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A day in Pescadero

We have (finally) been blessed with some phenomenal whether in SF. So what do we do? We head out to Pescadero, about 49 miles south of SF along the beautiful Pacific coastline. Call us crazy, but we were on a mission to milk some goats! Nick and Genny had a whole itinerary of fun planned for us this past Saturday. This involved the aforementioned task as well as eating pie, pumpkin patching, and drinking some brews. I knew this day was going to be a good one when we hit our first stop.

Now, pretty much any place with the word "pie" in it gets two thumbs up from the Maddens. We were the first customers and quickly scooped up the first mini-pies being unloaded off the cart - Sean with his pumpkin, me with my walnut. If it weren't for Nick and Genny, our bellies would not have experienced happiness like it did that day. Our bellies remain fortunate as we have been feasting off a berry pie we purchased for those oh-so-frequent sweet-tooth moments after dinner. Only a couple slices left (sigh). This place was a great follow-up to the Slow Food Nation events we had attended at the end of August. Pie Ranch focuses on food going from seed to the table (and even to composting!), growing everything they put into their delicious pies on their very own farm. Next up: Harley Farms. Here's a description of the tour:

"Guests receive a 'behind the scenes' look at the workings of an award winning goat dairy farm. Follow the flow of the milk - from the goats to the cheese making. Meet our friendly goats, milk a goat, learn how to make goat cheese. At the end, we have a cheese tasting upstairs in our refurbished hay loft. The tour lasts about 2 hours (although it quite often goes longer due to high interest and many questions!)"

As you can see, Nick and Genny were clearly entertained.

After the tour, we tasted the variety of cheeses Harley Farms had in their small shop, which included chevre, feta, and whole milk ricotta. Most of their goat cheese go from goat to store shelf within 48 hours, so what we were sampling was incredibly rich and fresh.

Of course, we couldn't spend a fall day in that area without hitting up a Half Moon Bay pumpkin patch! They are, of course, home of the Pumpkin Festival, a pumpkin lover's dream. Unfortunately, our camera ran out of batteries at this time, but trust me when I say this was the most INSANE pumpkin patch I've ever been to. I'm used to the ones in Oregon that are simple, with bright orange pumpkins just scattered around for our perusing. This one not only had the usual jack-o-lantern pumpkins but about 20 other varieties as well. Not to mention the haunted house, the hay labyrinth, the petting zoo, the taqueria stand, hay rides, choo choo train, and pony rides!

All's well that ends well...we were happy to finish off the day with a pint (or two) on the Half Moon Bay Brewery patio.

Tạm biệt

Today we are saying goodbye to our 24 days of travel. Sean and I had a wonderful ride and we're sad to see it end. However, we are very much looking forward to seeing our wonderful friends and family...and Porter!

Saigon was wonderfully different from Hanoi. The biggest differences: the incredible command of the English language and the FOOD! I felt right at home with all the local dishes and Sean was hanging like a pro. We had everything from Pho (of course) to banh xeo to pate a chaud. Each was more exquisite than anything I've tasted at home...even when my family cooked (sorry Aunties!).

But now we're looking forward to the flavors of SF. See you soon everyone!

Scootering

Wednesday started out normally enough, though by the end of the day we both looked back on it as one of the great ones. For some reason we had gotten it into our heads that I would be able to figure out how to operate a scooter safely enough to transport us around the island. Silly, but we were convinced.

At 9am we rented the scooter and when I told the rental agent I had never driven one, he gave me about thirty seconds of instruction and then told me to go figure it out. I suppose that's probably the best way. I took about 10 minutes doing laps up and down the resort driveway, something that had the gate attendants doubled over in laughter. For the most part I was comfortable but I could tell that turning the scooter around and heading in the other direction was going to be a problem. I firmly planned on keeping it pointed in the same direction for most of the day.

Confident we were good to go, Jas hopped on the back and we headed south along the island's coast. About 8km south of our hotel is Chaweng beach, the most populous area on the island. We didn't quite know what to expect but were pretty sure the most populous area on the island would be able to provide us with breakfast. What we found there was a clone of any Mexican spring break town you've ever been to: millions of t shirt shops, lots of open air bars, and the general air of debauchery. We didn't spend a whole lot of time there and quickly got back on the road south.

The weather was beautiful and so were our spirits. We had a map to consult but for the most part took lefts whenever presented with a choice so as to stay along the coast. There wasn't a whole lot of traffic which helped me get comfortable at speed and we spent about an hour exploring the coastal roads of the southern part of the island.

Around lunchtime we started looking for a place to eat and found it at a resort on the southwestern tip of the island. It appeared to be a place that had once been the very pinnacle of luxury but has been easily eclipsed by the modern behemoths going up around the island. We had the beach to ourselves and were served delicious drinks and food. We enjoyed everything at a very leisurely pace, totally content and exactly where we wanted to be.

At this point we had gone halfway around the island and decided to keep going and drive all the way around. With no plans, we ambled up the western coast taking in the views and enjoying the day. A little past the midway point we saw a sign pointing towards a waterfall and naturally deviated to check it out. Though we had made a pact to exert no energy whatsoever on this trip, the waterfall turned out to be at the end of a 1.5km hike that had us sweaty and excited for a dip in the promised swimming hole.

We were not disappointed. The water at the base of the falls was refreshingly cool and we spent the better part of half an hour simply swimming around and cooling off. The hike back wasn't nearly as bad as the hike in and we were back to the scooter in no time. As we hopped on and started it up we were greeted by a tremendous thunderclap from just off the coast.

What did we do? We extended our middle fingers to the sky and continued down the road. We were summarily punished for our insolence. The storm hit us just south of the northwest tip of the island. If you've ever seen Karate Kid II then you've seen the storm that hit us ("You are a coward Miyage!"). I was in swim trunks and a T-shirt and Jas was wearing a sun dress over her bikini. You could say we were prepared to ride a scooter through a rainstorm. The wind was blowing palm fronds everywhere and we were instantly soaked to the bone. It was absolutely amazing. We rounded the NW corner and found some shelter in a little restaurant to wait out the worst of it. We were soaked, cold, and elated.

After 20 minutes it didn't show any signs of letting up so we went back into the teeth of the storm and gritted out the remaining 20km to our hotel. We managed to get lost a few times, ruin our map in the rain, make two death defying right hand turns across traffic, and ultimately found our hotel in the storm. After the best hot showers of our lives, we relaxed over an excellent dinner at the hotel and retired early, completely satisfied with one of the most adventurous days of the trip so far.

Upgrades

Hey everyone, Sean here. We've arrived in Thailand and it's quite different here from the last two countries we've visited. We knew we were in for a change when the beers at the airport cost us $5 each, approximately 5 times more than any other beer in Cambodia or Vietnam.

The airport was sleek and modern and well equipped to take our money, which we managed to resist, mostly. They don't accept the dollar as readily as they do in Cambodia or Vietnam, which is good as it pertains to national pride and bad as it pertains to our convenience (which is very important).

The plan all along was for the Thailand portion of the trip to be completely relaxing and over the top luxurious compared to the rest of the trip. We were nervous that these dreams wouldn't be realized because all we had to go on as far as the resort was concerned was a tiny little photo that could easily have been photoshopped.

Turns out we needn't have worried. Behold:

It was a bit overcast on our first morning, which isn't as bad as it sounds but I'm hoping for a partial refund. We paid for the sun damnit.

We ate poolside at the hotel on the first night overlooking the ocean. The resort is built into the hillside at the end of a peninsula and offers breathtaking views of both the bay and the ocean. Our room, sadly, has a breathtaking view of a dirty bamboo fence. We tried to upgrade and the only room available was a villa with its own pool, jacuzzi, and bathroom the size of most bedrooms. The room didn't have the best view and we weren't willing to pay triple the cost so we passed. The infinity pool overlooking the bay will do just fine, thank you.

We spent most of our first day (today) laying by the pool drinking margaritas, reading books, dipping in the pool, and getting some sun. Ok, Jas was getting sun and I was doing my best to avoid it. When you're as pale as I am the sun is not quite so friendly. Somehow I still managed to burn my shoulders. Sun 1 Sean 0.

We did a little bit of exploring in the afternoon and discovered a few beach-side restaurants offering decent prices and broad menus. We wound up dining at one, sitting at a table on the beach a few meters from the surf while the sun set spectacularly behind the clouds. I'm really not trying to rub it in, but this place is downright fantastic.


Tomorrow we're going to rent a scooter which I'm going to learn how to drive and take us around the island exploring. Yes, it is as dangerous as it sounds but we're going to do it anyway. Oh, and they drive on the left side of the road here, a nice little obstacle we probably don't need. Pray for us. In the afternoon we're going to rent jet skis and rip around the bay for awhile. Should be good times.