When you need to find respite — to find that place of calm — Rt. 88 through gold country California, might just be the road to take you there.  On this two-lane country road, expansive, golden fields dotted with dark green oaks, wind through Jackson and then Pioneer.  The road climbs up into forests of pines — the blue skies above.  It’s on 88 that I turn up the music — yesterday it was Sarah Bareilles’ Kaledidoscope Heart — and breathe. Higher and higher you’ll climb and those scented pines will open up to views of the mountains.  You’ll drive through Carson Pass at over 8,500 feet altitude. You’ll pass one shimmering lake after another:  Bear River Reservoir, Silver Lake, Caples Lake . . . heading straight into Hope Valley. There, stop at Sorensen’s Cafe, and I’m pretty sure you will have found what you were looking for.