I puke once every day!! It’s awful… Also, I don’t have as much apetite as usual. I never feel hungry these days…
The trip from Bakersfield was actually a lot of fun as we could see the snow covered green horn mountains which we must have missed the night before. Very beautiful and traffic was ok (ignoring the casual asshole left and right). We did a stop at a mall like structure but selection was rather sad. A great view was coming through a chain of mountains and see the colorful, twisted tentacles of Six Flags Magic Mountain’s thrill rides … a place we had been just 14 months ago .. but we had never seen it from this side.
Lunch was somehow skipped and filled in with crackers as we got very close to LA … we had that great idea of picking one of the many many hotels around LAX .. as long as they had some kind of internet connection benefit … and that would already have been free local calls .. but no .. first of all, of the 7 places I inquired with, service was an unknown word .. it was more like as if you pleaded for being led into prison … the people i spoke to were mere sign in forms processing units .. it was horrible … prices were higher than what we were used to .. for the first time we heard “no, we do not honor these coupons” .. (then why are they in the coupon book ??? ) and thing regarding being online got from bad to worse … starting with “local call is 1$ per call” to “local call is 25c a minute” to “yes we have highspeed, first you need to deposit 100$ and then you need to buy internet time .. up to 45$ for a 24h period” … thanks, no thanks ..
In a last effort we remembered that little travelodge we stayed in just 4 weeks ago .. and after some phone trouble getting their number, we were signed up again, and I made the trip in about 40 minutes .. and we had again a nice room, a nice wireless connection and all that for mere 49$ that night …
We also got to go back to that great Sushi place .. even if it is kinda fake, the food was fantastic …
and afterwards we soaked in the hot tub …
So .. tommorrow we pack .. leave for some more mall shopping … and then returning the car .. hopefully some nice food at the airport .. and then let’s see how air pathetic celebrates new years while crossing the dateline…
Right now we are still in our hotel in Bakersfield where I enjoyed the fastest internet connection so far. I got a lot of stuff done and finished. In 30 minutes we need to check out here and then we are heading to Los Angeles for a final night, repacking everything, some final shopping, last Sushi.
Since I do not know about tonight’s online connection (and not that much going on besides driving, eating and sleeping anyway), this may be the final post of this trip report. We will board our plane on 12/30 and exit in Fiji on 1/1 … so, we are skipping New Years (which saves us on the otherhand an overpriced hotelroom and the search for an overpriced dinner / party. And hopes are high that the flight may be a bit emptier, so it can be more relaxing)
Our adventures will continue and we promise some more fun stuff, adventures and surprises for the next year.
Happy New Years to all of you
We checked out at noon, there was still some trouble with the online connection, darn. We had a lot of driving to do … the initial idea of going all the way to LA in one go was smashed when we experienced the “return after holidays” traffic. So, including a lunch break at Subway, we made it to Bakersfield at around 6:30PM and found us a nice place (Comfort Suites) and then went to have some mexican food … one last item on the “need to eat” list. And “cactus valley” offered some nice authentic fare and we even got extra free drinks because they asked us to move tables to accomodate a larger party.
After getting up very late, around noon, we started the day with some of our tasty asian leftovers. Then a long walk to Union Square to return Pasta Machine which Ritsu gave me for xmas. Great gift, but turned out that it is non-stainless steel, so, water will kill it … and with 90% humidity waiting for us in Fiji, we decided to buy it again once we leave Fiji.
A bit of looking around, Ritsu having coffee at Union Square, nice sunny day and then walking all the way back.
Relax and nap. Trying to get some Uni at Wasabi and Ginger at 5PM opening time and they freak out when they see me, thought I was joking when I said I would be back .. and sure enough their delivery guy forgot the uni today.
Late dinner (we could only get reservations for 9:30 PM) at San Francisco’s #1 Steak House: Harris’
Despite some negative reviews, it was great. Service was top-notch, Ritsu had the soup of the day (parsnip creme) and I had 6 oysters. Then we had petite sized filet mignon and new york steak. Both great and cooked the way we wanted. I checked out the #2 and #3 steak houses (House of Prime Rib and Ruth’s Chris Steak House) the day before (interestingly enough they are all on Van Ness Sreet and within 5 blocks of each other) .. and while I cannot say anything about the quality of their food, the ambience and service at Harris’ is just 2 levels above those.
Walk up polk street, nice places, post office, magic duck.
walking around the city, crawling down Lombard street (the crooket stretch) … please click here or the picture below to get a nice QTVR panoramic shot.
lunch at “stinking Rose” .. a bit of chinatown and all the way on broadway back.
Checking out 3 steak houses for tomorrow.
Dinner at wasabi and ginger .. they had no Uni, damnit. Ikura with quail egg, Hamachi, white tuna belly, Salmon and Hotate. This time at bar, very nice, Ritsu had Udon.
sleeping in so late that breakfast was basically canceled and we moved right on to lunch. Being xmas day and such, we made sure before that the Thai place we were curious about the day before would be open today. So we went there again, it is very close to our hotel, and we had fantastic Thai lunch at “Little Thai” and it was incredibly good. I am not kidding, I was about to cry, the spicy duck curry was THAT yummy. And it was cheap. The waitress was a bit cold, but maybe she was just pissed off that she had to work that day while all the other family members could watch TV and eat Thai-turkey. But seriously, try the duck curry there.
We then took the car and did parts of the 49 mile scenic drive which gets you to most of the scenic spots around town. Starting with a nice drive through the Presidio, then the golden gate bridge and then you get to see the beach … this drive is most of the times very easy, when there are signs .. but there were some crucial points where there should have been a sign and it was not … it was very beautiful to drive up to Twin Peaks which offers a great view over the city. It is also crowded with tourists and today it was very windy and cold.
We had dinner at a nearby Vietnamese place called “Aux Delices“. And unlike Golden Turtle (the Vietnamese place we tried 2 weeks before), this place was very good. Ritsu is very picky when it comes to Vietnamese food, and she liked it a lot. We had the green papaya salad with shrimp (super tasty, wish I could have more right now), mixed seafood in a soy ginger sauce (yum) and some satey beef noodle something (very good, but not great).
This concludes our 2 day marathon of Asian cuisine. Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese within 2 days, and it was all so nice.
Thanks to the 12 noon check out time we could sleep in a little bit. Then again packing and getting ready and heading towards San Francisco. Ritsu with her cold was sleeping and I was ready to join too … the rain was nasty and street conditions were not very nice … but we made it all ok …
We arrived just before 3 PM and started looking for a late lunch place. The close-by Thai place is closed between 3 and 4 .. great .. so we took the next best Chinese place, called “Tai Chi. Service was a bit frosty, the decor on a 1-10 scale rates -2 .. but the food was good, plenty and cheap. The general Tsou chicken that gets so many good reviews was a bit awkward though .. the pieces and the way they were battered and fried was great, but the sauce was just sweet with a hint of chili. So, once I asked for more hot sauce and added some soy sauce and vinegar (which they gladly have on each table, probably for a reason) thus the flavor was much improved.
Rest of the afternoon was chilling out and for Ritsu “napping to fight the cold”
Dinner was at a near-by Sushi place (not “Wasabi and Ginger”, they were closed) called “House of Sushi” and it was very nice. While they did not have my recent favorite, Uni (Sea Urchin), everything else was great … we are still wondering if they actually gave us white tuna instead of hamachi .. but it was really really good, and they had my appetizer favorite: Ankimon, which is Monk Fish Liver .. and a very tasty treat. What a great xmas eve dinner.
The weather was not that great today, rainy and cloudy when we departed .. but I still consider us lucky. We had a 1.5 hour drive to Yosemite National Park. A very scenic drive and the rain stopped from time to time .. but the clouds remained. The valley is just fantastic, you are surrounded by huge and tall stone formations. And it makes you want to come back to see how it all looks in different seasons.
The park looked a bit deserted, many places where closed or under renovation. We checked out all the sights but weather was just not nice enough to do any hiking. The best part we kept for last, the so called “TunnelView“. Named because this is what you see when you get out of the tunnel on Highway 49 from Fresno to Yosemite, and it is just a great, condensed view of the valley’s highlights.
And since it is the season, happy holidays everyone. Please click to get the full size version with music and snowflakes.
Another book I got today … written in a way that seems to be exactly for me .. very interesting so far …
We also did some interesting clothes shopping today … Ritsu got some funny shaped stuff for her .. and together we got something cute for the little one … we actually found something that was neither pink nor babyblue .. thus neutral .. we keep wondering how much more we should get.
Once again we checked out of our hotel just at the nick of time, and left a big pile of dirty dishes:)
… we followed the I-5 down south, switched to 99 at some point and then we found a huge mall complex where we had some fun. We got some stuff, but were not too bad. Lunch was another great roast beef sandwhich at Subway.
We continued our trip and ended up at Merced, which is fairly close to Yosemite, and looked for a place to stay. A Travelodge from our coupon brochure turned out to be a joke: local calls are charged 5c a minute after 5 minutes .. the jacuzzies are only slighter bigger bath tubs .. so we moved on ..
We found a Holiday Inn which was a bit pricier .. but well worth it .. the staff was very friendly, they have a nice outdoor jacuzzi, breakfast bar. Wireless internet connection in the lobby, that is new .. so we actually spent some time there (nice lobby) .. but we found out later that at very certain spots in our room we could still pick up the signal … nice.
For dinner we went to the adjacent Carrows Restaurant, and thought the menus says they only have the baby back ribs from thursdays to sundays, they had it on a Monday… and while it messed up my face, it was one of the things I have missed for a long time .. and it was very tasty.
We washed off our fingers in the hot jacuzzi and enjoyed a nice lazy evening. Though we heard some street sounds, initially a bit awkward was the sound of trains passing .. not the actual trains, but their signals they make … but in the end it was actually kinda cute ..
We are fine, we were far far away from today’s earthquake in California, we did not even get to feel anything … But scary that we were around the epicenter just 2 weeks ago …
Based on mutual laziness and Ritsu having fun with getting a cold, we decided to take this Sunday very nice and slow and slept in. For breakfast we enjoyed something we have not had in a long time: fresh blueberries. A huge portion over vanilla yogurt, great.
We then went to downtown Sacramento, the Downtown plaza mall, and watched Last Samurai. I liked it, Ritsu was not that overwhelmed. The movie is beautiful to look at and I wasn’t bored, but I doubt I would spend another 2.5 hours watching it again. What was amazing was the audience .. 3 cellphones went off plus some other beeping devices, one guy fell asleep and snored very loudly and some guy next to me loved his chips bag so much that he used it constantly as a noisemaker.
After return to our hotel, I went to do some grocery shopping. Since we have a kitchen, I decided to cook. So I marinated 3 different kinds of seafood (scallops, shrimp and pieces of catfish) in garlic butter and spring onions. And later I made them: catfish blackened, scallops in champagne and shrimp in sake. And all this over a nice Caesar salad. Very nice.
But the room is so small that the kitchen fumes kinda set off the fire alarm … it was only a slight continuous beep … not really alarm .. I called the front desk and they said it is only the battery which is low .. and they send a guy with a battery. But I could not figure out how to get it in and I feared that I may damage something which could set off the sprinkler system. So I called again and the same guy came, basically saying he has no idea how this works either … but we managed to get the beeping device of the ceiling and he left with it … so we could finally sleep.
Since today we had a fairly simple drive ahead of us (165 miles on I-5 down to Sacramento) we slept in a little. Then Ritsu sampled the free breakfast (tea and apple were not that great she said) and we managed to pack up and check out at 11 AM (check out dead line). Getting on I-5 was no problem at all, we stopped for gas and snacks and we also noticed that every second truck we passed had in big letters “Wal Mart” written all over it. Which reminded us that we have not done any Wal Mart shopping on this trip yet.
And at some point, indeed, there was a Wal Mart in the middle of nowhere and we had some fun. A nice denim shirt for 7$? Hey, why not. CD organizers (that hanging on the wall type), which Urban Outfitters sells for 10$ here for 5.97$ … and behold the Wal Mart 5.50$ DVD bin. That was fun … a huge pile of DVDs for cheap … the catch is that it is hard to wade through it … so .. I started to actually make piles to sort out which DVDs I have had in my hands and which not … I had to growl at other shoppers to not touch my piles until I am ready and it seemingly worked … I ended up with no less then 4 double DVDs for 22$ total … most of them cheesy late night TV stuff which is great to let roll as background scatter … Horror cult classics 1 & 2, a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby “Road to Bali” and “Road to Rio” double feature and a 2 disc set of Laurel & Hardy shorts and movies, including their very first collaboration “Lucky Dog” … amazing to watch this and realize it is nearly a century old (well, 82 years).
We arrived in Sacramento around 4 PM and after some driving around and making some phone calls, we found a nice place at homestead suites. We were very surprised to find in our coupon book, where usually hotels ask for more money over the weekend, that this was the first time we have seen that the rates would be lower over the weekend! The only way I can explain it is that Sacramento is mainly a government city (being the capitol of California), with a lot of people just staying here during the week. And a ghost town on weekends.
The fantastic supermarket we found later reflects that as well .. a lot of ready to eat / heat and eat semi gourmet food. Since we do have a kitchen in this place, we will do some cooking! well .. the table here is kinda occupied by our computers.
For dinner we found a nice sushi place nearby (we have not had sushi in a while) and the quality was surprisingly nice. The waitresses were even dressed in Kimonos and were actually Japaneses. And they had Orion beer (one of our favorite Japanese beers). So, we had the usual suspects: Uni, Ikura, Hamachi, Saba and Unagi. And the appetizer came after that. Pieces of Tofu in broth. Nice.
Amazing what kind of things one suddenly looks at
… but don’t feel any morning sickness… It still feels so unreal!! I cannot wait to see my doctor in Fiji and hear the fetus’s heart beat!!
What a rainy day today … but I think we have been very lucky with the weather so far. Imagine we have had that rain yesterday. Exploring the redwoods would have been less fun.
So, we took the 299 to the east, through the mountains. It was curvy, but not as compact as the coastal drive on R1. Even with the rain, the scenery was beautiful. We stopped in Weaverville, a sleepy “in the middle of the forrest” lumber town. We found a cozy place to have a burger. Very friendly people, the burger was ok, seemingly from frozen patties though.
We arrived in Redding, CA. The way 2 highways and 1 interstate come together creates a fun collection of street signs … we finally found the hotel we had our eyes on (yet another best western) .. their “internet access” line in the guidebook made us look .. turns out that this one was a lemon .. internet connection for them means that they have dataports on their phones .. yeah great … But at least we could use our modem connection and it is running pretty well.
Close by is a seafood place called Buz’s Crab which turned out to be very nice.
It is mainly a seafood market place with an adjacent no-thrills eatery. You place your order at the counter (I went for a prawn/calamari combo, Ritsu hat king salmon with rice) and then wait at your table for your food to arrive. Very tasty but mine was a bit on the greasy side. I would have loved to have a mix seafood platter with hot and cold items mixed, but they did not offer that.
Our online connection de jour was trusting Asahi net’s modem connection .. and while with 49K the fastest so far … initially we got kicked out every 5 minutes … later everything was fine and we stayed on for 10 hours in one session.
Ok, I had that random idea that I want to use headlines .. let’s see how that works out. Anyways … we got up, the internet connection did still not work! I called and complained and then we went to have breakfast. Unlike the 50$ places we usually have, which have either a lame breakfast in the lobby or none at all, we had tickets for a full breakfast at a very close restaurant. Nice idea, very friendly people … but when you see that their steak egg breakfast is only 3.99$ .. you wonder how much that breakfast buffet is .. 1.50$ ???
So, we returned to our room, just to find the manager of housekeeping and a computer geek named Steve (pony-tail, goatee, sounds familiar?) hovering over my setup (likely wondering what the heck I am doing with all the stuff) and the good news was that there indeed was a problem and it had been fixed now. That was our signal to get going (after starting some data transfers) and we drove up north into redwood territory. Before that we checked out the visitor center (which is still very much on the coast) and a couple of coastal look outs. The sun was bright and the early day fog turned into a haze later one.
Shortly after the visitor center we entered the winter sleepy town of Orick, and 2 miles further is an exit to go into the woods for some hiking trails. We headed for the Lady Bird Johnson Grove hiking trail and were stunned but the beauty and the hight of the redwood trees. Here is a videoclip.
The hike is about one hour long and beware of ticks, bears and lions .. at least this is what some signs say. I wish we had seen a bear 
We moved on along the Newton B. Drury scenic drive, which can be extended into a coastal drive (partly unpaved) which goes all the way to an overlook of the Klamath river mouth. Beautiful … we checked out the adjacent Klamath town (which was small and kinda deserted) and we turned around to go back on 101 .. we saw some cute deer on the way, stopped by a supermarket in Orick and then drove all the way back and even a bit more, to King Salmon, looking for a seafood place called “Gills at the Bay” .. but they only do breakfast and lunch .. and we arrived at 3:20 PM .. lunch was over.
So, back to the hotel … and guess what … the online connection was GONE … great, I was so happy … I called everyone and got good response .. the housekeeping manager later knocked, she had reset the system (which basically means she kicked everyone off line for a sec) and since then it works nicely … I keep knocking on wood …
Our lunch / dinner (do they call that “drunch” or “linner” ??? new food concept idea ???) was pizza by Domino’s one more time … and it was good (and we also got some chicken wings) .. ah .. the little things we miss in Fiji …
Today’s drive was a bit easier. More curvy coastline stuff, a few stops for sight seeing and suddenly we were in the woods. While Redwood national park is still ahead, The Humbolt state park already has some very nice big trees and the famous Avenue of the giants. The ride was fun and looked great. And of course we have a video clip
We arrived in Eureka, CA and accommodation research was not that easy. One place that advertised internet access had indeed just one PC in the lobby .. and it was 3$ for 30 mins .. what a joke .. we looked around more and found a nice best western that still had rooms (something must be going on, places were full) and while a bit more costly than what we were used to, it is also the biggest room we had so far and they have the best amenities (like pool, big breakfast). We quickly settled in and then went of to the movie theater to watch today’s release of “Lord of the Rings, Return of the King“. I will not get into the movie, just that I think it is easily one of the best I have ever seen, and I am very happy that I have seen in on opening day. We returned to the hotel and sadly the DSL connection stopped working sometime during this time and no one at the reception could fix it .. best bet is some technician to come some time tommorow .. so .. now it is 28.8 K modem connect .. yippieh!!!
For dinner we went to the “Sea Grill” and again we had some nice seafood … I munched on pacific oysters, Ritsu had sea scallops and I later had garlic and butter infused scampi. All very nice, but I felt very stuffed.
And here is a picture of us in our nice new room .. yes, we are traveling with 2 computers on 3 screens .. but hey, that is the way to keep those updates coming in …
Getting up and final packing after we spend 5 nights in beautiful San Francisco. The weather was great and we found our way to and over the Golden Gate Bridge, heading north. Shortly after we hopped on route#1 which becomes a turny and windy road, not recommended for trucks, buses and RVs. A bit stressful for the driver, continuous arm movement. But stunningly beautiful scenery, huge waves and rugged cliffs. We checked out Point Reyes national park and checked out their beautiful lighthouse.
The trip to the lighthouse is 21 miles off the main route .. so it easily added 1.5 hours to our trip. But the whole trip planning was down the drain anyway .. usually you can do 60 miles in an hour .. but with those roads, it was only 30 .. while our final stop for today was only 155 miles, which could usually be done in 2.5 hours .. it took us until 6:15PM to get there. There is a neat videoclip showing the bridge and the curves.
Well, as we are eating our way through America (nasty commentators claim that on most of our pictures we have either food or drink or both in our hands) we came across a place called “Bodega Bay” for lunch. Somehow this place is connected to the well known Hitchcock thriller “The Birds” … (I still hate that movie for not having given me an explanation for what happened:). Anyways, I had a fantastic cold seafood platter with shrimp, prawn, clams, oysters, crab claws and crab meat. Ritsu had a bazillion mussels over pasta. So many that the pasta was hard too find. But extremely tasty.
We continued our trip and had some more time before we would reach Fort Bragg. The roads kept being curvy and the sunset was kind of hidden in the clouds, but we got some cool red sunset vistas. One scary moment was after sunset when a full size bambi crossed our pass in the woods and barely escaped from having his body shape imprinted into our car …
Fort Bragg seemed very deserted and we found a nice, albeit small-roomed place. But it was cheap. And we got some interesting advice for dinner and found a very homey seafood place called “Sharon’s”. While we were studying the menu, tonight’s chef (Joe) was actually standing outside and together we were observing some rescue operation undertaken by the coast guard. Seems some fishing boats tried to come back in … but the surf was 20 – 25 feet by now. While watching that he told us about the daily specials and we were quickly convinced that we were at the right place. The interior looks like someone’s living room and the food was very good. Ritsu had half a crab and I had a mix of prawn, scallop and local rockfish on pasta and veggies. We enjoyed it a lot and I’d love to come back in summer and see how the place is when the outside area is open.
Not too much to report today. For the first time since we started the trip we did some stuff separately. Ritsu went to the Museum of modern arts and I went to find the local BestBuy and shopped for tech stuff I will need (and not be able to get) back in Fiji.
We met back at the hotel and went out to get food somewhere in Japan Town and since we could not find a Sukiyaki place, we went for Yakiniku instead
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