SF to the 299 (2 days)

After a lazy Sunday of brunch with Halley, some packing, and some planning, I hit the road later in the day, passing through hwy 1 just north of SF as sun was setting and the moon was rising. I stopped by Russian River Brewery for dinner and some beer tasting before getting to my hotel in Anderson Valley.

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I woke up early and headed straight for the Anderson Valley Brewing Company brewery (one of my absolute favorites) to get into their first tour of the day. Fortunately, as it was a monday at 11AM, I got a personal tour from one of the head brewers, I couldn't have asked for a better experience because I got to pester him with questions and he spoke a little more candidly about some of the aspects of their business. At the end of the tour, I went for the obligatory tastings and tried a beer they're testing out called Limited Huge'r Boont, a blend of 60% IPA, 40% Porter, it was delicious, I hope they produce that. It had all the body and smooth finish of their Porter but the bouquet and citrus flavors of their IPA.

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After the brew tour, I headed west to the 1 and then up the coast. That section of hwy 1 has to be one of the most tiring drives I have done up to this point (and by this point, I mean 9/18/09, I'm in Montana on my way to Denver at this point), it was an incredible relief to get to the 101. When I got to Humbolt, I took the Avenue of the Giants detour which had a lot of interesting places to stop and walk among very old trees (redwoods I think). They have a marathon held there every year and if I was into running, that would definitely be one I would train for.

When I finally reached the 299, I started heading east to Redding, CA. The 299 drive has to be one of the most underrated drives in CA. It is a nice wide road in good condition that slowly sweeps through scenic views of old forests dotted with small towns and campgrounds along the way. As the sun started to go down, I decided I would camp for the night rather then continue to Redding and pay for a cheap hotel. I decided I would find a market to get food for dinner and then a campsite. I passed a camp site that looked somewhat alive with people and then found a market to get food. Rather than backtrack a couple miles to the campground I saw, I decided I would continue to Redding and not waste miles. I finally came across a state owned campground that had a few tents pitched but not one person around. I drove into the empty campground in the middle of nowhere, parked, paid, read the bear warnings and walked back to my car as the last minutes of light burned away faster than I could find my flash light, the full story another time.

San Francisco

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Got up and took Tommy to work and he suggested taking the 280 to SF due to less traffic and a more scenic drive, he was correct on both accounts. I drove straight into the Mission District and stopped by the bike shop ken works at and talked with him for a while before heading off to grab lunch, under his recommendation, at a taco truck called El Tonayense. The tacos were absolutely delicious and simple, just meat, salsa, cilantro, and onions. The Al Pastor and Carne Asada were the best tacos I have ever had. I then headed to Ritual Coffee (missing their coffee cuppings, which are held every Friday, by an hour, oh well). I brought my laptop and kept myself busy until Dee was finished doing her errands. I randomly saw Scottie at Ritual (I used to ride bikes with him back in SD).

The next couple days in SF broke down as follows:

Finally went to Tornado. It was not as divey as I was expecting from others' descriptions and the lights were on a little too bright (like in SD) but the beer selection DEFINITELY did not let me down. Atmosphere was a little more relaxed than SD just because it was beat up a bit more.

Street Food Festival. Dee and I walked there from her house (not a short trek) without eating anything for breakfast. At one point, Dee turns to me and says "Ok, I am starving, I am about to start getting pretty grumpy. Just to warn you." A couple blocks later we run into the taco truck and after hearing me rave about it yesterday, we decide to get one to hold us over until the festival. The festival was PACKED and we were starving so we picked the shortest line that sounded good, Salvadorian food. We didn't realize that there was a whole 2nd half to the festival (neither did most of the people there) that had shorter line and food that was just as good. Either way, the tropical fruit agua fresca was good and perfectly complimented the emenada and tomal perfectly.

Philz Coffee. Philz has entire menu for all of their different types of coffee, explaining the flavors and type of roast. Each cup is mad individually with a drip filter. The quality of coffee is as good as ritual but a lot less pretentious, it is much more of a neighborhood spot. I had the "Soooo Good" blend and that it was, soooo good.

Little Otsu. A really cool independently owned stationary and zine store. Really friendly people working and a really great selection of things. Great for little gifts for people.

15 Romolo. After meeting Sellan, Denise, Philip, and Jupei for Sellan's birthday dinner, we met up with some others for drinks at various places, my favorite being 15 Romolo. They served classic style cocktails with all natural ingredients. Really great stuff, my favorite drink was the Rio Grande.

The trip was surprisingly short for how much I love SF (love it more and more each time I visit) but I wanted to get on the road and see other things. Besides, I will be back in April anyway.