  17th St Pub (actually on Main St) only served beer, no food, Bistro 510 was too crowded, and /Bella Luna Cafe had no seats available. Ended up at Appleby's - guess you can't go wrong with the old stand-bys.

Back to the hotel to watch some tennis and some upstart team from North Carolina which beat Syracuse, so Duke goes on in the ACC.  Can't help but mention that UNR also won and will continue in the Mountain West Conference.

NOTE:  In looking at other blogs, we were here in 2016 during the summer - same hotel and same dinner - guess some things never change.