Another California Weekend

Instead of flying back home, the company was gracious enough to fly Ms Darlene out here to see me. It wasn't like her arm had to be twisted because she truly loves the west coast.  She now proclaims she loves mountains more than beaches and oceans...but we'll see.

Friday night, we were in San Francisco to do a lot of people watching.  Each big city has it's uniqueness and San Francisco does not disappoint.  Attractions are never ending; from the colorful characters on the street to the panhandlers and various sideshows performing for tips.

(clicking the photos should increase size and resolution)

One of our plans was to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  After what seemed to be an endless amount of driving around near the bridge we finally managed to land a parking spot.  Putting the maximum amount on the parking ticket, we struck out, headed north, stopping several times to look in awe at the bridge structure, the people on the bridge and the sites of the bay from the bridge.

Alcatraz.

The bridge is 1.7 miles across one way and has endless traffic from both directions.

After our hour and 45 minute walk across and back, we headed back to downtown to see and be seen.

As the evening came, a different crowd appeared.  As you might imagine, the night covered a lot of the dirtiness and the colorful lights changed the atmosphere.

After a short fireworks display, we made our way to the East Bay back to our hotel.

Sunday, we headed over to South Lake Tahoe stopping along the way to take a few pictures and just enjoy the mountain air and wilderness.

Monday (a vacation day for both of us) we decided to drive around the lake stopping occasionally for refreshments and the obligatory gawking at a few of the overlooks.  I won't bore you with the facts (Google gives wonderful info on Lake Tahoe) but the place is absolutely beautiful.  Yes, the water is (still) that blue. Absolutely!

The Aspens were just changing into a yellow gold and when the sun hit them just right, you'd think they were hooked up electrically.

Just gorgeous.

This time, we did not see a lot of wildlife.  There were a lot of squirrels and a couple of deer but not near what we had observed in Yosemite.

However, they promised bears...I wanted bears!!

The glory of this place is just never ending...as long as you can stay away from the tourist traps.

If you ever get a chance to take a couple of days off for the drive, just do it.  You will love it.

Modesto and San Francisco

Back to the Central Valley after a two week stay in Clovis/Fresno, California.  This time, just 80 miles north in Modesto.

Fortunately, I went over into Yosemite a couple of weeks ago and cruised around in the valley.  Now there is a rim fire, shutting down access.  So, Saturday, I headed west, over to the coast and San Francisco.

The Central Valley daytime temperatures this time of the year range from the mid 90° to the low 100° but the coast is another matter.  Not really thinking about it, I wore only shorts and a cotton t-shirt so with the wind blowing off the Pacific, I found it a little uncomfortable and hunkered down behind a grove of trees at Thornton Beach.  62°.  Yeah, I'm a wimp.

As usual, clicking on the photo will increase resolution and size.

On toward San Francisco my first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge showed fog at the tops of the span.

Further around the point, the winds had changed and the skies cleared.

Eastward on Lombard up the hill.

The obligatory trip down the zig-zag side of Lombard.

Sunday afternoon; a trip up along the Stanislaus River at Knights Ferry, California.  This is part of the old gold rush area.  I even saw one guy, just down stream, panning for gold.  I truly doubt he found anything.

Oak Alley

Since leaving Michigan, I took a quick tour through Kaufman, Texas and another couple of weeks in Moss Bluff, Louisiana.  Feeling a tad under the weather through both assignments, I simply just did not feel like going out on photo excursions.

However, my mother had not seen our new digs since we bought the new house in August, so I rode up on Boudreaux (the Harley-Davidson) Tuesday and drove her down in her new car for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Oh, I mentioned "new car" didn't I?  Well..... It seems that Mama failed to negotiate a narrow corner near her home last week, nailed a metal gate post and managed to knock the bumper completely off her 13 year old Chevrolet Lumina.  Neither Mama or the fence post on the corner suffered any damage but the cost to repair her car was more than it was worth, so she and my brother went on a car shopping spree and came up with a Chevy Malibu to replace it.

Not that it was a burden but when you have your Mama down, there is this innate drive to do your best to entertain her.  So, today I chose to drive her down the river road to Oak Alley.  Oak Alley is a historic plantation site dating back to 1840.  The trees that gave the plantation it's name were actually planted 100 years earlier by an unknown French settler.

Mama and I took the paid tour which turned out to be a really nice half day trip.  She and I both truly enjoyed hearing the history from the guide.  The giant Live Oak trees were spectacular and with rows of Crepe Myrtles and beds of Flocks, I'm sure it's even more lovely in the spring.

Here's a few pictures.

 

 

She will be 91, January 12, 2013.