A road trip down memory lane
The highlight and main reason for undertaking the trip was seeing the places where Matthijs’ dad, Ben, did his PhD over 40 years ago at UC San Diego. It was about time as my mother had never been, and our cycle trip provided a great opportunity to visit us!
In a time where this was not common at all Ben chose to do his PhD in Biochemistry and moved from the Netherlands to San Diego. It was great to stay with his professor, Karl, that offered him the position back in the days, and his Dutch wife, Greet. They live in good health in a beautiful sea view house outside San Diego in Del Mar. Fun to hear the stories from back then when Matthijs’ parents were not together yet. Before the time of email or Whatsapp, letters were exchanged between the Netherlands and California and as they say the rest (including Matthijs) is history. We visited Ben’s old house which he shared with two Mexican friends, Francisco and Victor. This is now located in one of those wanted areas with way overpriced real estate.
Wine o’clock 
With Greet at Fidel’s 
UCSD library 
The lab
We also visited his old lab on the 6th floor of the VA (Veteran’s) hospital; and what do you know, the laboratory looked the same after 40 years. It was also fun to walk around the UCSD campus, with lots of activities around the foundation day and seeing the architecture of the library. It is a great gift to be able to make a road trip like this as an adult with your parents. Lots of time for good conversation, bringing back memories and making new ones!
Driving down the Pacific
Before San Diego we drove down from San Francisco, one of those classic road trips along Highway 1. Some of the highlights were the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This large aquarium was funded by David Packard from HP and besides a public aquarium it is also a center for research and ocean conservancy. Amazing to see the marine species living in the area and so beautifully displayed. Wonderful jellyfish, large schools of tuna and giant sea turtles. The 18-mile drive in Carmel is mainly stained with golf courses, but the coast line is beautiful. One of the many places where we enjoyed a picnic. It is easy to take some food for the road to not have to eat out everywhere and overeat. Plus you get to have lunch at the most beautiful spots!
Monterrey Bay aquarium 
Octopussy 
Hearst Castle 
Posing at the pool
The drive through Big Sur is one of the most scenic we have seen on the Pacific. We were doubting if it was worth it to pay the fee for Hearst Castle, but we agreed it was! The location overlooking the hills and ocean is spectacular. On the grounds of the family ranch, William Randolph Hurst, a media tycoon, built his mega project. The Casa Grande is built like a Spanish cathedral, and its surrounded with patios full of art and oak trees and has a big Roman style outdoor pool. It was interesting to learn more about how the inspiration for this project came from traveling around Europe with his mother when he was a young boy. The whole thing is way over the top, but beautifully done.
On a mission
There are multiple reasons to plan for the old missions to be part of your California trip. They are some of the oldest buildings still in use in California; the colorful well kept gardens are an oasis within the cities that have grown around them; and they give more understanding of California’s history. We visited the missions of Carmel and San Juan Capistrano.
Carmel Mission 
San Juan Capistrano
Aside from the -certainly in hindsight- questionable motives with which the missionaries came to spread Spanish power and religion, bringing often disease and devastation to, in this case, the Ajachemen Indians. One must admire the adventurous spirits they must have had. Living at the end of the 18th century and being sent into the unknown with some cattle and a handful of soldiers to setup the mission. Choosing a location wisely with not too harsh conditions. Being responsible for building a new village, introducing agriculture and become quickly self-sufficient. But also introducing the art of wine making in California, now one of its major businesses.
We heard it through the grapevine
We were thankful for those missionaries to bring the first vines from Europe, as it allowed us to taste some wines on our route. Because of the fires, Highway 1 after Big Sur was closed and we went inland to Paso Robles. This area is producing wine for about 40 years. Some wine makers tested their luck and left the crowded and expensive Napa Valley region. We tasted the Eberle wines. You never know if it’s the wine quality or drinking it between the vineyards with the sun slowly setting, but it sure tasted good! The name giver of Eberle got his skills from Robert Mondavi. We visited this winery in Napa Valley. It was a bit more touristy and commercial affair, but the big estate with its art works is very beautiful. At Rutherford Hill it was much better to enjoy a quiet bottle of white with a splendid view of the valley. The fall colors made the vineyards red, yellow and orange against green hills. The town of Napa at the mouth of the valley is stuffed with hip boutiques, wine cellars, coffee shops and a food hall. The opinions on the Castello di Amoroso, a copy of an 13th century Italian castle differed from kitsch to well done.
@ Eberle 
Wine country 
Colorful Napa Valley 
Down the cellar
A walk in the park(s)
Joshua Tree Park looks like something from outer space. With the huge boulders that seem to have randomly been thrown on the landscape by some God. The trees that give name to the park are something only found around here. The brown trunks in all kinds of different shapes leading to the round green prickly brushes at the ends. So nice to take an early morning hike here! In Sequoia National Park we meet with the brothers of the redwoods we have seen earlier in our trip. The General Sherman tree makes an impression as the biggest tree in the world, but there are a lot of other ones to admire around here!
Yosemite Valley 
Yosemite waterfall 
The Joshua Tree 
Redwoods 
Hiking Joshua Tree
Yosemite is also like nothing else we’ve seen. We enter the park on Thanksgiving and there are not many people. The roads on the passes are closed due to snow, but the main valley roads are open. From the Tunnel View point you have a look through the valley with El Capitan, Half Dome, snowy peaks and forests. We walked some of the trails on the valley floor going past waterfalls. The next day it was rainy and that makes the park less fun. We could not even see El Capitan as it was wrapped in fog! Because of the weather all the visitors flocked to the visitor center and it was crowded everywhere with cars in the valley. The experience the day before was enough to decide to come back some day and explore more of the backcountry of Yosemite!
Traveling around
Four is a great party in terms of traveling if everybody is easy going. It is more fuel efficient than two in terms of car travel. We did not take an electric car this time, but rented a small SUV. We expected sleeping would be really expensive in California but that was not the case. Staying in motels we only had to rent one room as they are all outfitted with two double beds. We slept from as cheap as $60 to about $150 for the four of us and a lot of motels even included a pool. More than a bed you don’t need anyway when you are exploring most of the day. It was easy enough to book them on the same day from our phone. Usually a simple breakfast is included with the room; we were disappointed by the amount of single use plastic used in all of the motels though!
San Francisco
Our road trip ends with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge at night. The next day we are back in the City to do some of the tourist things like taking the cable car, visiting Ghirardelli square and Lombard street. More surprising is the SF Institute of Art with its interesting architecture, artsy students and murals by Diego Rivera. After that it is time to say goodbye again as our bicycles await us to go along the same route down south again! It is tough to part ways with Matthijs’ parents as we won’t be seeing them for a while. However, this trip has been much more than just a trip down memory lane. It has been a lot of fun making so much more cherish able memories together!
Riding the cable car 
Golden Gate night