Leaving Santa Cruz wasn't easy but slipping over the Santa Cruz mountains put us squarely in Silicon Valley, a whole separate world and suddenly we were no longer in the familiar, small coastal town of our youth.
My wife graduated from Palo Alto High School, but she didn't get in to Stanford University where her parents worked; she went over the hill to hippie town and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Those were the days when the Santa Clara Valley was becoming the home to the high tech that would lead the world in silicon innovation. The place has grown up since then. 
We rode Highway 101 through Silicon Valley, we chased the iPhone's directions to a hole-in-the-wall dim sum restaurant in Burlingame, and by early afternoon we were zipping past San Francisco International and the city of South San Francisco, home to the industrial suburbs of The City (locals never call it 'Frisco, a nickname considered excessively familiar). I used to drive tractor trailers around here and it was another nostalgic moment. As a kid I had always wanted to be a trucker... The fog rolling in as usual over San Bruno mountain.
When I first moved to California I thought I wanted to live in The City. San Francisco has that effect on people, similar in all respects to Old Town Key West. In the end I found I preferred small town California and I never did live in The City, but I worked there for years. I had low seniority at the trucking company where I worked so I got the most feared route- delivering doubles up and down the hills of San Francisco.
Driving through San Francisco in a car is apiece of cake compared to driving doubles but still we got trapped by lines of cars on the elevated freeway to the Bay Bridge.
There was no time to step off the freeway and indeed traffic persisted onto I-80 into the East Bay. We needed to pee so we pulled off at University in Berkeley, and we discovered a delightful spot within sight of the freeway. 
I needed an espresso and Cheyenne needed a dog cookie and we had found the right place. 
We had stumbled across a not-for-profit youth program teaching bike repair, boat building and coffee shop management. It was a delightful spot. 
The views across the lagoon were phenomenal, as was the delicious cool breeze blowing in from the San Francisco Bay on the other side of the freeway. The red bicycle was being adapted as a water machine, two canoe hulls on a wooden frame. I'd love to see it in operation. Very, very cool. 
These kids were engrossed in building their dory. A dory is a New England design with a flat bottom and slab sides which is used to fish some very rough waters. 
The coffee shop sells beef bites for dogs so Cheyenne was taken care of.
The espressos were perfect and Cheyenne was ready to explore as usual.
Our server with the bright smile took our cups, and a couple tossed in the trash (!), people are weird of course.
Really, what a great place to take a break.
My wife graduated from Palo Alto High School, but she didn't get in to Stanford University where her parents worked; she went over the hill to hippie town and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Those were the days when the Santa Clara Valley was becoming the home to the high tech that would lead the world in silicon innovation. The place has grown up since then. 
We rode Highway 101 through Silicon Valley, we chased the iPhone's directions to a hole-in-the-wall dim sum restaurant in Burlingame, and by early afternoon we were zipping past San Francisco International and the city of South San Francisco, home to the industrial suburbs of The City (locals never call it 'Frisco, a nickname considered excessively familiar). I used to drive tractor trailers around here and it was another nostalgic moment. As a kid I had always wanted to be a trucker... The fog rolling in as usual over San Bruno mountain.When I first moved to California I thought I wanted to live in The City. San Francisco has that effect on people, similar in all respects to Old Town Key West. In the end I found I preferred small town California and I never did live in The City, but I worked there for years. I had low seniority at the trucking company where I worked so I got the most feared route- delivering doubles up and down the hills of San Francisco.Driving through San Francisco in a car is apiece of cake compared to driving doubles but still we got trapped by lines of cars on the elevated freeway to the Bay Bridge.
There was no time to step off the freeway and indeed traffic persisted onto I-80 into the East Bay. We needed to pee so we pulled off at University in Berkeley, and we discovered a delightful spot within sight of the freeway. 
I needed an espresso and Cheyenne needed a dog cookie and we had found the right place. 
We had stumbled across a not-for-profit youth program teaching bike repair, boat building and coffee shop management. It was a delightful spot. 
The views across the lagoon were phenomenal, as was the delicious cool breeze blowing in from the San Francisco Bay on the other side of the freeway. The red bicycle was being adapted as a water machine, two canoe hulls on a wooden frame. I'd love to see it in operation. Very, very cool. 
These kids were engrossed in building their dory. A dory is a New England design with a flat bottom and slab sides which is used to fish some very rough waters. 
The coffee shop sells beef bites for dogs so Cheyenne was taken care of.
The espressos were perfect and Cheyenne was ready to explore as usual.Our server with the bright smile took our cups, and a couple tossed in the trash (!), people are weird of course.Really, what a great place to take a break.
Every detail in this astonishing place is a product of youthful enthusiasm. 
There are more projects in the pipe line.
I didn't have to twist the wife's arm too terribly hard to take a break and go for a wander. We saw swans (I think).
Something that looked suspiciously like a Key West bird:
And a dude taking a break from riding a crotch rocket. 
A father being...fatherly: 
A kayaker pretending he was on the Suwanee River:
And that thought made me wish I was home, humid warm and surrounded by greenery. We weren't, we were here, shortly to be surrounded by yet more traffic clogging I-505 near Sacramento, the state capital known to some as Sacred Tomato.
Next stop: Oregon and Irondad. Zoom zoom.
There are more projects in the pipe line.I didn't have to twist the wife's arm too terribly hard to take a break and go for a wander. We saw swans (I think).Something that looked suspiciously like a Key West bird:
And a dude taking a break from riding a crotch rocket. 
A father being...fatherly: 
A kayaker pretending he was on the Suwanee River:And that thought made me wish I was home, humid warm and surrounded by greenery. We weren't, we were here, shortly to be surrounded by yet more traffic clogging I-505 near Sacramento, the state capital known to some as Sacred Tomato.Next stop: Oregon and Irondad. Zoom zoom.
6 comments:
Mr Conchscooter:
The last time we visited SF we just did the tourist thing Ghirardelli and walked around. We actually walked down Lombard Street. Some friends took us to Sausalito and some sightseeing. Another time we drove down the coast to Hearst Castle. I think we had more fun going to the smaller communities rather than the larger cities.
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
This is all very familiar territory to me, CS! Thanks for posting these pics, which made me feel very nostalgic. The East Bay was my stomping ground for 15 years; I also studied Polish at Berkeley for a while there, where I was encouraged to pursue a doctorate in this language (this I did not do, driven by a fire in the Oakland Hills south to Hayward, I lost my academic mojo).
That Oracle building reminds me of sitting in Palo Alto traffic, coming from the Stanford Shopping Center and waiting my turn to get onto the 101. Yep, I did it again, prefacing a highway with a definite article. You'll excuse this, since it's your fault for bringing back some lovely memories of traffic, fog, and having to pee really, really badly while stuck on the Bay Bridge.
I like The City but nostalgia is easier to indulge from a distance. It is still I think a hard place to live. I think gainesvillewas one of those women who used to yell at me for parking my big smelly ruck where they wanted to park their stiletto heels on the sidewalk. Happy days.
You coming anywhere near Bellingham?
__Orin
Scootin' Old Skool
I remember you guys! I am the director of Waterside Workshops and Waterside Cafe. Thank you for the awesome posting, I happened across it while checking out our web-presence. Would you mind posting something to YELP for us? It really helps to get the word out about our cafe. Thank you for the kind words, I shared your post with our barista Matt, it made him feel good to know that people enjoyed their stay at our new cafe.
Amber Rich
Executive Director
Waterside Workshops
510 644 2577
I am 300iles from home as iwrite. Wish I had time for Bellingham. Work starts 6pm tonight. Gotta keep driving .
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