Nightglow Window

Monday, November 19, 2007

Big Sur To San Francisco

The girls aren't buying my tales of the killer "Dire Squirrel" and how it eats campers whole, but they play along as we walk back up to the narrow canyon above Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. It's about 8:30 a.m. and still cold. Our breath hangs in heavy clouds. The canyon is beautiful, even though we're here too early for the best light. The rocks are slick and water polished, so we don't go too far.

The coast is once again clear this morning, and after a breakfast of coffee and PopTarts, I begin to break down camp, eager to get out on the road and up to San Francisco. We certainly saw a lot and stopped a lot yesterday, so we don't dawdle too much this morning. The Vanagon seems to be doing well as we pull into Monterey and finally get the speedometer over 45 mph. After the winding roads of Big Sur, the first 15 minutes of highway driving seem liberating.

The feeling doesn't last, however, especially when we climb over the infamous Highway 17 out of Santa Cruz. It's every bit as curvy as I remember it, the drivers go every bit as fast. I was in the fifth and sixth grade, living in Pleasanton, when Highway 17 was my gateway back to the ocean I missed so much. Driving over it today, many of those memories come back.

Soon we're in San Jose and heading north up the strangely empty I-280 past Stanford and up into South San Francisco. Just when the drive begins to feel long, we find ourselves heading down Divisadero Street toward the bay, howling with delight as Big Red plunges down the steep streets.

We're staying at the Hotel Del Sol near the marina, and once we check in we're soon heading out on foot toward Ghirardelli Square, a little more than a mile away. The day is beautiful as we head across the green lawns of Fort Mason, the Golden Gate in the background. We opt for a three-day transit pass and jump on the Hyde Street Cable Car. I hang off the front with Sydney until we pass close by another cable car and she loses her nerve and sits down.

By now it's twilight and the last bit of sun catches the top of the Transamerica Pyramid -- a building that I loved as a kid. Chinatown is its usual bustle exotica as we push on toward North Beach and one of our favorite restaurants L'Osteria Del Forno, a tightly-packed Italian restaurant we first discovered with Robyn and Brian three years ago. It's every bit as delicious as I remember.

Hannah, with the early morning giggles, hams it up for the camera.

Breakfast at the campsite in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.

Camp still life. (Actually a skunk was rifling through all our stuff at around 4:00 a.m. I had to scare it away with my camera flash and eventually built a fire in the fire pit when it came and I had to get up out of the warm sleeping bag again.)