Another beautiful day in the bay area. Another day without Jett. Another opportunity to take one of those long drives along winding mountain roads that Jett hates. So I left Morgan Hill around 2pm, drove through Saratoga up into the hills, along Skyline Drive, down to the coast, up CA 1 through Half Moon Bay and Pacifica and into San Francisco, making it just in time to catch the sunset there.
Round trip: 160 miles.
Half Moon Bay Loop
Until I left CA 85 in Saratoga the trip was along familiar roads: it was my usual commute plus a few miles. Saratoga seems like a nice little town, not quite quaint but picturesque nonetheless. It is home to several wineries, including the Mountain Winery, an early Paul Masson home and vineyard.
The hills west of Saratoga were higher and steeper than I expected. I was delayed for about 15 minutes while the police shut the road to set up operations to recover a car that had just gone over the edge. I don’t think I want to know the condition of that driver.
When I reached the summit I turned north on Skyline Drive which pretty much followed the ridge for many miles. The vistas provided would have been awesome if the air quality had been better (we have had 4 consecutive “spare the air” days, which means that burning wood is prohibited). It is hard to tell from these shots, but Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay are below.
View of Silicon Valley on a hazy day
I broke off Skyline Drive to take CA 84 to the coast, then followed CA 1 north to Half Moon Bay, site of the Mavericks Invitational, a major international surfing competition. I wanted to see how big the surf actually was (they were forecasting 20-foot breakers for Sunday) and to see how hard it would be to find a place to watch it. My conclusions? The surf that I saw was high, but not scary, and it would be VERY hard to find a place to watch it.
The coast near Half Moon Bay
Breakers
Beach
I drove through Half Moon Bay and into Pacifica, along some very scary cliff roads that will soon be replaced by a tunnel. I tried to find the RV park in Pacifica that was one of the first to grab my attention when I started looking for places to stay (rejected due to expenses and climate concerns), but was unsuccessful. I then broke off of CA 1 and drove north on Sunset Boulevard into San Francisco’s “Sunset District”. I got there just in time to see the sunset and was struck by how many residents made the short walk to the beach to view it. Clearly, people live in the Sunset District because of the sunsets. Big surprise.
A Sunset District sunset
Beach at sunset
Looking south
Almost gone
Final light
Golden Gate Park windmill
I drove a few blocks north, to Golden Gate Park. I had never been and didn’t get an optimal view as it was getting pretty dark. But I was struck by its beauty and would like to return. I was also surprised by the full-size windmill.
The trip home was via I-280 and CA 85. It was uneventful and dark. But I was struck by how quickly San Francisco transitions from densely-populated urban scenery to empty wilderness. There is a sign just south of San Francisco on I-280 that warns of “no services for the next 19 miles.” Pretty amazing, really.