Mendocino We Love You

Our holiday within a holiday was the last week, we headed up to Mendocino about 150 miles North of SF no highway 1.

Its a tiny arty town on a very wild coastline nestled amongst the Redwoods. We used www.airbnb.com again to find an amazing house owned by the wonderful Marilyn, so surrounded by trees that it only gets sun a few hours a day.

Took Matilda to her first 3d movie 'Megamind' which we both loved. Check the specs on the pics.

We whiled away our days in the woods and on the beaches just going very slowly and wishing we could stay forever. Two hour naps evry day and time spent on lovely evening meals.
The nightly entertainment was the sunsets at 5pm and the stars once they came out.

Bought a lovely painting for the house and again resolved to aspire to live a slower and more peaceful life.

If you ever get the chance forget big Californian attractions and head for Mendocino it is a real treasure to be found. Thanks for the tip Petra and John.

Mendocino We Love You

Stinson on Sea

Stinson beach is the primary surf spot in Marin and is a broad sweeping sandy beach with perfect rollers and multi million dollar houses on the beach itself.
We head down there with my sister Petra and he two woofers with a picnic ready to get sand in and a Matilda who wants to swim swim swim. I have boogie boarded here before and point out the sign to Caitlyn that states that " great white attacks have happened on the beach in less than 6 feet of water" so we resolve to stay in our depth and in we go. It's an amazing day in yet another truly idyllic place. In contrast tue Mountians only hours away will be open to skiers soon whilst people here will be sunbathing and surfing. California is a blessed land indeed.

A day jumping waves is topped off with ice creams and sand it bits you don't want it.

Stinson On Sea

Farewell Quincy

So the day we arrived in my Aunt Anne's house she told me the upstairs (where we were staying) was haunted. Not by anything nasty but haunted, so much so that she lives entirely downstairs. " but don't mention it to the girls "
The first night Matilda wakes up and I take her to the other spare room downstairs where Matilda and I sleep for the rest of the stay. The next day Matilda comes and takes me to the upstairs room and points to the large bare walk in wardrobe and tells me " that's where the dark people live". It turns out that anyone who has experienced the ghost reports it to be in the same place, that night Matilda wakes screaming in the middle of the night and once I calm her down I sat in the dark 4 in the morning and felt ice cold with all my hairs stood on end as it feels like something passes by me.
Two days before we leave Caitlyn, who still knows nothing about the history, suddenly feels he house is haunted whilst having a shower in the house alone. Who knows, but I can tell you that was the spookiest Halloween I ever, and I am sure will ever spend!
All in all we loved the high sierra's and it was great to see my aunt and cousin. The drive back to San Francisco was a five hour blast with happy kids singing along to Disney songs all the way (I literally have the alley cats and jungle book soundtrack on repeat in my head all day every day from The girls insistence on its repeated playing)

After staying in spacious houses surronded by trees Caitlyn and I resolve to aim for the countywide at some point in the future. Its such a relief after busy towns and cities.

Farewell Quincy

Tricks, treats and snowy kayaks

We are now staying at my aunts in Quincy which is not far from Lake Tahoe. We have to be careful not to leave food in the car as the bears have a tendency to open them up at night for a snack as well as going through the bins. Not nearly as annoying as the Brighton gulls destroying the rubbish.

Dressed the girls up for Halloween and spun both of them out with sugar and Matilda with all the costumes. You could see the penny drop as she realized every shop in town would give her sweets and gifts at the words trick or treat. The house we are staying in is reputedly haunted but more on that after we have left!

My cousin and her partner also live up here and bought forward thanksgiving dinner for us. Best of all they looked after the kids and lent us there kayaks and drove us further into the mountains to salmon lake. We paddled around in misty silence as it snowed on crystal clear water that would kill us in a few minutes if we capsized as it is snow melt. Not another person for miles and miles, mountain lions and bears in the hills around us. It was just stunning and something we will never forget.

Tricks, Treats And Snowy Kayaks

Yosemite to Mono

Loaded up the Jollopy and headed off across the valley towards Yosemite with the intention of driving over the Tioga Pass. Unfortunately it was closed 2 days before we left following a snowstorm and is due to stay closed for the winter.

The journey was a little harrowing as Iris is deperatly trying to get her eye teeth through (both sides at the same time) so if she is not asleep in the car she is screaming. You could consider it a buddhist lesson in tolerating another beings pain and a wat to cultivate loving kindness......or you could consider why God cursed parents with babies born without teeth! Why oh why!

Yosemite is without doubt the most amazing landscape I have seen in my life. As you drive in the valley is laid out like a good peice of CGI from SCI-FI movie. Half Dome in the distance El Capitan standing as a sheer face taller than Snowdon and Yosemite Falls taller than Niagra. Makes my hair stand on end just remembering it.

The masses were absent due to it being late Autumn and we found out as we drove in that the pass had been reopened that morning so the 9500ft Tioga pass was on the menu for the late afternoon. Lucky.

As we climbed out of Yosemite Valley the temperature dropped and the snow became apparant. At the top we woke the kids up and walked across the the High Sierra meadows where the Indians lived. Too lovely.

We arrived at Mono Lake in time for sunset. After the lush greenery of Yosemite the barren and lunar landscape of Mono is a stunning and surreal contrast. The Dead Sea like Mono Lake is a saline lake surrounded by volcanic craters, snow on the mountains in the background, the high desert lit up orange by the sunset and the moon rising too. Nice.

The day finishes in Truckee in an empty ski lodge in a hot tub under the stars in the freezing cold.

Yosemite To Mono

Go Giants

We arrived in San Francisco and the heat wave left in favour of a British wet and windy autumn.
That aside San Francisco and Marin are still as lovely as the last time I was here.

My sister Petra met us from the airport and got a bit lost in downtown SF on the way home leading to a few tense moments in with me following her in a big automatic SUV and some VERY steep hills. Each of those famous hill and plateaux have a stop sign at the top and I had my foot so hard on the brake to stop our car rolling back in hurt. I moved my foot to the acclerator and felt the big dodge roll back towards the car behind who had his hand on the horn.....not really what we/I needed after a 6 hour flight on United (most pony airline in the world flying 1970's buckets that you cant move in) Airways and two kids who refused to sleep.

My family kindly looked after the girls and Caitlyn and I had the most amazing night out in the city. We rented a Vitorian apartment in Pacific Heights http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/56200?price=155 went for a massage in JapanTown with an two iron fingered girls who nearly broke us both....in a nice way.
Went to a famous San Francisco show in North Beach called Beach Blanket Babylon http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com which was camp caberet at its finest. Went into Caps bar to watch the last 20 minutes of the SF Giants making it into the World Series (great vibe but not the first clue to what was going on.....rounders with attitude it seems) and on for a great meal. One of the best nights out I have ever had.

The massive Dodge SUV from the hire company had a nail in the tire and much faux disgruntled complaining earned us the ridiculous (but fun) Chrysler 300 weapon that Caitlyn is sitting on and which we will be tooling up to Yosemite and round California for the next month.

We leave in the morning and are hoping that the Tioga pass reopens after a big snowfall so we can drive all the way across Yosemite and up to my Aunt's in the Sierra Nevada's.

Pleae check out all the pics and will report in from the mountains where there is dial up internet only. Like you must me kidding dude!

Go Giants

Hotel New Hampshire

I have had the kids to myself for the three days we have been in Portsmouth NH which has been glorious. The cliche of New england in the fall lives up to its name with the most beautiful colours in the forests that surround us.

It is a bit like living the American dream here with white picket fences and everyone in the diner knowing each other, fishing boat on the front lawn and hunting on the weekend. That said I read a lot of Stephen King books when I was young, many of which were set around Portland Maine. I cant help looking in the drains to see if a psychotic clown is peeking out (read 'It').

Caitlyn has been up at a Buddhist centre doing restoritive justice work and the kids and I have been exploring in our SUV. Iris is now fully mobile tottering about everywhere and Matilda is in thrall to her new world and growing up very fast, she is missing her friends at school a bit but cant wait to go to California.

We have sorted the kids sleep pattern out from the jet lag so its time to move time zones again to the west coast 3 hours back.

Off to our regular table at the Sunrise Grill and then coast road to the airport. More from Marin soon.

Click on the Pic for more:

Hotel New Hampshire