Last Day, Drive South on 1 to Monterey
This day was a bit of a mess. I wanted so badly to go to Monterey, and I did, but it took A LOT longer than I thought it would to get there. I left the hotel @ 9:30 and didn’t get to Monterey until almost 1:30. I did make a couple of stops along the way, though. I really wanted to get a few shots of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. And I stopped in Santa Cruz for a quick bite. Everything was moving pretty well until I got just south of Santa Cruz. I caught quite a lot of traffic from there for the next several miles. It moved, but pretty damn slowly.
And because of time, I needed to leave there no later than @4. So, I only spent about 2 hours in Monterey. That part sucked. I should have just done something else around here. it was just too ambitious for a quickie day trip.
I got a little turned around leaving Monterey, but I got that all straightened out and was on my way. Instead of taking 1 all the way back (it’s about 125 miles) I skipped over to 101 north and went that way. it was only @ 90 miles that way. Not as pretty but I just wanted to get back. Everything moved pretty well until I hit downtown SF. ouch. Ad I thought I knew where to go, but of course I got turned around again. I could get where I wanted to be easily enough if I could only take LEFT TURNS! Nope, almost every street is left turn prohibited. It’s crazy. If I were a bus I could do it no problem…:) So, after a few creative right turns I finally figured out where the hell i was and made it back. Whew. I won’t miss driving in this place. If I come back, I’ll probably stay across the bay in Tiburon or Sausalito and take the ferry over to hang out here. If I ever do actually come back. Who knows.
It’s been a really fun week! And I want to thank Laurie again for being such a great tour guide last weekend in Seattle. it was a very packed weekend but tons o’fun. But it’s time to get home. I’m ready. Miss the kitty!
I didn’t take nearly as many pics today as the rest of the week, but I think I still got some good ones. Hope you like!
This place has really changed since the last time I saw it 21 years ago. It looks like much of the cliff has fallen and eroded away. They had to put gravel down top help slow the erosion.
Third day, More Fisherman’s Wharf and Skyline
Today was kind of an open day for me. i had one more day on the pass I bought for the Cable Car so I needed to use it up. Waited in line for about an hour to take it back over to Fisherman’s Wharf. Wandered around aimlessly for a while. Went down Hyde St Pier to see the historic ships and spen a half hour or so looking for a bathroom…:)
Took a walk down along the fisherman’s pier. That was a lot longer than it originally looked. Almost got run over by a group of Segway Tour riders…it was either a case of not knowing what they were doing or a complete “I’m better than you because I am on a Segway” thing. Either way I survived…:) I met a nice couple out at the end who turned out to be from Destin. We talked about the oil spill and how little they’ve actually seen in Destin. That was actually good news. We walked back together and went our separate ways.
Tried In’N'Out Burger and think 5 Guys is better. Certainly the fries are. In’N'Out for burgers seems more like what The Varsity in Atlanta is to hot dogs.
Since the sun came out (GLORIOUS!) I decided to take another boat tour to get some skyline pics that weren’t completely gray. Then I waited in line one more time for the Cable Car back. Got back to the hotel and collapsed.
I’ve got one more day. I’ll be driving down to Monterey and back along coast highway 1. hopefully it won’t be too foggy.
Here’s the pics from Thursday. Hope you enjoy!
This is almost the entire ride from the Powell St turntable to the Hyde St/ Beach St end. Unfortunately, my memory card ran out of space before finishing. It’s most of the way, though.
San Francisco Cable Car Ride from Jerry Ferguson on Vimeo.
San Francisco, Second Day, Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito and Tiburon
I got a bit of a slow start this morning. Groggy and a bit sore and moving quite slooow. I didn’t decide what i was going to do until after I had my breakfast and posted yesterday’s pictures. I was going to go back to the Wharf but I decided to drive out to Tiburon and Angel island. it almost worked out. By the time I got to the ferry over to Angel island I would have only had about 1.5 hours before the last ferry back ran. It’s just as well. I had a much better time doing what I did, despite the cold and windy weather off the Pacific.
Tiburon is such a lovely little place. i had never been over there before. After I left there I was going to head back to SF, but had a flash and went into Sausalito on the way back. Stopped at one place I had been to before, the Bay Model done by the Corps of Engineers. Unfortunately it was closed for remodeling and won’t open again until August. Bummer. Kept driving back towards SF and stopped in the “shopping District” of Sausalito. Very cute area right on the harbor front. Had lunch in a little dive but the food was excellent.
Left Sausalito and went up into the Marin Headlands above the bridge. Stopped a few places and got some great pics of the bridge, the city beyond (sort of, pretty foggy) and some of the old military installations that still dot that area.
Got a little lost on the way back once I got back into the city. But my handy dandy iPhone with Google Maps got me back with little fuss. Kind of fun, really.
And without further ado, here’s the pics! Enjoy!
As always, the fun is here!
SF Day 1, Embarcadero and all points beyond…
Another tiring day. I got to the hotel @ 10:45 to find out the room wasn’t ready. I couldn’t check in until after 3. So, what to do. I spent about an hour on the lobby doing this. Putting up the Mount St. Helens pic for you guys. Then I took a taxi to the Embarcadero and walk, walked, walked. I walked all the way around to Fisherman’s Wharf about 2 miles down. About halfway to the end I stopped and decided to take a Bay boat Cruise. It went out to just under the Golden Gate bridge and back around Alcatraz then back to the dock. It took about an hour. And it was wet and cold but I had fun. Then I decided to take the Cable Car back to the other side of town. The stop is only about 5 blocks from my hotel. The wait for the cable car was about an hour and a half. That’s when i got tired. I had to have my backpack with me, but because I couldn’t get to the room I couldn’t unpack it. I had my laptop and camera and a bunch of other stuff in it. it weigh=ed about 20 pounds. I was OK when i was walking, but the standing in line got me. My shoulders were killing me. I got back @ 6 And had a nice diner (expensive!!) and went to bed early. I was in bed at 9:10 and I think I was asleep by 9:15!
The weather was a bit gray and you can see that in the pictures. It cleared up a LITTLE, so there is SOME blue sky in there somewhere. Hope you like them! Click the pic!
Mount St. Helens
The last day in Washington was spent down at Mount St. Helens. It was about a 2 hour drive from the Seattle area. this place is simply spectacular. We’ve all seen the pictures and videos of the eruption and devastation it caused but none of that does it any justice at all. It’s very hard to get a sense of scale here. It looks pretty close, but when you look down into the valley in front of you everything is really, really small. This mountain is huge. A helicopter few ion front of the caldera and it was a speck. We thought it was inside the crater but it wasn’t. there’s a picture of it.
We had a real eye opener when we were leaving. We ate at a little place @15-20 miles from the observatory. It was above the Toutle River which is where the worst of the mudslides went. The gray ash deposits are really wide here. Probably 1/2 mile or so with the river running through the center of it. The ash here is @ 150 feet deep. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY feet! That’s the new riverbed. it just filled in the valley. And it goes on and on for miles and miles. Bridges were damaged over 50 miles downstream.
1300 feet of the top of the mountain disappeared in seconds, first from the biggest landslide ever recorded in human history to the initial blast when it did erupt seconds later.
Ok, enough rambling. Click the pic! Enjoy! I did.
Mount St. Helens Panorama from Johnston Ridge Observatory
Click the Panorama for the full size version. It’s BIG!
As always, comments are welcome at the Facebook Page.
Market, Waterfront and Skyline
Hey again! Greetings from day 2 in Seattle. Another packed day for sure. We started off by going straight to the market @ 10 to have breakfast and see all there was to see. What an amazing place. From the famous fish market where they throw the big fish around to small shops selling everything from handmade jewelry to flowers, veggies, fruit, jerky, you name it. And, of course, the touristy shops that I love so much…
Then we made our way down to the waterfront and walked and walked and walked and… That area is mostly tourist shops and restaurants. And crowded. Everywhere we went this weekend was really crowded. The weather has been beyond perfect. A little chilly Sunday, but still, better a little chilly than oven hot.
Laurie’s son had a drum band “recital” in the afternoon. He’s been taking drumming lessons here and they form into bands to practice and perform. Sayler’s performance was @2:30 and we went to see this. Sayler drummed on a couple then sang Iron maiden’s Run to the Hills. I have video of this but won’t be able to post it until I get home.
After this we drove to a really cool area. Alki Point. Got some great skyline pics from the park there and then fought serious traffic on very narrow roads in the little community to have a late afternoon lunch/dinner (linner?). Great fish and chips! Then we headed back to the waterfront area to take the harbor boat tour. 2.5 hours around the harbor then through the locks into Lake Union.
Whew. I’m really skimming over the day here, I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!
Seattle Panorama from Alki Park
Seattle Skyline at Night from Alki Park
First Day in Seattle
What a tiring day. From getting up at 3am in Atlanta (too early as it turns out) and spending a full 24 hours up I was a tired boy. We Spent most of the afternoon at the Space Needle. There is a festival (Seattle Bites) going on this weekend and it was CROWDED. Waited in line for @ 1 hour to ride the elevator up to the top.
After we left here we drove to an area where there is a canal between Lake Union and the Sound. The elevation between the two bodies of water is several feet so they have built a lock system to allow boats to pass between the 2. Chittendon Locks. We hung out here for a while, watched a group of small boats pass through the locks. There is also a fish ladder here to allow the salmon to pass upstream to the spawning grounds. Watched a few big salmon jump up the little waterfalls. There was a pretty resourceful seal just hanging out in the area. He knew where the good eating was. Then on to dinner and SLEEP…
It was a very full day. Can’t wait for more.
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Going up the elevator at the Space Needle
Going down the elevator again!
Georgia Aquarium January 30, 2010
Took a friend to the Aquarium in January. Took the opportunity to get some more pictures. Click the image above to see the gallery.
Georgia Aquarium November 6, 2009
Some images I took at the aquarium and surrounding areas. Click the picture to see the gallery.
Coke Museum Panorama
Please click the image to see the full size panorama
