Wrath.

Sunday, August 26th, 2017

Monterey, CA

It’s 9am and we are waking up for our first full day in Monterey. We quickly get dressed for breakfast and find an adorable café that serves us a delicious brunch. The food is wonderful, but I secretly wish that the coffee was a little bit stronger.

Eventually we pile back into the car and head over to 17-mile drive. I make an executive decision to stop at Starbucks on the way (being the driver has its perks!). When we arrive at the entrance of 17-mile drive it becomes clear that we need cash to pay an entrance fee. Ugh. Who carries cash? 

I make a u-turn and head back to the Starbucks. Sarah’s bank is close by so she hops out to go to the ATM. Once we are settled, I drive back to the park entrance. A new, longer line has formed in our absence. 

17-mile drive is a famous drive along the coast of Monterey and through Pebble Beach. The weather is super spooky and we pull over a few times to marvel at the ocean and feel the freezing cold fog on our faces. When all is said is done the drive ends up being pretty short. It’s still mid-morning, so we decide to go check out Carmel-by-the-Sea.

When we arrive the streets are filled with pedestrians. We make a quick drive through downtown and luck into an amazing parking space. The town is filled with local stores selling gifts and clothing. None of us are interested in these things, however, so we end up in a quaint cheese shop. They are giving away free samples, so we take one of each. There is also a wine tasting bar at the end. I wander over to look at the tasting menu and am immediately cornered by the owner of the store. He launches into a very long explanation about their wines and tasting procedures. I know that the longer he talks the more obligated we will be to purchase a tasting, but once he finishes, we stand our ground and refuse. We are up for wine tasting, but can only survive so many in one day.

From here, we pick a few tasting rooms to visit. We start out at Silvestri. The wine is good and the service is great. They even sell wine in a can, which they let us try. Next, we go to the Wrath tasting room, which also proves to be very good. Despite my current obsession with Steinbeck it will still take me nearly all day to realize this is a reference to Grapes of Wrath. Just as we are starting to decide to head out of town to some of the vineyards we are convinced to go check out Caraccioli Cellars, which makes high end sparkling wines. The tasting here is fun, but I have to admit that I don’t really know much about sparkling wine.

Eventually we head back to the car. I grab some snacks from the back and start the drive out to a highly recommended vineyard called Boekenoogen. We think this is a strange name, but are not deterred. When we arrive, we are all simultaneously underwhelmed by the tasting room; Sarah renames it Badonkadonk. I pick 5 wines from the tasting list and am only impressed by 1; Laura and Sarah have similar experiences. We make a unanimous decision to brave one more winery.

When we arrive at Folktale vineyards we are immediately charmed. First of all, there is a hostess who provides us each with a small glass of Rosé while she shows us to our seats. They bring us a tasting menu but we are tired of tastings and each take a chance on purchasing a single glass. I choose the Grenache, Laura chooses a sparkling wine and Sarah opts for a Pinot Nior. We are all very happy with our choices. I ask the server if we can eat our own snacks and he explains they do not allow picnicking since they sell their own food. In an effort to be a good sport I take a look at their menu but it’s all pizza. Since I’m pretty sure this is not the kind of place that would kick us out for sneaking bites of cheese out of my bag, we decide to eat our own food anyways. We all make a small scene of sharing snacks out of my canvas “picnic” bag. We are not sneaky at all, but as predicted, no one tries to stop us. At one point there is some live music and, as the sunsets, we can not stop talking about how happy we are.

Around 5pm we start the drive back to our house in Monterey. The fog is rolling in and the climate changes from summer to winter within the blink of an eye. We still have a few snacks left and a small bottle of Rose; we make a snap decision to toast the sunset. We walk down to the beach and it's incredibly picturesque. I am definitely wine buzzed and can not stop taking pictures of all the pretty seagulls.

Only a few minutes after the sun sets the temperature drops almost 20 degrees. Our beautiful beach is now uninhabitable. Luckily, Sarah is ready with a few options for dinner. We unanimously choose Passionfish, which looks both tasty and close. I order the smoked pork shoulder, which is absolutely amazing; Sarah and Laura are equally amazed by their meals. Eventually we wander back home and set up our dining room table for a rematch of Clue. 

We are all asleep before midnight.

The weather is cold and the Irish coffee is warm.

Friday, August 25th, 2017

Yosemite National Park, Monterey, CA

It’s 9am and we are slowly waking up for our last breakfast in Yosemite. After about 15 minutes of prep time, Sarah and I head over to the dining hall for breakfast; Laura remains in bed. At the dining hall, I fill up my tray with side dishes of bacon and eggs. I also grab a large cup of coffee. As we slowly eat our breakfast, I realize that I am not hungover; I find this surprising. It must be the magic of Yosemite. 

After breakfast I top off my large cup coffee and will insist on keeping it in hand while transferring all of our gear from the tent-cabin to the car. Eventually Laura joins us and we all pile into the car for Vacation Part 2 – Monterey!

Monterey is an improvisation on our original plan to see Big Sur. The main bridge going into Big Sur is closed and the only alternate route changes a 40 minute drive to an 8 hour drive; we don’t need to see Big Sur that bad.

The drive out of Yosemite is awful. The road twists and turns up and down mountains for what feels like forever. The view is beautiful, but we all three are prone to car sickness. I make a few emergency-stops for puking and, eventually, we are back on flat land. The entire drive takes about 4 hours.  

Soon we are checking into our lovely AirBnB in Monterey. The house is adorable and the weather is extremely cold and foggy. This is a welcome change. We all take turns in the shower and get ready for an early dinner.

Sarah does some quick research on restaurants, but they all look good. Eventually we hop in the car and drive over to Cannery Row. Having just read a few Steinbeck books, I am very excited to see the setting of some of his novels. We immediately find a large statue dedicated to the main characters of Cannery Row and a bronze bust of John Steinbeck. After a quick photo op, we do a lap of the strip. It’s clear to me that Steinbeck would be disappointed; Cannery Row is littered with souvenir shops and Starbucks. Eventually we end up at the Fish Hopper for dinner. We are pretty early, so the hostess gives us the “best table in the house”, which turns out to be totally awesome. The view is amazing and I am having a hard time holding a conversation because I cannot stop staring at the gray and foggy ocean.

I order combo plate of shrimp and salmon along with a Pinot Nior from Monterey. The meal is nice, but I feel that the sauce is a little too sweet. I also like Sarah’s wine more than mine, but I keep my complaints to myself. 

After dinner, we walk around a little bit more. I buy a Cannery Row T-shirt and we scope out a few places for an after-dinner drink. Eventually we conclude there is no nightlife here and decide to make Irish coffees in our AirBnB and play board games. I make two quick stops at the liquor store and Starbucks and soon we are back home.

I stumble around my Mac for about 20 minutes trying to load up JackBox Party Games. Right when I am about to give up the game successfully loads. We spend the rest of the evening playing JackBox and Clue. The weather is cold and our Irish coffees are warm. Monterey is already awesome!

Is it happy hour yet?

Thursday, August 24th, 2017

Yosemite National Park

It’s about 9am and we are waking up from a wonderful night’s sleep. Our hike to Half Dome is complete and we have a full day to hang out in beautiful Yosemite. After about 30 minutes of shuffling around we all head over to the main dining hall for breakfast. I struggle to get a plate without toast or potatoes and eventually end up with a bunch of side dishes. I also grab a cup of steaming hot coffee. I feel groggy.

Around 10:30am we are ready to see the rest of Yosemite! We are all in agreement that we do not want to hike up any more hills. Luckily Yosemite is drivable. We start out with El Capitan (which is a very, very large rock). We park next to the trail labeled “El Capitan” and start walking. The sun is excruciatingly hot and there has been a marked decline in air quality since yesterday (there are fires close by). After about 15 minutes the trail becomes narrow and difficult to follow. Since we already had a great view of El Capitan from the road we opt to turn back to the car.

Our next stop is the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. I luck out with a parking space right by the front door (we are happy we don’t walk very far!). We spend about 20 minutes looking around and taking pictures. We also make note of the outdoor bar seating.

From here we opt to drive over to Wawona, which is on the other side of the park. This is the oldest part of Yosemite and features a historical center and a redwood grove. However, it’s not clear whether or not the grove is actually open. 

The drive takes about 45 minutes. Upon arrival, we find a whole bunch of old stage coaches lined up next to the parking lot. This must be the Pioneer History Center. Huh. We spend about 30 minutes walking around in the hot sun. Aside from the old stage coaches we also find some replicas of old cabins and informational plaques all over the place. Eventually we sit down at a picnic table for a quick snack.

We make an attempt at visiting the redwood grove but the road is blocked off. It’s nearing mid-afternoon so we make the decision to head back towards Half Dome Village, but make a quick side trip to try to visit 2 other redwood groves. After about 45 minutes of driving we arrive at Tuolumne Grove. We all get out of the car and take a quick restroom break. As we are all stretching by the parking lot we take a look at the trail head. The sign describes the hike to the grove as “difficult” and taking 1.5 hours to complete. We unanimously agree to skip this hike.

On the way back we swing by Merced Grove. It is also labeled as “difficult”. Since it’s basically 4pm, we decide to head back to our campsite and commence happy hour.

It’s early and therefore easy to grab 3 rocking chairs on the deck. We take turns grabbing rounds of beer from the bar and thoroughly enjoy sitting in the shade. Around 6pm we decide to get some dinner. Not wanting to lose prime real estate we take turns getting food. Sarah goes first and returns with pizza. Laura goes next, returning with a full to-go box of pasta from the main dining hall. She announces there is meatloaf and my dinner decision is made.

After dinner we are tired and bordering on drunk. There is not much else to do here and we can not sit in the rocking chairs any longer without falling asleep. We decide to brave the Yosemite bus system and check out the bar at the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. 

This turns out to be a great idea. We grab an outside table near the courtyard and enjoy a beautiful view and a glass of wine. Once the sun has set we play a few rounds of Heads-Up on Laura’s iPhone. We’re having a great time.

Around 9pm we take the bus back to Half Dome Village. We have to transfer bus lines and it’s pretty confusing. Luckily the driver from our first bus basically holds our hands throughout the entire process (I can’t believe how difficult this is!).

Now that we are back at Half Dome Village we decide to open one more bottle of wine. This turns out to be a bad idea. As we finish our bottle we stumble back to our tent-cabin. I drink plenty of water, but I know that a hangover is coming. It’s okay though, tomorrow we drive to Monterey!