Our, incredibly wonderful, friends Janis and Stephen Pavlik picked us up at the Amtrak train station in Emeryville, CA on Tuesday evening at 6PM – we arrived, 2 hours late. We were all hungry but desperately needed a hot shower and a change of clothes – so Janis and Stephan drove us to our hotel in San Francisco and generously waited while we all got cleaned up before heading out for dinner.

Stephen had gotten a recommendation for this Mexican restaurant – La Nueva Perla. They said the ambiance wasn’t great but the food was fantastic. Greta and I both had the pork carnitas and it was delicious. The pork was soft and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. The flavors could have also been influenced by the fact, this was our first, sit down meal, in non-moving, place.

Stephen and I got up the next morning, Wednesday, at 5AM to take Robin to the airport, which was only a few miles from our hotel. Robin had to get back, on Wednesday, because of his new job. Stephen and I went to Dunkin and had a coffee and donut and hung for a while so Greta and Janis could sleep a little longer. My conversations with Stephen were natural and easy like we had never lost touch, when in fact it had been 16 years since we have seen each other.

After leaving San Francisco we headed to Zachary’s, in Santa Cruz, for breakfast. All of their breads are home made and their sour dough starter is purported to date back to the Alaskan Gold Rush – a must visit if you’re ever in Santa Cruz.

After seeing all of Pavlik’s historic spots when they were younger we headed for Carmel by the Sea. I can’t even begin to describe the beauty of this area – the ocean, cliffs, and houses built on the sides of the cliffs – totally breath taking. I was sorry Robin had to leave early but was glad to have Greta with me to witness all the beauty.

The bed, in the guest room, I was in was fitted with flannel sheets and a down comforter, with the window open at night, I was got chilly – great sleeping conditions for me. Mornings were like heaven, Stephen had coffee made and the Tour de France on the television by 6AM. It was fun watching so epic mountain stages with fellow cycle fans.

Thursday the Pavlik’s drove us done to Big Sur and what a beautiful treat that was.

Chef Stephen cooked all of our meals and they were delicious – so nice to have a cooking break. Our meals were served in the formal dinning room or hand delivered out on the back deck over looking the valley.

Friday morning, while Janis and Stephen were busy with family matters, Greta and I went for a hike in the Garland Ranch Regional Park. The park was only a few miles from the Pavlik’s house and has many hiking trails. We did a portion of several trails including the waterfall, Mesa and Snively’s Ridge, which had a very steep, 15% grade, section. We hiked past the Mesa pond and ended up with a little over 5 miles.

Folktale Winery – Janis and Stephen have been Chapter 1 members of Folktale for 16 years and because of the long term membership they get many benefits at the winery, which is only a few miles from their house. Chapter 1 members have special designated parking and are greeted at the door, with a flute of chilled sparkling wine. The evening was cool, the wine was excellent and musician just started playing Georgia on your Mind when we walked in – the makings of a perfect evening.

Janis and Stephen had a party to go to in Santa Cruz, which Greta and I were invited too, on Saturday afternoon. The host had several bands lined up to play, one of which was Stephen and his friend. The party and the music was suppose to have started at 2PM, but the traffic on the highway to Santa Cruz was all backed up. A lot of people and some band members were late getting to the party. The plan was for Janis to drive Greta and I to San Jose, about 33 miles away, so we could catch the shuttle to San Francisco for our early Sunday morning flight home. We did stay at the party long enough to see Stephen play, but barely long enough for Janis to get us to the shuttle. I felt really bad for Janis because she was driving fast and fretting the whole way. We did make the shuttle and Janis was able to get back to the party – happy ending!

Greta and I had Greek Uber eats dinner in our room, scheduled a 4AM Uber and relaxed until 3:30AM the next morning. We made it to the airport and got home with no problems. It was a great trip and I enjoyed traveling with my children – THE END.