Santa Cruz + San Jose Jazz Festival 2018

What is a better excuse to get out of Fresno than to attend the annual Jazz Festival in San Jose? How about adding on a few hikes in Santa Cruz? With an extra day off, it is possible!

I left Fresno on Friday morning and headed to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. I found a trail there that looked particularly interesting because of the changing landscape and the proximity to a creek - Redwoods Reborn - Fall Creek. As I arrived at the trailhead, I found a sign that said there was a landslide, and the trail is impassable about 3.5 miles from the trailhead.

A bit disappointed, I decided to still hike the trail partially and see for myself whether the warning was worth complying with. On a Friday morning, I met only 5 people on this trail, peaceful and isolated. It loses elevation pretty quickly in the beginning (something that you have to suffer through later on) as you walk on a narrow trail on the side of the hill.

At the bottom of it, there is a beautiful creek with dozens of butterflies flying around in sunny areas. This is the second time I saw so many Monarchs in one place, the first time was in Big Basin a few months ago.

I couldn't stop admiring the landscape and surroundings. It reminded me of a fairy tale with witches and small huts, very mysterious and mesmerizing.

I approached the spot where the landslide happened, decided not to challenge my luck and turned around. The climb back was quite tough, but certainly doable. By then the air warmed up and thickened, and the thought of a possible mountain lion kept me moving swiftly up the hill. Tired of silence, I started listening to Animal Farm by George Orwell, quite a fascinating book and very insightful.

I finished the hike and decided to go for a walk on the beach in Wilder Ranch State Park. The Old Landing Cove trail was yet again recommended on AllTrails as a short and easy hike on the coast. You can park either on the main highway and walk to the entrance (saves $10), or just pay the fee and park in their parking lot, which is what I ended up doing. The hike was certainly picturesque.

I was even lucky to see a coyote!

A bit chilly from walking on the shore line, I wanted to stop at one of the Santa Cruz wineries to do wine tasting. I ended up stopping at MJA Vineyars where I met an amazing and fun couple and spent a couple of hours just chatting with them.

It was getting late. I was hungry, but the two places I wanted to try for dinner were full, so instead I decided to go straight to my AirBnb and check in. The house was located right across from Henry Cowell State Park and was really quiet at night, except the disturbing cicadas and crickets chirping their life away outside. This AirBnB ended up being such a pleasant and restful place.

The next day, I got a coffee and a croissant...

...and went to Butano State Park. I planned to hike Canyon, Goat Hill Trail Loop, but when I arrived there, the mobile connection was gone and the GPS directions were nowhere to be found (or downloaded, to be exact). Another disappointment, but in the past that did not discourage me from hiking. I tried to use the map, but was quite confused. I hiked about 2 miles on the trail, and then the trail disappeared. I had to turn around (strike two this weekend!) and head back. In the meantime, I got to enjoy peaceful and desolate hiking, but started to miss people (who knew this was even possible?!). I would like to come back here with a hiking partner to do this again, because the park is truly incredible, but I guess I didn't have the guts to continue.

Instead, I went back to the coast, stopped at a couple of vista points and drove to a small town, Pescadero, CA, where I found a unique grocery store that also bakes their own artichoke bread (I didn't know that even existed). I bought a fresh, still warm loaf of bread and enjoyed another not-gluten-free day.

Munching on artichoke bread, I drove to San Jose to check in in my AirBnB there and take a shower. I needed to get ready for the Jazz festival! As last year, it brings a lot of people to Plaza de Chavez. I met up with a few folks there, enjoyed some jazz and local art and finished the day at a whiskey bar, one of my favorites in San Jose. It is becoming a tradition, the second year in a row, that I go to Labyrinth at the Jazz Fest. They make AMAZING mules!

The night at the AirBnB was hot... Really hot! Somehow I did not notice that the place did not have air conditioning. Usually, it is not an issue in San Jose, unless it is 90 degrees outside. Luckily, it cooled down at night, so I was able to fall asleep.

In the morning, I got some coffee and was ready to head home. As always, I was really sad leaving San Jose, a town full of social life and nice and trendy places, something that I truly miss in Fresno. I need to move... Really do...

Big Sur Hike: Buckeye Trail / Cruikshank Trail

Some days are better than others, and some are worse. Today was one of the latter...

A few days ago, I found a group that was going to hike in Big Sur on Saturday. Having no plans this weekend, I figured I wanted to get out of town and its awful air quality. I woke up at 4.30 AM (too early even for me) after a sleepless night (probably anticipating that I would have to wake up at 4.30 AM, bummer!), made breakfast and a cup of coffee and drove a bit over 3 hours to the meeting location.

The group was already there. Since this was a one way hike, we had to drive to the trailhead and left a few cars at the finishing point. The group seemed a bit slow, so after a group picture, we started the ascend. At 8.5 miles with roughly 2,500 ft elevation gain, this hike was not anticipated to be anything that I have never done before, except that I was really tired after minimal sleep. No big deal!

The beginning was quite tough, quick elevation gain in the sun is never an easy experience.

The views were undeniably amazing!

We then continued the hike in the woody area with dozens of little flies swarming around us. For whatever reason they liked me very much, even after a bug spray. I later realized they were attracted to sweat, so I ended up wearing my light sweater on my head - I looked ridiculous, but it did do the trick, the flies left me alone. The heat did not... It was really hot and humid, and with a sweater on your head... well, let's just say "misery" was not just a sad word for me then, but reality. "Exercise!", I was thinking. "Where else would I get all this exercise if not in nature! Bugs? They are part of nature, hence, I should be enjoying the bugs as well!" I tried to convince myself. No luck...

The woods provided some shade, such a relief!

The group continued to stop and wait for the slow hikers, which added extra time. Lunch at midpoint at Buckeye Camp took the group the whole hour, so I was anxious to get going. I usually like my hikes at a consistent speed with multiple, but short breaks. Not this time. As the group waited again,  I said that I would continue since I had another 3 hours drive back. The leader agreed. By then I was really tired, thirsty (I drank all my water) and desperate to take a shower. This little buddy agreed with me...

The remainder of the trail was along the ocean, but not much cooler. Light breeze was a nice relief, but still the heat emanating from the ground was enough to cook a couple of eggs. The views were still incredible, but unfortunately I was too hot to truly enjoy them. I bet in a few months this will be a fabulous trail to hike, but today it was exhausting, annoying (mostly because of people) and hot.

Garlic Festival in Gilroy

I have wanted to check out the Garlic Festival in the garlic world capital since I saw ads for it a few years ago. Enticing garlic ice cream? Check! Odd garlic beer? Check! Missed out on garlic wine this time, but not big deal, there is always next time.

Garlic festival in Gilroy is an annual event that happens at the end of July. This was my first time attending it. About 2 hours drive from Fresno, Gilroy is a small town that you recognize by garlic scent, even if you don't have any sense of smell. I remember it always being overcast in the few times I passed through, but this weekend the sun was shining and it was really hot. The event was pretty well organized. Signs for parking lead all the way to the field parking lot where lots (and I mean LOTS) of people wearing bright shirts guide you with flags (as if you can't see them otherwise...) to the parking spot. Shuttle buses then transfer you to the actual event. The ride to the festival was short and air conditioned, something we got to appreciate on the way back after baking in the sun for several hours. At the entrance, security check purses and have a metal detector, a measure I learned to appreciate after living in Fresno. Maps were given out to direct people where to go.

At the festival, the selection of food was what you would expect from a garlic event - garlic fries, garlic calamari, free garlic ice cream, garlic (and not only...) beer, wine tasting, BBQ, some dessert, music, and cooking competitions. Because of the heat, we did not stay too long. I got to enjoy garlic calamari, overpriced, but delicious, and I was the only one who could taste garlic in garlic ice cream. I have strange friends, I guess :) We had to wait for a shuttle for quite a bit, but were given water as we entered the line - nice touch!

On the way back, we stopped at a local winery (Kirigin Cellars) and had a free tasting. Such a lovely and peaceful place, will certainly be back.

San Jose Getaway

My friend and I decided to finally get away for the weekend. She has never been to San Jose, so we wanted to do some exploration there. A few meetups lined up, several days of planning, AirBnb and Rover reservations successfully placed and off we went to the Bay area.

The trip started out wonderfully. We left around 11 AM and got to SJ just in time for lunch. The original sushi place I wanted to go, Mizu Sushi Bar & Grill, was about to close ("Last call is in 10 minutes, will be closing in 40...", was the nasty response we got from the annoyed hostess who probably wanted lunch herself, when we asked for a table there). We opted to choose another restaurant where people is not in so much of a rush. TGI's Sushi was a small restaurant, hardly presentable from the outside, yet pretty cozy inside. The reviews on Yelp were pretty good, so we stopped by and tried their Shiitake and Philly rolls. A bit bland with a thick layer of rice, both rolls were average, but fish rather fresh. Lunch filled us up enough to barely drag our butts from the restaurant, a good beginning to the weekend!

We checked in our AirBnb room and went to check out Santana Row aka "Silicon Valley's premiere destination for shopping, dining, living, and more." It did not disappoint. Shops, restaurants with outdoor seating, live music on the main square created "city-ish" ambiance that both of us miss so much living in Fresno.

I got coffee and some pastries from Yeganeh Bakery & Kafe Unik, a neat place with fresh pastries and good coffee, and then headed to dinner in Mountain View. Vaso Azzurro Ristorante is one of the many restaurants on Castro Street aka the central street in Mountain View where things happen. We were seated outside on the patio (under a heater, to my relief!). Both of us ordered pasta and a drink, something you can't go wrong with. Our waiter was amazing! In the limited time he was selling us some specials, he somehow ended up mentioning that in the past few years he lost 40 lbs and feels great. No relation to our gluten-filled fatty macaroni with cheese with plenty of saturated fat and a glass of sugary alcohol... The manager later came out to compliment my friend on her outfit, take multiple pictures of us and continue doing this throughout the dinner. Odd? Just a bit... What's even odder is that we didn't get a discount on our bill for the photoshoot...

We later met up with a few people at a bar and had a lovely time. Well, except when I found out that my cat sitter brought a strange man to my house... After kicking them both out (virtually, of course), I had to drive at night to make sure Kitty was ok. Since I was determined that this weekend was not to be ruined, I got back to SJ by 9 AM, just in time for breakfast. Exhausted, I felt a bit of a relief that nobody was "cat sitting", but was working through some options for Night 2. Luckily, two of my awesome friends were able to take care of Kitty in my absence. My luck with pet sitters is just overwhelming...

Our breakfast at The Breakfast Club was quite good, although waiting 30 min for a table was a bit of an annoyance. Their coffee was disgusting...

Blueberry Pancakes, I think...

Classic Eggs Benedict with Hash Browns

On the agenda, we had Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. If I were more awake this morning, I probably would have taken more pictures and videos, but since none of my equipment and motivation were there, I only took a few. Here is my favorite, yes, of a couch...

Yes, I took a picture of a couch. So comfy and cozy... #IneedaNap

And a few others...

Real mummy, pretty amazing to see a dead human being in this context...

Impressive both from outside and outside, the museum is also surrounded by gardens. We enjoyed the outside area so much that I wanted to take a nap on the bench. My friend said no...

After a failed nap, we went to a day party (does that even exist?), which turned out to be quite boring. We made the best of it, hitting the dance floor.

Because we match :)

Our dinner at Vino Vino (more of a late lunch, since we got the heck out of that party less than two hours into it) was another highlight of the trip. Who knew that panini could be so delicious?

Finally, the last day of our trip was spent eating and drinking coffee at one of the best coffee shops I have been...

...hanging out at the gardens near Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum...

...thrift shopping (without the shopping part)...

...and visiting Google!

Can I tell you something about this chair? It is fabulous! Different modes can stretch you, massage you and squeeze you. This was a tough break up for me, but our relationship is not over. I will be back...