Days 18 and 19: Silicon Valley

I've been lucky enough to have traveled to San Francisco a few times recently, so I've done a lot of the touristy stuff - I've seen the Giants and A's play. I've gone to Fisherman's Wharf, and the Arcade Museum, seen the rolling hills, etc. This time around, I wanted to make it a little different - a true geek's trip to Silicon Valley. Luckily there was plenty of geekdom to go around...

First stop, the Golden Gate Bridge. There is nothing geeky about this, but it is an amazing view. You don't realize how large it is, how orange it is, or how fast cars are moving across it until you walk underneath it. There are great parks on either side that you can walk around and get some good pictures while fighting for position with all the other tourists. Best of all - it's free (minus the $5 toll to go across). Definitely worth the trip.

Next Stop - Peet's Coffee. I'd heard how good the coffee was, and that the prices were a bit more friendly to the change purse. It wasn't until I tried the Dark Chocolate Mocha Freddo that I was in love. The flavor is better. The consistency was more thorough. The people were nicer (if you can believe that) and the internet more free. It was amazing. I went back twice more in the 24 hours since my first visit and was even more impressed each time. I haven't blinked since. This is one of Northern California's hidden gems.

Round 3 - Baseball Indulgence. My friends Dwight and Carol (I hope that they are willing to admit that at least) were nice enough to offer up their spare bedroom. In exchange, I offered my charming company and rugged good looks for their enjoyment, but made them promise no touching. Luckily, they agreed, and we had a grand old time. Outside of some of my family members, I don't know if there is a better couple to watch Baseball Tonight with. Dwight just knows it all - how to play the game, how to watch the game, how to pick up on the little things - it is a great time.

And for any little thing that Dwight might miss, Carol jumps right in to help out. Outside of Boston, there aren't many people that can appreciate Jason Bay going from first to third on a single, but she can - and she can explain why that makes him an upgrade over Manny.

Ready for some hardcore Geekdom??? During this two day span, I took the opportunity to do a little sight seeing off the beaten path. First I hit up the Google and Apple HQs. Not surprisingly, they don't offer tours (there isn't much that is exciting about watching programmers do their thing), but in between I found a gem of unexplainable magnitudes. Of course, I'm talking about the Computer History Museum.

I don't know where to start. There were pictures of Hewlett and Packard. Woz and Jobs. Fred Brooks as a young man. There was an original wooden mouse, gadgets galore, a handful of original Crays, and to top it all off an exhibit of chess simulators and games. Seriously - when I used to get yelled at when I was young, it was not for having nudie magazines, but for having wrinkled, dog-eared tech manuals. Ok, not really, but I am that geeky.


Know what we're missing? A Trailer Park Boys Reference! If you aren't familiar with the Trailer Park Boys and you've ever lived in, on, under or around a trailer, you need to be. The show is genius. Now imagine my delight when I saw a town named Sunnyvale only a few miles south of San Mateo. I was shocked. I was awed. I might have soiled myself a little. Needless to say, I went straight to the courthouse. No Ricky, Bubbles, Julian or Randy, but the picture is priceless in certain circles.


Just one more thing - APBA!!! The whole point of my stop in San Francisco (other than seeing my friends) was to play APBA against those very same friends. There is no doubt that I will dedicate an entire post to this genius of a game, but suffice it to say that it is roughly a mixture of Dungeons and Dragons and Fantasy Baseball. After an 8 game split with Dwight I learned several secrets to managing a winning team. Hopefully I can take his knowledge to aid in my future NVABL domination.

Finally, a couple random notes:

• How awesome is it that Apple's HQ is on a road called "Infinite Loop"? VERY
• I actually told a female about APBA and she didn't scoff. She might just be trying to be nice, but that is the first time it's ever happened.
• Google has a cool parking garage where certain hybrid owners can actually plug in their cars to charge. Pretty neat.
• They also have a service where you can get your oil changed in the parking lot while you work. Right on Daddy-O.
• Finally, I have a handful of confirmed stalkers that actually enjoy the blog. I'm really sorry to disappoint all of you, but I'm a lot cooler in the blog-o-sphere than I am in real life. Prepare for the let down of a life time if you ever meet me - just try not to cry in front of me because then I'll feel bad...
• (One more small thing - I jest. If you read a sentence I've written and think "Awww...that's sad", then you need to improve your reading comprehension. I enjoy self deprecating humor, so that's how I write. Trust me - I'm really a cocky bastard in real life. Or maybe I'm just crying out for attention...)
  

Next stop...The Grand Canyon.

Day 17: Driving Down the 101 (Part 2)

I started writing this vacation blog for 3 reasons:

1. Reading past travel journals is always fun for me.
2. It helps in retelling the same story over and over.
3. My memory for relevant events (such as the answer to the question of "What did you do for 30 days?") is nearly non existent.

After reading the original post for this day, the third reason above was plainly obvious. Not only was it short and very boring, but it missed nearly every event that went on during the day:

Cliff Climbing in the Morning

Now, I don't want to make this sound like I was solo climbing shear vertical surfaces. These were simply some sandy cliffs that were on the edge of the beach, but they were sandy and steep enough to give me a good hour long workout. Climbing is always a blast because it gives me a reason to travel on all fours like my primitive cousins. Also, most people are too lazy to climb, so I don't have to listen to the other idiot tourists debate the quality of Wendy's over McDonald's while I try to relax.

More Massive Trees

These redwoods are huge. Luckily, every town has a salesman that is trying to attract tourists, so there are places to stop where you can drive through a tree, see a full house made of a tree, eat next to a tree, or set a tree on fire. I only got to experience one of these, with somewhat unappealing results...

Being a Good Samaritan Doesn't Always Pay

There are some things in life you just don't see very often, but when you do, you know something is wrong. Sometimes it is a person with a blue face or a car turned upside down. I never even considered this sight though: Stoners running as fast as their legs would take them with no frisbees to be seen floating through the air. The reason became clear almost immediately: There was a redwood tree stump on fire and their stuff was very near by.

Being the good, upstanding guy that I am (and still a little bitter from the fires that canceled my trip to Yosemite) I decided to stop and try to dump a few bottles worth of water on the flames. After a minute or two of pouring and refilling in a nearby brook, firefighters showed up to save the day and sent us all on our way. Luckily, karma decided to give me a good kick in the crotch while I was trying (poorly, mind you) to be a hero. Another good Samaritan decided that he should park next to my car. Unfortunately, his definition of "next to" was "where the Saab's bumper used to be before he hit it".

What can I say - if this is the worst auto trouble I have this trip, I am a lucky man. No one was hurt, the damage was minor, and the forest is not on fire. I really can't ask for much more.

Finding a Campground

Up until this point, finding a campground has been pretty easy. I've been sleeping hundreds of miles away from anything remotely resembling civilization, so I've had my choice of places to set up my blue floral tent (thanks for that one mom - the girls really dig it). Unfortunately once you get near San Francisco, the campgrounds become more sparse and a little more work is required. One little hint though - always check for campgrounds in the town 10 miles away before you try to drive 2 hours out of the way. Usually you just waste two hours of your life (as I did) although the driving is beautiful.

Ultimately I ended up using GOOG-411 to find the Cloverdale, CA KOA. It was a bit more expensive, but I did get a powered site with running water, free internet and an attendant that gave me a tour of the place on a golf cart in the middle of the night. Don't think that going over a 3 foot drop that you don't see in one of those babies isn't a good time.

So despite a car accident and a two hour detour, it was a nice, relaxing day of driving.


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Up next - Silicon Valley (think processors, not implants)

Day 16: Driving Down the 101 (Part 1)

Throughout my recent travels I've started to become a bit of a campground aficionado. Just by hearing the name of the place or seeing a highway sign, I can usually tell if it's worth stopping or not. For example, anything with "RV Park" in the title is a trailer park that has a few extra spots open. Family campgrounds (or "Kampgrounds" - which target either Germans or poorly educated schoolchildren) usually have a pool and arcade. State parks often have pay showers and limited amenities, but are very well maintained.

During these travels I've also noticed that the setting of the sun brings an onslaught of slightly disturbing sounds. These sounds are very distinctive and fall into a couple buckets:

• The fighting couple (as previously seen on COPS)
  
• The drunk 20 something cross country bicyclists
  
• The drunk 50 somethings celebrating the one week each year when they stay up after 9pm
  
• Kids - crying, screaming, making gun sounds, teasing, etc
  
• The over amorous couple

Now, most of those I can tolerate and drown out with my iPod. The over amorous couple is probably the most disturbing since I usually know what they look like, and such hideous beasts should never be allowed to take part in activities that may result in even uglier offspring (except for myself of course).

Luckily, the Emerald Forest campground had four of the five groups and provided the added benefit of situating them in sites immediately adjacent to mine. This resulted in a real life Venn diagram centered around my campsite. Luckily, with a WiFi connection, YouTube and headphones I was able to get to coax myself to sleep.

Up until this point, the day was much better than the combination of screaming children, drunken foreigners and mating mutants (reminding me that, yes, I am still very single) to which I fell asleep.

After a long, dark drive through the hills of Oregon the previous evening, I had ended up at Honeyman State Park, which is in an area known for its' sand dunes. Most people attack these dunes with four wheelers or dirt bike, but I decided to take to the sand by foot. A word of warning - this is probably the most intense workout I've ever had. For every foot and a half that you step forward you slide back a foot and into the sand another 6 inches. This path took me over 20 minutes to create, but only about 30 seconds to go down the other side of the hill.




Of course, such effort usually leads to a great reward. The image of trees springing from the dunes leads to a combination of awe and confusion that images can't capture (but I'll try to show you anyway).

This inspired me to get artsy and stage some candid photos, which I've titled "Contemplation in Yellow". This is part of my "Chad is a Tool" line which will be available at finer drug and convenience stores everywhere in time for Christmas.


After washing the sand from my mouth, hair, shoes, crevices, etc, I hopped in my car for a quick 11 hour drive to Yosemite. Unfortunately, the wildfires there have intensified, and I make it a point not to visit places where there is a decent chance of burning to death. Instead, I altered my course for a rambling 2 day drive down the historic route 101. This is a hair pinned path down the California coast that dwarfs you by redwoods on one side while allowing you to see the ocean 500 feet below you on the other.

Overall - a nice, relaxed day of driving, stopping and picture taking.

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I'm bummed that I missed Yosemite and the hiking that it offers, but Redwood National Park was a great drive with amazing views. Luckily there were plenty of cozy places to pull over and contemplate the day...


Next - Route 101 - Day 2