Tree By the River

Over Memorial Day weekend, I went camping up at Lake Sonoma. I was beyond excited for the trip, not only because it was sure to be fun, but because I hadn't been camping since I was 14. 

In the days that preceded the trip, I did a lot of preparation, in the form of finding directions, checking the weather, purchasing food, packing, and figuring out a few logistics, like sleeping bags and tents. 

Now that the trip is over, I know there are things for which I could have better prepared, and things for which I'm glad I prepared as well as I did. 

So I thought I'd share some things to keep in mind, should your travel plans ever involve camping—and they should, if only just once, because it's definitely a great experience. 

• If you're driving up to the site, check out gas prices along your route, so you know both where it's most cost-effective to fill up, as well as where the closest gas station is to your destination. Gas prices can vary so much, even within a small area, so it's beneficial to price-hunt a little, especially when you're filling up for a long drive. 

• Minimize the number of items that you're packing; or, if you're traveling with a companion (or two, or more), see if you can share certain items. Plus, if you're not driving directly to your campsite, you'll be carrying this stuff on your back, so it's in your best interest to make it as light as possible. We had about a 45-minute hike to our campsite from the parking lot, so packing lightly (or at least relatively so) made a huge difference.

• That said, don't skimp on clothing, especially if you're like me, and get cold really easily. You don't need five different outfits, but five layers might be prudent, particularly for when temperatures plummet at night. Also, despite the fact that the weather report might have you thinking that it's going to be sunny and warm all weekend, PACK YOUR RAINCOAT. I would have been soaked even more than I was if I'd blindly adhered to the high of 69 degrees that weather.com fed me the night before. 

• Time your arrivals and departures as best you can. Our particular camp was home to mountain lions, which my friends found out the hard way, during a nighttime hike to the campsite on Friday night. Obviously, none of us know this until we arrived, but you should really try to keep hiking to a daylight endeavor. 

• Get creative with your meals! Peanut butter sandwiches are easy and great, particularly after a hike, you don't have to be stuck eating them for every. single. meal. if you don't want to be. So long as there's a cooler and campfire, there's a lot that you can do with food combinations, with every last one being delicious. I ate a range of things over the two days, from chicken sausages, to salads, to a pizza-style Pudgy Pie.

And, of course, peanut butter sandwiches. 

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

Yesterday, The New York Times published "36 Hours in Niagara Falls" on their website. Niagara Falls is probably one of the more tourist-heavy locales that has been featured in this column, so I was curious as to the places the author might advise people to visit. I've been there three times, the most recent of which was nearly six years ago, but every trip has been distinct, despite the familiarity of the Falls themselves. 

Some of the places that Barbara Ireland, the article's author, visits are utterly unfamiliar to me, but sound interesting, particularly if you are seeking a fancy meal or a getaway from the waterfalls. 

Ireland recommends visiting Clifton Hill, a tacky subset of Niagara, Ontario, and I'm inclined to agree. Yes, it's overdone and overpriced. Yes, it's super touristy. But it's absolutely part of the experience. I've previously visited Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, which I think I enjoyed at the time, being a young girl of 15. I have enough self-awareness to know that I'd probably roll my eyes if I visited today. There's no need to visit any specific attraction, though—merely walking around the area is enough. I've done it twice now, and I think I'm good. Forever.

As Ireland also mentions, the Canadian view of the falls is by far the superior one, even though Niagara has definitely sold its soul to tourism. Still, if you're visiting from the United States, it's absolutely worth a visit across the border (just don't forget your passport!) to see the other side. 

Ireland also states that all of the Falls' attractions, the Maid of the Mist is the one worth visiting, and she's absolutely correct. The tour boat takes visitors out into the waterfalls, and it's really staggering to be nearly enclosed in the Horseshoe portion of the falls. After the boat ride, visitors are also permitted to hike down a bit to get an alternate, but still up-close, view of the water.

Some additional things I'd suggest:

• If you have a car, there are some cost-effective motels and hotels to be found merely 20 minutes outside of Niagara. There's something to be said for a hotel room that offers an overhead view of the falls, or even just a shorter commute to the attraction, but for those on a budget, or even those just looking to cut costs, there are deals to be found outside of the city.

• Depending on the length of your stay, it's definitely worth exploring the areas surrounding Niagara Falls, both on the American and Canadian side. When I last visited in late 2005, I stayed on the Canadian side, and we found some excellent restaurants—a surefire way to win me over. My previous trip, back in July of 2002, had me staying in New York, so I spent a lot of time exploring Buffalo. It's certainly not a city that most are ever clamoring to visit, but it does have a fair amount to offer visitors, including a house built by the always-wonderful Frankie El Dubs. 

• Visit the waterfalls at night. They are all lit up by color projectors, and it's just part of the Niagara experience to see the Falls in shades of pink, purple, and green. Plus, it looks awesome. See?

From the Great Tablecloth

While in San Francisco yesterday, we had dinner at Clay Oven, an Indian restaurant chain with branches in the Bay Area.
We'd briefly toyed with ordering for takeout, feeling the influence of a late Sunday energy slump, but finally gained enough stamina to walk up to the restaurant. This proved to be a good choice, as the place was nearly empty upon our arrival (probably because it wasn't even 6:00 yet), and the interior the restaurant was clean and nicely decorated. 

Everyone was eyeing the chicken tikka masala, so we decided to order family style. We ordered three chicken tikka masalas, one aloo saag, two assorted baskets of naan, and three samosa trays (which amounted to six in total), which we (correctly!) figured would be enough for the eight of us present. 

The food was fantastic. We started off with samosas, which maintained the perfect contrast of crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, and which were also nice and spicy. The tikka masala was good, though it could have used a bit more of a kick—we ordered it at medium spiciness, deciding to err on the safe side, but even that seem mild. My relationship with spinach tends to ebb and flow a bit, but it was full-on love last night; the saag was creamy and tasty, and there's rarely an occasion when potatoes aren't awesome. [Potato salad is the exception.] As is standard in most Indian meals/restaurants, the rice was cooked with cumin seeds, which gave the rice a really nice flavor. And the naan, while no different than at any other place, was still extremely tasty and soft. I continued to nibble on it, long after I'd "finished" eating, simply because it was sitting there, looking good. Have I mentioned before that I have no self-control?

There's plenty more on the menu just waiting to be explored, but I anticipate that it'll be a long time before I return there, since there isn't one extremely close by. But if you're ever near one, and craving some good Indian food—give this place a visit.

Down in New Orleans

Last night, I met up with friends at NOLA, a bar/restaurant in downtown Palo Alto. There are two parts to the establishment, the restaurant portion and the bar portion, the latter of which still serves the entire menu. We all sat/stood in the bar section, which was pretty small and somewhat tightly packed for about an hour or two after our arrival.

The clientele consisted of a lot of young professionals like ourselves, although there were a few outliers. One party, in particular, seemed to be of the still-in-college-mode variety of young professionals. For a bar as small as this one, there was a high number of televisions—around seven; most featured either the Giants/Diamondbacks game or the NBA Playoffs, though there was one screen in the corner that curiously played a foreign film with subtitles. The lighting struck me as a little dim at times, which I normally find grating, but which didn't bother me as much on this evening.

For the most part, the night's drink of choice was raspberry mojitos. I find raspberry to be pretty much disgusting, but my friends raved all evening about the deliciousness of this particular drink, so I'll just take their word for it.

Eventually, we decided that we should probably eat, especially me, since I hadn't bothered to have any dinner, and we were nearing 10pm. We decided on the BBQ chicken quesadilla, the mushroom quesadilla, a bowl of gumbo (the only New Orleanian cuisine we selected from the primarily NOLA-influenced menu), and the never-failing sweet potato fries. 
For once, the sweet potato fries took a backseat to my entrée, the chicken quesadilla, which was fantastic. There was a good balance of chicken, cheese, and barbeque sauce, without any one ingredient overpowering the dish.

Given that there are an endless number of restaurants to try in Palo Alto, never mind the surrounding cities, I don't imagine that I'll consistently be returning here. But it's definitely worth another visit—or an initial one.

I Got My Eggs, I Got My Pancakes, Too

One of the things I miss most about the east coast (particularly New Jersey) is the prevalence of diners and other breakfast/brunch establishments. The west coast, at least in the Bay Area, is seriously lacking in this department. The city of San Francisco probably fares a little better, but it's beyond silly to travel up there just for some Belgian waffles on a Sunday morning.

Yesterday morning, I met a friend for breakfast in Mountain View, and while we easily found a run-of-the-mill cafe in which to grab bagels, it's not quite the nice sit-down that we would have preferred. Sure, there are a couple of nice restaurants (though you have to dig a little to find them) that serve standard breakfast, but they are few and far between.

In New Jersey, however, there were a number of places at my disposal if I was looking to grab breakfast or brunch with some friends on a weekend morning. Moreover, most of these places serve breakfast all day long; I've eaten pancakes for dinner/late-night meals more times than I can count.

While back east last week, I was able to get my fill of these places twice, as there was both a diner and a Perkins in close proximity to my hotel.

But now I'm back in The Land of No Breakfast, which is pretty much catastrophic for me, given that breakfast is my absolute favorite type of meal (well, that and any ethnic food). It'd be a sad world without the likes of waffles, French toast, and biscuits. 

Between the dearth of breakfast, the general mediocrity of bagels, and the absence of Dunkin' Donuts, mornings aren't as exciting as they could be out here. But their widespread presence back east is part of what makes home so lovely.

Oda al Tomate

This afternoon, while running errands in the Mountain View area, my friend and I stopped for a quick lunch. We wanted something ethnic (as always), and close by, so we found a Tex-Mex chain by the name of La Salsa.

How to describe this place? It's fast food-esque, but pricier than something like Taco Bell—and it tastes worse, too. La Salsa seems okay in theory; it has a relatively lengthy menu, and there's a salsa bar, complete with about eight different kinds of salsa.

I ordered two soft chicken tacos, which came with a side of tortilla chips. The tacos were about the size of my fist, so smaller than I expected; meanwhile, my friend, who ordered a taco salad, received a serving that was about the size of her head. Probably weighed about the same, too.

The food itself was mediocre, if that. The chips were a little bland—yes, I enjoy more salt than the average person, but these were really plain. Meanwhile, the chicken was extremely dry, and some of it was just straight up burnt and overcooked. I tried three different salsas, and while they weren't bad, they weren't good, either. I had some pico de gallo, which completely lacked spice, and which contained completely flavorless tomatoes--the cilantro was the only source of zest. Their regular salsa wasn't too bad, but I couldn't really differentiate it from something that would come out of a bottle marked "Pace" or "Old El Paso." And finally, I tried a "spicy" salsa, which had a nice kick, but that I couldn't really classify as tasty in any way.

I ended up eating most of what was on my plate, due more to hunger than anything else. And I've eaten worse, so I suppose I can't complain too much. But I'm pretty sure that I'm just never going to be coming back here--you should probably stay away, too. Your taste buds will thank you.

Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

Last night, a friend and I had dinner at the Stanford Creamery, located in the Stanford Shopping Center. The restaurant boasts pretty standard fare, from salads, to sandwiches and burgers, which we deemed perfect, since there wasn't a specific type of food that we craved.

The inside of the restaurant (see above) echoes the interior of an old diner, but since the weather was so gorgeous, we opted to sit outside; there's a covered patio section, with heaters for when the temperatures drop at night.

There was plenty to choose from on the menu, but since we are both apparently five years old on the inside, we ordered the exact same thing: grilled cheese sandwiches with greens on the side, and milkshakes—mine was chocolate, hers was peanut butter and chocolate.

As I've mentioned, I'm not too big on sweets, so I was uncertain about taking on an entire milkshake, but the Creamery is known for this particular item, so I decided to give it a try. I toyed briefly with getting the chocolate chip, but the waiter brought me over a sample, and I didn't think I could handle all that sweetness in drink form.

I don't think I've had a grilled cheese at a restaurant in years, so it was a refreshing change of pace—there's a lot of nicety in the simpler things sometimes.  The milkshake was good, too—even my friend seemed to like mine a little better than her own—if still a little sweeter than I would have liked. 

I'm not chomping at the bit to try other options on the Creamery's menu, mostly because all of them are pretty standard and can be found anywhere. But it's the perfect setting for a casual meal and definitely worth a visit. 

And if you're normal and enjoy sweets, don't skip that milkshake.