Riders on the Storm

Back in 2021, Gayle and I planned a trip to New Orleans and the panhandle of Florida once we were vaccinated and felt we could risk air travel.  We had some fun and beautiful days and then tropical storm Claudette hit the Gulf.  When we were in Florida we stayed inside in the rain most of the time.  We were in a little beach cottage with little to no wifi connection.   When we did venture out down to the beach there were lifeguards driving up and down the beach making sure no one even put a toe into the water.  I thought Gayle might blow away.  This is a photo from 2021, during that trip.

It appears to me that perhaps Gayle and I shouldn't plan beach vacations together.  We woke to the sound of rain pouring down off the carport.  The weather report showed an atmospheric river over the entire state of California.  There are five severe weather alerts for this area on my weather app.  Three of them promised possible threat to property and life.  

We were planning to drive down to the end of the road for lunch at the Pelican Inn.  We had a parking reservation at Muir Woods to go for an ADA hike in the fern canyon in the afternoon.  It was clear that we wouldn't risk either of those excursions.  

As wind whipped around this home, Gayle (the woman from Kansas) was calm.  She read the news, did her Wordle, planned a pizza party for her family for when she gets home, etc.  Susan (the woman from Southern California where most of the time the weather forecaster says, "It's going to be another beautiful day in SoCal.") lost her everliving mind.  I paced the small living room with every gust of wind.  I imagined the pain I would experience when this house plummeted into the sea.  I set up a chair in the tiny hallway next to the bathroom because it had the least windows near me and therefore the least sound of the wind.  That only worked for a little while.  I tried every thing I could think of to calm myself down.  I created a playlist of songs about storms.  But my heart continued to race to the point that I was left exhausted from the physical consequences of terror on my body.  

Finally I wore myself out to the point that I could rest. Gayle and I took naps.  When we awoke the wind had died down.  The forecast showed very little rain in our future.  I started to return to myself and was amazed at how crazy I felt through the wind storm earlier in the day.  

We began to plot our trip out of here tomorrow.  We had to drive through a flooded street to get here.  We hope we can get out without incident.  Gayle flies home to Kansas tomorrow.  I would love to see my son and his fiancee for a quick lunch....that is if Matt tests negative for Covid.  Then I have a long drive home.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Grapevine is open for cars sans chains.  I want to return the rental car tomorrow and stop by and pay my mechanic for fixing my car while I was out of town.

I am just grateful to be alive.

Just know I went out in beauty....

It was hard to leave paradise this morning.  We had to be out by 11 a.m.  We left about 10:55.  We had about an hour drive to our next AirBnB in Muir Beach and our check in time was 4 p.m.  Our first stop was to Fort Funston, which is where hang gliders launch and land.  I have stood on the cliff here a couple times and was mesmerized by the sight.  I guess that hang gliders don't take off when there is a high wind advisory.  We watched the birds hang glide instead.

Then we drove through Golden Gate Park.  My son, Brett, called while we were driving through the park and he suggested two great bakeries we should try.  Bakery recommendations from Brett should be heeded.  So we went to Jane the Bakery first.  We stood in awe of all the choices.  It took us quite a bit of time to settle on vegetable chili for our dinners the next two nights, a huge loaf of sourdough bread, a morning bun, a mushroom scallion scone, a ginger cookie, a white chocolate oatmeal cookie and a coffee twist.  (We ate the coffee twist in the parking lot.  It was even better than imagined.)

We were pretty close to Brett's other bakery recommendation, Arsicault Bakery.  He said that they bake fresh all day and the taste of croissant fresh out of the oven is worth the stop.  We finally scored a parking spot and went in.  It is quite small and most things were already sold out.  We got a delicious, flaky cranberry coconut scone and downed it on the way back to the car.  

We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped to look back on the bridge....

...and the city.

Then we drove down to Sausalito.  I had told my son, Matt, and his fiancee, Melissa, that we planned to eat in Sausalito.  They suggested a place called Fish.  We headed there and ordered a plate of fish and chips to share and sat outside next to the marina.  It was a bit chilly but we were so delighted to see some blue sky and be outside without wind.

We poked around in some shops in Sausalito before we headed towards Muir Beach.  Just as we were leaving Sausalito Gayle got a text from the owner of our AirBnB rental for tonight.  He said there was a flooded area as we got off Highway 1 and headed up to the home.  He said that high tide was at 2 p.m. and hopefully it would be okay by the time we arrived.  We winded around a most amazing road past Muir Woods and down toward Muir Beach.  When we turned off the highway, the road up to our rental was definitely flooded.  We sat on the side of the road with great hesitation.  Two small cars passed us and headed on without any trouble, so we soldiered on.  We drove up a very steep, extremely narrow road to find our place -- the only home on the coast side of the street.  We can't tell if the steel wires alongside the carport are there to hold up the carport or to hold the roof on.  

We did a quick survey of the home.  It has an incredible deck looking down on Muir Beach.

We can sit in the living room and stare down at the waves.

It has one bedroom and the sound of crashing waves fills the room.

The steps down to the hot tub look treacherous but if we venture down there the view will be amazing.

We checked out the weather to see if by any chance the atmospheric river would pass us to the north.  It appears we will be dealing with rain, high winds and flooding.  We decided that if we wanted to experience the beach here we might want to go immediately.  We drove down to the beach parking lot.  It is still a bit of a hike from there.  Part way there, Gayle decided that it would be better for her back if she didn't attempt it.  She sat down on an available bench and waited while I headed down to the beach.  

It was cold and windy.  It was a perfect location for beach combing.  I picked up some shells and stones.  I figured out where our house was on the hill above me.  

We have arrived in this location just before another atmospheric river heads our way.  We are promised high winds, and possible flooding, blocked roads due to downed trees and power outages. I texted my children photos of my beautiful location.  I told them that if this house slides off the hill and into the ocean to know that I went out in beauty.

We at Jane the Bakery veggie chili and sourdough for dinner and watched comedians on our devices.  We made sure we completely charged all our Apple products, just in case we lost power in the night.

Another Lazy Day with a View

 Another lazy morning with an incredible view.  It is hard to want to venture out of this incredible home in this weather.  We finally left the house in search of food.  We ate breakfast at Breakers in Pacifica.  There was a line out the door when we arrived.  The food was mediocre at best.  We picked up a few items at a convenience store and headed back to our home in Montara.  

We were almost there when we were stopped by emergency vehicles.  More and more kept arriving.  Firefighters headed out to the edge of the cliff and called down to someone below.  They finally let us go but we had no idea what drama was taking place at the bottom of the cliff.  When we got home I learned on Twitter that two surfers had gotten too far north of Montara Beach and were trapped on the rocks.  They were pulled up uninjured.  

While on Twitter, I also learned that Highway 1 had been closed (northbound and southbound) this morning in Montara due to a mudslide.  The clean up crew must have just finished when we headed out in search of food.  The weather here has been truly incredible and a bit frightening.

We came back to our AirBnB and decided that as soon as it stopped raining hard we would head down to the hot tub and make use of it.  We weren't strong enough to get the cover off completely but we folded it back enough to climb in.  It was glorious!

We thought we would only stay briefly but it was so delicious we didn't get out until the rain had made it impossible to see through our glasses.  

By then we felt so relaxed it was hard to think of doing anything.  Gayle napped and I tried to figure out how to have pizza delivered to our place so we didn't have to go out to find food for dinner.  I struck out.  It appears that our location is too far from Half Moon Bay and Pacifica to make delivery feasible.  

We didn't have any way to watch the Oscars except on Gayle's iPad.  I really wanted to watch the Oscars.  I love movies and I never got to see all the nominees while I was working.  This year I made it an obsession. I saw every movie nominated in every category except for "The Quiet Girl", which I wasn't able to access.  So we set up Gayle's iPad on the dining room table and finished the jigsaw puzzle while we watched a tiny screen.  

Since we couldn't get anyone to deliver food we had our standby for dinner -- toast and orange slices.....with kettle chips on the side.  It was more satisfying than the breakfast at Breakers.

Lazy Day with a View

It is hard to imagine ever leaving a house like this one.  It has radiant floor heating, an indescribable view, a kitchen equipped with every appliance, a gas fireplace you turn on with a remote, etc., etc.  We imagined it with perfect weather, however.  However, in atmospheric river conditions this is a great place to hole up.

We each chose a large comfortable chair and blanket to enjoy while we drank coffee and read the New York Times on our devices.  We finally pulled ourselves up to standing positions and went in search of food.  

We ate at a restaurant beside the tiny runway of the Half Moon Bay airport. The food was not great but luckily we were famished.  No planes landed while we ate our breakfasts.  Then we headed into the adorable little downtown area of Half Moon Bay.  When Gayle and I travel together we often poke around in card shops.  I have a card drawer that is organized by Bar Mitzvah, Baby Congratulations, Birthdays, Encouragement, etc.  I enjoy sending cards and I like it to be the perfect card.  Gayle (luckily) enjoys having a card shopping companion who is in no hurry.  After two card shops and a store of African artifacts we were done in.  

We headed back to our perfect home when we saw that, in spite of the gray, wet day, there were kite surfers and wind surfers enjoying the windy conditions.  We pulled off to the side of the highway looking for the perfect spot to watch. It is such a delight to watch. 

We came home to take naps and then started the same puzzle that we didn't get to finish in Monterey due to the power outage.  This was the day we were to meet my son, Matt, and his fiancee, Melissa, in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco for an omakase sushi meal/experience.  Gayle has never experienced such a delight.  However, Matt and Melissa came home from an international vacation with Covid.  I had called them this morning and their tests showed that they were still contagious.  We were disappointed not to see them but we just enjoyed the perfect house, watching comedians on Netflix until we headed off to our perfect bedrooms.

 

Flash Flood Warning

The house was cold and dark when we awoke this morning.  The power still wasn't on and I needed my coffee fix.  I  used my Starbucks app to make a mobile order but the closest Starbucks that was open was nine miles away in Seaside.  I went anyway.  It provided some needed information.  The whole area of Pacific Grove and Monterey was without power.  No stoplights were functioning.  I could see the remnants of many trees that fell and it appeared that emergency crews had been working all night to clear the roads.  It was a bit of a harrowing nine miles.  When I got to Seaside I found a completely overwhelmed Starbucks trying to meet the coffee addiction needs of Monterey and  Pacific Grove.  I had to park a block away and walk through the rain to get coffee for Gayle and I .  I asked myself if coffee was really worth all this trouble.  I decided it definitely was.  It took me over an hour to get back.

When I got back Gayle said she had already packed.  We decided we should hurry and get the hell out of Dodge.  Gayle had read that Carmel was especially hard hit.  We are driving in the opposite direction to Montara and we didn't know if we would hit flooded streets or perhaps need to reroute and go up to San Francisco and then down to Montara.   Our cellular data was not working for either of us, probably because the whole urban population around us was devoid of wifi and relying on their cellular data.  We packed up the car in the rain and headed out with little to no knowledge of the weather and what route we would take.  

Out on the road, Gayle got enough bars to map us up Highway 1.  It appeared open and fine....but of course, we weren't sure.  When we were coming into Santa Cruz we got alerts on our phones that we were in a Flood Watch area and needed to precede with caution.  We were shaky and  unsure of ourselves.... afraid that trees were going to fall on us or mud was going to slide down the hill and overtake us.

When we got out of Santa Cruz County the rain stopped.  We could see a sliver of blue sky in the distance.  There was no wind.  We realized we were out of the woods and that we would probably arrive at our AirBnB four hours before check in time.  So we slowed our roll.  If there was a vista point or a lighthouse on the side of the road we stopped.  

We pulled into Montara little after noon. We stopped at Gherkins Sandwich Shop and found a table.  We ordered a BLT to share.  Half of the sandwich was still as large as our heads.

Gayle sent an email to the owner of the AirBnB and explained that we had lost power at our last place and we were tired and hoping that we could check in a bit early.  She responded quickly thanking Gayle for "comprehending" that it wasn't possible for us to check in early.  So we headed out in search of adventure.  A short way to the North is an old WWII bunker that was used as an observation station.

When we neared the Devil Slide bunker we pulled off the road and took a closer look.  It is covered with graffiti, inside and out.

We sat on the guard rail and stared out to sea hoping to spot the spout of a whale but saw none.  It was so wonderful to see blue sky again.  

We still had several hours to kill.  So we pulled off at the next beach parking lot and spotted surfers and horses sharing the same beach.  

We watched with great interest as a big and tall man spent a good half hour trying to get his wet suit on.  We still had an hour or more to kill so we poked our head through several different gift shops and then stopped for tea and a game of checkers.

By then we knew we could head back and get into our AirBnB.  Gayle entered at exactly 4 p.m. to find the cleaning lady still here.  She helped us bring in our bags and took off.  The place is amazing and worth the wait.  It has a couple seating areas that look down on the waves crashing against the rocks. 

It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a bocce ball court, a hot tub, the most amazing kitchen.  

We plan to just sit here tomorrow and be mesmerized by the beauty of this place.

We cleaned up a bit, rested and then took off for San Francisco.  I had gotten tickets to see Get Mortified at the DNA Lounge.  It is a live storytelling event, highly curated, in which people read from their Junior High diaries.  

We laughed until we felt like we had done laughing yoga.  It was hilarious.

We got back home before 10 p.m., sat by the fire and felt lucky to be alive and to be here.

Throwback Thursday

The rain was predicted to begin at noon today.  It was gently raining when we got up.  Last time I was in Monterey I almost bought some Mexican pottery for the outside of my home.  I decided to go shopping and Gayle opted for some R and R.  I went down to the Cannery Row section of Monterey.  A large statue sits outside the store I wanted to visit.  

The inscription says that it portrays the people who vital to the evolution of Cannery Row.  You can see Steinbeck at the very top (with a seagull on his head).  The girl below him is one of the call girls of the madam of Cannery Row who was known of her "generosity, and her girls."  I thought it was such an interesting choice for a statue.

I found the piece I wanted but it was large and heavy....and expensive.  I decided I didn't have anywhere in my car to put it right now.  I bought a jigsaw puzzle instead and went back to our AirBnB.  

Gayle and I spent the afternoon working on the puzzle.  The rain kept us indoors.  

We had a reservation for dinner at a restaurant overlooking Lovers Point.  We braved the weather and headed over.  The wind was whipping the trees around and it looked miserable outside.  It wasn't the picturesque meal we planned.  The food was good and we headed home with plans to check out the predicted weather for our next day's trip to Montara.  I wanted to make a parking reservation for Muir Woods National Monument when we get to our AirBnB in Muir Beach.  But, alas, we were foiled again. 

At 7 p.m. we lost power and with it our wifi.  Gayle's iPhone and iPad were low on juice.  She sat out in the car and charged her equipment.  We went to bed at 10 p.m. with hopes that the lights would come on in the night.  I have a CPAP machine, which I could not use.  I woke up over and over again all night.  I could hear the wind howling outside.  The lights never came on.  

Grasshoppers Were Harmed

We woke up to the sound of gentle rain hitting the roof of our AirBnB.  We drank coffee and did our Wordles, Quordles and Duotrigordles.  This a beautiful home, just steps from Monterey Bay.  When we saw the sun was shining through our windows we put our raincoats on and headed out to Lovers Point.    

I was pushing Gayle in her wheelchair and we got about 20 feet before we were both soaking wet.  We turned right around and headed back to the safety of our home.  We decided to use this time to run errands instead.  We gassed up the car.  I got cash out from the ATM and we stocked up on water, bananas and other necessities. 

By then the sunshine had returned and the sky did not look remotely threatening.  We went to Lovers Point.

It was glorious and we soaked up the joy of being alive.

Then we went back to our AirBnB and had soup I had made and brought, along with some of Brett's bread.  Our plan today is to do the 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach and end with an early dinner in Carmel.

We took every opportunity along the drive to turnout for another incredible vista.  At our first stop we changed into our flip flops and walked down to the beach.  We watched the sandpipers forage for food and run from the waves.

It couldn't have been a more beautiful day.

Pebble Beach is where the elite go to play golf right next to the ocean.

Not being golfers we soaked in the ocean beauty and the abundance of animal life.  Gayle made friends with a squirrel.

We watched the hummingbirds get their fill of the Pride of Madeira flowers.

The pelicans and cormorants kept their distance.

The harbor seals were taking their afternoon naps.  

We ended our 17 Mile Drive at the Lone Cypress tree, hoping that the atmospheric river that is on its way our way tomorrow will spare this tree.

Gayle had read that the Carmel Mission is the prettiest of the Carmel Missions.  It closes at 3:45 p.m. so we hustled over there to take a quick tour.

The place was not crowded and we got to experience the sanctuary without others there.

The woman who sold us tickets said that we would need to hurry because we wouldn't want to miss the museum.  We learned that Father Junipero Serra died at the Carmel Mission and was buried there.  He is a controversial figure.  He founded 9 of 21 of the California Missions.  Because he is known as a colonizer who enslaved the native people in the missions, many of his statues have been taken down in California.  The Carmel Mission does not speak of his problematic history.  He is their saint.

We drove into downtown Carmel to poke around in some shops.  It is such a delightful little town with little walkways to hidden courtyards.

We wore out quickly and stopped in the Carmel Bakery to revive ourselves with some warm drinks.  We did a little more shopping before heading to Cultura Comida y Bebida, where we had a reservation for dinner.  It is a Mexican restaurant in the Oaxacan style.  You can do a Mezcal tasting.  We opted not do that but we did order the fried grasshoppers.....the tasting plate of fried grasshoppers, not the full order.

Our waiter suggested that we also get chips and guacamole and then top it with a grasshopper.  It wasn't horrible but I only needed a couple grasshoppers to feel like I had gotten the full experience.

We shared calabacitas (grilled zucchini with a cauliflower puree) and the chicken enchiladas.  Our dinner was absolutely delicious.  Our waiter brought us samples of their Mexican hot chocolate to top off our meal.  If I wasn't already stuffed I would have ordered a cup.  Everything was amazing.

The restaurant is decorated with art.  There were cool pots all around the restaurant.  I asked if they were for sale, by any chance.  I have a thing for pots of heads in which I can plant something that looks like hair or a brain.  I bought this pot and they packaged it up with our leftovers.

We drove home and watched Survivor on Gayle's iPad.