Palo Alto, San Francisco and pretty big trees

Gordon picked me up from the airport of San Jose. I was happy to see him six months after last time we met at his and Camis wedding. We drove to their appartment and waited for Cami to come home and then cook together. We had a wild mix of pasta, beef and chicken which was delicious. After that we watched an episode of Babylon Berlin. The two gave me a couple of tipps, what to do in the area so I could plan a little. A trip to San Francisco was a must, also a day at the beach and some hiking. Sadly, I was ther during the week, so Cami and Gordon would not be able to join me. But we managed to meet for lunch and dinners during those days. The two borrowed me their car, so I was able to go anywhere I wanted, I took the train to San Francisco, though.

Day 1 – Halfmoon Bay

Cami told me to go to Halfmoon Bay, because after the sunny but cold weather in Vancouver I needed some warmth. Half Moon Bay is a little town near the Bay as well. I sat down in a little café at a table with a group of older ladies that knitted and talked about their kids and grandchildren. The avo toast looked great, so I decided to take one of those and a big cup of the home brew.

It was very hot and time to hit the beach, so I drove a couple of miles and arrived at halfmoon bay just a couple of minutes later. There I sat in the sun for a couple of hours and walked up and down through the sand. There were kids screaming with joy while building dams and piles of mud.
Back home we went for sushi in Palo Alto and had a beer in a pub afterwards. Palo Alto has only two main streets with restaurants and bars and nice shops.

Back home we continued watching Babylon Berlin and planned my trip to San Francisco for the next day. I was planning to take Gordon’s bike on the train. If you take a bike on the train in Silicon Valley, there are some strict rules. You have to put a sign on the bike which shows where you are going to and must not put it in front of a bike that has to go off before you. Cami wrote me one saying PA <-> SF (4th St) in big letters. I was excited to go. Last time I’ve been to SF it was with Steffi in 2012 – and I loved it!

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Day 2 – San Francisco

I got on the bike after breakfast and went for the train station in Palo Alto, which took me no more than 15 minutes. There I needed to buy a ticket at one of the machines that can be found on the platform. What follows now pretty much reached the top 3 of the grossest things that ever happened to me. I selected a return ticket, put in my credit card and then reached for the freshly printed ticket at the bottom of the machine. And there it was… a puddle of whatever and my ticket and my hand in it… in a slot that where at a height that let me think that this was not water! The woman next to me saw the panic in my eyes and said „this is the worst“. I let go of my tickets and reached for the water bottle in my backpack one handed while holding my other hand as far away from my body as possible. There was no public toilet nearby so the water needed to do the job.. followed by the big splash of disinfectant gel I always carry with me. Worst thing ever.. in addition, I needed to by new tickets. The train arrived and I leant Gordon‘s bike as instructed in one of the designated spots.

It was great to cycle through San Francisco. I stopped anywhere I liked, had lunch and coffee and was full of excitement while rushing down those crazy steep streets by bike. In the afternoon I went for the Golden Gate Bridge but did not cycle over it. When I was in SF before with Steffi in 2011, we took a bike trip to Sausalito… so been there, done that. Instead I sat by the beach and watched it from afar.

I took the train back to PA in the late afternoon and met Gordon and Cami for Dinner.

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Day 3 – Muir Woods National Park and venison goulash

I wanted to see some big trees and hike a little, so Gordon and Cami recommended Muir Woods National Park north of SF. Since my departure came closer, I wanted to thank them for their hospitality with a home cooked venison goulash, too. That is why, before I went for the trees I paid „Dittmer’s Gourmet Meats and Wurst-Haus“ shop a visit. Dittmer is german and has his butchery and shop in PA. Gordon wanted german Kartoffelklöße and knew that Dittmer sold some readymade mix as well. The guy behind the butchery counter told me to buy some frozen uncut venison, but I was afraid it might not defrost until the evening, so he cut me some goulash from some very neat filet thingy instead. He was not able to help me with the kloß-dough though, unable to understand what I wanted. He disappeared to the butchery in the back of the shop. After a couple of seconds I heard someone with a very nice german accent saying: „She wants KLOßTEIG“!
That was Dittmer himself who emerged from the butchery handing me a box of german kloßteig mix from thuringia. I bought some bread as well and headed back to the appartment to put it all in the fridge.
After that I hit the road to Muir Woods National Park. It was the first time that I drove across the Golden Gate bridge. I wish I could show you how amazing it looked like. You were only able to see the street and the bridge piers reaching up. Everthing around it was laying in fog… very „stairway“ to heaven-ish.
I did not have time to do a real hike, but walked the main part of the park. It is very quiet there and it smells great. I can‘t tell you anything about the age of those trees, because I can not remember anything from the information boards. I just know one thing. They can stand forest fires and that I find pretty cool.
Back in PA I got going with the goulash that turned out fine. It was served with Klößen (obviously) and root vegies that I baked in the oven. It pretty much knocked us out.

Day 4 – Stanford University

I spent my last day shopping in a mall in PA, something I never do in germany. I don’t like malls very much. I prefer walking around town to get everything I need instead of getting offered everything within a 200 metres radius.
Afterwards I met Cami for a tour around Stanford. We had lunch in the sun. There are some nice options on campus. We had a delicious noodle soup. Cami is a really great person and I like her a lot.

Seline and Karl had invited us for dinner to their place. They prepaired an awesome menue and we had some very great wine. I already knew them from the wedding as well. I was sad that I needed to leave the next morning.

Gordon drove me to SF airport the next morning. I hope it won‘t be the last time I visited them.

I learned a lot about myself on this journey. It was not the first time that I was completely alone for a few weeks on the road and I just never get bored. And I barely got lonely, too. I met a lot of great people and had such a blast!

Not having to make compromises is quite relaxing and I wonder if I would still be able to do that at all. That’s it to find out now, because honestly, I’ve been back on the road since one day. With Camilla in Australia.
I will keep you posted.