Surprises along Highway 1, and why driving slowly is a good thing

By Amy Wolf, Sunset travel editor

What do you do when you see this sort of thing through the windshield of your Volvo Cross Country as you’re driving 50 mph along Highway 1?

If you’re like me, you yell to your husband, “Grab your camera! This’ll make a great blog!” If you’re like my husband’s friend Peter, you say, “Camera? Forget that—grab the knife. This looks like good eats!” If you’re like my husband, you ignore your preposterous friend and listen to your wife, and dutifully snap a photo of the cow.

Then you inch closer to get a better shot (while your wife waves and gestures and smiles to the driver of the oncoming car in the other lane, who is just as amused as you are). And you note how nice everyone is, remembering how the driver of the car who crossed paths with you moments before let out a polite honk that you hadn’t understood at that moment but that made sense when you saw the cow. It was the “warning: cow crossing” honk.

And then you inch even closer, to get a really good look at this bovine breaker of CHP laws. What is this dude doing way up on this vertiginous cliff? You can’t really blame him, though, the views are so incredible up here.

And then you drive on, shrugging your shoulders and chalking it up to life here in sunny California, where even the cows like to be nonconformists.

Why everyone should bike to work, and the wonders of Highway 35

By Amy Wolf, Sunset travel editor

Did you ride your bike to work today? You’d better have answered yes. It is national Bike to Work day, after all. But even if it weren’t, biking to work is simply the cool thing to do. Here’s why.

1. You’ll see things from a whole new perspective. Like Crystal Springs Reservoir (shown above; photo by Kevin Collins), which most people know only as the blur they speed by en route to or from work on Interstate 280.

2. You'll discover things you never knew about. I usually ride my bike 25 miles to work from Burlingame to Menlo Park along Skyline Drive and Canada Road (which is especially fun to ride on Sundays, when it's closed to traffic—but it's not bad on weekdays either). But this morning, to mix things up in honor of Bike to Work day, I tried a new route: Highway 92 (toward Half Moon Bay) to Highway 35. This is a stunning road unbelievably woodsy and untrafficked. It's edged by redwood forests, horse pastures, and tempting-looking open-space trails, with views of the Peninsula shimmering below.

2. You might discover the town of your dreams, and decide your life’s destiny. This happened to me, just this morning. I decided, right there on my bike, that when the time is right I’m moving to Woodside so I can see this beauty every day, and hang out at the legendary Alice's restaurant (pictured at left), where bikers of all kinds congregate.

3. You can let your mind have a rest, and dream up trippy thoughts, while your legs do the work. I rode my bike 35 miles to work along Highway 35. I swear, I did 35 along Highway 35—how weird is that? This is better than drugs!

4. Speaking of legs, riding to work will make them look better than you ever imagined they could. Why do you think I’m a devoted Tour de France spectator? So I can gape at all those gorgeous legs!

5. You can build up major karma points by treading as lightly as it’s possible to tread as a commuter. Biking to work is even greener than carpooling, or taking the train. The only gas you’re burning is your own.

6. You can burn enough calories to justify having an extra grande latte when you get to work. Or an extra homemade corn dog, which is what was being served in Sunset’s test kitchen this morning. (You can check out our test kitchen, and you should—it has nine stoves!—at this year's Sunset Celebration Weekend.

Ready to try it? Post your comments on your most beautiful ride to work. We’d love to hear from you.

My Virgin voyage

By Rachel Levin, Sunset senior editor

Why do I love Virgin America? You know, Richard Branson’s new low-cost airline aimed to “make flying good again.”

Oh, let me count the ways:

1. They roll out the red carpet. Literally. When I first walked into the sprawling San Francisco International Terminal, I had no clue where to find the Virgin America ticket counter. Late for my flight to New York City (I’m always late), I searched frantically, feeling like a 4-yr-old lost in Grand Central Station. And then, I caught sight of a true oasis among the chaos: a cushy red carpet and a hotel-lobby-like-table topped with an oversized vase of white orchids. (Okay, they're fake, but, still...) There were plenty of open kiosks, plus a friendly woman there to help walk me through the touch-screen. How pleasant!

2. They set the mood. No piercing lights in this Airbus. Instead, a purplish glow and comfy black leather seats (white leather—plus massage—in first class), create a calm, lounge-like atmosphere never before experienced at 39,000 feet. (The bathroom isn't bad either; they've got Method products and everything.)

3. They look good. Flight attendants aren’t dressed in some stiff, navy polyester throwback outfit with stockings, scarves, and nursing sneakers. Men wear black button downs (Johnny Cash-style); women wear white.

4. They keep you entertained. Not with a mandatory viewing of “Everybody Loves Raymond” or a grainy VHS version of “Astronaut Farmer”—but with essentially anything you want. Thanks to "Red"— your very own iMac-of-an-entertainment center. “The Office!” “30 Rock!” First-run movies on demand! (for a fee, of course, but who cares.) Video games! Seat-to-seat chat. (If you don’t like the guy drooling next to you, make a new friend.) And, best of all, a library of 3,000 songs—from Bjork to Beethoven to female folkies like Patty Griffin (my fave); listening to a crystal-clear recording of Patty’s “Trapeze” at lift-off, normally a kind of a tense time, I couldn’t have been happier.

5. And well-fed. Whenever you’re hungry, not when the stinky cart clunks by. Instead, just scroll through the touchstone menu for fresh, organic fare: yogurt parfait... caprese sandwich...fruit and cheese plate (gouda, manchego, Brie)...Swipe your credit card and food arrives within minutes. (First-class gets tapas like marinated bocconcini with peppadew peppers; Italian salametti with artichoke and roasted tomato; Louisiana crab salad.) Thirsty? Just grab as many mini-bottles of water as you want, from the always-stocked cubby hole in the back.

6. Best of all, they have the best safety video of all time. My favorite line? “For that .001 % of you who don’t know how to buckle a seatbelt...” Can’t wait to see it? Click here to watch now.

Virgin America currently flies to 7 cities with daily flights from: San Francisco (SFO) to Los Angeles (LAX), SFO to New York City (JFK), SFO to San Diego (SAD), SFO to Washington, D.C. (IAD), SFO to Las Vegas (LAS), LAX to JFK, LAX to IAD— and, this spring, they launched flights from San Francisco to Seattle and Los Angeles to Seattle. With more on the way!