The Den

Last weekend I took advantage of an American obsession - the Superbowl.  Its not just about the game of American-style Football itself, the Superbowl has a following far greater than that. People who the rest of the year have nearly zero interest in the game will still make a point to watch the Superbowl. Football is an american obsession, but the Superbowl represents a mania far far greater - Television. After all, why would people who generally don't follow the sport watch they game? Because of the spectacle and the commercials. They freely admit it.  

 Which of course is why a 30 second commercial during the Superbowl costs multiple millions of dollars just to broadcast, much less to make. Now I admit that the few Superbowl commercials I've seen are among the best out there in terms of their arts - not just the art of selling, but more importantly the various entertainment and filmmaking arts involved. Even the original Macintosh ad aired during the Superbowl of 1984. But alas, to me, they are untimately still commercials, still broadcast on television. Sorry, I have better things to do.

 So how did I take advantage of the second largest food-consumption day in the US (after Thanksgiving)? I drove out the Bay Area on Saturday with my VW camper van, and went camping, cycling, and hiking in northern Napa and Sonoma valleys - nearby parts of California that I'd not yet seen.

 To folks who don't live in the Bay Area, that might not seem such a big deal, and in most other places, it really isn't. But one of the reasons I don't leave the area on the weekends as often as I like is that litterally millions of other people leave the area every weekend also.  The cities of the Bay Area are confined by water (The Pacific Ocean & San Francisco/San Pablo Bay) and mountains (the coast range, and the Berkeley hills) and so has relatively few roadways in and out, given the dense population. 

Those millions who have been out enjoying the natural and man-made beauty of the rest of California for the weekend all want to come home at around the same time - 4 - 8pm on Sunday evening. And I don't blame them - when I'm out, thats when I want to come home! But of course  all this adds up to incredibly unpleasant traffic jams on all the roads into the area every Sunday. its so bad that what would normally take 20  minutes on the highway can take 3-4 hours or more.  Unfortunately my displeasure at the thought of doing this usually outweighs my desire to get out of town - especially on my own (the drive back would be much more bearable with someone else in the car).  So most weekends, I end up staying nearby to home, and wishing the mountains and wilderness were closer.

 Last Sunday, however, I figured most of America would be glued to the boobtoob muching muchies, quaffing "beer" and enjoying the spectacle. They wouldn't be on the highways trying to get home from whereever. Combined with that, the weather was forecast to be beautiful on Saturday and Sunday, and turn rainy once the work week got going (it did - but we actually need the rain).  So I figured there was my chance - everything was laid out for me. I tossed some clothes in the van, put my bike on the rack, grabbed a day pack and headed north.

 Traffic out of the Bay Area on Saturday wasn't the greatest, but also wasn't horrible. It also likely I could have taken a better route, but I'd never driven up to Napa before.  I left around 1pm after doing some chores and getting ready all morning. I stopped at a couple of little places on the way up, but wasn't inspired to visit any of the wineries. I've been to several of them over in Sonoma before, along the Russian River where they seemed much more  down to earth and less showy, a little more my style. 

 I went up to a little state park campground just outside of St. Helena, parked my van, and had time for just a little hike in the woods of only an hour or so before it got dark (and cold once the sun set).   The rest of the evening was spent cooking & eating dinner, and playing my baritone uke, before crashing for the night in the back of the van (sleeps 2 below and 2 above, if you're normal sized people).

Sunday morning was chilly and sunny, so I took a short hike through the woods and over the hill to the Bale Grist Mill. My friend Malcolm Dunn worked there for a summer three or so years ago, so I had known about it, but always wanted to check it out.  Its pretty cool! Built in 1846, powered by a 36 ft (11m) overshot water wheel, it used to grind all the grain for the residents of the Napa valley. The photo album I have of it gives more details with pictures and a couple short video clips. Its well worth a visit if you're in the area.

After hiking back, I loaded packed things up, and headed up to Calistoga for a quick lunch, then drove over the mountains into the Sonoma valley,  and more familiar territory near the town of Santa Rosa.  I went out to the slightly rolling farmland between Santa Rosa and Sebastapol and did a few hours biking on the mostly-open roads in the warm afternoon sun.

Almost the best part of the weekend, however, was the planned drive home - the whole reason for going out this weekend.  While the highway was far from deserted, I drove the entire way from Santa Rosa to my house without once needing to slow down for traffic congestion. It took me exactly as long to get home as it should have (a little under an hour). It was great, but it did make me wish that Pixar were located somewhere in Oregon .

So there's a bit of story and some pictures to go with. Stay tuned and perhaps I'll put something more up soon.

Peace,
-Chris