San Francisco in August

It's been 33 years since I've been to San Francisco. Gary and I came here on our honeymoon in 1980. Kate graciously offered to give me the tour, so we loaded Aliana, Domino,and all the necessary extras. It was an absolutely ideal day: high 60's and bright sunshine. 

Would loved to have taken the time to walk the bridge, but we were cramming enough into the day as it was. The idea is to beat the traffic, both morning and afternoon, so that leaves a limited window of opportunity.

The city with the Oakland Bay Bridge in the top left. They were opening the new span after Labor Day weekend. I wish I had made an effort to go over there and get some shots.

Pier 39 is the new Fisherman's Wharf. I could have spent the whole day visiting the shops and restaurants. The three below are the ones that interested me the most.

Just practicing perspective and leading lines.

I could watch these guys all day. What noisy critters! A lot of scars from their many battles. The pigeons and sea gulls were having a fine day also.

Big Boat to go FAST around the bay and give the tourists a thrill.

Beautiful tall ship!

Palace of Fine Arts: what an incredible place! I have a lot of pictures that I'll share later. Kate, Domino, and Alaina posing. Domino is not a dog; he's a person in a dog suit. Probably a lot more well-mannered than some people. My newest granddaughter is such a good traveler and incredibly beautiful. More pictures to post of her too.

Yosemite Revisited

I did two more trips back to the park on Wednesday and Thursday. Each day more people came; I can only imagine what it will be like on the weekend.

I have a lot of different shots of this tree, but this one shows how big it is. Of course, the root is spectacular. It reminds you of someone's bad hair day.

From time to time, I try to see patterns in nature. They usually involve the bark on a tree, but there are others that I will show you as time goes on.

                              
The sun is lighting the path through the grove. A very inviting atmosphere for the hordes. I hope they appreciate Mother Nature at her best.

Unfortunately, I didn't enlarge this picture enough; however, there is a bee having a good time on the flower of the hawthorne bush.

Wandering down along the Merced River at high noon, this is the idyllic scene.

What happens in a lightening and thunder storm in Yosemite? You get your head whacked off

At the top of Granite Point, the scenery is spectacular and the terrain rugged. Yet again, another shot of Half Dome.

Meanwhile, back at the river, I'm practicing shots of running water. There's something for everyone at Yosemite. Look up, Look down, Look all around you!

Speaking of looking up! A person could get a serious neck ache here.

Location, location, location. How about perspective? Off to the right is a car on the road to give some idea of how big this tree is.

So this is one of my artsy fartsy moments: a flowering thistle, stickery weed, but oh so pretty! Below is a dead tree which I have entitled Naked.

I'm not sure why they made this cut-out in the tree other than maybe it was in the way of the path? It's partially burned. Below is a view of the ceiling of the cut-out. I read that they can tell a lot from these slices that they take from the trees; for instance, the weather and the amount of moisture during each one of the rings that represent the years of growth. It looked like a beautiful representation of the patterns in nature.

Beautiful Yosemite

I left Fresno Monday morning for the 50 mile trip up here to Oakhurst to High Sierra RV Park about 17 miles from the park entrance. It's right on the Fresno River which is getting lower every day. It's really great for experimenting with my camera. This what I can see from my campsite. This wouldn't be such a good spot if there were more water, because it's a designated swimming area.

You'll notice that I like reflections.

This is a California wildflower called Everlasting Sweet Pea. They grow wild along the river bank.

These pictures are from Tuesday when I first ventured into the park. All national parks have tunnels, right? At least the ones I have visited out west. Come to think of it, I don't recall any I've visited on the East coast except for Gulf Islands National Seashore near Pensacola.

This is what you see when you exit the tunnel. There are two big parking lots to accommodate all the tourists.

Bridal Veil Falls at a trickle. Still an awesome sight!

This is Half Dome. No, there was never a whole dome, but a few of us were joking about photo-shopping one into existence.

Half Dome reflected in the Merced River.

This is El Capitan, another impressive granite formation.

Meet my little duckie friend having a great day paddling the Merced. I was frustrated that I had missed some good shots. So I went back on Wednesday. The next blog will be the new and improved pictures. Naturally, I wouldn't show the lousy ones.

Back in Time

So I'm on a nostalgia trip. About two weeks ago, on my way to a photography meet-up, there was an accident at the corner of Miracle Mile and Oracle Highway. As I'm sitting drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, I looked to my right. I saw that big sign that said Sunland Motel. It was one of those OMG moments. That was the motel that Fred and I stayed at back in 1958 when we landed in Tucson. And so I said to Myself, "We're going to have to go back and take some before and after pictures. I never take pictures at the optimum time of day, so bear with me. I photo-shopped them the best I could.

The buildings have been kept up on the outside. I don't know if they up-dated anything on the inside. The area that is gravel used to be grass as is so much of the landscaping in the Southwest over the past 50 years.

I knew this cemetery was across the street, but the street didn't seem that big and naturally the trees weren't that big. This was close to Memorial Day weekend and it was extremely well-tended.

This is the office. When I arrived, I was very nervous and decided that the best thing to do was approach the management and tell them what I was doing. Oh, I mean, ask their permission. It was an Indian couple and I don't know whether they were owners or managers, although most I've encountered in my travels are owners. At any rate. she said she'd be interested in seeing the pictures from 1958, so I asked for her email and said I'd oblige.

These are kitchenettes and the one on the right was ours. We stayed here for probably two weeks while Fred was looking for a job. Now, they are rented probably by the month, because the locals have told me that this is considered the Red Light District. What am I doing here? Just another adventure!

The lovely pool has been filled in and grated. What a waste!

So here we are back in August 1958. That's my children's father and I. I think you can see the grass in front of the units. I believe the owners had an Oldsmobile, that red and white behind us. Very popular back in the day!

Here I am in the pool. The woman in the two piece is the owner. The lady to her left is the mother of the girl in the pool with me. That's our '53 Olds at the end of the pool. Thank God the mountains in the background haven't changed. They are just as beautiful as ever.

Reid Park Zoo

It seems that I'm trying to get all of my sight-seeing done before it gets too hot, or I hit the road again. Which ever comes first. People in Tucson take their kids to all of the places that I frequent for picture-taking. That's fine. I like to try and capture some of their facial expressions and antics, but I worry that the parents will find me suspicious. Not to worry; I haven't gotten any shots worthy of publication yet, but I'm working on it. As soon as I understand my new camera better, nothing will be safe or sacred. These parrots were extremely colorful and cooperative. It seemed as if everyone else was on go-go juice.

Mr. Anteater is a perfect example of one who wouldn't keep still. He had two other buddies; maybe it was a family. Their fur is so shimmery and brilliant. I wonder if they groom each other like monkeys do.

Mr. Hippo all but posed. Toward the end, he became bored and mostly showed me his butt. Unfortunately, I didn't include that picture. Ladies who worry about how big their behinds are should spend an afternoon at the zoo. I almost forgot his other most distinguishing feature: I really think he's proud of his snout. Perhaps, I should Google hippos, and gather some more information before my fertile mind goes off a cliff.

At first, I didn't even notice the lion, but then he picked up his head and allowed me to take his picture. Handsome fellow.

Ducks aren't any big deal, but, like birds, I never tire of them. I felt the swirling of the water in this shot was interesting.

Mr. Tapir was another guy who wouldn't be still. Would they be that restless in the wild? Just a thought.

I was slightly in love with Mr. Giraffe. Aren't I bad, assuming all these animals are guys? He was busy eating grass and leaves off the trees. Starting next month, the Desert Museum and, I think, the zoo also will have night events taking advantage of the coolness of the evening. Tomorrow evening, I'm doing a night walk at Sabino Canyon.