MarkWasson.com The Mark Wasson Site
Trip: California 2007-A (C07A)
Home | About Mark | Work |> Trips <| Travel | Entertainment | Photos | Seattle | Site Map
 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
|
California, June 2 - June 10, 2007
I went down to Stanford for the week-long International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law. I tacked on the weekends for some sightseeing, covering the California coast from Half Moon Bay south through Big Sur, and revisiting the Pinnacles for some hiking.
I have created some entries on Worldisround where you will find pictures from my trip:
| |
| |
|
Saturday June
2 -
I got back from my
great Utah trip Tuesday evening, acted like a crazy man on Wednesday, Thursday
and Friday as I worked to get caught up on a number of things, ahead on a few
others, and book a family trip for later this month. Then I spent Friday
night packing. I was on my way to the Seattle airport just past seven this
morning, and was on the ground at the San Jose airport just before noon.
The idea of some
weekend sightseeing sometimes seems to make more sense when I'm booking these
trips than when I'm actually on the trip. After Rochester and Utah, I
think I would have appreciated the weekend time at home this time. But I
couldn't change that now, so I figured I might as well make the most of it.
My sightseeing goal
for this weekend is to cover the stretch of the California coast from San
Francisco down through Big Sur to Morro Bay. Today I covered the segment
north of Santa Cruz. From the airport, I hit I-280 and headed north to
Half Moon Bay. Not quite San Francisco, but close enough for my purposes
on this trip. There I headed south on Highway 1, which hugs the California
coast. I stopped at several state beaches and overlooks, taking a few
short walks and a few more pictures. I had the marine layer of clouds for
much of the stretch, making for a much cooler, cloudier view of California than
I had when I was at Death Valley this past Monday, but that was fine with me.
The sun finally came out just north of Santa Cruz, which was nice for some of
the photos.
I happened to have
been in Santa Cruz just last year, when I took a drive after the end of a
business meeting in Santa Clara. On that trip, all I saw was the Natural
Bridges State Park, so I was able to skip that this time. Instead, I
finished the day re-visiting a couple sites I first saw when I was here for a
conference back in 1996. The city's beach features a boardwalk (well, a
concrete walk) full of carnival rides and games and the kind of food that no one
should eat (I wonder how many calories are in a funnel cake topped with powdered
sugar, three scoops of strawberry syrup, whipped cream and a scoop of vanilla
ice cream, and, no, I was not the person eating that). Of course, that's
what makes it fun. I scavenged dinner as I checked out the scene. I
should note that the boardwalk is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
My other repeat
visit was the site of the Santa Cruz Mission. The Mission la Exaltacion de
la Santa Cruz was founded in 1791 and completed in 1794. It was destroyed
in 1857 after sustaining damage in a number of earthquakes. The Holy Cross
Catholic Church was built on the site in 1889, but little of the original
mission remains.
After that I hit
Highway 17 to take me back to Silicon Valley. I eventually reached
Stanford where I would be staying at the Stanford Guest House, a dorm-like motel
on the campus - and more than a little out of the way for my tastes. There
wasn't much within walking distance nearby. Good thing I had a car.
I had plans for some
nightlife tonight, but I'd been sleeping poorly since I got back from Utah, and
decided that I'd be better off going to bed early.
|
On my Utah trip, the Hertz guy where I picked up the car tried to sell me on upgrades and other things I didn't want, wasting my time and adding to the wait for folks in line - even my wait had been 40 minutes. Of course, the guy at Avis today is obligated to ask similar questions about upgrades and returning the car with gas. But unlike the Hertz guy, the Avis guy accepted my answers the first time, treating me like I actually knew what I wanted. So I told him about my Hertz experience and how much I appreciated the faster service I got from him. |
Sunday June 3 -
I hit the road by 8:30 this morning and headed back to Santa Cruz. Once there I continued my drive south on Highway 1, making a short stop for breakfast early on. Some of the most dramatic scenery I have seen while driving along any highway is the California coast between Carmel to the north and San Simeon to the south, the area referred to as the Big Sur, or Big South. The rugged Santa Lucia Mountains, steep slopes and cliffs along the coast, and little in the way of harbor access resulted in this area of California have great scenery but few residents. Even in 2007 with a highway like Highway 1, a check of the map shows there to be few people and few roads in this area.
I first discovered Big Sur when on my 1995 California trip, during the drive south from the San Francisco area towards Los Angeles. I'd repeat it the following year when I was in Santa Cruz for a conference. I've been back at least once since then, too. So I've got a number of good photos of the scenery, but I figured I could get some digital ones this time. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. The marine layer that gave me overcast skies for much of the day yesterday was in place again today. Except for a few pockets of sunlight, it severely limited the views. In fact, my favorite views along the drive - along the stretch north of the town of Big Sur - were so completely hidden that I never knew that I had even passed them. I did end up with some worthwhile pictures, and they do capture some of the essence of the drive, but alas they aren't anything like the ones I've gotten on past trips. Oh well.
I did get a nice surprise near my turnaround point. At one of the beach areas a number of elephant seals were resting on the beach, jostling around, and sometimes swimming. It was a nice way to (nearly) end the day.
That didn't really end the day, though. With all the scenic stops, it is easy to forget just how long a drive this is. At Cambria I took Highway 46 east to Paso Robles, figuring I'd take the faster Highway 101 back north. And just as I hit Highway 101 I saw a sign that indicated that it was almost 200 miles to San Francisco. It was a little after 8PM when I got back to Stanford. A shower, some work, and some preparation for tomorrow's conference start filled the rest of the evening.
|
I had a strange experience at one of the Big Sur turnouts. I pulled into one, stopping next to a car with two women in it - the driver was an older woman, looking a bit like the typical middle aged to older women you might see among Jerry Springer's guests. I never really got a good look at the other woman, but from what the older woman said to her, I would conclude that she was the older woman's adult daughter. Seems like a lot of detail for an anonymous stop at a turnout. But when I glanced at the car next to me, the older woman was staring me down, enough so that I wondered if something about the way I parked bugged her. I grabbed my camera and noticed that she was still staring at me. When she saw me looking at her this second time, she barked, "You got something you wanna say to me?" Uh, no. I got out of my car and started heading for the cliff's edge for some pictures. That was when she got out of the car. She got uncomfortably close to me and said something else, something about the view and the cliff, but in the same hostile tone as her earlier question. I decided that I didn't want to be on the edge of a cliff with this woman, so I headed back to my car. It was at this point that she apparently realized that I didn't know her - "Sorry, I thought you were someone else," she said. For "someone else's" sake, I hope he never showed up. |
Monday June 4 -
The conference began today with some workshops. By the time I finished dinner with a colleague and walked the three miles back to my hotel it was nearing 10PM.
|
I stayed at the Stanford Guest House, a hotel run by Stanford Student Housing. Dollar-wise, it is a good price for the Stanford area. While the room had the ambience of a dorm room, it would have been nicer than any dorm room I've had before, and I'm mostly just looking for functional rooms when I travel. But I also like hotels within walking distance of stuff, like the conference venue, restaurants, a convenience store. The Stanford campus is pretty big, sprawling out over a sizeable area. And my transit map left off a few streets. So what looked like a reasonable walk from the hotel to the conference venue turned out to be three miles. No restaurants in the area. Heck, you'd never know there was a hotel here when driving by. It is convenient to I-280, but that is about its only location virtue. |
Tuesday June 5 -
Another conference day.
Before the conference began and again during our lunch break, I headed over to the B. Gerald Cantor Rodin Sculpture Garden at the Stanford Museum of Art to get a series of both overcast (morning) and sunny day (lunch) pictures of the several Rodin sculptures on display there. My first work-related conference trip was 20 years ago this month, coincidentally also at Stanford. It was here that I was introduced to Rodin, his style of sculpture and his "Gates of Hell" masterpiece. Once I discovered the Rodin Sculpture Garden, I made a point of visiting it every day on that trip. I was here for another conference back in 2002, and visited the garden a few times on that trip. I have stopped on campus a couple times when in the region, just to see the sculptures - bringing a colleague along during my 1996 visit. I've made a point of visiting the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia a few times, including just last August, and I have sought out Rodin's work elsewhere. It hits me in a way that most other sculptures don't, something about the way he can convey so much emotion with human form and yet subtle facial expression.
Yes, I'm a fan. And I would go on to check out the garden a few more times before the week was up.
I took the long walk back to my hotel, picking up something for dinner at a grocery store along the way. A working evening in my room.
Wednesday June 6 -
The conference continued today, and the annual banquet was this evening, although I skipped the banquet.
It was a sunny morning, so I parked near the Rodin Sculpture Garden for some morning sunlight photos to round out my collection. I ended up with 220 photos of the sculptures, but I weeded out the majority of them as I picked my favorites. During the lunch break I visited the Hoover Tower. The 14th floor observation deck provides nice views of the campus as well as distant views of the Oakland skyline and the South Bay area mountains. As I headed back to the law school for the conference I ended up getting a nice photo of a hummingbird.
I made an appearance at the reception that preceded the banquet, but I skipped the banquet itself. Whoever made the choice for the lunches, snack breaks and banquet caterer picked an organic firm for these. We're ending up with lots of carbohydrates and no diet soft drinks (eew! artificial sweeteners!). That doesn't leave me much as I have to manage my carbs as part of my diabetes self care. I finally got fed up (so to speak) with it after a few blood sugar crashes (I never have blood sugar crashes!), and found the food court on campus where the students eat. Serving overweight folks organic cookies and sweetened soft drinks is still serving junk food and lots of empty calories to people who don't need them, even if the empty calories are organic. That something is organic does not mean that it is inherently healthy.
|
When I spoke with the caterer about the dinner options, I brought up the beverage issue. "Oh, they've got bottled water." Bottled water generally isn't any better than typical city tap water, and it is often worse because good, naturally occurring salts and minerals usually get filtered out. Furthermore, bottled water has a much, much bigger carbon footprint than tap water does. I wouldn't expect a company that claims to be so concerned about food to demonstrate such careless disregard for the environment and global warming this way. |
Thursday June 7 -
The main conference ended today.
As part of my morning and lunchtime campus explorations, I visited the Stanford family tomb and the Cactus Garden, where I would get another hummingbird photo. I would get several more hummingbird photos by the time I finished up on campus.
I capped off the day by having dinner with an old friend and colleague who moved out here several years ago. A friend and colleague from our Dayton office who is also here for the conference joined us, so we had a pretty fun evening catching up with each other.
|
It hit me while visiting the family tomb that a kid had to die for Stanford University to even come into existence, since the Stanford family founded it as a tribute to their late son. Of course, if the kid hadn't died, then all of those Stanford Cardinals would likely have been California Golden Bears. |
Friday June 8 -
Today I attended a post-conference workshop. When that ended, my business reasons for visiting California were over.
I had been here for almost a week and had never made it into Palo Alto proper, so after saying some goodbyes, I walked to downtown Palo Alto where I would get some dinner. There really isn't a lot to see there, but it gave me a choice of restaurants. Afterwards, I walked back to my car, which I had left parked near the Rodin Sculpture Garden. I took a last look around (and a few last pictures) there, and then headed back to my hotel, gassing up the car for tomorrow's plans on the way.
I haven't gone out at all at night this week, but had figured I'd do so tonight. But 10PM rolled around, and I was in the middle of something and realized that I just didn't feel like heading out. San Jose nightlife, after all, has never much impressed me. So I decided to skip it. And with Sunday morning's early morning flight, that pretty much meant that this would be a nightlife-free trip.
Saturday June 9 -
My sightseeing goal for today was to visit Pinnacles National Monument, which is located about 50 miles south of Gilroy, whether you take Highway 25 or Highway 101. Pinnacles preserves what's left of a volcanic oddity. Around 23 million years ago, a volcano about 15 miles long and 8000 feet high formed near what today is Lancaster, CA, just north of Los Angeles. The volcano eventually became extinct. But because it straddled the San Andreas Fault, it was eventually torn in two, and the western 2/3s of the volcano rode the Pacific Plate north a few centimeters per year. Over millions of years, those centimeters added up to the 195 miles that separates today's Pinnacles National Monument from Lancaster. With millions of years of erosion, what's left of the volcano is now a rugged cluster of spires and caves. Hiking trails surround the spires, connecting the east and west sides.
I have been to the east side before, so today I wanted to focus on the west side (although I would visit both). I hit the road early and made good time to Soledad, CA, where I turned off Highway 101 and drove Highway 146 into the west end of the park. The road dead ends at a parking lot where the west side's trail heads all end up (the west side is only open during daylight hours). After picking up the updated park brochure (my old one dates back to my 1995 visit), I began hiking the Balconies Trail, using my Balconies Trail Guide that I bought on that 1995 visit.
The Balconies is a relatively easy hike, at least until it reaches the caves. Basically the caves are the result of what was apparently a slot canyon being covered by large rocks from many rock falls. Hikers can pass through the cave and then hike up to a balcony trail for the return back to the parking area. But with low ceilings, a very narrow slot and lacking a flashlight, I only sampled the cave and then headed up to the balcony for some more hiking and for the view of the rocks that cover the slot hike, creating what is now a cave.
It was an enjoyable hike and my primary activity on the west side. After finishing up there, I hit the road and headed south to G13, which I took to cross some mountains to get to Highway 25. Then I headed north to the east side. This was a return visit, and I had the goal of picking up some digital photos of the Condor Gulch Trail which I had hiked on before. I took a short hike, ended just after 4PM. Between the two stops, I ended up with only about 3 hours of hiking on what would become a 10 hour sightseeing excursion - I made it back to Palo Alto after 6PM.
After dinner, I gassed up the car and headed to the hotel for my last night. No nightlife tonight, given my early flight tomorrow. Instead, I readied for my return home.
|
Highway 146 enters Pinnacles from both Highway 101 and Highway 25, although Highway 146 does not actually cross the park - no highway does. You have to head 20 miles south to Highway G13 to find the nearest one that crosses the mountain range, so it can take an hour or more to get from one side of the park to the other - at least by car. |
|
A historical marker reported on the historic mining town of Idria, just 54 miles down some side road. Huh? 54 miles? Usually historical markers are just yards to a few miles from the site they highlight. So I checked my map. Sure enough, Idria is well off the beaten path in one of many areas of California that are sparsely populated. But folks may want to actually stay 54 miles away from Idria. It is on the edge of a large area on my map marked Asbestos Hazard Area. |
Sunday June 10 -
I had a morning flight back to Seattle. Up early, off to the airport, and home.
|
National Park Service sites visited included the following:
| ||||
|
Other major sightseeing sites included the following:
|
The contents of MarkWasson.com The Mark Wasson Site are copyrighted by Mark Wasson. All rights reserved.
