Summertime fun

The days are flying by and although it still feels like summer in Santa Cruz, it is already mid September, the best time of year.  It was just my birthday and the weather has been amazing, with the summer traffic and visitors gone from the coast, it has become a locals town.  Small town beach vibe, with no traffic and lot of good vibes.  I thought I'd put up a few photos from the summer, out and about having fun in California.  Been a great one and it has no end of stopping.

Eric and Mary visit from Portland and we hit up the Boardwalk

Hiking in Big Sur with my housemate Cara

Hanging with good friends during my visit to Portland, here at the waterfront Beer Festival

Outside the community market where I work and get things smooth

Meeting Charlie Brown, the legend!

Driving through Sonoma County wine tasting with two Australian mates

Beer tasting up at Lagunitas Brewery

Keep squeezing that juice!

Round two working on the Zinfandel grapes entailed draining all the liquid out of the vat to be stored into 12 wine barrels.  It was quite the magenta bright purple color, not the average wine color.  Give it time, some oak barrel action and it might just get there.  Of course, in the tasting room they are still serving 2011 and 2012 varieties, so this won't be on the shelves any time soon.  But when it is, drink up a glass of Justus-made Zin!

Just liquid this time through

 After we got the liquid out, it was time to get the grapes out for pressing.  Not the easiest task, and definitely not automated.  Pretty much there were several hundred pounds still in there that had to come out and after using a rake and shovel to get over half out, it was time to go inside.  Shelly drew the short straw and climbed inside the vat, to move the grapes towards the opening where I could get them out.  She emerged later on, a wee bit pinker and smelling of that strong carbon dioxide that the grapes give off when fermenting.  Quite powerful to go with a slight warmth that emits from the grapes.

Time to get those grapes out!

After the manual labor to get the grapes out, it was on to the expensive grape presser from Europe that efficiently squeezes all the juice possible out of the grapes.  Efficient, but lengthy in time (1.5 hours), the machine filled up an extra 4 barrels of wine.  And what was left was just the grape skins, seeds and some stems.  Looked an awful lot like raisins, except not as sweet or juicy.

Presser in action

Wine anyone?

So when a friend asks if I'm free to help crush some grapes at a local winery, I hop on my bike and head over.  Just going with the flow, with images of stomping on grapes in the sun, wine squirting everywhere for a few hours.  Turns out, we'd be working in a huge warehouse full of wine vats, very industrial and the grapes I would be working with would be the infamous red, zinfandel.

Oh, and the amount of grapes we would be working with was over 7 tons.  That's over 14,000 pounds.  Not just a few hours work.  14 crates packed to the brim with zinfandel grapes, each weighing around 1,000 pounds. 

I would be working on the destemmer, taking stems, leaves and twigs out after the grapes had been run through a grinder and mixer, to separate the grapes from the vine and stems mechanically.  The grapes were dumped up top:

Then after working their way through, they would move via vibrations towards me, to use the human element to get what the machine couldn't.  The hours passed and it turned into an all day project, grapes being sorted, squished, destemmed and finally being dumped into a vat:

All in all, we yielded about 9,500 pounds of zinfandel to be turned into the first wine of the season.  Not all the rest was lost, as the juice that came off the processor will be turned into a rosé blend that will contain the juice of 3 grape varieties and be on the lighter, sweeter side.  Two 60 gallon barrels were filled up with the rosé grapes from today.

So that is what my day off turned out to be.  How was yours?

Zinny zin zin!

7 tons of zinfandel grapes ready to go

Fan for life

Dodger fan for life, ever since my first birthday outing at Dodger Stadium.  The Dodgers were up in Oakland to play the A's, so a friend and myself drove up to watch the boys in blue.  Definitely lots of the color blue all over the stands, it was a great atmosphere, more of a party atmosphere than other stadiums I've been to, and people were pretty riled up.  Lively and loud, Oakland lived up to its reputation.  With Clayton Kershaw (best pitcher in baseball) pitching, the Dodgers took a 3 run lead in the 7th.  A's fans started leaving and the Dodgers fans took out, getting loud and loving it.  Until our dismal bullpen gave up the lead and ended up losing the game in 10 innings.  Great time despite the loss, as I visited my 10th ballpark.  Checking them off the list one at a time!

Shots from the garden

Bay Area Fun!

When an Australian friend says that they are coming to be with you on the 4th of July, you gotta think big.  Which means that I was leaving my small, happy beach town of Santa Cruz on the morning of the 4th and heading north to San Francisco, which people in my area simply call The City.  Got to whoop it up American style right?

Playing tourist around SF is awesome.  It's packed full of things to do in a 7 x 7 mile radius, and we saw tons.  From eating clam chowder bread bowls by Fisherman's Wharf, to exploring Chinatown, to BBQ food, we got in a ton.  The fireworks show, right off of Pier 39, was a bit on the foggy side, which gave it a spooky feel, with often just thick clouds of smoke being lit up as if we were in a battle. 

We road the cable car, ate Lengua (tongue) tacos in the Mission, and with a rented Smart car, drove down Lombard St:

After a couple days in the big city, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, north to Napa, land of fine food and wine.  Some of the top chefs are up there and we checked out the restaurants and ate at Bouchon Bakery (pretty much the only place to have top chef endorsed food without a reservation).  Hands down, one of the best bakeries I've been to, and my brown sugar encrusted bacon cheddar scone was amazing.

We stayed with a high school buddy of mine, catching up and barbequing up a feast from the local Mexican market.  My Aussie friend was shocked by the prices, especially as bottled Mexican Coke sells for over $6 in Oz and here was just over $1.

We explored a few wineries, met some descendents of the original winemakers at some family vineyards and had wine referred to as "good with an In N Out burger", "fit for a cowboy, like yourself (me)", and "packs a punch".  Some good ones, some mediocre ones, but all from the Napa Valley, which makes them all fairly famous around the world.

Mumm Napa, Champagne!

V Sattui Winery

And for two days, I was driving around a Smart Car.  With handicapped plates.  Not sure which one got more smiles and waves from people.  We were popular, and could park anywhere.  Apart from bouncing as if it had no shocks, and not shifting into a higher gear a couple times, it felt pretty roomy on the inside.  Two people with one suitcase fit just fine.  Kinda feels like a normal car inside and then when you get out, and see room for one more Smart Car in your parking space, you realize, it is tiny!

Sykes Hot Springs

Backpacking time!  Not around the world as I normally do, but rather out in nature in Big Sur.  After going to Big Sur a few weeks ago, I became hooked on that area.  So amazing, so refreshing, so beautiful. Myself, with my housemate Cara and her brother Doug planned the overnight trip to Sykes Hot Springs, a 10mile hike up to some hot springs along the river, way out in the wilderness along the Pine Ridge Trail.  Before the hike, I heard everything from 9-12 miles for the hike.  The sign marking the start said 10 miles, and yet Cara's iPhone said 11.8 miles each way, so who really knows.  Either way, it took just over 5 hours each way.


Open Sykes Hot Springs Photos in New Window

While the hot springs are way up in elevation, the trail wasn't all straight uphill.  There were ups and downs along the way, as we skirted around hills, working our way up the canyon, following the river below.  We crossed the river twice, crossing on fallen logs:

We had an early start and lucked out with the sun going in.  After setting up our camp, we hit the hot springs which were amazing.  The springs were on a rock face above the river, and people had built a wall from river rocks along the bottom of the rock face to create a pool.  This is perhaps the best method of a hot spring in my opinion, as it does not have a man-made feel to it, and does not retain a muddy, dirty feel to it.  Quite relaxing to put the feet up after a long hike:

 Being right on the river you could hop from hot to cold in seconds, relaxing the body after the hike.  Magical!

Doug and I chilling in the river below the hot spring

Loving the hot springs after the hike

That night, we had a little fire to keep the insects away and played 3 hand cribbage, of which I won.  Pretty fun, especially with our tired bodies and brains, combined with a mellowness from the hot springs messing up our counting.  Once it got dark and we had an epic moon rise, it was time to hit the sack, literally, a sleeping sack.  Felt good to be out camping again, and I am thankful to my family camping a ton growing up.

After more hot springs and river time in the morning, we hiked out through a much hotter day, mostly in the sun.  Quite the sweater, this hike, although it was nice to have less water and food on the way back.  We were using Doug's filter pump to get water from the river along the way and I cut out on one water bottle going back to save weight.  30+ pounds on your back is enough without an extra liter of water with the river crossings along the way.

Hot and sweaty on the way back to the parking lot

We extended our stay in Big Sur, went to a legit campground and
then hiked to a gorge for some swimming and jumping off rocks.  Had to get clean after the dusty, hot hike back out.  The following morning, was a hike to a waterfall, a coffee at the Big Sur Lodge, and then a drive back to Santa Cruz, so I could go to work.  Busy, fun life!  Living it up out in nature and I'm loving it!

Big Sur Day 2

I woke up to find myself emersed in full fog, not being able to see more than 20 feet.  That meant time to read and relax over a leisurely breakfast in the car.  Nice to get that holiday feeling with nothing major planned and no time frame for many hours.  I'm reading "The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson.  Such a good, fun read, I highly recommend it, and there is also a film version out in theatres right now.

After a couple hours relaxing, I realized the fog was not going away, at least in the area I was in, so I set off north, cruising through the fog, with glimpses of the coast popping through.  I stopped for a coffee at a lodge, sitting outdoors on their deck with a great view of fog.  The prices weren't all that bad inside the store there, often just $.25 to $.50 more than in Santa Cruz, which compared to the price of gas increase in Big Sur isn't so bad.

The next stop was at Julia Burns Pfeiffer State Park, where the waterfalls fall into the ocean.  I started on a short hike to a waterfall up the canyon, and then just kept walking up to see if I could beat the fog.  I ended up on the 4.5 mile Ewoldsen Trail loop that was perfect for the occasion.  The smells and sights reminded me of Southern California (wild sage, oaks, vultures above) mixed in with Northern California (redwoods and fog).  Rising above the fog I could look down over towering redwoods, watch hawks fly in search of prey, and most importantly, feel the sun beating down.  Just like in an airplane, the day was much warmer and sunnier up above everything.  This was a great hike and I powered through in solid time, soaking it all up and getting the sweat going.

The start of the hike, through the trees and fog

Canyon Waterfall through a burned out log

Looking up through the redwoods into the fog

 After the hike, it was back to the car, stopping at a couple of viewpoints and then the Henry Miller Library, full of works from the famous author, beat authors and others.  Quite a sweet layout, very quirky and laidback.  In the evenings they often show films and act as a cultural center for the area.  After that I was able to find that the fog ended in the northern section of the park, and drove through sunshine north, enjoying the view from the opposite side of the road as day 1.

I parked at a Hwy 1 turnoff and hiked down to Andrew Molera, through the creek trail to the beach.  More cool rock formations and some beach time after the hike, to clean up and relax.  This was the view to the south:

Finally the time caught up with me and I had to head north to civilization and cell service to meet up with the brother of a good Irish friend of mine.  Had a feast of Thai food, talked of world travels and biking (he's currently biking the west coast of North America).  Then it was back to Santa Cruz to watch the second half of the Golden State Warriors game 4 victory.  As much as I love being out in nature, with no timeframe, the NBA is always a surefire way to get me to come back.

California Poppy on the Ewoldsen Trail

Big Sur Day 1

Road trip to Big Sur!  Luckily I had two days off in the middle of the week, which allowed me to explore more of this amazing state of California.  I set lose southwards in my housemates Ford Explorer Sport, bumping the tunes, and falling in love with driving again (might have to get myself a car one of these days).  The drive south through Monterey passed quickly and then within an hour, I was already pulling over to start taking pictures of the coast.  Once you leave Carmel and civilization (aka cell service, houses, shops), it's just you and the coast, that rugged, infamous coast.

The first main stop in Big Sur (when going south) is the 1932 built Bixby Bridge which blows you away.  Enormous in size and grandeur, it literally stops traffic on both sides for pictures, of both the bridge and the beach below.












I hiked up a dirt road inlands for a mile to get a good shot looking through the arches.  Not many people head up there, as Big Sur is often done as a day trip.  But I was just cruising, with no direct plans, just going off where I pleased and loving life.  Best way to travel is without a set schedule, and I had two days of straight exploring whatever looked good.













From the bridge, it was onwards, stopping pretty much every 5 minutes at the viewpoints and turnoffs to check out the view.  There were views of epic rocks scattered along the coast, waves crashing into cliffs, the windy road inclining up mountains and of course, the local flora and fauna (California poppies, wild mustard, hawks and vultures being the main sights).  With no time frame, and a car to my name, I could just cruise and stop whenever the view or amount of cars stopped told me to.  Here are a couple of pictures from the start of the trip:

Next was a stop at Pfeiffer Beach, which was actually full of people.  I parked on Hwy 1 and hiked the 2 miles down to the beach, enjoyed splashing around in the water and explored some of the arches carved over time into the rocks on the beach.  Rather than hiking back up, I scored a ride with some cool Southern Californians.  Then back on the road!

McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park is perhaps the most photographed image from Big Sur, with dramatic waterfalls crashing down onto an isolated cove.  The falls used to land directly into the ocean until a 1981 landslide brought in sediment and created the beach.  There was also a house, know as the Waterfall House that overlooked this bit of paradise until the 70s.  That was a top 10 house in the country for sure.  While super busy with tourists, this area is a must see and worth the time.  Park on the road for free and walk down through the tunnel under the highway to get to the falls.

After a few more turnoffs and a couple of modern bridges, it became time to put the feet up and relax.  There's a forest road that allows camping on the shoulders and I headed up to score a sweet spot overlooking Hwy 1 and the ocean.  Perfect place to get in some relaxing, reading and watch the sunset.  A German family on a 3 week US tour parked nearby and kept the conversation entertaining.  Twas an amazing day, and day two would prove to be just as good.  Long live Big Sur!

My spot for the night

End of the day.  No more sunlight, and straight sleeping ahead!