Deja vu in Los Gatos

Saturday 30th November

We were all late getting up today despite yet another day of perfect fall weather.  The plan was to revisit the Los Gatos cafe for brunch.  We seem to have run out of exploring energy and instead are enjoying returning to favourite haunts during the last few days of our holiday.

Once again we had decided to cycle and meet Sherry and Rich there so we got the bikes out of the car and Martin put them back together for (hopefully) the last time.  We set off wearing far too many layers - just can't shake off that English expectation of being too cold - and were soon sweltering in nearly 70 degrees of sunshine.  We are so going to suffer when we get back to England.  We followed a slightly different route than on our previous expedition and eventually after about 7 miles of busy roads, interminable red lights and traffic we got to the Los Gatos Creek bike path and the enjoyable part of the ride.  This time we didn't make the mistake of exiting the bike path too soon but followed it through the Vasona Lake Country Park arriving at the cafe at exactly the pre arranged time of 11.45am having cycled 15 very warm miles.

We got our name on the list and then waited for Sherry and Rich to arrive and thankfully cooled down a bit. As expected it was bustling but the time passed quickly until our table was ready. The food was as usual plentiful and delicious and the company great - although slightly tinged with sadness that time is running out. After 7 weeks of diligent practice putting away American portions I failed again and had to get a "to go" box for the remains of my crab and avocado souffle omelette.  I was absolutely stuffed....

We strolled around doing some window shopping and enjoying the sunshine and also went to Sherry's bank where we were able to arrange to pay my marathon prize cheque (minus the portion that the IRS have incorrectly claimed!) into her account and draw cash.  I felt decidedly nervous walking round with a large sum of money and kept checking that my purse was in my pocket even though it was zipped and impossible for it to fall out.  Pleasant as it was in lovely Los Gatos we were conscious that it was already after 2pm and we had a 90 minute cycle ride ahead of us and no lights so we left Sherry and Rich to do a bit more shopping and headed back to the bikes.

It was lovely cycling back along the trails passing through the parks but I really wasn't looking forward to the road section at the end.  However it seemed much shorter on the way back. We again went a slightly different route and although the distance was the same it took us 20 minutes less. This was odd but we put it down to using more local streets and therefore minimising the time we spent waiting at red lights.

We were back at Erica Court before Sherry and Rich and fortunately we had left the slack line in their car...as Martin was really keen to go back out to the park and set it up.....whilst all I wanted to do was have a shower, a cup of coffee and a rest. We had after all cycled just over 30 miles.  I must admit that I gave into the temptation of a little snooze and the next thing I knew Martin was waking me up to tell me that we were going out for dinner.

After brunch I was so full that I couldn't imagine eating anything else for a week but by 7pm I was (predictably!) feeling quite hungry again which was just as well since Rich had arranged a special treat for us - a visit to Buca di Beppo. Of all the excellent restaurants we have been to this really was the ultimate experience. It's a big bustling Italian restaurant and they have one table which is in an alcove in the kitchen so you get to interact with the staff and watch all the food being prepared and put out ready to serve.  Apart from the unusual setting and lovely staff, the food is brilliant. They serve it in large dishes to share so we chose three dishes between us: Apple Gorgonzola Salad; Salmon Sorrento and Cheese Manicotti and each one was better than the last.  In addition we got to see a lot of other dishes being put out ready for the waiting staff and even as vegetarians we were impressed by the meatballs which were the size of small footballs!

It was a great evening and we are so lucky to have friends with such a good knowledge of all the best restaurants in the area and who enjoy sharing the experience of visiting them with such gusto.  We have been so spoiled and I am going to be on a strict diet for months to come in order to counteract all these special treats!

Black Friday

Friday 29th November

Today is the day that Americans head to the shops for I suppose the equivalent of New Year's Day Sales in England.  Having watched the news the night before and seen the gun fights and other violence that flares up over parking spaces, queue jumping and that extra special bargain.......we decided to steer very clear.

Instead we headed over to the northern end of Almaden Quicksilver County park for a leisurely stroll.  We have hit a spell of exceptionally nice weather for our last few days in California so even though it's less than a month until Christmas it was still comfortable to be walking in t shirts and shorts.  If anything it's even nicer now because the trees have their lovely autumn colours which look spectacular against the blue skies and in the golden sunshine.

Martin was suffering from a slight injury, his toe had been in an altercation with a rock at the beach on Tuesday so he was finding walking a little painful.  I was still feeling stuffed up and peaky with the virus which will not go away and we were both feeling a bit lazy after a very long day yesterday so we took it fairly easy. We enjoyed exploring this end of the park, which we had not been to beforehand but were surprised and a little disappointed that there were so many other people with the same idea. We had assumed that they would all be murdering each other at the mall but apparently not.......

After a couple of miles we found the perfect place to stop and put up the slack line - a picnic bench just off the path beside a shaded stream.  We had been there for about half an hour enjoying the peace and tranquility when a really annoying American family descended on us, sat down at the picnic table despite the fact that we had our stuff on it and I was actually sitting at one end and carried on a loud conversation with their two irritating little girls who were jumping around in the stream.  Then another three people showed up and joined them.....We took one look at each other, stuffed the slack line back in the ruck sack and exited stage left as quickly as possible.

A little further up this lovely wooded valley we came to the Guadalupe reservoir which is looking very sad with extremely low water levels. We continued along the Guadalupe Trail until it joined the Mine Hill Trail just short of where we had run the previous weekend and then looped back on ourselves until we reached the trail head and retraced our steps to the car.  This was our third and last visit to this lovely park for this trip and it remains my favourite place in the San Jose area. I'm already looking forward to returning next visit.

An exciting drive followed - only 17 miles worth of petrol left in the car apparently - but we made it to a gas station.  I guess if we had run out at least we still had the bikes in the back.........Next stop the Almaden Whole Foods for one last visit to the salad bar and then off to the Almaden Lake park for a picnic and more slack lining.  The first place we set up was not good so we walked around the very lovely lake and found absolutely the best place on the far side of the park.  I have found the last few sessions very frustrating and was losing my enthusiasm....but this time I suddenly got my balance back and it was much better.  It's one of those totally pointless things that you just have to keep doing and the parks in California are brilliant because they're so large, there are so many trees and nobody takes any notice. I can't imagine, for example, setting it up in the Borough Gardens in Dorchester......

We completed our circuit of the lake to get back to the car and both agreed that this is our favourite "town" park, definitely nicer than Hellyer although it is a bit further away from Erica Court.  I decided that I needed some more driving practice after a couple of days off and bravely took the wheel to negotiate the Saturday traffic and two freeways........I still find some of the junctions rather mystifying but I'm much more confident now.  It doesn't help when I ask for directions and the navigator says things like "keep straight here....or you could turn right if you want to......."

Back at Erica Court we caught up with Sherry and Rich who were debating what we should do with our evening and what/where to eat. Fortunately the final decision was to stay in and eat Thanksgiving left overs, not only because they were delicious but also because we really just wanted to relax and get an early night. It's so tiring being on holiday.......

Thanksgiving Thursday and the Turkey Trot

Thursday 28th November

Our Thanksgiving started very early as we left the house at 7am headed for Hellyer Park and the Turkey Trot Half Marathon.  Unfortunately the virus I picked up at the weekend had not gone away as hoped, the sore throat had returned overnight on Tuesday and I was feeling pretty wiped out, so I did the sensible thing........and raced anyway.

It was a lovely sunny morning, just a bit on the cool side that early in the morning.  First stop was finding the closest free parking (we could then feel smug watching the less savvy locals circling the $6 a day car park desperately seeking a space to park) and then walking over to the number pick up.  We got there just in time to hear the announcement that due to a power cut all the toilets in the park were closed because the flushes need electric to work.......400 plus nervous runners and no toilets, every race organisers worst nightmare! Fortunately our route back to the car to drop off our excess clothing passed through another part of the park where there were a couple of porta loos......which we found ahead of the other 398 people who all appeared to be queuing for them a bit later on.

We were expecting the race start to be delayed due to the toilet dilemma but it was actually very prompt. The half marathon and 10k started together with the 5k starting 10 minutes later.  So at 8am sharp we were off on the mile loop of the lake before heading out on the Coyote Creek Trail for the rest of the course which was a straightforward out and back. We weren't sure what the standard was going to be as this is only the second year the race has been held but our suspicion that it would not be a very high proved correct.

I had set my watch for 6.50 pace which is slower than my normal half marathon pace but I was being realistic about the sort of shape I'm in after 6 weeks of no regular training, too much food and alcohol and on top of that a virus.  The usual race start adrenalin rush made it feel easy for the first mile but unfortunately it didn't last long and it soon started to feel like hard work.  After 4 miles I really just wanted to stop and lie down at the side of the trail but since that wasn't an option I gritted my teeth and resigned myself to another hour at least of feeling horrible!  It was made slightly harder by not feeling like a race, after the initial jockeying for places, I could see one person ahead of me on the straight parts of the trail but otherwise I could have been out for a morning run on my own.

At least I knew I was ahead of all the other female competition and the going was fairly easy.  There were a few undulations, the odd dip in the path and bridge crossing but on the whole it was a flat course and I was just about managing to hang on to the pace target.  As I neared the turn around point I started to meet the leaders coming back and starting counting to see how Martin was doing.  It was fantastic to see him neck and neck with another runner in joint third place and looking comfortable.  The turn around was just across a foot bridge over the creek and I was 8th at that stage.  I had meant to take note of the time to see how far ahead I was of the next female when I passed her on the way back....but naturally I completely forgot!

There were about 3 or 4 women fairly close together and I spent the rest of the race expecting one of them to catch me up.  I pushed really hard to try and stay on the pace and I managed it until the 9 mile mark but after that I gradually dropped off and found myself working harder to run slower! Towards the end I started to pass the back markers in the 10k race, mostly walking and I knew how they felt!  I had risked a couple of nervous glances over my shoulder and knew that there was one other runner behind me - male - and as I reached the point where the path split and headed back past the lake to the finish he overtook me dropping me down into 9th place.  Martin was waiting here too and said that I was second lady which gave me a bit of a jolt, I knew I was first unless someone had cheated..........but I tried to put it out of my head because I could see the clock ahead and I still had a chance to get across that line under 1.30.  Somehow I managed to find an injection of speed from somewhere and just made it....1.29.59!!  My worst half marathon time since 2009....


Martin had done really well and finished in 3rd place overall and a great time of 1.25.39 which he later found was a PB for him.......by 1 second!  I was a bit worried by him thinking that I was second - he said that another girl with a half marathon number on had passed him whilst he was waiting for me. However, an announcement that the male course record had been broken was followed by another one saying that I had won and broken the course record by 5 minutes....so all was not lost.  Fortunately they were handing out the winners medals as the runners finished so we didn't have to wait around for a presentation and in all honesty all I wanted to do was go home and lie in a darkened room for several days........




........So we went home and after a quick shower and coffee I spent the next 6 hours in the kitchen helping Sherry cook Thanksgiving Dinner for 12!  At 3.30 guests began arriving, all bearing platters of food and eventually all was ready and we sat down to a gigantic feast.  It was really bad timing that I just wasn't able to do it justice although I did my best and I think Martin may have made up for me to some extent.  The evening was also marred slightly by Sherry having a spell of feeling unwell and having to go and lie down for a while but fortunately she rallied and the evening ended on a high.

After everyone had left it was back to the kitchen for more washing up duty and then we relaxed and chatted for a while before staggering off to bed.  It had been a long day.

Slobbing in San Jose

Wednesday 27th November

So this is going to be the briefest blog of the holiday.........neither Sherry or Rich were working so we spent some time with them and helped out with the big pre Thanksgiving Day shop.  Apart from that we stayed off our feet as much as possible and caught up with some mundane stuff like laundry.

A quiet night in, sensible pasta dinner and early night.

The only thing that was remarkable about today was that Martin didn't take a single photograph....so here's one from earlier in our stay of the lovely haven that is Erica Court......

Morro Bay en route to San Jose

Tuesday 26th November

We checked out of the very pleasant Day's Inn at Buellton and headed north up the 101 towards San Luis Obispo where we stopped for a break and coffee.  We had planned to pick up some food for lunch but we'd both got such good value out of the free breakfast at the motel that we decided we really didn't need anything else for a few hours.  After all this American over indulgence it's going to be really hard getting back to "normal" food.

Next stop was Morro Bay where we parked up north of the bay and walked out onto the beach.  And what an amazing beach it is!  This is a place that has been added to our ever growing list of places that we need to re-visit when we have more time. It wouldn't be your first choice for a relaxing day at the beach, it's far too big and windswept but for a run it would be absolutely perfect - miles and miles of firm sand stretching as far as the eye could see.  We walked south towards Morro Rock where the beach was more populated (due to it's proximity to the main car park) and where there were a lot of surfers and kayak surfers - all snugly encased in wet suits.  We felt not the slightest temptation to brave the surf today!

We strolled round the rock as far as we could go and climbed onto the rocks - past the sign which said "Danger - do not climb on the rocks".  The rock is connected to mainland by a causeway and stands sentinel at the mouth of the bay itself.  This is a really strange place - the town is clearly visible from this point sitting on the edge of what is effectively a lagoon separated from the sea by a large spit and really very attractive.  However, in the foreground is a huge industrial building with three gigantic towers which totally dominates and spoils the landscape. Why?  I just don't understand how or why it is there. The town's website describes it as being the "picture perfect getaway" - all photos carefully angled to avoid showing this monstrosity.

Our walk was about 4 miles out and back - I think it was probably as far again to the south end of the beach.  We have to come back here when we need to do a fast, flat training run.  There is also a state park at the south side of the bay which it would be good to explore.  We decided that, as we had no time restrictions, we would take the scenic route up Highway 1 and made a brief stop at San Simeon where Martin strung the slack line up for a while.  I wasn't feeling energetic enough to have a go and it wasn't a very good location so we soon moved on.

Last time we drove up this route was exactly 6 weeks ago to the day and we were too stressed to enjoy it as we raced to get to the Big Sur campsite before it got dark.  This time we were able to relax, take our time and enjoy the stunning scenery.  Consequently we made a lot of stops at vista points including one place just past San Simeon where we were rewarded with the sight of a beach-full of elephant seals basking in the afternoon sunshine. These were young males - apparently the adult males and breeding females don't arrive until December/January.  It would be interesting to see them because even the youngsters were massive!

Despite our gargantuan breakfast we were starting to feel a bit hungry by now so once we got to Big Sur we stopped at the deli to pick up some coffee and a snack.  Big Sur is definitely another area that we need to visit again, so many hiking opportunities and state beaches which need to be explored. A little further up the coast we stopped at a pull off and found a path which led down to the rocky shore where we sat in total solitude and watched the sun go down.  Even though there was a fair amount of cloud the sunset was absolutely amazing and we were also rewarded with the sight of a whale cutting through the surf.

Unfortunately our lingering along the coast meant that we hit the rush hour traffic at Monterrey and it took us quite a while to get back to San Jose.  As it was getting late we stopped off at the Almaden Whole Foods to pick up some salad for supper.  When we got back to Erica Court both Sherry and Rich were out so we were able to sort out all our rubbish and eat before they got back and then spend some time catching up.

It really feels like our adventure is coming to an end now, no more travelling, we will be spending the rest of our stay with Sherry and Rich and experiencing (for me) a first American Thanksgiving before heading for home.

Relaxing at Refugio

Monday 25th November

We finally cracked it! A lovely motel and peace and quiet throughout the night.  Apart from a rotten sore throat....perfect.

After a very civilised free breakfast we drove down 101 to the coast and parked at Refugio State beach. By the time we got there the temperature was up to the high 60's and the sky was beautiful Californian blue. This is a really lovely beach with sea like a mill pond, far reaching golden sand and palm trees along the shoreline. Apart from looking very attractive the palm trees made a very convenient slack lining location!

We spent an hour or so wasting our time on this pointless pastime.  It was harder today because the trees were further apart and this meant that the middle of the line had more wobble.  For some reason my balance on my left foot is much better than the right so I practised until I could get onto the line from either side and then eventually I managed to travel the whole length of the line - 15 steps which was a huge breakthrough for me.

We had both made progress but were getting rather warm and a bit tired so we decided to quit whilst we were ahead and move onto the beach. The sea was absolutely perfect, slightly cooler than 20 miles further south at Santa Barbara but fine once you got used to it and great for swimming.  After we got out we decided we needed to move because there was a gentle breeze which made it just slightly too cool to be comfortable. We walked to the end of the beach, did a bit of rock climbing and found a lovely sheltered little cove where we settled down to relax for a few hours. It was just what I needed, my energy levels were low and I was feeling decidedly under par.  Unusually Martin also managed to stay still for a couple of hours instead of starting to fidget after about 5 minutes of sitting still!

Later on we strolled along to the opposite end of the beach and by a combination of wading and climbing got round to the next couple of coves.  We almost wished we had come to this end of the beach first because it was even nicer than the area where we had been.  This is definitely a beach to come back to again, I think it might even have supplanted Leadbetter/Hendry beaches as top of my favourite beach list.

We had another short session on the slack line before we left but my heart wasn't in it and back at the motel I also skipped the ice cold pool and headed straight for the hot tub.  Even that seemed way too much effort and the rest of the evening I spent doing absolutely nothing.  Fortunately Martin had more energy and appetite than I did so he microwaved some of our left over camping supplies and produced another Indian feast for supper.

Sunday - day of rest

Sunday 24th November

Unbelievable though it may seem we drew the short straw again.......all was quiet until about 3.30 when the all to familiar noise began upstairs, walking around, banging doors, items being dropped and voices.  I really do not understand how so many people can be so rude and thoughtless, it obviously just does not occur to them that other people may be trying to sleep through their racket.  Martin was so incensed that he went down to reception rather than call them and came back to report that they weren't very concerned.  At last we heard footsteps on the stairs - they were actually checking out (at 4am) so once again we got a few hours of sleep before morning.

Lying awake in the middle of the night I had a horrible sore throat which I hoped would be gone by morning but unfortunately it wasn't and I was feeling decidedly under par which was a shame because it was a beautiful day.  We checked out of the hotel and drove to the Daily Grind cafe which had been recommended to us.  This was a really great place, lots of outdoor seating, a pleasant, roomy interior, really good internet connection, great choice of excellent brews of coffee and tasty pastries.

Next stop was Hendry's beach which looked absolutely beautiful in the lovely sunshine and we headed along the sand towards Santa Barbara for about half a mile before finding the perfect place to stop and relax.  We spent a great morning enjoying the sunshine, twice swimming in the sea which was lovely, reading, juggling and people watching. There was a constant flow of dog walkers up and down the beach, dogs of all shapes and sizes greatly outnumbering the human population.  Very few people seem to come to the beach just to relax and there was no one in the sea except us which I absolutely don't understand, it was so lovely. Martin's theory is that Californians don't consider November to be the time of year for going to the beach (except to walk the dog) but it was hot and sunny and the sky was blue so why not? Anyway it was just exactly what I needed, I think I'm suffering from holiday burn out!

Unusually we had not thought ahead and brought food with us but by 1pm we were ready for a change of scenery anyway so we strolled back to the car and drove up to the top of Elings Park where we found a picnic bench with perfect views across to the Santa Ynez mountain range in the north and the sea to the south.  Unfortunately we had underestimated the amount of food we had left and it was also rather windy and exposed so after a hasty and rather unsatisfying snack we headed on down to Whole Foods for coffee and a treat to warm us up and keep us going.

Next stop was back to Oak Park for another session of slack lining. It's hard to explain the attraction of this activity. It's totally pointless, extremely frustrating...........but addictive. You have to have just one more go! Once again we both made some progress but I think it'll be a while before we're stringing the line up on the rocks high above Yosemite valley.........

At about 4pm we packed up for the day and I took the wheel to drive up the San Marcos Pass across the mountains towards Buellton where we had booked a motel room for the night. We arrived at about 4.45pm, just time for a very brief dip in the icy pool and a longer soak in the lovely hot tub before showering and settling into our extremely pleasant room.  In fact it was so nice and so reasonable that we decided we would probably stay there another night as the forecast was looking really good for the next couple days and there are some great sounding beaches within about 20 miles which we have yet to visit.

I was still feeling a bit unwell but we decided to go out as there was a family run pizza restaurant which had really good reviews on Trip Adviser, Antonio's Pizzas, and it was less than half a mile away so we strolled over there, had a beer and a delicious and very reasonably priced pizza which was so large that we managed to save a large portion of it for tomorrow's lunch - now that is definitely a first, I must be ill!

And then it was back to the motel hoping that the third night would prove lucky and we would not be disturbed.

Sleepless in........Santa Barbara

Saturday 23rd November

So we managed to do it again.....find the perfect motel and then have noisy neighbours.  In this case it was upstairs, stamping around, laughing and talking loudly.  Fortunately at about 11pm they went out and we enjoyed 4 and a half hours of peace and quiet until they arrived back, crashing up the stairs, banging the doors, dropping things and talking loudly at 3.30am. This only went on for 10 minutes or so and then peace again descended just long enough to lull us into a false sense of security, but at 5.15am they started having a very loud conversation which just went on and on.  Martin called reception twice but it was about an hour later before they finally shut up and we managed to get a bit of sleep.

Consequently we were late getting up and going out.  On our way we stopped at reception to see if the noisy pair were staying another night in which case we were going to insist on a change of room.  The manager assured us they were checking out and that any untoward noise is not tolerated after 10pm!!  I wish he had told them the same thing!

We drove down and parked near Stearn's Pier to do a short, fast run on the flat cycle/walking path along the shore.  We did a mile out and back warm up towards Leadbetter beach and then a mile out and back in the other direction at 6.30 pace.....which felt really hard.  After that we jogged out to the end of the pier and back to cool down.  It was quite a nice morning but it looked much less cloudy further west so we decided to head for Goleta and check out the beach there.

A mandatory stop for coffee and provisions delayed us slightly as did some navigational challenges but we eventually arrived, parked and set off along the beach.  Goleta is not as attractive as either Hendry or Leadbetter but it was not really quite nice enough for lounging on the beach anyway so we set off to walk towards Hendry and find somewhere we could have lunch. The tide was quite high so once we got to the end of Goleta beach itself quite a lot of rock climbing and scrambling ensued until we reached a sheltered and private little cove where we stopped for lunch.  The sun was still out and for a while it was lovely and after we had eaten we continued along the beach for a while hoping that there would be some way up onto the cliff but the only steps we found were clearly marked private so eventually we decided to retrace our steps.

Cloud had blown in from the north and it had got rather chilly so we were pleased to arrive back at the car. It was my turn for daily driving practice and we set off back to Santa Barbara looking for a park with trees so that we could do some slack lining. We arrived at Oak Park and after walking all the way round it came back to where we had parked and used two trees by the road.  They were perfect except for being so public; I was hoping to find somewhere a little more secluded but actually no one seemed to take any notice of us.  I think that Americans are used to a lot more bizarre behaviour than a middle aged English couple taking turns to try and balance on a line strung between trees!  Considering the very small amount of practice we've had we've both improved quite a lot, especially Martin who made it from end to end several times.  I was a bit frustrated that my own progress was slower but I can now get on the line without having to hold on, balance quite well on one or two feet and take one step before I fall off.

It's actually quite tiring on the legs so after about an hour we packed up and headed back to the hotel for a swim in the pool followed by the very necessary hot shower to defrost afterwards.  Later on we strolled a mile or so up State Street to the Flavor of India to satisfy Martin's craving for spicy food, followed by an early night to try and catch up on some of last night's sleep.

Snow in the desert!

Friday 22nd November

Several times in the night I woke thinking I could hear someone or something on the decking...but it was just the patter of rain and when we woke at 5.59am it was easy to convince ourselves that we needed to stay in bed rather than join Dave on his morning constitutional.  A couple hours later Martin woke me so that I could witness the unusual phenomenon of snow falling in the desert! It was an amazing contrast to the sunny blue sky on our arrival just 3 days earlier. This morning the temperature was about 38 degrees and it felt really cold.

We had some coffee as we packed our bags and cleared up - we had pretty much eaten every last available crumb in our usual locust like fashion and as we had been extremely reclusive over the past few days we had decided to treat ourselves to breakfast out. As it happened we knew a place nearby where you can get really good pancakes..........so having said goodbye to Dave we set off for Yucca Valley, taking a detour through Pioneertown en route to see what we had missed by not visiting yesterday.

After bottomless cups of coffee and large pancakes at the C&S Coffee Shop we were fortified for the long drive ahead and set off back up 247 to take the "scenic" route to Santa Barbara - with me driving.  It may have been slightly more scenic in nice weather but with grey skies and fairly heavy rain it was just a very long, straight road travelling through a pretty bleak landscape.  Following a slight domestic during which the navigational assistance from the passenger seat had the already rather nervous driver swerving manically from lane to lane until there was nowhere else to go, we made a rather hasty stop for gas and a change of roles. Apart from that the journey was rather uneventful until we arrived at the Motel 6 in Santa Barbara.........

When I had booked the room I had failed to notice that there was no fridge or microwave.  Apart from that the room was really small and it had a strange smell which I couldn't identify. I don't know if it was just the contrast from the lovely cabin but I really felt that I just couldn't stay there, especially as we had booked for 2 nights. Hasty internet research showed that we could get a room at the Orange Tree Inn (where we stayed in December 2011) for slightly less so we went back down to the reception and fortunately managed to negotiate a refund, then cheekily sat in the car and used the free wi fi to make the booking at the Orange Tree!

Installed in a much nicer room a short time later we decided to brave a quick swim in the "heated" outdoor pool - it was quite refreshing once you got past the shock factor and just long enough to feel like you were getting some benefit out of the swim from end to end. As we had been rather lazy and not done our usual dawn exercise we walked into town - once again striding along at 14 minute mile pace, sweeping old ladies, children and dogs on extending leads out of our way as we raced to get to the SB Brew House ahead of the end of Happy Hour!

After sharing rather too much beer, a plate of nachos, some gorgonzola dip with toasted bread and a mixed salad as a token gesture to healthiness, our walk home was considerably slower and we made a few detours including a visit to a large store where our only purpose was to use their rest room and for some reason try on silly hats (how much beer?) before stopping off to pick up a large tub of ice cream for Martin and a coffee for me. There are apparently some benefits to being back in civilization!

Boulder Garden

Thursday 21st November

Another 5.45am start saw us out on the trails to join our host Dave on his daily 4 mile hike.  The sky behind us as we headed east was spectacularly streaked with red light and being English we both heeded this as a shepherd's warning, which caused Dave some puzzlement (and probably amusement but he was far too polite/nice to express it!).

After our ridiculously early start we were happy to have a relaxing morning.  Dave had offered to take us to his friend Garth's Boulder Garden later but had some business to take care of first so we spent the morning enjoying the comfort of the cabin, breakfast again spent marveling at the number and variety of birds taking advantage of the bird bath and seed just out side our window.  Yesterday we had seen a couple of chipmunks climb up to the bird bath for a drink, today it was the turn of a plump, well fed rabbit!

The weather, as forecast, had turned cloudy and cool and during the morning it started to rain - the first rain in the area for over 6 weeks.  It was not proper "English" rain but enough to cause a bit of dampness. When Dave knocked on the door to let us know that he and Sacchi were ready to go we arranged that we would cycle over and meet them there - which caused much debate on how long it would take us to get there under pedal power. Martin's estimate was 15 minutes, Dave thought an hour!

We set off sliding and slithering down the steep hill and pretty much coming to a halt as we hit the loose sand at the bottom!  It was an interesting cycle, trying to keep the wheels in an existing tire track, avoid the deep sand, washboard, ruts and rocks and it did take us longer than Martin's estimate.  We turned off at the horse ranch onto another sandy road and started climbing steadily passing some rather strange structures on our right, then the "Magic Garden", then a school bus (which is someone's home) and finally reaching the "Cosmic Castle" - which looks like a pile of rocks but if you look closely you realise that it is actually a "home". (Travel time was 30 minutes......).

We had just paused to debate whether to go on or wait for Dave to arrive when a "window" in the rock opened and a voice greeted us from above. Introducing himself as Jason he kindly offered to show us around.  We explained that we were waiting for someone and continued a little further along the track so as not to disturb him as he was apparently meditating.  We could now see the valley below with Garth's teepee and various other structures and decided to wait here for Dave.

In the mean time Jason arrived, presumably meditation over and gave us each a hug of greeting as he introduced himself properly at ground level. The look on Martin's face was priceless!! He was just about to start us on the tour when Dave arrived so they did a sort of joint tour (Garth was not there) which was really good because Dave knew a lot of the history and background but Jason, having been living there for the last few weeks, knew the most recent developments.

It was a very interesting experience, the permaculture and self sustaining part particularly, but the spiritual, new age theme was a bit overwhelming for us.  I was fascinated by the chickens, an impressive array of varieties in a large structure with an enormous balancing rock as the roof, and the greenhouse was amazing, especially the flowering clematis growing up the outside - in the desert!! and solar powered shower. I'm not sure how much privacy a shower in a greenhouse affords but we were assured that if you wait till midday the water is quite hot!


 There are pools with fish and frogs, a small "swimming" pool carved into the rocks with adjoining sauna and tub in a small hut, vegetables growing in small patches and lots of spiritual areas like the crystal table, tree of life and drum circle. The tour finished at Garth's teepee, surprisingly large and warm inside with a small wood burner and a very large and ancient dog curled up on one of the comfy chairs.

Just as we had decided that it was time to go - Dave had errands to run in town and we were advised to go have a look at some nearby caves whilst we were there - Garth himself arrived back so we got to meet the man himself.  In truth by now I was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable, we declined his kind offer of tea and extricated ourselves (another hug from Jason!) to go and climb up to the rocks and peer into the aforementioned caves.  As we headed back to collect our bikes we could see a rainbow in the sky, a fact which caused great excitement to some other residents who had emerged from.....well, somewhere, I have no idea where.

We cycled back the 3 miles or so of sandy trails marveling at how different people can exist under different circumstances.  People come from far and wide, some like us just to look and wonder, some to live and help with the work of maintaining the place and some to free load and party. Garth apparently welcomes all and only very occasionally asks someone to move on. It felt so far removed from our own rather conventional way of life that it was hard to take in that for some of the people we had met it is a permanent and long standing way of life.

Back in Dave's cabin we enjoyed our creature comforts as we had a late lunch and a lazy afternoon. We went out again later to climb up into the rocks and circle through some amazing boulder strewn valleys.  The light had an amazing quality and it felt like being in the lost world.  We circled back around as darkness began to fall thinking we were heading in the right direction but emerged onto the dirt road about a quarter mile beyond the cabin - so easy to become disorientated when it's impossible to walk in a straight line or see past the next pile of precariously balanced giant rocks.

We had intended to go to Pappy and Harriet's, a "hipster honkytonk barbecue restaurant and music venue" in nearby Pioneertown, a town which began life as a movie set and home to movie actors filming in the desert, but such was the spell that the peace and tranquility of the cabin has woven around us that we neither of us wanted to leave it.  Instead we spent another calming and relaxing evening soaking in the hot tub, listening to music and cooking and eating our meal "at home".

A walk on the wild side

Wednesday 20th November

Despite our intention to use these precious days in the desert to relax and recover our normal energy levels.....we had again decided to use all the daylight hours at our disposal and get up as soon as it was light. Consequently the alarm was set for 5.45am, or at least mine was. Martin had somehow managed to set his for 2.45am and cheerfully told me it was time to get up.  I was a bit puzzled as to why my alarm hadn't gone off until I checked the time. What a relief not having to get up for another 4 hours!

Our host, Dave, sets off on a 4 mile hike every day at 6am and had invited us to join him. We fully intend to do so but today we needed to run so although we set off at the same time as him we went off in different directions and at a different pace. We had planned to run back down the entrance road on a fairly mundane out and back route to try and do some miles at a decent pace.  This proved rather harder than expected, it was surprisingly difficult to run on the track due to the loose sand and washboard effect.  We did manage one 6 minute mile on the way out but as soon as we turned we realised that we had been running slightly downhill! On the way back it was a real hard slog and all thoughts of speed were rapidly dismissed.  I felt really depressed at how hard I was working to run very slowly after two days of almost complete rest. It wasn't until later that I remembered that we are at an altitude of almost 5000 feet which hopefully is the reason.

We had a leisurely breakfast whilst watching the birds, chipmunks and rabbits busily snacking on the seed we had distributed just outside the window. The whole desert seemed to be teeming with life as they scuttled around.

The weather forecast had been "partially cloudy" and for cooler temperatures but as we set off the sky was a clear blue and we soon needed to shed layers. Rosie, the rescue dog, had decided to accompany us on our hike and we set off due west from the back of the cabin with no clear destination in mind. It was surprisingly difficult to walk in a straight line due to the rock filled valleys...which looked as though you should be able to wend your way through but were largely impassable causing much back tracking, scrambling and climbing. Consequently we made slow progress and it was hot!

We had brought the slack line and our main aim was to find a suitable place to set it up - again surprisingly difficult.  There were plenty of trees but none which were the right size, the right distance apart and without too many rocks or other hazards between them.  Eventually we found the perfect place, a little sand filled valley, sheltered  with some shade and two trees.  Rosie settled down for a snooze and I got some juggling practice in whilst Martin set the line up.  It was a bit like being at the beach but without the sea!  We stayed there for a couple of hours - the slack lining wasn't too successful because the trees were a bit too far apart which meant that the line was more prone to wobbling.

After a while we decided to head back in the general direction of the cabin and see if we could find a better spot.  This involved quite a lot of climbing - once you entered one of the small canyons and then discovered that you couldn't get through, it was often quite difficult to retrace your steps and find the same way back out.  Rosie patiently followed us, sometimes scampering off and disappearing for a while but always coming back to us again.  We stopped at another spot and put the slack line up again, this was better in that the trees were closer together, but there was a lot more cactus and other prickly undergrowth which meant that we had to keep our shoes on and we have both found it easier to balance with bare feet. I was feeling a bit lazy and sitting in the sun with my book seemed like a much more sensible option. The absolute beauty of it was that there was no-one else anywhere within sight or sound and the chances of actually meeting or seeing anyone else were....zero.

We arrived back at the cabin mid afternoon and sat out on the deck enjoying the sun and a cold drink.  Even though we had covered a relatively short distance it had been over quite tiring terrain and we were glad to put our feet up for a while.  Later we made coffee and took it out to the swing seat at the front of the property where I could quite happily have sat looking down the valley until the sun set.  Martin, of course, can not sit still for more than about 5 minutes at a time and insisted that we climb to the top of one of the rock cairns behind the property to watch the sun set....so off we went again with a slightly bemused Rosie trotting along behind us.

As we climbed up (and up) I was more than a bit worried about how I was going to get down again but I tried not to think about it so that we could enjoy the fabulous sight of watching the sun sink below the distance rocks. We were probably at about 5000 feet, with no sound, no sign of any habitation, just the rocks and the beautiful sky and pink tinged clouds.  Once the sun had disappeared I was anxious to descend before it got dark.  This involved quite a few false starts and it was with great relief that we finally reached the bottom.  Martin has an overly optimistic view of my climbing abilities and I have an overly pessimistic view of how easily I could break a leg, or worse!

On the way back to the cabin we stopped off at the meditation hut so that I could do my core strength exercises, my daily discipline made much easier by the spiritual surroundings, not to mention the padded flooring and view from the window to take the mind off the pain! Next stop, as darkness fell, was the hot tub and tonight we were much earlier as Martin wanted to do some star gazing before the moon came out. The sky was clear, the stars were bright, the water was lovely and hot, it really is the perfect way to relax into the evening. We could get used to living like this, it's going to be hard to leave here and go back to the standard budget motels and camping!

Paradise in the desert

Tuesday 19th November

We woke up to a dull grey sky this morning which matched our moods as we packed all the gear back into the car yet again and left Santa Clarita behind.

Today our destination was the Joshua Tree National Park or to be more accurate a VRBO (vacation rental by owner) property, which had been highly recommended to us by Nigel and Kimmen, situated about 20 miles to the north of the park.  As we headed east on 210 and contrary to the rather gloomy weather forecast, the sky brightened and the sun came out. We had not planned on stopping anywhere en route (apart from the mandatory Trader Joe visit to pick up provisions for the next few days and this we did in Redlands, a small town just north of San Bernardino National Forest, as we passed by) and we had a 2pm check in time so it was a fairly leisurely drive.

We arrived in Yucca Valley, the last habitation before our rather isolated destination, at 1pm and on impulse stopped at the C & S Coffee Shop for lunch.  Research on Trip Advisor had shown this unlikely looking cafe to have excellent reviews - it looked very ordinary from outside and I'm quite sure we would normally have passed it by without a second glance, but as we (by chance) drove right past it we did a U turn (Martin's speciality) and went in. It proved to be every bit as good as the reviews claimed and we had coffee and the best pancakes ever (a very healthy lunch option........).

Martin decided that it was my turn to drive now and it was the perfect place - lanes and junctions to cope with but not too much traffic.  I'm finally getting used to the fact that I have the majority of the car on my right hand side!!  We turned off on 247 heading north and were soon on Pipes Canyon Road which was the last paved road before we turned off onto the first of the dirt roads we had to negotiate to reach our destination. It was a bit like driving on ice as we skidded back and forth in deep sand, then juddered over the wash board and finally steered cautiously round some large rocks and pot holes before a steep climb up to our home for the next three days.  I was a nervous wreck by this time (every sentence Martin had uttered since we left the tarmac behind had started with "whatever you do don't........") and under no circumstances am I driving the car back down that same stretch.....

We were greeted by Sachi, a former Burmese monk and wife of Dave, who has owned the property since 1998, and their three cute dogs.  It took us a while to unpack and sort ourselves out and we were already feeling the tranquility and peace seeping over us as we explored this unique place.  Firstly the accommodation itself is lovely, very tastefully furnished and well equipped but the best thing is the 16 foot sliding window out onto a deck looking out onto.....nothing.  Just boulders, cactus, Joshua trees, sky and wild life. No neighbours, no roads, absolutely nothing.  I really can't write a description that does it justice and none of the photos that we have taken so far do so either.

We strolled around checking out all the angles and lovely places to sit - there is even an octagonal yoga/meditation "hut" about 100 yards away, invisible from the main building with an easy to miss entrance reached by sliding through some rocks - again beautifully furnished and completely private with lovely views from each of it's windows. The perfect place for me to do my daily core strength exercises!

The past 5 weeks of travelling long distances, packing and unpacking, staying somewhere different almost every night and doing daily hard exercise has left us feeling exhausted and we really need a few days to relax and recharge our batteries.  This is the perfect place to do just that.

All that remained for us to do was .............nothing.   We had brought plenty of food with us but the kitchen was really well stocked so we decided to save our supplies in case of future hunger and use one of the pizzas thoughtfully provided as an easy option. Coupled with a huge and healthy spinach salad and washed down with a shared Hanger 24 orange wheat beer it was delicious.  There was a huge selection of music to chose from, DVD's to watch and absolutely the best thing of all......half an hour soaking in the hot tub after dark. Unfortunately there was a full moon and a lot of cloud which meant that there were very few stars to watch but it was still the perfect end to the day.

Rowing in Santa Clarita - no boats involved!

Monday 18th November

We had decided to make an early start today and consequently left Erica Court just after 6am having said our goodbyes to Sherry and Rich the previous evening.  Our destination today was an overnight stop in Santa Clarita on our way to the Joshua Tree National park and our aim was to arrive in time to find somewhere to do a short hike before dark.

The drive was initially a repeat of a fortnight ago as we headed down 101 to Gilroy and then across the the I5 which we followed way down past the Bakersfield junction  - where we had turned east on our last expedition.  It was just getting light as we set off and the sky was cloudy and overcast looking depressingly like England for a while. However as the sun rose the blue skies which we have come to expect gradually appeared and the temperature rose. After a couple of hours we stopped for gas and I took over the driving - something I have not done very much of on this trip.  It was fairly easy going as we got back onto 5 and I felt my confidence growing.  As we neared Santa Clarita we debated the options and as usual decided that what we needed was a Starbucks with free wi fi so that we could do some internet research.  We stopped in Castaic with half an idea that it might be worth going to the lake but then found that there were a lot of trails around Santa Clarita itself many of which looked interesting.

Destination decided and lunch sandwiches bought at a handy Ralph's it was back in the car and that was when the day took a downturn.......we finally found our destination - Whitney Canyon Open Space - after a few false trails and immediately had a bad feeling about it.

Nothing much more to say about the day - horrible walk, horrible row, horrible afternoon, horrible evening, horrible night. Day over.

Cycling to San Francisco

Sunday 17th November

An unusually relaxed start to the day saw us leaving Erica Court at around 10am to drive up 280 to San Francisco. This is the scenic, rural route into the west side of the city and we parked the car at Lake Merced, got the bikes out and continued under pedal power.

According to the internet there are hundreds of interconnecting bike paths and trails and I had really been looking forward to this cycle ride. We started off alongside the lake and then crossed over to the bike path which runs along the coast (the Great Highway) past the zoo, the Murphy Windmill and Ocean Beach. There was some great surf and a lot of surfers out taking advantage of it. After passing Ocean Beach we got onto a cycle path in Lincoln Park which was great until we came to a "trail closed" sign.  This involved a detour including hauling the bikes up and down steps and then cycling around various roads, all with cycle route signs apart from when you needed to turn off and then no signs to inform you of this fact!

By the time we finally arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge, which had been our objective, I was already feeling exhausted but we navigated to the west side to cycle across it (the east side has the more interesting views but is restricted to pedestrians). That said, the view from the west side across to the Marin Headlands and back to the Baker and China beaches is still pretty spectacular. It was over a mile across and I couldn't believe the volume of cyclists out on the same expedition as us. In retrospect it would have been a lot more sensible to save this particular outing for a week day. On reaching the other side we locked the bikes and descended to go under the road and up to the view point on the other side......which was also very crowded but afforded wonderful views of San Francisco, Alcatraz, Angel Island and the Oakland Bridge.

By the time we got back off the bridge we had already cycled over 15 miles and I was freezing! It was sunny but the wind up on the bridge had been very strong and I never really warmed up for the rest of the afternoon. We didn't find any of the bike trails on the way back, they were very poorly marked so we did lots of "bits" but kept finding ourselves back on the road. Our intention had been to explore the Golden Gate Park but getting there proved quite a challenge.  After stopping at a Subway to pick up a sandwich (not very imaginative considering we were in San Francisco but it was 2.30pm and we had reached the point where we needed to eat and almost anything would do) and a bit more cycling around in aimless circles we finally got into the park and found somewhere we could briefly stop and eat.

Next we headed back towards the coast to try and find an alternative route back to the car. More by luck than judgement we found ourselves on Sunset Boulevard which ran parallel to the sea all the way back to Lake Merced - where we could follow the bike path around the east side of the lake back to the car........having cycled around 27 miles I was more than grateful to get off the bike and back in the lovely warm car. The day had not exactly panned out as expected but cycling across the Bridge had in itself been an experience worth the effort.

We tried to drive back the scenic route - along Skyline Boulevard - but it really wasn't our day.  The road was closed in two places and although we managed to get off 280 and do some lovely sections through Woodside and the Portolla Valley we kept finding ourselves back on the main road and eventually gave into the inevitable and stayed on it all the way back to San Jose.

A brief stop at Erica Court to change and regroup and then we headed out again to join Sherry and Rich at a birthday party for the son of their friends, Bruce and Eileen - where we were made very welcome despite being extremely late and plied with excellent food including Sherry's chocolate stout cake.

Almaden Quicksilver revisited

Saturday 16th November

Feeling badly de caffeinated this morning and knowing that we didn't have any milk or food we decided to get up and head out for an early run stopping for breakfast en route. You would think that this would be quite a simple thing to do given the choices at our disposal..............

...........We decided to go to the up town Los Gatos cafe as the down town one is always so busy. However we both thought that the other one knew exactly where it was.........so we ended up in down town with our name on the list and a 15 minute wait (even at 9am such is the popularity of the place). It was quite amusing standing outside watching a homeless guy sneaking past and helping himself to the outside coffee - provided for waiting customers - whilst the staff had their backs turned. He successfully had 3 cups, complete with cream and sugar, whilst we were there!

Seated at table, bottomless coffee cups filled and order given, all was well......except that the table was not to Martin's liking. People kept walking past.....imagine, in a busy cafe on a Saturday morning?! Unfortunately his obvious displeasure ruined my appetite and for probably the first time ever I needed a "to go" box for virtually all of my shrimp omelette and herb potatoes......not happy.

Next stop the very lovely Almaden Quicksilver County Park, my favourite place in the San Jose area. This time we went to the Mockingbird Hill entrance and headed up the Hacienda Trail....and up and up! We turned onto the Capehorn Pass Trail (which we had followed on our previous visit when we came up the Hacienda Trail from the other direction) and then on up to the English Camp - there are remains of a variety of structures left behind after 135 years of mining activity, the English Camp was the biggest concentration and was, interestingly, established by Cornish miners in the 1860's. There were intense mercury mining operations dating back to the Gold Rush Era and the mercury mined  here was used in gold and silver mines in the Sierras to extract precious metals from the ore. The hills are apparently honeycombed with tunnels running thousands of feet, some below sea level, but all mining has long ceased and most of the tunnels have been sealed up. History apart the trails are great for running and we continued on up the Castillero Trail, which is at the "top" of the park.

Finally we had finished climbing and were able to crank up the pace a little and enjoy running some slightly undulating trails with great views to both sides. We intercepted the Mine Hill Trail and followed this in a westerly direction across the park until we could see the Guadalupe reservoir below us. At this point we started to drop steeply and then took a sharp right onto the Randol Trail to head back on the northern slopes of Mine Hill.

Unfortunately the fast downhill running coming too soon after breakfast left me feeling slightly nauseous which in turn sapped my energy and the last few miles were a bit of a struggle. The route was lovely though, a single track twisting through the trees undulating sharply up and down - I was again struck by how similar this part of the park is to Exmoor. Eventually we turned down the Buena Vista trail and followed it back down to the parking lot - 10 miles done with a couple at fairly decent pace.

I hope we get a chance to run at Almaden again before we leave because we still haven't explored all the trails and we haven't even touched the western end of the park beyond the reservoir.

On the way back we stopped by my favourite store, Trader Joe's,  to pick up some provisions and back at Erica Court we had lunch out on the front porch in the sun (we shared the rest of my breakfast which was delicious and I'm so glad I didn't stuff it all back earlier as usual!). We spent a couple of hours relaxing, reading and chatting with Sherry and Rich before the temperature started to drop a little in the late afternoon and we moved indoors.

I spent a couple of hours catching up on the time consuming business of blogging by which time Sherry had prepared yet another culinary delight and we went to bed feeling rested and ready for the next expedition.