What’s on Valencia Peak? The best table in California!

The best seat in California?

You don’t need reservations to sit at what I think is the best table in California, because it is a humble picnic table placed in a state park, free and open to all.

Well, all people willing and able to hike to the top of Valencia Peak, that is. Which is no easy feat, because it took me two attempts to hike all 1,350 or so feet of that gorgeous mountain.

The first day I was unprepared, getting so hot and hungry halfway up that I turned back in defeat. But I came back the next day determined to finally reach the top. And I'm so glad I did, because there I met my new favorite picnic table. 

That was cool.

And yes, I do indeed have a favorite picnic table. In fact, I have two!

 

The first table I fell in love with is in Wilder Ranch State Park, a weathered wooden one placed in a lovely spot along the Wilder Ridge Trail where you can stop and eat, drink, or just soak in the views of the Pacific Ocean in Monterey Bay. 

The views are so expansive, I think you can see all of the bay, which to me is one of the most beautiful sights in the world — though I freely admit that growing up along that stretch of ocean assuredly makes me biased in that department.

When I first found that table a few years ago, I remember thinking: “Wow, is this the best picnic table in California?! Like, could this table have the best view you could possibly see from a humble wooden table, completely open to the public?”

View of Morro Rock in the background.

I definitely thought so at the time, and kept thinking that until this summer, when I found a picnic table with an even better view: another gray-with-age, wooden picnic table atop just one of the peaks in Montaña de Oro State Park near San Luis Obispo.

That table also is on the central coast of California, but a lot higher up, so you can see for a lot more miles of the beautiful Pacific Ocean. And while Wilder Ranch charges vehicles a day use fee to enter its parking lots, Montaña de Oro allows all vehicles to drive into its sprawling gorgeousness, and does not charge them to park at trailheads. 

Which is yet another reason why I’ve decided that the picnic table sitting atop Valencia Peak is definitely the best picnic table in California. And since California is my favorite place, it is also quite possibly the best picnic table in the world.

Movies I saw in June: Ballerina, The Phoenician Scheme & Thelma

The movies I saw in June featured lots of cool women, including an assassin avenging her father’s death and a nun whose father keeps escaping death, but my favorite woman to watch was a plucky 93-year-old determined to find a scammer who stole $10,000 from her.

The assassin was the main character in Ballerina (Seen in the theater, 6/10/2025), which I will give a “B” because I found it a nice mix of two franchises I enjoy: John Wick, because it was set in his universe, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because our main character is small and scrappy, constantly underestimated by her opponents yet always winning because of her resourcefulness in turning anything she can reach into a weapon, which in Eve’s case was usually hurled at her opponent’s crotch.

Ballerina had all the things I love about John Wick, like inventive fight scenes that are often funny — particularly one involving another woman and a pile of plates — and lots of analog touches like switchboard ladies using old-school headphones, plugs, typewriters and printers to receive and broadcast the latest assassin bounties, or having the big bad’s lookout, “The Eye,” be a man who scans the mountainside for intruders with a balcony full of vintage brass telescopes.

Fun fact: This movie reminded me a bit of the 1990 French film La Femme Nikita, which I argue is the gold standard of “young woman learning to be an assassin” movies. And at least one person making Ballerina agreed, since Nikita herself, Anne Parillaud, is given a cameo in the movie. And if you haven’t watched Parillaud in Luc Besson’s movie, you should rectify that as soon as possible, as I can still see her “angry dancing” to Mozart 35 years later.

And while I enjoyed the love story in Nikita, I appreciated even more that the makers of Ballerina did not give Ana De Armas' assassin a love interest, or even a sex scene, staying true to the John Wick formula.

The nun was played by Kate Winslet’s daughter Mia Threapleton, who spends most of the movie as an oval of eyes and freckles, yet still manages to nearly steal the show from the ever-charming Benicio Del Toro in The Phoenician Scheme (Seen in theater, 6/14/2025.) I give this movie an “A,” but freely admit to adoring Wes Anderson films ever since falling in love with Rushmore in 1998. So if you don’t enjoy his droll and whimsical (some might say precious?) style, then you will likely not enjoy this latest effort; but if you also admire his creations, then The Phoenician could jump into your Top Five, as I think it was one of his funniest.

Fun fact: My husband and I saw a 9:35 a.m. showing of The Phoenician Scheme, which was definitely the first time either of us has ever gone to the movies before 11 a.m.! And since we were the only two people in the theater, I asked the usher afterward if they would have still played the movie if we weren’t there, and he said, with more than a touch of annoyance, “No.”

6/20 & 6/21/2025: The French Dispatch, 2021 (DVD, rented from the library). Grade: B-. I never thought I’d give a Wes Anderson movie anything less than the top grade, especially one that is reportedly a “love letter to journalists,” but this movie did not completely charm me like his others. In fact, it was so dense and academic that we stopped watching halfway through the first time, then finished it the following day. And I’m glad we didn’t give up on it, because the second half featured the best chapter, a delightful romp featuring one of my favorite actresses and people, Frances McDormand. (I probably should give it a C+, but I can’t go below a B for either Wes or Frances.)

6/27/2025: Thelma, 2024 (DVD, rented from the library) Grade: A+, because I adored this pretty perfect little movie written and directed by Josh Margolin, who obviously had a 90-something woman in his life that he adored while making this film, which is a loving-but-honest portrayal of an elderly woman desperate to maintain her independence from the family members who desperately want to keep her safe.

The plot is very basic, with our main character played by the marvelous June Squibb getting swindled over the phone by someone pretending to be her jailed grandson needing $10,000 for his bail. After learning she was conned, Thelma gets inspired by an article about Tom Cruise's latest Mission Impossible movie and embarks on her own seemingly impossible mission to reclaim her money before her frantic family can find her. Structured somewhat like a Mission Impossible movie, this tiny but mighty film is a fun caper with a great script full of respectful nods to the indignities of aging. And if that isn’t enough to recommend it, how about getting to see Richard Roundtree, John Shaft himself, playing Thelma’s partner in crime? Yes, I found so much to love about this movie.

Fun fact: The very end features footage of the real-life “Thelma,” perhaps the most touching brushstroke in a loving portrait of an elderly woman determined to keep going outside on her own two legs for as long as she possibly can.

More movie reviews: 

Mission Impossible 8, Columbus.

Sinners, The Accountant 2.

Last Breath, Black Bag and The Substance.