First order of the day was breakfast in The Bistro at Cliff House, the restored 1909 neoclassical masterpiece. The Cliff House has stood here in many forms since 1863. I love the food here and the view is unsurpassed. Seal Rocks and the pounding waves were backdrops to our meal.
The two windmills in Golden Gate Park stood stiffly against the blustery surf and the scent of eucalyptus wafted through the air. After looking around a bit, with trying not to get blown away, we drove through the Haight-Ashbury area then out to Walnut Creek and by my old house then on to Mt. Diablo.
Always a favorite of mine while I lived here, Mt. Diablo has an amazing twisty roadway that climbs the mountain up to 3849 ft. and a gorgeous view all the way out to the Farallon Islands on a clear day. Today, I could just make out the red spires of the Golden Gate Bridge just to the right of the city. The mountain’s name means “thicket of the devil,” appropriate as it does glow red at sunset.
James "Grizzly" Adams was a frequent visitor and resident on Mount Diablo in the mid-1850s. Mt. Diablo is known for its hauntings and mysterious lights. Phantom black "panthers" are seen with unusual frequency on the slopes of the mountain. As early as 1806, General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo reported an encounter with a flying, spectral apparition, while engaged in military operations against the Bolgones band of the Bay Miwok tribe.
The strangest thing I’ve ever seen on Mt. Diablo was hoards of tarantulas climbing all over the roads. In September, this is a regular occurrence & people living near the mountain frequently find these visitors in their homes. When we lived here and Katie was a little girl, we drove up the mountain one Sunday afternoon to find so many squished tarantulas on the roads that she said it looked like someone had painted asterisks all over the pavement. Today there were many webs alongside the roadway and I wondered if the tarantulas were getting ready for their annual appearance. I also saw what looked like Thistles in one place on the way up the mountain.
We took the long way back, going over the San Rafael Bridge and through Sausalito, over the Golden Gate Bridge, celebrating its 75th anniversary this weekend, and back to Pacifica. On the way, our GPS system entertained us with pronunciations—“Sawn-frawhn-CEASE-cah” and “Pah-see-FEE-kuh.” Even more disconcerting were "Sahn-BRAH-guh" for San Bruno and "Sahn WAH-ZUH" for San Jose. We stopped for a snack at Taco Bell, which has unarguably the best view of any local Taco Bell in the world—sea stacks offshore and pounding waves crashing into them. Pacifica is a gorgeous place & our hotel has another amazing view of the waves and beach. Too windy to walk right now as it is blowing sand wildly.
Pictures from top: Seal Rocks at Cliff House; beautiful leaded glass panels in Cliff House; tarantula under glass at summit visitor center at Mt. Diablo; great view from Taco Bell table.
