“You know what’s lame? Being in the car for-ev-er.”
Soren
We all had a good nights sleep. The Ramada at the San Francisco Airport has been a good hotel. Keke got it for around $100 or so a night. The location was been pretty good in relation to the airport and the stadium. The room was fairly well updated and clean. There was free parking, and the staff was been nice. We did notice that at least one of the maids smelled pretty strongly like weed two of the three days we were there, and we also noticed someone coming through the property with empty water jugs trying to connect to the irrigation system in the flowerbed. Nothing is perfect, and all-in-all it was a good stay; we’d go back.
Today’s agenda was to start our journey north to Seattle, taking in as much of the 1, then 101 as we go. Before we head north, we were excited to meet with friends from Minnesota. A good friend of mine married a girl from San Jose a few years ago, and they happened to be in San Jose while were on this trip. We met for lunch at Pizza Antica at Santana Row in San Jose area; it was good to connect after being away from our loved ones for almost a full month (the pizza was good too).
After our lunch we headed back into San Francisco to connect with Route 1 and proceeded over the Golden Gate Bridge. We’ve made that drive once before, but it feels just as special the second time. Once you cross the bridge you feel like you have definitely moved into a different part of the world. The landscape moves out of a city atmosphere, and starts to get real rural real quick.
Route 1 takes you through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Mt. Tamalapais State Park; the drive and scenery are fantastic. The Route winds and rises and falls and is the start of what is an epic drive north on the Route. This portion of Route 1 is so good, and I think a lot of people miss it in the name of making good time. As good as it was, we may have missed it if we had realized how much time it takes to be on the Route. It felt like the road spent as much time going side to side and up and down as it did forward.
Still, we saw beaches, the ocean, highlands, pastures, charming fishing towns, forests, etc. It really is a special stretch of road. We particularly enjoyed spending time on the beach in the beautiful town of Stinson Beach.
Soren was a champ today. He is really growing into a brilliantly funny boy and it is wonderful to watch. At one point, after a while in the car, our five year old randomly says “You know what is lame? Being in the car for-ev-er.” What five year old says “lame?” He cracks us up.
As beautiful as the drive was, it was long, and we were excited for our overnight stop. We chose the Ebbtide Motel in Fort Bragg based mostly on price ($70ish). You never really know what you’re going to get in these one-off motels. We purchased a king bed, and got a queen (maybe). The TV, Fridge, microwave, and cable wouldn’t come on, until I turned on one of the light switches. The bathroom fixtures were a cool old blue color (charming), but the floors were filthy (not charming). The people were nice though.
Regardless of the accommodations, we were happy to be out of the car for the night.