Redwood City and the End of the Road

Madeline and I spent our last night in a hotel at Carmel-by-the-Sea, where The Village Inn offered us a great facility, convenient location, helpful staff, and good parking. The village was a good place for us to land for one of our final days on the road, and it offered the quaint charm of a seaside village combined with the opportunity for some great retail therapy. We enjoyed a lazy morning on our last day there, and after checking the car over and mailing off a few packages of now-unneeded clothes, we headed north.

We opted once again for the coastal route, and the way was straight and clear - and it did not disappoint. The Pacific Coast from Monterrey to San Francisco is sided with farms where artichokes, lettuce, strawberries and other produce are grown. The fields vary in their greenness, but they are full of color, and especially so when filled with bussed-in laborers in colorful garb. As we left Pescadero, we visited with Dominick, a strawberry farmer, and his two dogs - who were all a bit curious about our little wagon. We left with half a case of strawberries which we have either consumed or doled out to neighbors of my friend Clare on Iris Street.

We stopped for a late lunch in Pescadero, a small small town with big food. There are two locally-owned grocery stores that offer sandwiches, pizza, produce and other sundries, and there is a world-famous (or at least regionally-famous) restaurant operated by Mrs. Duarte. (The town's other establishments include a goat cheese farm, a gas station, an antique store - and I think that is about it.) We left town by way of the surf and sand, and soon enough we approaching Half Moon Bay. We left the coast and picked up Route 84, a winding 'Model A' road that eventually took us to within minutes of our final destination at Redwood City. The road offered a beautiful, hilly ride through redwood forests and up and down the hills that lay south of the Bay area. The final leg of our journey was a good one.

Our trust Garmin led us out of the woods and within minutes we were parking the woody for the final time, on Iris Street in Redwood City - at the home of my old friend Clare - and Maggie, her Labrador retriever. Clare lives in an older, charming, section of Redwood City, and her home, with its high ceilings and artful decor, is warm and welcoming. We have spent long hours over the past two evenings sitting outdoors on the red-tiled terrace, enjoying some fine wines and fantastic meals, by lamplight and surrounded by beautifully manicured rose bushes, Hydrangeas, Magnolia, Lemon, and Palm trees, and an abundance of other flowering plants and greenery.

We have eaten well here, too, and our first night included garlic and rosemary marinated steaks, fresh sweet corn, and a tomato, basil, and Mozzarella salad - all of which we finished with fresh Pescadoro strawberries with fig-infused balsamic vinegar. Day two included fresh basil and ricotta ravioli from the North Beach, and asparagus and Merlot marinara sauce, freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, and a salad of Pescadoro greens. Our dinner was complimented by a dessert of fresh figs served with a Point Reyes blue cheese, a Thomas Fogarty Pint Noir, and the warm and animated conversation that I believe fills this yard on a regular basis.

The woody lay quiet yesterday, resting up for her trip back. She is packed and awaiting word of her pick-up, and while our trusty Garmin show 4,819 miles, there have been some local trips without record, and a stint in Utah where a blown fuse put Garmin out of service for 30 miles or so. Over hill and dale, mountain and valley, straightaway or curve, she has performed well. We chewed through a fan belt at 2,200 miles or so, in Texas, without issue, and but for a few blown fuses (the result of an unknown-but-corrected short circuit), but the woody has been otherwise well. We did have a boil-over or two in the mountains, but these occurred on the lesser peaks and were more the result of operator inexperience than the fault of the vehicle or terrain. She's had a few grunts and groans, but she is well, and well-travelled.

As am I. I told a friend who asked about me being on the road that the trip has been 'just right.' Redwood City, Clare's hospitality, and the warmth of her charming home has been an excellent dessert for this trip.