Once you get a reputation as a good searcher, people come and ask you all kinds of questions. Here's one my friend J asked me the other day.
She said:
And you know... she's right. The fog does pour over the ridgeline to the west of the Googleplex, and it is a beautiful thing to see. It never ceases to impress me as I drive down the freeway from San Francisco back to the 'Plex.
Question: Can you find a B&B (with a deck) that has a decent view of the fog coming over the ridge?
Naturally, you'll have to figure out what that foggy place is called, etc. Caution: there are several such places in the mountains, you'll have to pick the right one. (Hint: it's near a lake.) To have a decent view of the fog, the B&B should be within 10 miles of the fog. And naturally, it has to have a deck or patio.
Can you find such a place using your internet searching skills?
Search on!
"There's a place not far from the Googleplex where the fog pours over the mountains in the west every afternoon during the summer. I want to find a bed-and-breakfast someplace nearby where I can watch the fog come over the ridge in the afternoon. The ideal B&B will have a view of the fog coming in on a deck or patio where I can sit with a glass of wine and just watch..."
And you know... she's right. The fog does pour over the ridgeline to the west of the Googleplex, and it is a beautiful thing to see. It never ceases to impress me as I drive down the freeway from San Francisco back to the 'Plex.
Question: Can you find a B&B (with a deck) that has a decent view of the fog coming over the ridge?
Naturally, you'll have to figure out what that foggy place is called, etc. Caution: there are several such places in the mountains, you'll have to pick the right one. (Hint: it's near a lake.) To have a decent view of the fog, the B&B should be within 10 miles of the fog. And naturally, it has to have a deck or patio.
Can you find such a place using your internet searching skills?
Search on!
Don't know if this is the way you are supposed to answer these queries but here goes.
ReplyDeleteMountain Home Inn
810 Panoramic Highway
Mill Valley, California 94941
That's a nice place, but it's kinda far from the Googleplex, yes? (In particular, it's not "to the west of the Googleplex..." and is not on the freeway as you drive from SF to the Googleplex.
ReplyDeleteKeep searchign!
Quite the challenge this time, is the service Airbnb in bounds?
ReplyDeleteAsk this guy: twitter.com/karlthefog
ReplyDeleteRosewood Sand Hill Hotel, 2825 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA
ReplyDeleteFound that to within 8 minutes on a tablet
Delete- maps
. find near using patio bed & breakfast
- google search for verification
http://www.tripadvisor.de/ShowUserReviews-g32704-d1235799-r116455439-Rosewood_Sand_Hill-Menlo_Park_California.html
— going with the Atherton Inn B&B in Redwood City - close to the GPlex, wine theme, outdoor area, rooftop deck above garage, near Bear Gulch Reservoir & Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir, views toward the Santa Cruz Mtns./Miramontes Ridge...
ReplyDelete... and then there is the Jack-in-the-Box... wait, is there really a "J" or is this a crowd source search? the only thing better than a quick Goo search is having someone else do it. Tricky Dan, very tricky. Enjoy the marine layer/fog or whatever it is.
At one time you could have just wandered into Hanger One, before it was skeletal, with a good Pinot.
It was a very inefficient search that seemed to take days... thought I had it once, but was in Belgium, meh, waa, weeping.
Atherton map
lmgtfy
I'll take
ReplyDeleteSaratoga Oaks Lodge
14626 Big Basin Way
Saratoga, CA. 95070
There was a suggestion based on a Westerly location, but that was shot down on the follow through blog.
I worked out from the hints that it had to be near mountains and a lake.
1. Google Maps Search for Googleplex (Ironic)
2. Zoom out to see a resivor and mountains.
3. Try Bed and Breakfast in Mountainview.
4. Discount business locations and urban locations. Map looks like they're in the first level of foothills and therefore not likely to be in an urban location.
It's a bit of a drive, but it seems like the best combination of criteria.
Nice try... but it's MUCH more than 10 miles away... If you were looking for B&Bs with views for the Saratoga Gap, you'd be in business with this approach.
DeleteRosewood Sand Hill
ReplyDeleteMenlo Park, CA.
Does this count as a Bed & Breakfast?
*Searched "rolling fog mountain view, ca" and found a similar image near Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir.
*Searched B&B's nearby and Rosewood Sand Hill seemed closest to the mountains (i.e. most likely to have an unobstructed view).
The only possibilites are the Coxhead House in San Mateo which is the closest B&B to the fog (on the East side of the mountains) or the Atherton Inn in Redwood City which should just make the 10 mile radius on days when the fog advances far through the pass (route 92 as it passes over the mountains to Half Moon Bay BTW). The Coxhead house has a garden but it is unlikely the the views extend to the fog. The Atherton Inn has balconies, but they face the wrong direction.
ReplyDeleteGood find, Michael! I discounted the Coxhead House because I checked the streetview and satellite views, and there's no way they could see the mountains from there. It's a great find, though.
DeleteI checked that too and agree. That's why I said it was unlikely to have the view. In fact one yelp review said that the view from the B&B is of the garbage next door.
DeleteHow about:
ReplyDeleteCowper Inn
705 Cowper Street, Palo Alto, CA
Looking to the NW in Streetview, one can see the tops of the mountains, and I presume the fog rolling over them... It's in town, so maybe not...
Don't know if it can be classified as a B&B, but I'd suggest the two-bedroom presidential villa at the Rosewood Sand Hill, on Sand Hill Road near 280. It's advertised as having sweeping views of the Santa Cruz Mountains from every room, and it has a terrace. I found it in 5-10 minutes by using Google Maps to look for lakes in the vicinity of the Googleplex and then searching nearby for accommodations. Have to fess up though that I drove 280 between SF and Palo Alto every day for 2 years, so I had a bit of a head start on the neighborhood. More than 20 years later, I still miss seeing the fog pouring over the hills on the drive home!
ReplyDeleteI think this one is a red herring. I found a youtube video of a drive up 280 showing the fog. Watching the video you can see the exit sign for Edgewood road and shortly after you can see the fog to the west. So, the lake should be Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir. There doesn't seem to be a B&B located nearby, the Coxhead House is a little North and Atherton Inn is a little south.
ReplyDeleteThe Rosewood Sand Hill Inn seemed to fill the bill. It even has a photo on one of its pages with the fog creeping over the mountains. However, it didn't seem to be near a lake, so I decided that it couldn't be the answer.
ReplyDeleteThis was very hard. I honestly couldn´t find the answer. At least no evidence that shows it is the right one.
ReplyDeleteSearched using the tips: Googleplex, Lake, Freeway.
I tried Google maps. Adding each term and found many places but again not possible to me to find the right one so no way to check if has deck or patio.
Also I couldn´t find how the foggy place is called. Searched [San Francisco Rolling Fog] and found that it is an "advection fog"
I look forward to find the right way to find the answers.
The B&B in the answer is not near a lake.
ReplyDeleteI think the 'gap' is near a lake and the B&B is up to 10 miles away. I'll accept Daniel's solution but I think Judith Koveleskie had the answer I would have accepted because of the photo 'Terrace at Night' on their web site. It's also close to 280 and near the right location; just not a B&B. The problem I had with the Atherton was the street view showed no promise of a view of the mountains. A lot of close answer but no one struck my bell as the right one.
DeleteThis is nowhere near the Googleplex. Sure you can see it from there, but you need to be over near 280 to really see it. Just go to the Vista Point off 208 somewhere around Redwood City with a blanket and a bottle of wine. You can see Crystal Springs and the point at which the fog starts.
ReplyDelete