If you guessed Yali's Cafe on University Ave. in Berkeley, Calif., then you are correct. I'm taking some time off in Berkeley right now. Elizabeth and I spent the weekend in Big Sur, which is a long stretch of California coast about three hours south of San Francisco. What we did was drive four hours south on Friday and then gradually work our way back up the coast, so that the drive on Sunday from Monterey to Berkeley was only two hours. On Friday, we went camping in San Simeon State Park for a whopping eleven dollars total, plus five dollars for a wheelbarrow-full of firewood.

Saturday, we got up early to drive to Hearst Castle, the sprawling home of media magnate William Randolph Hearst. The place is gigantic: one large main house and three guest houses with about a dozen rooms each. The castle sits on top of a hill 1,600 feet above sea level and has spectacular views of the mountains and the ocean. If you're ever going to see Hearst Castle, do what we did and go to the 8:20 tour. At 8:00, there's not that many people to fight with, and it gives you a lot of opportunity to do other stuff throughout the day.

After Hearst Castle, we drove about an hour and a half north to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. We stayed in a sweet lodge and went hiking in other parks around the area, including Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, the only place on the Pacific coast where a waterfall feeds directly into the ocean. After a long day of driving, what better way to spend the evening than by eating in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Big Sur's crazy artist retreat? (Bring money.)

The next day, we left for Monterey, home of the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. The aquarium contains hundreds of species of plants and animals that can be found in and around Monterey Bay, which is a beautiful, clean bay two hours south of San Francisco. (If you're a fan of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, you will see the Monterey Bay Aquarium playing the part of the "Cetacean Institute," home of the two humpback whales George and Gracie. The aquarium's Great Tide Pool gets some matte painting effects and becomes the exterior shots of George and Gracie's tank. Interior shots of the whale tank are bluescreens placed behind the real interior windows that look into the aquarium's Kelp Forest.) In getting from Carmel to Monterey, we took the longer-but-scenic Seventeen Mile Drive. It costs eight bucks to drive this stretch of highway that includes spectacular views of the ocean and some views of golf courses, if that's your thing.

Monterey also has literary significance, as it was the setting of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row. At its heyday, Cannery Row in Monterey had 21 fish canneries. Demand by the military for canned fish during the world wars caused this booming business, but overfishing caused a steep reduction in the quantity of fish during the 1950s, and by the 1970s, all of the canneries had gone out of business. Now, Cannery Row is home to -- what else? -- shops and restaurants! There's a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. here, and it's fantastic. Each of the fourteen Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurants around the world have different pieces of memorabilia from the film Forrest Gump, and based on what I experienced at the one in Monterey, they have excellent seafood.

So, this is what I've been up to recently. Next weekend, we're going to Santa Cruz and Fremont. The latter contains a world-rated haunted house and what's touted to be the world's largest corn maze. Awesome!