I went to Tilden Park in Berkeley. Currently finishing something up, and need to be doing some crucial work today, so no visits on the 31st and this blog will be updated later. It was fun at Tilden, so wait up!

Srihari

Have you had days when you thought, it was all going to be normal and suddenly everything changed, and you were having one of your life's most exciting adventures?

Well, today was my day. I decided I must do something, so I went to my favorite hikes website and tried picking out something. I finally found a trail on Stevens Creek, one of my favorite destinations. I had been planning to visit the reservoir anyway. So, I was going to hike, or so I thought.

By the time I got to the reservoir, it was a let down. Don't be misled, while in India, I have been to so many exotic reservoirs, this one just seemed too common place. But I still wanted to explore and kept driving. It was nice and windy, a very easy but interesting drive (definitely bike there). I went all the way to the end of the Stevens Canyon Road, till I hit up a fire road with no public access and turned back.

On the way up I had noticed a road called "Mt. Eden Road". Usually, roads with such names are cool, but this one is "fair". However, you get to see some farms with great horse barns.

Anyway driving up Mt. Eden gets you to CA 9. I had been there before, only a short distance and wanted to know what lie ahead. What a cool decision to make! CA 9 down south takes you all the way to Santa Cruz, and you hit up CA 35, CA 236 leading you here and there including Castle Rock and Big Basin.

The route is awesome, initially studded with wineries, and then with redwood forests. Eventually you hit up CA 1 on Santa Cruz. There are not many vista points, but the drive itself is amazing and quite picturesque. There is one vista point earlier on, overlooking a large valley, with amazing views. Its a day use area. Do stop over and take some photos.

Then I started up North from Santa Cruz on CA 1. I truly believe its one of the sexiest drives on the planet. Except for one person who was trying to be sophisticated, everyone who has been there with me, was taken aback in awe at the drive.

As the sun goes down, this gets so sexy. The sky throws itself into a million hues and the clouds want a part of the fun too. The last time I drove so late in the evening/night, I fell victim to a barrage of fog and had been avoiding this drive in the evenings. What a mistake!

You must drive in the evenings, but sometimes be careful, there might be too much fog for your liking. I stopped off at Davenport for some exotic Latte at a bar and moved on. I originally planned to take 35/92 back to the Bay Area to avoid the fog, but I wanted to explore CA 1 up North to look at the changing tones of night.

It was amazing. I stopped off at Half Moon Bay for my Personal Skinny Crust Guinevere's Garden Delight at Round Table Pizza. Loaded with this, I was able to drive all the way up and enjoy the drive across the ocean lined CA 1.

I definitely recommend this ride for anyone who wants a whole bunch of "Zen" moments. I had mine!

So, I thought, let's see what's in store and I started my day. First I had to pick something up from Portola Valley. This is a lovely, rustic wooded hilly town that lies next to Palo Alto and Woodside. Driving up and down is fun, and quite scenic.

I was back on 280, headed of course for the city - San Francisco! 280 up North is always fun and exotic. 280 has now become home, especially since I live just off of it in Sunnyvale. Anyway, I headed off to Union Street in SF.

Now, if you go all the way to the top of the Union Street and then go down a short distance, you will hit a few residences. Try parking somewhere and get out your camera. Believe me, you will be snapping away at great views of the Bay Bridge and the Piers and Fisherman's Wharf areas.

I went there for a meeting to one of the most exotic and intriguing private gardens for a meeting. After snapping away a couple of good shots, I drove onto Van Ness, the heartline of American traffic. I picked up my friend from there and we drove down to Fort Mason (http://www.fortmason.org/index.shtml" title="http://www.fortmason.org/index.shtml" target="_blank"http://www.fortmason.org/inde...)

We parked there and walked off into Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. I love this place, have been there a million times, but everytime it only gets better. Anyway, I fired away with my cameras and I spent an amazing day. It was so cool, 315 miles of cool, zapping fun!

Okay, so extreme poverty kept me from traveling all this while. Rather, I was having fun locally. I haven't traveled much in all these years in the US, and that is about to change. Now, don't misunderstand or underestimate how much I have traveled in the Bay Area itself. As I blog this, I have done about 56,500 miles in all, and about a 1000 - 2000 miles were outside the Bay Area!

So, if you are ever here, and want to know where to go, what to see, what to avoid, you know where to knock! For some reasons, I cannot and do not plan to travel outside the Bay Area till about the end of July or so. Till then, its got to be the Bay Area. This time, however, I am going to explore! And present a few interesting stories of what I see...