Mendocino to Portland

I am in Portland now. I left foggy, rainy Mendocino yesterday morning headed for Eureka (via Rt.1 to the 101). When I got to Eureka (where I was contemplating spending the night), the rain had picked up and wasn't supposed to let up until this afternoon, so (after some barbequed oysters and chowder) I decided to keep trucking to Portland (via 101 up the coast to 199 east through Six Rivers Nat'l Forest to 5) so I could get here one night earlier than planned and be in the same hotel for two nights in a row. A very exciting notion these days...totally worth twelve hours of driving in the pouring rain. The rain was coming down so hard for the last few hours before I hit Portland that I couldn't see the road most of the time, but I just kept telling myself, if there is a big truck in front of me (blinding me with water spray), I must be in a lane...

This afternoon I visited the Lan Su Chinese Garden and had Jamaica on the brain the entire time I was there, mostly because while I resisted the "flower freak" label she tried to stick me with our final night together, I can't really deny it anymore. My moment of truth was at the Peony blossom exhibit when I found myself taking close-ups of my favorite blossoms without anyone forcing me to. When Jamaica and I were on the road together, I was all about my scenic and/or car shots and would only take close-ups of blossoms when Jamaica dragged me over by my elbow and made me do it.

As I took shot after shot of my favorite blossoms this afternoon, I couldn't help remembering our last night together when we rolled in the door around midnight (after the showdown with ice, ice baby) and I immediately sat down in her living room and started tearing through each of her flower books to come up with the names of the only two flowers we had seen our entire trip that she didn't know the names of. After I had done my frenzied page flipping through one book, then another, then another, I looked over and saw a fourth flower book in her lap and said (probably with a little crazy in my eyes), "are you done with that? Can I have that? I need to look at that." She looked over at me slowly with one eyebrow raised and said, "well, my dear, I think you've become a bit of a flower freak." To which I immediately responded (enjoying a nice big scoop of denial with a little bit of rationalizing sprinkled on top), "No, I'm not! You're the flower freak around here, not me. I'm just a curious person. I just don't like not knowing things." Prompting her to inquire (still studying my slightly crazed face with one eyebrow raised), "Really, sweetie? Really? Because you seem very much like a flower freak to me. You look like a flower freak (gesturing to the flower books strewn around me), you're acting like a flower freak (I think she was basing this on my refusal to go to bed until I figured out the names)..."

Finally, I cracked (though I told myself I was just appeasing her), "Fine, fine, I'm a flower freak. Now will you just help me? Please?" Satisfied that she had made her point she took a couple of the books back and we spent over an hour reading through them all to no avail because these two flowers weren't in any of the books. We finally gave up and went to bed, but first thing in the morning she got the names from a friend...because she's devoted like that. So, I am posting two pics of my two favorite peony blossoms because I know they will put a smile on her face...and because, thanks to Jamaica, I am a certifiable (probably in more ways than one) flower freak.

Hall of Brocade Clouds (houses the Peony exhibit)

Peonies and Poetry

More Peonies...

"Cora Louise"

"Color Magnet"

For those of you who prefer redwoods to peonies, this is the redwood I drove through in Leggett...

...and these are some redwoods that I drove past as I worked my way through the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (via scenic old 101 north of Orick)

On the 101 somewhere between Eureka and Crescent City (where I picked up 199)

San Francisco to Napa to Mendocino

Just walked into my hotel in Mendocino and definitely feel like I walked into an episode of Murder She Wrote. From the rocky coastal scenery outside that I grew up seeing on that show every week to the clusters of elderly locals, all bundled up in wooly sweaters, having cocktails at the bar while they gossip in hushed voices...it's pretty surreal. I have to say though, that I still don't understand how it never seemed to bother people through all those seasons of Murder She Wrote that the ocean was on the wrong side of the coastal scenes. The sun doesn't set over the ocean in Maine, kids (in no small part because the ocean is off the east coast of Maine). Never has, never will. You heard it here first.

Now that I got that off my chest, let's back up. I ended up spending an extra night in San Francisco and after hitting Cafe Tartine in the mission Tuesday morning, where I had the greatest ham and cheese croissant I have ever had (there are no words...), I headed for Napa.

By the time I checked into a B&B in town and headed out to do a couple tastings, I was starving. So, I hit V. Sattui first because I heard it had a great deli, which it does, though the wines I tasted were unremarkable. Then I made a pilgrimage to Charles Krug (where Robert and Peter Mondavi both started out before their big feud sent Robert packing). I was glad to hear that they made up in '06, two years before Robert passed away. As for the wine, I tasted about 7 Family Reserve and Limited Release wines (all reds) and they were all interesting and high quality, but none of them really measured up to my favorite Italian wines (example--'99 Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino--I like my reds fairly dry and acidic with just as much emphasis on earthiness as fruitiness and I only like a really full bodied wine if the body factor is all about packing in as many nuances as possible rather than simplistic heaviness in the mouth). That said, my favorite wine at Krug was the 2006 Limited Release X Clones (100% cabernet, only 450 cases produced) because it had such a smooth and refined, but very firm, structure and a nice acidity that genuinely made me wish I had a steak to go with it. The only California wines that I like as much as my favorite Italian wines (and a couple French--not many French faves though because so many good French wines are overpriced, particularly compared to their Italian counterparts) are from Shafer, but their tastings are booked at least a month in advance, so doing a tasting at Shafer was not an option because I am not remotely that organized.

Today, after pounding a couple iced coffees and a scone at Napa Valley Coffee Roasters (great coffee), I headed to Mumm to do a sparkling wine tasting. I was going to hit Beringer for a tasting too, but it never happened because I was having too much fun at Mumm sipping 5 different sparkling wines on a beautiful sunny patio looking over the vineyards while munching on dried fruit and nuts and crackers and returning a big chunk of calls that needed returning. I also strolled through this great photography exhibit they have up until the end of September--Paris Icons by James Scholz, which made me miss Paris so much that I renewed my little vow to myself that I would get there twice a year no matter what.  I was there for a week in March (seems so long ago), so I just have to get there once more this year to be in good standing with myself.

After I left Napa, I made my way to Mendocino via 116 through the Russian River Valley and up the coast on Rt. 1. The stretch of Rt.1 from Jenner to Mendocino is my third favorite stretch of road so far-basically one big roller coaster ride with its never-ending switchbacks combined with stomach-dropping dips and climbs all the way. Added bonus--everyone had very good etiquette and pulled over to get out of my way as fast as they could when they saw me fly up behind them. Just one gorgeous stretch of road with nothing but team players on it. Fabulous. The downside was that I didn't stop to take any pics because I didn't want to make everyone I had already passed pull over for me again because I was feeling all this peer pressure to be a team player. I will try to focus more on picture taking and less on being a team player tomorrow. That is my promise to you.

San Francisco through the Golden Gate Bridge

A freight ship passing the Point Bonita Lighthouse as it leaves San Francisco Bay

Rodeo Beach

Two comparison tastings at Mumm (the Santana came later): (1) The slightly sweet tasting--Cuvee M v. Demi Sec and (2) The sparkling red tasting--Sparkling Pinot Noir v. Cuvee M Red (96% pinot noir and 4% syrah).  I was a big fan of the Cuvee M Red and now I can't wait to get home and order some so my mimosas can be prettier than everybody else's. That's right, you heard me, I said it.

Quick Update from San Francisco

For those of you who emailed me wanting to know where I am at the moment, that would be San Francisco. Yesterday my friend S and I drove up here from Palo Alto nursing brutal little hangovers after a night of Korean BBQ and Korean karaoke with the Knight Journalism Fellows at Stanford. The beginning of our demise was when the owner of the Korean karaoke place heard that these journalism fellows were in the house and was so honored that he sent a complimentary bottle of scotch to our private room. Given that I was the only scotch drinker in the crew and that wasting liquor is completely against my religion, my wildly hungover fate was pretty much sealed. S could have saved herself, but being the devoted friend that she is, agreed to help me finish the bottle (she knows how important my religion is to me) and so suffered the same fate. We nursed coffee and water all the way to the Cliff House overlooking Ocean Beach where we could start nursing alcohol again over lunch. Once we had enough alcohol in our systems to carry on, we did a little driving tour of the city, complete with a trip down Lombard Street, before I dropped her at the train station.

As for today, I spent it walking through Chinatown (stopping to fortify myself with a little dim sum), little Italy, Ghirardelli Square, the Aquatic Park, Fisherman's Wharf and eventually back downtown via the Embarcadero. Late for a date in the Castro right now. My itinerary for the next few days (for those of you who like to know where I am at all times) has me here for one more night, then off to Napa/Sonoma, Mendocino and Eureka before meeting up with a posse of Caymans and Spyders in Portland on Saturday.

Seemed to be a little miscommunication with the woman who ran this "cocktail lounge" in Chinatown when she came outside after seeing me take this picture. Her: "Yes? Yes?" (pointing emphatically at the cocktail that comes with the plastic little girl on top); Me: "No, no"; Her: "Yes? Yes?" Me: "No, really, no." Not totally positive what she was selling, but somehow totally positive that I didn't want to buy it.

This is how you spell Jack Kerouac in Chinese. Don't say I never taught you anything...

Alcatraz from Municipal Pier

The Golden Gate Bridge from Municipal Pier