Photo credit: Masumi
Last modification: 01/19/08 19:26
Photo credit: Masumi
If you could live anywhere, where would it be? If you haven't figured it out yet, I'd prefer a lush remote Pacific island. One with high-tech jobs, a good bookstore, good schools, and a Home Depot. The irony is that no island can live up to all these criteria, even if one could afford such a thing. Hawaii has the highest cost of living of any state, and you're very lucky if you can even purchase island property outside the U.S.
If the above picture looks like Kauai, it's not. It was taken outside our kitchen window one morning after a heavy rain shower in the Cupertino mountains. That's right, Cupertino, as in Silicon Valley, gridlock, smog, and flat. Most people never take the time to fully explore the hills around the South Bay, but that's where the beauty is. From Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz, La Honda to Bonny Doon, the Santa Cruz mountain range is an oasis that can make you think, for a little while, that you took a wrong turn somewhere on the way to Lake Tahoe. Or Napa.
Although it's still possible to live the way Ken Kesey did, if you get too far away from the Valley floor you have to battle rain, fog, and windy mountain roads. There's no municipal water or pizza delivery, and you never know when a generator might come in handy - but that's the price you pay for fresh air and views that go on for miles. The orchards may have been replaced by office parks in Santa Clara, but up here life remains unchanged. Except for the wireless broadband and DirecTV, of course.
Montebello Ridge is part of Mount Black, the "mountain" in Mountain View. Located in unincorporated Cupertino, the area and its surrounding open space preserves are part of Santa Clara county. Wine tasters, hikers and mountain bikers are invited to enjoy the local Pichetti and Ridge wineries on their way to the summit (2600').
For more on this area and others like it, catch Bay Area Backroads, Sat & Sun nights on KRON-TV.
Places to Visit
Ridge Vineyards
Picchetti Winery
Montebello Elementary
City of Cupertino
Bay Area Backroads
SiliconValley.com
The Cupertino Courier
Bay Area Metro
San Jose Mercury News
Parks & Recreation
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
Stevens Creek County Park
Stevens Creek Volunteer Fire Dep't
Fun Stuff
Computer Recycling
Weather Radar
Local Forecast
Bay Area Earthquake Reports
(with apologies to Prof. Foglio's
Girl Genius)
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