Sunday was another absolutely beautiful, cloudless, hot harvest day in San Francisco. They are ever so precious and to be thoroughly enjoyed.
I slept in a bit (trying to recuperate from a diverticulitis flare up) but I really wanted to spend the day outdoors. I thought this hot, sunny, autumn day would be perfect for a drive down the coast and an excursion to the pumpkin patches and related festivals around Half Moon Bay. On the way down to the rodeo we passed a farm with pumpkins and an enormous hay-bale maze that I really wanted to visit.
I now had a mission, and called James to see if perchance he was free. He's been on sabbatical from Genetech but has remained quite busy-- doing silly things like cranking out another novel. James has been my best friend since we met at my first job here in SF, and one of the first friend things we did was drive down to a pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay.
James had his afternoon free and we were off. Unfortunately with a marathon in town and other events, traffic was a pain. Making matters worse-- the dense, cold fog came ashore around the Zoo and only got thicker the entire way down the peninsula. What started as an excursion to take advantage of the heat and the sunshine (making hay while the sun shines and all of that) became an ordeal of heavy coastal highway traffic and freezing fog. I was grateful that I had thrown a pair of jeans in the trunk as an afterthought. We took the Coastal Highway (1), but by the time we reached Half Moon Bay proper, we had no desire to fight the miles of motionless, bumper-to-bumper traffic along 92 which led to the big pumpkin festival sites.
James has a dear friend and former coworker from Genetech who lives in Half Moon Bay and so he called Miranda to see if she could meet us for coffee and visit for a spell. She popped over on her two-week-old super Piaggio scooter (very nice) and gave us the lowdown on all of the past weeks' Pumpkin Festival ta-dos. Miranda, it turns out, is also the Mayor of Half Moon Bay, and had led the Pumpkin Parade on her scooter just the previous weekend.
After an afternoon in the parking lot with her new toy, Miranda told us that the maze I had seen on my way to the rodeo was actually just south of town near the turn off to 84. And from what she knew of the status of 92, that route would take hours to get back and we should try cutting over to 280 via Woodside on 84 (which takes about 45 minutes on windy roads just to get to 280).
So south we went. It was late in the day and the fog never relented. Visibility was very limited along the coast, but we decided to tour the farm anyway. And other than it being so cold, we had a great time. The maze was so totally worth it.
It was great fun to get to the point where you really are lost and have to explore a lot to find your way out.
That, and it was just really pretty.
I got some good shots in and out of the maze, but the light was so cold and not very autumnal at all. In some of these shots you can see the wisps of the fog blowing over us.
James thinks he saw a sign that said they were open at night. I would love to take a group to try the maze in the dark. And in the modern era, calling for help takes on a whole new meaning:
Unfortunately, I don't have any shots of me in the maze. James may have some and I hope to see his shots eventually. All things considered though, cold and fog and traffic, it was superb to get some quality time with James.
And the afternoon's experience finally let me let go--I had been desperately clinging to the sense of summer as the SF summer season is so short--and finally embrace the spirit of Halloween (no pun intended) and prepare for the impending holiday season.
No comments:
Post a Comment