Father-Daughter Central California Coast Trip – Day Five

June 21, 2010
Home Coming – Santa Cruz to San Diego via San Pedro.

Coming soon.

Father-Daughter Central California Coast Trip – Day Four, Part Two

June 20, 2010
Happy Fathers Day from Naval Station Treasure Island, San Francisco, California

After having lunch at the Bay Thai Cuisine in San Rafael (Yum), we headed back towards San Francisco.

Thirty-nine years ago this month, I reported aboard Treasure Island for duty at the Damage Control “A” School.  Even though I had received basic damage control instruction along with all of the other “boots” at Naval Training Center (NTC) San Diego, I was still a “wet behind the ears”, non designated Fireman Apprentice, with very little knowledge of what to do in emergencies on board ship let alone what a Damage Controlman did.

A Damage Controlman, for you non-sailors, is the “subject matter expert” when it comes to how to contain the effects of any kind of damage that threatens a ship and the crews survivability.

Damage Control “A” School provides the knowledge and hands on skills to contain those threats by teaching the concepts and techniques required to successfully fight and extinguish shipboard fires, maintain stability by controlling flooding, contain hull breaches and affect temporary repairs to restore operational integrity to the ship.  Included in the course of instruction are the techniques required for self and shipboard protection and decontamination against the effects of nuclear weapons and biological and chemical agents.

When we drove onto the base, finding my old barracks was easy.  It was just down the road that ran along the quay wall from the main gate.  The hardest part was remembering which one it was.  When you stand in the parking lot, you have Cosson Hall on your left and Sage Hall on your right.  After racking my brain I stood quietly in parking lot, closed my eyes, and zenned back 39 years.  Then I remembered it was the one on my left.

Damage Control School, on the other hand, was a bit more difficult.  I remembered that the school was located on the far side of the island but going from point A to point B on any Navy base is not as easy as it sounds.  When we did find it, I hardly recognized the place because there were many new firefighting simulator buildings that were not there during my tour.

Upon graduation, I became a designated striker, which meant I was now a Damage Control Fireman Apprentice.  I was then was transferred back to NTC San Diego, this time to attend the 12 week Shipfitter “A” School before my being assigned to the fleet.

Salamat Malaki for a fantastic Fathers Day gift and for allowing your Tatay to take a journey back in time and for patiently allowing me to remember and ramble (and ramble) on.

The next time we are on a long drive, remind me to tell you of what I remember about liberty in the Haight-Ashbury District, Golden Gate Park, Chinatown and the rest of the Bay Area during my tour of duty at Treasure Island.

Mahal Kita

Tatay

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same.  Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.”  Don Williams Jr.

Father-Daughter Central California Coast Trip – Day Four, Part One

June 20, 2010
Happy Fathers Day

We met in the breakfast room around 7:30AM and finalized where we were going.  San Francisco won.  After we ate we turned right out of the motel and headed north on California 1.

The drive to the city by the bay went smoother than I was expecting for a Fathers Day with very little traffic.  As we entered the city, I started to remember how much “fun” it could be driving in San Francisco.  The drivers there are in a world of there own so I remained on my best behavior so I would not tick off someone therefore, we found a gas station to top off the tank and headed towards CA 1 and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Both CA 1 and US 101 meet at the San Francisco side of the bridge and when we came to Manzanita, we exited left to continue on CA 1 and back to the coast.

My intention was to show my daughter how far her mother and I went up the coast when we were on a short vacation in the mid 90′s.  It did not quite work that way.  We drove right past the spot where we stopped and turned around.  I think it was a lookout over Muir Beach but that is only a really big guess

However, the drive turned out to be really beautiful… and fun if you like really narrow and winding roads.  The nicest thing about this part of the drive was that we were going through little towns that look like that time stood still and had somewhat of a 1960′s look.

When we came to a town called Olema, we stopped, as we needed to take a short break.  After stretching our legs my daughter picked up the driving and we started to head back.  Neither one of us really did not want to go back the way we came as traffic was starting to get heavy.  I then noticed a sign pointing towards San Rafael so we headed that way.

The drive through the forest was a complete change of scenery from the coastal drive we just completed.  The cut was just wide enough for a two-lane road and not much for a shoulder.  There were times that the sun was really trying hard to break through the canopy.

About the time we arrived at the city limits of San Rafael, we were both starting to get hungry and since my daughter was driving, using the iPhone to look for a place was out we needed to look for a place to eat the old fashion way… sign spotting.  We kept to the rule of eating only at local establishments so it took us a little bit of time to find a place that was not crowded because of Fathers Day.

We eventually found the Bay Thai Cuisine on 4th Street in downtown San Rafael.  What a great place to eat.  She had Pa Thai while I had the Blue Plate Special.  Great food at fantastic prices.  It is too bad that this hole in the wall place was not in the San Diego area.  I would make it a point to show up as often as I could.

As we started to head back to San Francisco via US 101 we somehow managed to get on I-580.  This ended up being a good thing as we ended up taking I-80, then crossed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and ended up in the middle of the bay on Treasure Island.  I asked my daughter if we could take a quick look around the old Naval Station Treasure Island before we headed back to Santa Cruz and she said it was not a problem.

The only problem it turned out to be was instead of a quick look, it ended up being around a three-hour tour back in time.

Continued on:  Father-Daughter Central California Coast Trip – Day Four, Part Two.

Father-Daughter Central California Coast Trip – Day Three, Part Two

June 19, 2010
The Wedding in Carmel.

My daughter will be posting her experiences of the wedding as soon as she can.

Father-Daughter Central California Coast Trip – Day Three, Part One

June 19, 2010
Santa Cruz, Carmel and Fort Ord.

This day started at 0 dark thirty for both of us. After rise and shine, a shower, shave and a pot of in room coffee I was out the door by 7:00AM to meet my daughter at the car. She arrived a few moments latter and we were on the road again, this time no sightseeing allowed. We were on a mission.

The drive to the wedding site went better than planned. After our “test run” on Friday, I figured a 2 hours drive time due to the US Open traffic at Pebble Beach. It took us a little over an hour to get to the Chevron station 3 miles from the hotel, so we pulled to top off the gas then pulled over to park. After I shut the car down, we looked at each other and said “Hungry?” so we went in to see what was available for breakfast.

First stop was the coffee island. I needed a good cup of Joe to wake up. Then I cruised around, found the pastry area and picked up some bear claws then went to find my daughter. She, being more sensible about food than me, was at the hot food section, picking up a couple of something’s on a stick. After paying for everything, we went back to the car to eat. That something on a stick was a pancake wrapped sausage with maple syrup from Farmer Johns. Who ever thought that up has a good idea for state fair food. I wanted to go back in to get another one but by the time that thought came around, I was enjoying the bear claw with my coffee.

Time was getting short to leave for the hotel so we bagged our trash and left for the hotel. This time when we pulled up to the hotel, we did not blink in fear of repeating Fridays drive by. I told her to have a good time and to call me when she was ready to leave the hotel. I told her that I would be parked in the strip mall across from the Chevron around 2PM.

With 5 hours of free time on my hands, I pointed the car towards the AAFES exchange located on the old Ford Ord Army Post to do some shopping. I picked up some t-shirts and refrigerator magnets then decided to explore the old post for a while.

This was my second time on the post. In 1990, I spent a few of days living in the Visiting Enlisted Quarters while on leave to do some sightseeing in Monterey. The only time I spent on the post was to sleep. The 1991 BRAC Commission decided to close Fort Ord in 1994. (Wikipedia has a good short history of Fort Ord and the 1991 BRAC decision.)

Several things amazed me about the appearance of the post. Except for areas occupied by the Provost Marshals Office, the Army Reserve Center, Cal State Monterey Bay and the local government, most of the post I drove on is in a slow, gradual decay. In the barracks area, it looks like when the Army left in 1994, they left all the furnishings in the rooms. And all it would take to make them ready for occupancy would be a good paint job, some heavy duty grounds maintenance and a few months of a good old fashion field day (Navy speak for a through cleaning of the ship’s spaces).

As I drove around, I noticed various unit crests painted on the sides of some of the buildings so I took some photos. Some were in “like new” condition while others were faded. In addition, there were some symbols and the number “4″ with various backgrounds. There were no visible building numbers. Click on the photo above, which will take you to my Flickr page then click on the set called Fort Ord.

(I would like assistance from any retired or former Army personnel formerly stationed at Fort Ord who could identify the photos, as this retired sailor has no idea where to start. Please email me (address above calendar) and don’t forget to let me know which photo you’re identifying. If you would like credit for identifying a photo, give me your permission to use your name and if you want, include the year(s) stationed at Fort Ord and/or the city where you now reside. Thank you in advanced for your assistance.)

My plans were to leave around 1:30PM or so. I was so engrossed with my drive around the post that I forgot to stop for lunch. When I finally paid attention to the time it was 2PM so I swung by the mini-mart to pick-up some ice and a cold soda and headed south towards Carmel.

I got to the strip mall around 2:30, found a parking spot then raided our road snack kit for lunch. Beef jerky with crackers and water was not bad. A burger and fries would have been better but there was no place around to grab food other than “designer” stuff. After lunch, I started to read then slowly nodded off. My phone woke me up around 3:30 with a call for “Dad’s Taxi Service”.

Parking in the valet parking area in front of the hotel, I shut the car down and asked if I could wait here to pick up my daughter. It was not a problem so I waited in a Honda CR-V. I got the “evil eye” from a couple of the hotel guests waiting for there BMW’s and Lexus’s to arrive. I just nodded and gave them a smile. My daughter finally arrived and we departed the hotel and headed back to our rooms in Santa Cruz.

I was still stoked about my drive through Fort Ord. I told my daughter all about my trip while being very rude by not asking about the wedding. After she gently pointed out my rudeness, I apologized and quietly asked how the wedding was. From what she said, it would have been nice to attend but that was ok because they are still best of friends after all of these years, something you really do not see that much anymore. I will have her write part Two of Day Three.

We arrived back at our hotel around 5PM and my daughter needed to crash for a while, which sounded good to me so we decided to get together around 6 or so to figure out what will be on the supper menu.

After our naps and getting back together, we remembered the doughnut and taco shop and decided to stop at both for supper. Ferrell’s Donuts line of goods were good and fresh even though, like most doughnuts shops, they were made earlier in the day. On the other hand, I was not impressed with the taco shop. It was ok as a stomach filler but was not as good as I was hoping for. The Don Pancho’s in Imperial Beach (near home) is easily better when they are having a bad day because the main cook called in sick.

During supper, we bantered about a few ideas on what to do Sunday, as it was our only true free day. As we ate and talked, I threw out San Francisco. After some more bantering, San Francisco was a go. We finally finished supper and decided to hit our rooms and rest up from the very long day, especially for her. Look out San Francisco here we come.

Father-Daughter Central California Coast Trip – Day Two

June 18, 2010
Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel and Points Slightly South.

Got up around 6:30AM and had my morning in room coffee while getting ready for the day. Around 7:30, I picked up the map and directions to the hotel where the wedding was located then left for the room where the motel serves a complementary continental type breakfast. After I grabbed another cup of go juice, I had something to eat while trying to commit the directions to memory.

The breakfast room faces Mission Street also known as California 1 or Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). There is just something about getting up early in a strange town and watching the world go by. Very little traffic was moving; just a few cars here and there then quiet for a while. Sure beats the Friday morning rat race going on back in San Diego at that time of the morning. I could really get used to this slower pace rather quick. My daughter came in the room around 8:00 and after she had some coffee and a bite, we hit the road.

We turned left out of the motel to head towards Carmel, noticed a doughnut shop and taco shop across the street, and made a mental note to try them both out before we leave. We stopped for gas a few miles out of Santa Cruz then continued on south. Halfway between Santa Cruz and Castroville, we started to see the first of many roadside produce stands where artichokes were the main item and were a featured item at a restaurant near Moss Landing called The Whole Enchilada served them as well.

South of Castroville we notice that traffic was slowly building the closer we got to Monterey. Around Sand City, traffic signs started to appear next to the road directing traffic to park and ride lots that were set up for the US Open while the traffic continued to build. As we arrived in Monterey proper, traffic was heavy but still moving along at 25 to 30 miles per hour. Traffic opened up quickly once we were south of the Pebble Beach to the posted speed limits of 45 then 55.

According to the directions from the hotels web site, the exit was 3 miles south of where PCH narrows down from a four lane to a two lane south of Pebble Beach. As we approach the three-mile mark, we started looking for a street sign. I then saw a sign that said the hotel was the next left so I slowed down. The turn was on a semi-blind curve. After making about a 220-degree turn, we started up a very steep and narrow winding road with blind curves that seamed to be just hanging on to the side of the hill. As we rounded a curve, we blinked and the hotel was on our right, we blinked again and it was gone. As the road kept climbing and winding up hill, we were trying to figure out where to turn around to get back to the hotel, let alone back to the main highway without running into someone or something. We some how ended up back at the hotel, we blinked again and it was gone again and we were back to PCH. We shook or heads then decided to turn left and go south for a while.

Our travel time from Santa Cruz to the hotel was approximately an hour and a half. I figured it would be best to allow 2 hours as Saturday morning traffic should be worse than Fridays as one would figure that the weekend is the real draw to a major golf tournament.

Oh, by the way, that road to and around the hotel had one of the most gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean I have seen in years.

As we wound our way south on PCH, we came upon the Rocky Point Bridge, just north of the Point Sur lighthouse, so we decided to stop for a photo shoot and a well deserved stretch. The Point Sur area is one of many gorgeous locations that you find along the Pacific Coast Highway between Monterey and Morro Bay. Our stomachs were starting to growl so we headed back to Monterey to look for some place to eat. With a little help from my daughter’s iPhone, we found a local eatery in Monterey called the Old Monterey Café.

The Old Monterey Café is a place that is open for breakfast and lunch only. After we arrived, we had a little less than an hour to eat as they closed at 2PM so we ordered breakfast. I find one sign of a good place to eat is one that says everything listed the menu is cooked to order. This made the choice to eat here even better.

While we were waiting for our order, I just gazed around the place and really enjoyed what I saw. The café is long and narrow, a very high ceiling with a skylight and seating for around 20 or so. All sorts of bric-a-brac, from old oil lanterns, glass bottles and jars to comic books were on the walls and shelves. When our meal arrived, we dug in. I ordered the bacon omelet with hash browns, sourdough toast and an ice tea. My omelet was just right as the bacon, along and hash browns were crispy just the way I like them. After we finished, we were sipping the last of our drinks and we noticed it was almost time for them to close so the bill was paid and we were on our way.

As drove around Monterey for a bit, my daughter was looking up some places to visit and directed us to a museum near by but then we found out they were closed. We drove around some more and ran into the Presidio of Monterey, a US Army post where the Defense Language Institute-Foreign Language Center is located. Though I do have a base decal for access to almost any military base in the country, I did not want to try to test the waters per say, as I know that security there would be very high because of what they do and I had no valid reason to go onto the post. Therefore, we drove around some more and found a sign directing us to the Presidio Museum of Monterey.

This is a very small museum with some very big goals. Though I do not think the inside was no larger than 20 by 50 feet, they did an excellent job of presenting the history of the Presidio of Monterey. In this small space, they had assorted photomontages of the history of the Presidio from pre Spanish times to today along with a few dioramas. There have plans to expand but they are on hold for now due to the economy. After we finished our self-guided tour, we were having a very pleasant chat with the docent but alas, we ran out of time as they closed at 4PM. As we left, we decided to head back to Santa Cruz as Saturday morning was going to come early and it would be long one.

As we arrived in Santa Cruz, we decided to swing by the Santa Cruz Wharf for some of the great fried calamari from Stagnaro Brothers that I been telling my daughter about before head back to the motel.

Flash back about 15 years ago and the great fried calamari story. My wife and I discovered Stagnaro Brothers on the wharf while vacationing in Monterey. First of all, I am not much of a seafood eater (just ask my wife). She ordered the calamari and I ordered the clam chowder then we went back to the truck to eat. She gave me a piece of her calamari to try and all I could say is WOW. We went back for seconds. Therefore, over the years we have told, and retold this story to our daughters and friends about how great there fried calamari was. Now I had a chance to share something with my daughter that her mother and I have done.

Now back to the main story. We found a parking spot on the wharf and walked around for a while doing the tourist thing then figured it was time to go to Stagnaro’s for supper. The restaurant was full so we went to the take out window and placed our order. After we received our order, we went back to the motel to eat in my daughter’s room before calling it a night. Nothing has changed in the way Stagnaro Brothers prepare there chowder and calamari. I made sure that I ordered enough so I would not have to drive back for seconds but after I was finished, the though was crossing my mind. While we were eating, I commented to my daughter that I wish her mother could have made the trip with us because I know she would have enjoyed the food as much as we were.

We ended day two tired but full.

Father-Daughter Central California Coast Trip – Day One

June 17, 2010
Let the Trip Begin – San Diego to Santa Cruz

Though we had planned to leave San Diego around 9AM, we finally headed north on Interstate 5 around 10:30. I took the first leg to get us through the Los Angeles insanity. The “LA traffic gods” were very kind to us. The first normal slow point is at the El Toro Y where the I-5 and 405 meet and we just cruised through in the car pool lane. Even the crazy US 101 – I-405 interchange was clear. The only real slow down was due to a messy traffic accident south of Los Angeles International. Hope all involved are ok.

We stopped in Venture for gas then continued north on US 101 with plans to change drivers at the rest stop near the tunnel near Gaviota State Park. However, since my daughter was napping I drove on until we got to Santa Maria around 3PM as we both needed to take a stretch and have something to eat. As a rule when on any road trip, short or long, we try to ignore the mega national food pits and “Eat local” at a local café or dinner. We broke this rule by stopping at Arby’s, which in this case was somewhat ok as they are now few left in the San Diego area. After the pit stop, we switched drivers and continued towards Santa Cruz with plans on switching again in Salinas.

We had two choices to get to California 1 and Santa Cruz from the US 101. Exit in Salinas and take State 183 or continue on to San Juan Bautista and take State 129.

Around 6PM, Salinas was coming up quickly and since I was the navigator, I quickly reviewed the maps I made and decided that State 183 was the better choice. After we exited the US 101, we discovered that the direction signs were a bit confusing (so was the navigator). Therefore, we ended up going the wrong direction for a few minutes (we got confused at the same spot on our way back). Once we figured out which way was which, we finally got headed in the right direction to Castroville and Santa Cruz.

The drive to Castroville was relaxing as it was a two-lane highway and the view of the farm fields being harvested and being prepared for planting was a great change from seeing miles and miles of homes and strip malls in Southern California. I could get side tracked and go on and on what I feel are the benefits of driving two-lane highways and byways but I will save that for a future post.

As we approached the city limits of Castroville, we noticed a big sign that said “WELCOME TO CASTROVILLE. ARTICHOKE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD”. We now knew what they were planting and harvesting in the fields. The thought crossed our minds of stopping and getting some artichokes but decided against it as we had been on the road for about eight hours and our beds were still an hour or so away.

Where State 183 met State 1 was the only other location on the drive where we had slow traffic as it was two two-lane highways with lots of traffic going the same way trying to merge. We guessed that the traffic coming up from the Monterey area was the leftovers of the Thursday afternoon rounds of the US Open at Pebble Beach in Carmel. First impressions about the traffic were that it was going to be a nightmare around Carmel Saturday morning as the wedding site is south of Pebble Beach exit by about 5 miles. The delay was not very long though and once we merged with the northbound traffic, the rest of the drive went quickly.

We finally arrived around 8PM at our motel and were very happy to check into our rooms. After we checked in and moved our bags to our rooms, we decided to get something to eat and to do a quick check of Santa Cruz. We broke the “Eat local” rule again and picked up something at Mickey D’s because it was just down the street, and drove around a bit while eating. We finally decided to call it a night, headed back to our rooms and let our heads hit the pillow.