I rolled out of bed just before 9 after sleeping nearly 9 hours uninterrupted. Packing so much into my days and always being on the move for the past few weeks is catching up to me quickly. I decided it was time for a low key day.

I’m staying at a friend’s parents’ house in San José and they have been wonderful hosts. We were going to either visit the Filoli Gardens in Woodside or visit my friend’s sister in Half Moon Bay. As I’m going to the Berkeley Botanical Gardens on Tuesday and as I saw a bunch of signs for Half Moon Bay on my way up from Monterey, I opted for the latter. More, my friend’s sister’s cats are Instagram famous and I was very excited to meet them.

On the way there, we took my hosts Tesla Model 3. I’d never been inside one before and it was unlike any car I’d been in before—and not just because it was electric. Tesla truly rethought from the ground up what and how a car should be in today’s world. I can’t say I agree with all of the decisions that they made, but I can certainly say I was impressed with their boldness and often streamlined way of designing.

There’s no regular dashboard—there’s just a giant touchscreen in the center console. The controls for temperature control and other settings are designed around this kind of screen. It has auto-pilot for the highway that includes changing lanes, merging, and using on and off ramps. It’s clearly a car designed by tech nerds, so there are some cool features and also some dumb UX choices. On the screen, it shows an realtime animation of the car with lane markers and other vehicles around it—vehicles are actually rendered as sedans or trucks or motorcycles. The button to open the door and adjust the window are right next to each other and look the same.

Enough about Tesla; let me tell you about cats. They are adorable. Mister is basically a dog trapped in a cat’s body. He likes people and he craves attention. He’s also a great jumper capable of backflips. Moo is a bit shier, but she is incredibly photogenic. She also likes getting pet but she doesn’t really want you to know it.

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Before leaving Half Moon Bay, we took a walk along the beach, where we saw bicyclists, horses, and many beachgoers. Just a few miles up is a big surfer spot that’s known to get waves as high as 60 feet. It’s a quaint town on the water, that feels more remote than much of the Bay Area but really isn’t that far away from San Francisco or San José.

My next stop was Palo Alto, where I was meeting up with several college friends whom I hadn’t seen in five years. Originally, we were planning to play board games, but we were just catching up talking so we never got around to it before heading out for dinner. We walked to University Ave nearby Stanford for dinner and, of course, ice cream. It was great seeing them and learning what’s new and what’s the same. We all seem to be at different points in our lives—finishing up a PhD, joining a startup, Googling, learning web development, engineering, vacationing—but it felt just like old times.

Of course, I failed to take a group photo and instead just took several photos of my friends’ cat Viola. She reminds me very much of my cat, though she is a bit lighter (both weight and color) and more docile than Aayla.

Because the others have work in the morning, we wrapped up reasonably early. It worked out well for me because by 9pm I was already tired. Very tired. More tired than I recall being in a long time. I’m hoping a few more calmer days will bring back my energy.

I’m back on the grid again. I spent the night at the Historic Landmark House in Seaside, just east of Monterey.

The day started off cold and rainy so I went first to the Monterey Aquarium to visit the cast of Spongebob.

After I left the aquarium, the rain stopped and the sun emerged from the clouds. I had a quick lunch at Happy Girl Kitchen, a great healthy vegetarian place a few blocks from the aquarium. I rented an electric bike and rode the 17 Mile Drive. It’s basically this scenic route through the beaches, expensive houses, and golf courses. If you take a car, you have to pay to get on the road. I’d never used an electric bike before, and it was a cool experience. You set a “passenger assist” level to between 0 and 6. Since the bike weighed 80 lbs, I rarely used the powerless setting. Most of the time I cruised around on 1-2, reserving 3 for steep hills.

At some point on the way back, I stopped along a beach and stared into the ocean for a bit.

After returning for the bike, I guess I wasn’t tired enough, so I walked a few miles along the coast. I was craving fish and chips and some quick googling pointed me to the London Bridge Pub. It was pretty good, but not as good as the ice cream I got afterwards at Revival. I missed one day of ice cream yesterday, so I’ll need to get an extra ice cream in at some point.

Before I leave for my kayak wildlife tour of Moss Landing, I will leave you with some pictures of this wonderful bed and breakfast. The place was extremely clean and well decorated with art painted by the owners. I highly recommend staying here if you’re in the area. They provided a delicious breakfast and gave some good lunch suggestions.

At breakfast I got to meet some of the guests and staff. A woman and her mother-in-law were in town from Fremont for a quilting show. Charlotte, one of the staff members, has been living here for a few months now—originally from Kentucky but using this place as an artist residency. Annemarie, one of the owners, created many of the paintings hung around the house. While my 3D printed snail didn’t compare, they appreciated it and left it next to their guestbook. I met the cat and dog and chickens too.

I’m back at the cabin for night two. It’s about 8pm. I left my iPad in the car. It would take me about twenty minutes to get. And I’m already in my pajamas. It’s okay. I’m exhausted. 

After not eating much yesterday, I started the day today with a big breakfast. In the cabin, I made three scrambled eggs and earl grey tea. On top of that I had a banana, a clementine, and a Clif bar. It was pretty cold—high fifties—so I turned on the propane heater after some tinkering. 

My first stop was Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. It was maybe twenty minutes north from the cabin. I had two destinations there: Whaler’s Cove and Sea Lion Point. Whaler’s Cove was a fairly short, flat walk, so I went a little further to Granite Point. The hike to Sea Lion Point and around Point Lobos was gorgeous, but there were no sea lions. 

After lunch, I went to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to hike Valley View Trail to Pfeiffer Falls.  Unfortunately the trail to the waterfall was closed, but I was able to hike up to the top to get the good valley view. There were even people there to take my picture. The hike itself was about an hour and was mostly uphill. 

At the start of the train, there was a sign warning about mountain lions. It said not to travel alone and not to be quiet so as to not surprise the cats. I was alone and I am not good at being loud. Thankfully I was not eaten by a mountain lion.

For dinner I went to Nepenthe, a restaurant with a view. More people recommended this place than anything else for my whole trip. I got a rum spiked cider and some spicy vegetable dish. I sat on the ledge and got to watch the Pacific while eating dinner.

I didn’t pay too much attention to the couple sitting next to me while eating dinner, but I did catch this part of their conversation:

Tracy: It’s broccolini, not broccoli—you don’t like it
Dana: It’s a stupid vegetable
Tracy: You’re an idiot

You may wonder how I learned their names. It turns out that Dana and I wanted the same dessert—the four layer dark chocolate cake—but neither of us wanted to eat the entire giant dessert. Tracy has just started a diet three days ago and wouldn’t be tempted. So Dana and I split the cake. 

We got to talking and I learned that they were visiting Big Sur from Santa Cruz for a concert. He’s a lawyer and she works in the restaurant industry. The two seemed well read and gave me some suggestions for my trip. They also thought I looked exactly like their friend’s son who is twenty. The waitress, who had worked at the restaurant for twenty five years and was maybe in her mid to late fifties, said that I would make a cute stripper. Sounds weird, but it made sense in the context of the conversation. So I took it all as a compliment, especially as I had been hiking all day and was in desperate need for a shower…and that shower will have to wait until morning since the bathroom is semi-outdoors. It’s cold and the light attracts moths, so I will remain gross for another twelve hours. 

Tomorrow I depart north, first hitting up the 17 mile drive in Carmel-by-the-Sea and then the Monterey Aquarium. It’s been a blast, Big Sur. 

Today was another whirlwind of a day. I am off the grid, with no cell service or access to Internet. For the next two nights I am staying in a cabin in the woods—Lotus Blossom at the Jewel in the Forest. It’s just north of Big Sur, about two miles up a long and windy road. The cabin itself is a ten minute hike up a very steep muddy gravel path. 

This morning, I woke up in Denmark. Kind of. I spent last night in Solvang, a Danish town about 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara. The town itself looks like you’re in another country. The architecture is remarkably Scandinavian. There are street names like Atterdag Rd and Elverhoy Way. There are more Denmark flags than US flags—though there are a lot of both.

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In the morning I went to a yoga class at Bloom Solvang. It wasn’t quite a yoga class but it wasn’t not a yoga class. Called “evolution”, it focused on opening up the chest t combat slouch inherent in today’s world. We used props I’d never heard of and I felt muscles I never knew existed. It was exactly what I needed. Everyone was friendly, and the dozen or so of us talked during class, since we weren’t focusing on breathing. As I was the only male and newcomer, I got extra help and questions. I really had no idea what I was doing to start and the people there were interested in my travels.

I left Solvang shortly after 1pm, bidding farewell to the tiny Airbnb dog and getting some coffee and toast at Good Bean coffee. Next up was Hearst Castle, a massive estate in San Simeon. William Hearst built the complex over 20+ years in the early 20th century. It had relics from ancient Egypt, exotic animals from all of the world (zebras still roam the property, though the lions and polar bears are long gone), and art and architecture from all over Europe. The view was amazing. 

My tour of Hearst Castle wrapped up just before 6, as I continued north on the 1. Entering the Big Sur area, I passed through indescribable landscapes. I’ve been all over the world, but nothing has yet to compare to the beauty I saw today as I drove up the coast. I cannot capture it in words and pictures do not do it justice. I stopped several times along the way as the sun set.

It was dark when I reached the Jewel in the Forest. Thankfully I had a headlamp and packed a light bag for tonight. As soon as I arrived, I met Sofanya, the property owner, who gave me a big hug. She’s been here since at least 1995, which surprised me because she looks younger than I would have expected. She let me know that there was no electricity in the cabin but that it had been fixed just before I arrived. So far so good. 

Sofanya has an art studio and a beautiful home at the base of the property. I couldn’t see too much in the dark, but I did get to meet her dog, who was very tired after a busy day making a new dog friend. I hope to see more of the dog tomorrow. 

In the morning, I hope to sleep in and make some breakfast in the cabin. Then I’m off to Lobos Point and Big Sur, followed by Nepenthe for dinner. 

Click here to see a video of the hike up to the cabin at night.

I’m so tired right now, but I need to tell you about Lillian.

Lillian is my favorite 3D printed snail. She was hatched on October 23, 2017, weighing about 1kg, on what was then known as Daguerre Senior. It is known known as the Form 3L.

Today was the launch day for the next generation of Formlabs printers. They’re a huge step forward in SLA technology—we even trademarked the term LFS (low force stereolithography). For the past few years, I have worked on the Form 3, whose novel printing process enabled the Form 3L.

When almost a year and a half ago I came into work and saw Lillian on my desk, I knew we were working on something special. She is HUGE. About a year later, her big brother Sir Phillip was hatched, roughly twice the weight, showing how much we accomplished in one year’s time.

Anyways, I want to write more about the Form 3 and the amazing team that brought it to life over the past year, but I am exhausted and need some rest right now. I also have more to share about LA. Right now, I’m in Solvang, a Danish city about an hour north of Santa Barbara. I’ll be without internet for the next two nights (more on that later), so the pace of these posts may slow down until the weekend. Stay tuned.