Saturday: Took the winding, foggy drive to Big Basin in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In parts the fog hugged the coast and drifted onto the ocean; in others, it blanketed our entire view. Hiked eight miles with towering redwoods shaping the sky ceiling, and ate lunch by a waterfall. We noticed the varying positions and states of the trees--how some had fallen, some had blackened from fire, some were hollowed out ("what do you think lives in there?" M asked). Over the years, we have come across the same beauties--the fog over the hills on Skyline Drive and coasting onto 280, the redwood forests, the integration of dirt, water and foliage. So a lot of feels familiar, tickling the pores of my skin as we pass through it. At the same time, the power of escaping the compactness of the city always feels fresh. And there is always the sense that there are new things; we've been to Muir Woods and Redwood National and State Parks, but not to Big Basin, and there are so many more trails to explore.
Sunday: Drove down the coast to Santa Cruz, where we have been many times before. Even though Santa Cruz isn't far, the roads leading there are rough to navigate, and maybe because of that path, despite being familiar with the city, I don't feel quite connected to it. And maybe because of that I'm always newly struck by how beautiful the ocean is there. Having watched waves so often with M, I'm better able to recognize differences between waves, and have new appreciation for the uniqueness of the breaks there, how long and high the waves ride. The water there is always glassy, and the sunsets always bring the kind of light that makes photographers swoon. We saw arches of stone form over the beach, wondered how they are made, and laughed at the dozens of dogs running free on the sand.
Monday: Woke up to one of our cars not starting, decided to leave dealing with it for later and drove to Sonoma for wine-tasting. It was a little harder to decide on which wineries to visit, as the wineries are a little more spread out than in Napa. We went to Benziger first based on an internet recommendation, and it was the perfect choice. We really liked each wine in the tasting, with four really amazing reds in a row, and the grounds were gorgeous. Wine country really brings out natural feelings of leisure, and the comfortably sunny weather complemented this internal warmth. At Benzinger we were given a two-for-one tasting coupon to another place, which turned out to be a cozy microwinery where a big golden retriever nuzzled up to the customers. We We met a woman who had grown up in Sonoma and who recommended VJB Vineyards up the street. By this time I was a little too buzzed to have much more (we'd had seven wines at the previous place), but I loved this Italian-inspired vineyard. It was a little plaza of a winery, deli and outdoor pizzeria, outlining an open courtyard. We had Italian champagne (Prosecco) which was delicious, and more delicious reds. We also had a flatbread pizza with the freshest ingredients, including housemade mozzarella, basil, avocado and tomato. Dessert was salted caramel gelato. Driving home didn't do much to work off the food, but was a perfect way to end the indulgent day, with views of rolling hills, a marsh whose water kept changing degrees of reflection as dusk settled, and my favorite: long fields of yellow wildflowers that stayed bright in the night, both from their natural vibrant color and from the waning sun that cast its light from far off in one corner across the entire span of the fields.
When weeks begin and life becomes more confined to rooms and buildings, it's nice to remember that these weekends are really where the full spectrum of life starts.
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