Alpine and Portola.....

Last couple of weekends had been fun. Last weekend I visited Seattle (the blog for this visit will be posted in sometime) and two weeks ago, on a dull Sunday afternoon, I drove to Border’s to collect information for my “Places to Visit” list accompanied by a cup of Seattle’s “worst” coffee (Seattle’s best coffee lovers, please excuse me). After noting down some of the places in Northern California, I was so bored to go back home and at the same time I did not want to spend more at Border’s. I thought to myself; Why not take my new Infiniti G35 for a spin? This thought paved way for this new blog about “Alpine and Portola Valley”.

This exit is on I-280N towards San Francisco. Here is the location from google maps (Alpine Rd & Portola Rd, Portola Valley, CA 94028). I really did not intend to go to this place and neither have I ever heard about this location before. I was driving on the interstate and the dark, gloomy mountains to my left grabbed my attention. I always wanted to drive on such locations where you are surrounded by only trees and a small stream of water. The weather was just perfect (close to sunset and chilly) and the winding roads towards the mountain created the perfect setting. The challenges posed by the winding roads were taken care by my Infiniti’s handling! The roads leading into the mountain were so narrow that I had to yield to the oncoming traffic. At some places, the roads could accommodate just a single vehicle. The time was around 7:50 PM and the sun was starting to say bye to the northern hemisphere. With the car windows down, the chillness in the air increased and also the sound of nature was so prominent in the air. Birds chirping, the sound from the stream and the hum of the wind through the dense trees created a spooky setting. The GPS in my phone couldn’t find out my location and I was just heading towards nowhere.

It started to become much darker and then I stopped…. I stopped at a ‘turn around’ and I felt the power of Nature. It was such an unexplainable feeling mixed with a sense of fear, confusion and joy. The chilly wind, the stream, the dark trees and the strong rocks around felt just amazing in the light moon light. Splendid... Just Splendid…

Then I turned back to civilization. I was feeling different now.