The last leg home

First - I have to share this photo:

 

To tell the truth, I'm not sure how this tradition started.  But whenever the three boys are together - they have to create their "human tripod".  We don't see Robbie too often, so it ends up being once every year or two.  For example - here is the one from our wedding a couple of years back:

There was some celebration to be had . . . and celebrate these boys did!

Oh!!  I completely forgot to mention - I learned how to play poker one night in San Fran!  So if anyone wants to play Texas Hold'em . . . I'm in!

And....I ALMOST forgot about our walk through Chinatown!  San Francisco is well-known as having the largest Chinatown outside of Asia.  

Unfortunately we were not there during the busy morning time, when the markets are full of the Chinese community going about their daily business.  I think that would have been really neat to see.

We DID, however, have some really good Chinese food for lunch.  Maybe not QUITE authentic, but a lot closer than the typical American Chinese restaurant.

Our trip home ended up spanning two days.  We didn't leave the city until after four o'clock, so by the time we stopped in Fort Bragg to visit Glass Beach, it was 8 and we just decided to call it a night.

The story goes....people used to throw all of their garbage onto this beach.  Over time, all but the glass washed out to see and the glass slowly became smooth from the salt water flowing in and out with the tide.  All that remains are little glass pebbles mixed in with the rock and sand.

Because we had a whole day to make the last bit of our journey home, we had time to make a couple stops along the way.  The first was at one of the three drive-thru trees in California.

Stop #2: Paul Bunyan!  If you have never visited the Trees of Mystery in Northern California, do it!  We didn't go through it this time, but a few years ago we went camping down that way and went.  It is really neat.  But at the entrance is a 46 foot-tall Paul Bunyan, alongside his 35 foot-tall friend Babe the Blue Ox.

Stop #3: Pizza...Yumm!

Stop #4: All Star Liquors!  Just 3 miles south of the California-Oregon border is a liquor distributor, where Captain Morgan hangs out!

Overall - it was a great trip.  As with most vacations, I needed a little vacation after vacation.  But luckily I had a few more days off once we were home.

Sunday Social

Is it really Sunday again already?!  Well - at least I am starting the week with a clean house...


1. What is your favorite kind of suprise? Probably an unexpected gift - or trip.
2. Flowers or chocolate?  Kind there be an option of both?!  If not....probably chocolate.
3. What is your favorite summertime activity?  Again - there's no way I could pick one.  It would have to be a three-way tie: camping/relaxing on the beach/BBQing.
4. Do you have any vacations planned this summer?  Nothing specific - hopefully doing some camping though, maybe somewhere new!
5.  Favorite summer holiday?  4th of July - I love fireworks.
6.  What is your dream vacation?  A tour around Europe - in particular: Iceland, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Greece (maybe a day in Paris, too).

Speaking of BBQing - getting ready to grill some steaks with the fam!!

Another fulfillment on the bucket list

I mentioned in my last update that I had plans for a couple more items on my bucket list.  One of those was the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  Unfortunately the one day that we actually got close enough to the bridge to get GOOD photos of it, it was extremely foggy and you could just barely see the base of it.  So I was a little disappointed, but I did my best with what I could.

2013 PHOTOGRAPHY BUCKET LIST

1. Sunset at Seaside
2. Twin babies
3. Las Vegas Strip
4. A beautiful waterfall (other than Multnomah Falls)
5. 1st birthday session
6. Downtown Seattle/Puget Sound
7. Timberline Lodge
8. City lights at night
9. A cactus
10. An engagement session
11. An extravagant themed photo
12. My new nephew
13. Jumping shot
14. A pier
15. Street photography
16. A series of old cars
17. A series of vintage signs
18. Golden Gate Bridge

TIP #11: WALK ACROSS THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE!  We didn't do this and I really wish we had.  There are a couple of different ways to do it.  You can actually rent bicycles and ride across to Marin County, and then take a boat back to Fisherman's Wharf.  You can also take a taxi to the south side of the bridge and walk across (and back).  Or if you are driving, there is also a parking lot on the south side.

19. Generations
20. Music


Nearly 20 years after the initial proposal to build a bridge spanning the Golden Gate, as the entrance to the bay from the Pacific Ocean was known, construction of the bridge began in 1933.  Four years and $35 million later, the bridge was completed. 

A few facts about the Golden Gate Bridge:
*The main span of 4,200 feet was longer than any other suspension bridge in the world, up until 1964.
*The total length of the bridge is 8,981 feet.
*The bridge sits 245 feet above the water (the towers, however, rise up 746 feet from the water)
*The main cables are composed of 80,000 miles of wire
*The official color is "international orange"
*The bridge is the second most common suicide site in the world - by 2005, more than 1,200 jumpers committed suicide there, with a rate of new jumpers roughly once every two weeks
*The bridge has only ever been closed three times due to weather (1951,1982 and 1983)