Green Postcards

Report: Yosemite Bug Café: Great food, even better people-watching

See yesterday's post for a report on Yosemite Bug's spa; a retreat at an extra specia eco-hostel in Midpines, California.

Contrary to the lounges in conventional budget hotels (TV blaring CNN Headline News, generic sofas, picked over danishes at the breakfast bar), this is a common area people actually seem to enjoy frequenting. They’ve got a live music schedule posted, and big groups of locals seem to be eating here as well as guests. As I people-watched during dinner, I’m surrounded by single travelers journaling, tables full of wine-sipping boomers, Asian tourists playing a card game I can’t follow, young backpackers, and resort employees hanging out after their shifts. I heard Spanish, Eastern European accents, the Queen's English, and languages I couldn’t begin to place all in one evening.

The food is as good as the crowd. The café is low key; you stand in line to order and clear your own table,  though when the line slows down the employees in the kitchen come out to take your dishes. The menu is better than the self-service implies; they’ve got wine, beer, and surprisingly nice entrées for a camp-type resort. Everything from steak to vegetarian options. I had an amazingly filling vegan chili served a top herbed rice, side salad, whole wheat roll, and a pleasant, local pinot noir. All for $19 with tip. (I was so ravenous I forgot to snap the picture until I was already half-way through.) Apparently, the carnivorous options are also fantastic; the pork chop with green chili sauce elicited an “Oh. My. God.” from one table over. And the British backpackers next to me raved about their meals: “I’ve been dying for a dinner like this!”

Report: Yosemite Bug -- an eco-hostel with big perks

I was tired, sore and hungry when I pulled into Yosemite Bug a few hours after finishing the Shadow of the Giants 50K. The drive to Middlepine – “The pride of Mariposa,” population 900 – was absolutely beautiful. The state highways and country roads wound west through small mountain towns and occasionally offered views of the pine-covered valley to the south.

Yosemite Bug’s “rustic mountain resort” is a collection of cabins surrounding a café and spa community area. I wasn’t expecting much when I pulled up in front of the small office, just a real bed to sleep in after a long race and a bunk bed the night before.

I had reserved a private room with a private bath for $105 (rates range from $75 to $35), though there are also more basic accommodations for less: private rooms with shared bathrooms for $65 to $85, tent cabins for $35 to $55, and hostel-style dorms for $23 ($20 for Hostelling International members) with shared bathrooms and access to a hostel kitchen. There’s also guesthouse that can sleep up to 8 people for $205 to $255 per night ($10 for each extra guest).

Report: New Stars Vegetarian Restaurant in Fresno, California

I flew into Fresno, California, this past Friday, en route to the Saturday 50K race in Fish Camp, one hour north. Common wisdom dictates the day before a race should be full of carbohydrate-rich meals. So what was a hungry runner passing through town to do? I followed my own advice and did a little vegan web searching before the trip. The almighty Google led me to New Stars Vegetarian, a relatively new Fresno site of the original New Stars in Merced.

After minor trouble finding the restaurant (it's tucked into the back of an upscale outdoor shopping complex), I was quickly settled at a white-clothed table by a extensively curtained window. It was toward the end of prime lunch time, but there were only three other diners happily noshing to the jazz standards playing on the speakers. The menu was mostly pan-Asian with a few Italian touches; vegan options were clearly marked.