Return to Start Page

This summer our family joined Mia & Wyatt along with AJ & Brittney and went out to California.  We drove our van and AJ borrowed Karren's van and we caravaned out together.  There were times while trying to stick behind Wyatt that I had to employ some California driving to make sure that we were not separated.  This was relatively easy, but as the amount of traffic increased, so did the amount of California driving techniques that needed to be applied. My intention was to have Terra write this letter, but I just quit mowing the grass and turned it over to Ethen & Kyle.  My ribs are hurting and keeping me from tinkering in the shop.  So I find myself with both time and opportunity - so here we go.

While there, we visited San Francisco.  Part of this visit included a boat tour of some of the bay.  We went around the golden gate bridge, the bay bridge, and around Alcatraz twice.  All the while we were given some history on the subjects we were investigating.  I learned that there is enough wire on the golden gate bridge to circle the earth three times.  A pretty amazing feat to build today, but especially when it was built.

Of the entire trip the item that captured my attention the most was the island of Alcatraz.  They offer tours of the entire facility, but it would probably be wasted on most of the kids.  Maybe at some point I will venture back and go through the facility to both see and learn.  It was neat to see the power plant located on the island (pictured here).  According to the history lesson, fresh water had to be barged over a few times per week.

In addition to the fresh water, top soil was also barged over as this was just a rock prior to building anything on it.  I can imagine the thought process behind thinking the need of a top security prison would be perfect located on an island a little more than a mile from shore.  Given the latitude of San Francisco, I imagine the water surrounding the island ranges from cold to cool depending on the time of the year.  I wonder if anyone performed some type of economic analysis to justify all of the logistical complications to make this facility a reality. This San Francisco bay is very large, and at times has all manner of sea life present including dolphins & whales.

There was a stiff breeze blowing in from the ocean and when we were headed out to to bridge it was fairly uncomfortable to be outside.  One the way back in, however, the wind was a pleasant breeze.

Shown here is the San Francisco Ferry terminal.  Prior to the building of the golden gate bridge, this was a very busy building.  The only way to get across the bay was to either drive around or boat across.  The ferry was very busy back then.  It was interesting to notice the clock tower on the ferry building is still functional and working when we were present.

Here is one of those California driving techniques that needed to be employed.  When we arrived a this overlook spot, all parking spaces except for one were filled.  Wyatt pulled in first and far, then I pulled in right behind him.  It seemed to work ok.  I suspect that if some passing by highway patrolman were to see this, he might want to have a discussion with the driver, but since this didn't happen, I will never know.

I have learned that although this bridge has 6 lanes of traffic, at times they move the center barrier and allow 4 lanes to travel one way and 2 the other.  When we crossed it - there were 3 lanes of traffic in each direction.  At the highest point of the bridge (the midpoint) it is 271 feet above the water. Construction took about 4 years to complete and it opened in 1937 to vehicle traffic.

Navigating the downtown area was not too difficult, but the size of our group added some interesting challenges.  Here we are waiting for a street car on a curb in the middle of the street.  There was traffic moving on both sides of the curb - all headed the same direction.  This required some attention to the smaller people with us so they didn't venture too far from the center.

Here we are packed into an elevator in the parking garage.  Again 15 people traveling together is fun and presents unique challenges.

Here is the cable car.  In 1869 Andrew Smith Hallidie witnessed an accident when a street car loaded with people began to slip backwards on the steep hills of downtown San Francisco.  The sliding street car dragged the 5 horses pulling it to their deaths.  Starting in 1873 cable cars (named as they are pulled by underground steel cables) went into service to provide transportation in the downtown area.  The cables continually move underneath the streets (in the center of the tracks).  A series of levers exist on the cable cars and are operated by a grip man or grip operator.  One is a break and the other operates a clutch that grabs on to the cable moving underneath the road bed.  When they first went into operation, there were 8 different routes around downtown area.  The earthquake of 1906 damaged many of the different routes and instead of repair them, the city went to street car service.

There were three different companies operating cable cars in San Francisco back in the day.  Little by little they were shut down and replaced by motorized transportation.  Even Chicago built and operated some cable cars for a while, but they have all now been removed from service. In 1947 the city tried to get rid of the cable cars but a vote forced the city to continue to operate the one remaining route.  It is still operated today.  The cars are single ended and have to be manually rotated to be prepared for the return trip.

One of the days we spend time at the beach proved to be very cold.  We went out in the morning and the wind was cold, ambient temperatures were cold, and the water was frigid.  This was the last day we left Santa Cruz north for the beach.  I guess there really is a reason why the beaches were empty of people. I love this picture.  When I first looked at it I thought that was me in the photo, but upon closer inspection it is AJ.  I didn't realize until this picture that he too is starting to grow a bald spot on the top back of his head.

Here is Kyle.  You cannot see him, but Ethen is also hiding under a towel at this beach.  I got in the water and froze.  We didn't stay here very long - it was just too cold.

These were some of the tide pools we visited.  This is the first time we have gone to tide pools.  Basically a tide pool is an area of rocks that get pounded by the ocean frequently enough that there are living creatures in the depressions in the rocks.  They get flooded and replenished as the tides come in and go out.  You need to be vigilant and pay attention to the ocean.  When you get complacent a larger wave comes by and you get wet.  This happened to a number of our party.  Giant Wyatt ended up with wet shoes and ankles, Kyle and Abbie ended up getting soaked as we were leaving.  The waves have a way of sneaking up on you when you quit paying attention to them. Not shown, were some of the houses built feet from were we were standing.  There was a cliff of about 8-10 feet tall and the houses were perched right on the top.  I suspect you get used to it, but I would have a hard time living that close to something you cannot control.  I would guess the flood insurance premiums would be larger than modest car payments for these residents.

Janelle liked to be carried.  I found it easiest to put her on my shoulders and walk around.  She was particularity frightened of the ocean and did NOT like to get too close.  Every time I would wonder too close she would turn my head and point me in the direction she wanted to travel.  I could not see her point, but I had a lot of fun with her turning my head to point to her desired destination.  It is interesting how young they learn that where you look is where you go.  This must get forgotten by people as they age, because for example Ethen will tell me that he wants to do X but will continue to look to Y and is always surprised that he doesn't accomplish X.  Maybe Janelle needs to educate Ethen in some of the workings of life. This beach with the hole in the rock is the same beach that had the tide pools next to it.  It was here where we played around in the water on the last day.  As we were playing in the afternoon, some of the waves would get taller than me.  I don't know the size but would guess around 7-8 feet tall when they would break.  Many of us were using the body boards and riding the waves in to the shore.  On one of the occasions I tried to catch one of these large waves and got caught in the base of the wave.  Here I was flipped over and lost control of the board.  The board turned sideways and hit the sand.  I was impaled on its edge, and ever since that day (some 9 days ago) have an acute soreness associated with one of the ribs on my right side.  It hurts to the touch, to take a deep breath, to laugh, cough, or even move by body in different positions. I suspect I will have vivid memories of this trip for at least the next month.

The grove of coastal redwoods we went to is the southern grove in California.  The larger grove is located in California but close to Oregon.  These trees are the tallest in the world growing to a height of 380 feet tall with a base girth of 30 feet.  These trees are taller than the sequoias, but the sequoias are larger in diameter.  The Redwood trees live up to 2,000 years.

This tree was cut down in 1939 and the tree rings were counted.  It is hard to see, but the nails in the tree have little tags next to them telling different items in history.  On the tags are items such as Columbus discovers America, Chess is invented in India, and the revolutionary war.  This tree was planted in 579 AD.

This was a really neat trip.  One thing I learned is that if I ever end up needing to relocate to the city of San Francisco, I would need to get rid of all of my trailers and most of my vehicles.  Parking is just not plentiful and the houses share many walls and in most cases floors and ceilings with their neighbors.  As fun as it is to visit, I just cannot see myself thriving in this type of existence.

Return to Start Page