Harris Ranch Steakhouse

A couple weeks ago I had the impulsive thought to head down and take a plane up for a quick flight. I didn't get to fly much during the spring because of running and wedding planning. But this Monday, Dana was out of town, and I was going to take the day off running, so an after work flight seemed like the perfect activity. Since work was not busy, I left before 3:00 and headed down. As I left my house I decided to see if Jonathan Stevens (who lives near the airport) wanted to go, and he tagged along. We flew the "Bay Tour" where you fly right next to SFO (assuming the tower will grant you a Bravo airspace clearance) and over the city. Jonathan enjoyed the flight so I suggested another adventure.

This past Friday night, Jonathan, Jenn Stevens, Dana, and I took off from San Carlos and headed South to Coalinga, CA, 120 miles South in the central valley. Coalinga is pretty much just known for the Harris Ranch, which sends beef all over California (and other places I'm sure). Right off Intestate 5 & in the middle of nowhere is the Harris Ranch Steakhouse. The website states that the steakhouse is "Conveniently located midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles". Well since these 2 cities are a 6 hour drive apart, I'd say that's only convenient to the cows that live there and haven't realized they're going to be steaks soon. So with this in mind, they stuck a small landing strip parallel to the freeway - The Harris Ranch Airport. The airport consists of a 2800 foot runway that's a mere 30 feet wide with no taxi-ways. It's a crazy landing because it looks like you're aiming toward a pencil when you're on final approach. And if you drift off the centerline you'll probably land it in the gravel. My landing wasn't pretty, but I hit the marks.

We enjoyed some delicious fresh steaks with the Stevenses (unfortunately no wine for me as the pilot). I also picked up a couple vacuum sealed racks of tri tip steak to cook if we get around to having a housewarming party. So after dinner and after nightfall we climbed back in the plane to head back to San Carlos. It was a bit interesting heading back into the Bay Area as a very thin, but low cloud layer had settled over most of the Bay. The approach control warned me that San Francisco International was reporting instrument conditions (which I'm not rated to fly in), and San Jose had a very low ceiling. The San Carlos tower was closed, but there's a frequency that broadcasts the automated weather conditions... Somehow they were reporting clear skies. This was clearly an error since it was only 9 miles south of SFO, which was completely fogged in. But as I got close to the Bay, I slipped under the initial cloud layer, and sure enough when I approached San Carlos, the skies were clear. Weird summer weather in the Bay Area!

We stayed in the city the rest of the weekend. Saturday night went to Tyson Hendrickson's engagement party - praise the Lord that man found a girl! Then I rolled out of bed at 5am Sunday morning to combine a long run with SF Marathon spectating (the race starts at 5:30 so that they can incorporate the Golden Gate Bridge). I ran with a guy I bet at a recent race who I've recruited to run with West Valley, and I got to see a couple friends run well in the race.