Travel and hikes

May 17, 2011October 19, 2013

Open Space Preserves: A Small Diversion

The other day, we had to take a trip down the peninsula to San Jose. Once we had our business taken care of, we headed back home. The timing put us on the freeway at the start of the rush hour. Yucky!

Since freeways are boring at the best of times, we took a detour and wound up taking the scenic route home. We drove West on Page Mill Road until it connected with Hwy 35 aka Skyline Boulevard. Before we got to Skyline, we pulled off at Monte Bello Open Space Preserve. The Midpeninsula Open Space Preserves are wonderful places to visit, hike, bike, or ride horses. We didn’t stay long or hike far as it was getting late in the day. I did manage to take a few pictures though.

The hills were green and the grasses were tall. Wildflowers grew in abundance along the trail.

Monte Bello Open Space Preserve — California Quail

May 12, 2011October 18, 2013

The Japanese Tea Garden Revisited

The other day we went back to the Japanese Tea Garden. Since it was a weekday, it wasn’t too busy. I managed snap a few pics. Being springtime, the garden was lovely and green. The trees that were still bare on our last trip have leafed out.

Here are a few of our pictures. I hope you enjoy them.

May 2, 2011October 19, 2013

Welcoming Spring: grills, bills and thrills

The cats have been feeling their oats lately, playing just a bit more vigorously than usual and sleeping just as hard…

We’ve been going out more and more ourselves, spending most of this past Saturday at Golden Gate Park, starting with grilled fish, shrimp and carne asada in the meadow across from Mallard Lake. We had marinated the shrimp in a mix of Clementine-tangerine juice mixed with lime juice, brown sugar, thinly sliced shallots and shredded ginger which all came out deliciously fresh tasting.

Filets of sole and carne asada, with blackened seasoning on the fish.

Grilled peppers and beer, dried bread crumbs for our hosts.

Three hours later, we took a stroll around Mallard Lake where we saw this beautiful Blue Heron:

Looking for parking around the Arboretum, I decided to drive around Stow Lake where we saw these geese with their goslings:

Finally, the arboretum with so many flowers in bloom:

April 26, 2011October 19, 2013

Wandering around the Golden Gate

A couple weeks ago, we were wandering around the Golden Gate. Not to be confused with the bridge, the Golden Gate is the strait that connects the Bay with the Pacific Ocean. We started our wandering in the Marina District and made our way over to the cliffs above Baker Beach. We had quite a few lovely sights along the way.

We began our journey at the Wave Organ. The Wave Organ is an acoustic sculpture that was constructed near the Golden Gate Yacht Club. It consists of pipes that run down into the water and the sound is generated by the tides. It was built using remnants of old tombs and tombstones when most of the cemeteries were moved from San Francisco to Colma roughly a century ago.

While on our way back to the car from the Wave Organ, I got this picture of the bridge. It looked so lovely in the evening, that we decided to follow the sun.

The Golden Gate Bridge in the late afternoon sun.

The cliffs above the Golden Gate were glowing with shades of lavender. The Marin Headlands are visible in the distance, across the water.

Coastal trail — Marin Headlands, Battery Crosby, and the color lavender.

Point Bonita Lighthouse is at the very tip of the Marin Headlands. That is a suspension bridge visible to the right of the light and it is the only access to the lighthouse.

Soon after, the sun began to set. It was the end of another glorious day in San Francisco.

April 23, 2011October 19, 2013

San Francisco at sunrise

The other day, I posted some photos of San Francisco at Night. We went back to Bernal Heights for a sunrise. It was worth the trip.

April 21, 2011October 21, 2013

San Francisco at night

A few days ago near sunset, we made a trip over to Bernal Heights. It’s a perfect spot for taking pictures of The City. It’s also a great spot for watching the sunrise.

April 14, 2011October 21, 2013

San Francisco has hills…and rocks

I meant to post this sooner, but life got in the way. 🙂

San Francisco has been called The City of a Thousand Hills. It has been called other names, but please don’t call it Frisco (that’s in Texas) or San Fran. It marks you forever as a tourist.

Our geology is interesting thanks to earthquake and volcanic activity. Our area has quite a variety. I’m not a geologist, so I won’t bore you with the details. However, if you are interested, the USGS has a good bit about it. You can find it here.

This is a huge rock near Grand View Park

Continue reading “San Francisco has hills…and rocks”

April 7, 2011October 21, 2013

Military Batteries and the Golden Gate Bridge

On March 31st, I posted Walking Fort Point and its seven feet deep walls.

This week, we went back to enjoy the sunshine. Here are a few pics of the military Batteries in the vicinity and a few shots of Fort Point from the bluff and bridge above.

March 31, 2011October 21, 2013

Walking Fort Point and its seven feet deep walls

Standing at the entrance of the Bay for 150 years, Fort Point is a great example of military architecture, of a design made obsolete by advances in artillery and ordnance. The masonry, shape of the fort and its surroundings all contribute to a pretty singular experience, and make Fort Point a great place to practice with a camera.
In fact, it seems almost impossible to take a bad shot.

Continue reading “Walking Fort Point and its seven feet deep walls”

March 21, 2011October 21, 2013

A seventh anniversary and our 200th post!

It’s been a quiet weekend at the homestead, Saturday being our wedding anniversary and the weather turning to rain, mostly. Thanks to a break in the downpours we were able to drive to the beach at the Western end of Sloat boulevard.

Rhuda-an snapped this with her new Canon Powershot SX20, the clouds were stunning.

We then drove up to Twin Peaks and took this photo of the city…

Here is a local taking in the view…

Dinner consisted of a hachis parmentier, a layer of two beef patties mixed with a whole onion and shredded broccoli, squash and baby carrots, topped with a layer of garlic mashed potatoes, with a thin spread of shredded spinach with grated white cheddar.
Sadly, no pics this time but we’ll do this again!