San Francisco to Los Angeles

My goodness, it has been some time since my last entry! I am now in Ajo, AZ ~ which is to say, the middle of nowhere. But it is also in the middle of the Sonoran Desert at the height of the spring wildflower bloom. More on that later (with lots of pictures, I hope).

Earl and Giselle got home on Schedule on Feb. 24, and I had a nice visit with them. Also spent a couple of nights at Milan's vacant apartment in Noe Valley. I baptized Doug and April Young's baby on March 4.


Earlier in the day, we all went to a very chic restaurant called Momo's in SF, facing the Giants' ballpark. There follow several photos of the place and its food.

Momo's Interior

Shrimp Fili Gumbo

A satisfied customer, his host, and his oysters

Then I drove through the City to the sea and down to Santa Cruz, on one of the first certifiably spring says.
Santa Cruz Mountains, viewed from the southern shore of Monterrey Bay

My old friends from the Christic Institute, Danny Sheehan and Sara Nelson live at the beach, in a community of summer houses. I spent two very heady days learning about Danny's theory of paradigms, which I won't go into here, except to say they correspond to the chakras. I got to meet Danny and Sara's second son, Daeghan ~ who is a superb rapper ~ and Sara arranged a long conversation with their elder son, Danny Paul, who has a deep interest in theology. I sent him some books on Orthodoxy (of which he knew nothing), and I hope to see him next month in New York. Sara suggested that we all go to Israel together. Maybe next Christmas.

CA Route 1 is one of the world's great drives, Comparable to the Amalfi Coast or the Hudson or Lake Pepin. South of Big Sur is legendary:
South of Big Sur

Rundle (I think) along the coast road

View from motel lawn, near San Simeon

There are some beautiful little towns north of San Luis Obispo, which puts them about midway along the coast between SFand LA. A little touristy, but remote: Cambria and Cayucos (at right). Past San Luis Obispo and north of Santa Barbara is a place apparently founded by Danes, Solvang, CA. It is the home of the world-famous Jensen's Restaurant, "The Home of Split Pea Soup." The special happenned to be a bread-bowl of their famous pea-soup, which they ave been serving for 80 years. I first tried it 35 years ago, when my hippie-bus broke down and we had to wait a day or two for repairs.

On to Santa Barbara, still among my favorite American cities and down the Camino Real to the next Mission, named for Bonaventure (San Buenaventura). The (now suburban) town lost its "San" and is just "Ventura" now, but to make for it acquired a a whole boulevard (one of LA's major arteries, running east and west just at the northern foot of the Santa Monica Mountains. AND the freeway (US 101) is called at this point the "Ventura Freeway".

Directions of exquisite clarity brought me directly to the hotel booked for me by my friend Lever (see next post).

The Magic Castle Inn was right out of the movies. Sitting on the hill just below the Hollywood Bowl, the rooms surround a patio and pool. Lever had booked a suite as large as my apartment (more closet space, actually). It is right next to one of those exclusive nightclubs where you have to be vetted to get in, called the Magic Castle Club. The doorman looked like a Sumo wrestler. I think it was a set location in Devil in a Blue Dress.


In real life, it is the world's only private club for magicians. Lever picked a good one.

After a shower, he called for me and took me to dinner at a great little restaurant with his wife, 17-month old daughter, and aunt Svetlana Mikhailkovna. There is quite a story behind this, q.v.: next post