I took Jennifer and Beth to the The Knights of Momus parade during the 2nd weekend of Mardi Gras. It was fun with some really nice lighted floats and of course lots of beads.
Here are pictures of the some of the floats.
We all got up and dressed for the Mardi Gras. DD had a jester hat which matched his shirt, vest and bowtie. Jennifer wore a feather mask and dresses in the long brown fake suede skirt. She looked really pretty. I wore a king hat and dressed in a kilt. Ya you read correctly. It was a kilt DD had bought which is the actual color and design for the Sharp clan. DD, Jennifer and I walked to the Pancake House for breakfast. We then walked to the seawall and watched the parade. They both had a lot of fun. Jennifer had a lot of fun catching the beads. Then we made an appearance at Mark and Melanie's wedding shower. We then went downtown to catch some beads. Then the Trumpet building where we had tickets to the Zkrewe Zestival party. We had a pasta dinner and cake for dessert. We then threw beads over the balcony to the people on the street below. Between throwing beads, Jennifer and I had fun dancing to the live band. DD was doing what DD does, makes friends and dances with a lot of different women. Of course there were cute girls flashing for beads. There were also two girls making out for beads. There was also a throwing contest between the two balconies, ours and the one across the street. It is a far distance and they somehow were able to get a couple to our balcony. It was a lot of fun and all 3 of us had a great time. Happy Mardi Gras.
People catching beads under the balcony on the other side of the street at around 6p.
The big trumpet on the building where the party was.
The group who hosted the party.
The balcony where Jennifer, DD and I threw beads to people below.
The people below.
The Mardi Gras Arch.
Jennifer and I went to the Baybrook Mall to find shoes to match her symphony dress we found a few weeks ago. I had no idea how hard it is to find shoes. Now I know what girls are talking about when they shop for shoes.
We then went to Hermann Park. It is a big park in Houston with a nice lake and fountains.
There was an Asian Festival with Taiko Drums, which included a really big drum, and martial arts demonstrations.
It was so cool.
Our trip takes us from Utah
to Idaho
and finally Ontario, Oregon which is in Eastern Oregon.
On our way I saw these summits or mountains with plateaus.
I got to see AD and JK's nice looking house. It has 2 bedrooms, a basement, an extra room in the basement and a big front and back yard with roses, fruit trees and a vegetable garden. We all ate at the Country Kitchen restaurant and then all hit the bed after a long time on the road.
We left LA at 4a. Ya it's early but we had to do it for 2 reasons. The 1st is obvious, the only way to avoid the morning rush hour (we should call it rush morning) is to leave real early. The 2nd is that we will be driving though the desert and wanted to travel through it during the cooler part of the day as log as possible. The destination is Ontario, Oregon where AD has a college gig and JK has a Kindergarten gig. We made a stop in Las Vegas and had the brunch at the Excalibur. Mom really likes Star Trek but she is not really into Las Vegas and will never really stay there so we thought today would be a good time to take her to the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton. We did both the Klingon and the Borg experience. They were fun. Then off we went to Salt Lake City with some great scenery on the way.
Pine Valley Mountains
In Utah we saw a rainbow
and a nice sunset.
So we came from California
though Nevada,
Arizona
and Utah.
It was about a 15 hour drive and took all day but we finally made it.
Mom was at Adam's place watching the movers pack the truck. They then called me up and went to Pancake House. I wanted to see two of the places I used to go to calm down and think so I had Mom and DD come with me. They are the Reef and the lighthouse. The Reef is a park area near the restaurant called the Reef and the Queen Mary. Across the water is a nice view of Long Beach.
We then went to my lighthouse. The lighthouse is on Point Fermin in San Pedro. The lighthouse is in Victorian style.
I had been taken there since I was little by both of my parents. During my college years I when there many times with my friend John. It is a nice view of the ocean and you can hear the waves crashed against the rocks. Just before I left to Marin a couple of years ago, the lighthouse was in the process of being restored. Now is looks really good and I finally have good pictures of it. We then went to eat at Hoff's Hut with AD and JK.
Today we drove around the outside of Austin on the hills and down to the lakes.
I even got to see a rainbow.
We then went to 6th street and walked around listening to the local bands. There were a lot of people walking around including a lot of really cute girls.
Today we had lunch at Z' Tejas Grill. We then went to see the Texas Capitol building built in 1888 and has been restored. It was incredible to see and walk through.
The House Chamber
The Senate Chamber
There was the word Texas and that star all over the place. Even on the Chandelier.
A view of downtown Austin from the Capital window.
Here is a building with a unique top. It is the Frost Bank Tower.
To preserve the grounds around the capital, the new offices are underground.
We then went to the Texas State History Museum. 3 floors of Texas history. After all that I need a shower to wash off all this Texas off of me.
We stopped by the University of Austin to see The Tower
On the way back to the hotel I we stopped to see Town Lake. What an incredible view.
For dinner we ate at Uchi, a really good Japanese Restaurant.
So Ron and I started out drive to check out Austin, TX for the weekend continuing my adventures of the Texas cities. I had been to Houston many times for dancing and the symphony, San Antonio was in March and now Austin. After going though the "parking lot" of Houston traffic (which is still nothing like LA) we finally see rolling hills. We stopped in Columbus which is an old German community. We had lunch at a Garnett's which was pretty good. There is an Opera House built in 1886.
We saw also stopped to see a nice view on an outlook.
We finally got to our Hotel in Austin and took a nap. We then went to Jeffrey's for dinner. A really nice restaurant and the food was really good. I had tuna and a creme brulee for dessert.
We then walked down the famous 6th street where there are clubs lined up and down the street and the street is blocked from traffic. It will be packed on Saturday.
Here are some unique pictures taken from the Oregon trip.
Traffic Jam
Hanging out on a wing.
Deer on a Hill at Salt Creek Falls.
A close up.
Sunset in Phoenix.
Today we went to see the two waterfalls on the McKenzie River. Even though I have visited Oregon many times, I somehow had not seen these waterfalls in 9 years. The 1st waterfall is the Sahalie Falls. What a great looking waterfall.
We then walked on along the McKenzie River on a trail to the other waterfall.
We then arrived at the 2nd waterfall, the Koosah Falls.
Just passed the Koosah falls we could see the rest of the river going down through the valley.
What a great view.
Today David and I went to the incredible Oregon Coast. We went to see the Heceta Head Lighthouse. I had seen it when I had visited Oregon before but I wanted to see it again.
It sits on a really pretty part of the hill overlooking the ocean.
We then went to the Cape Perpetua overlook were we could see the entire Cape Perpetua from above.
We then drove down to Spouting Horn. There is a cave under the rocks and when enough waves hit, the water gets trapped and spouts out from a hole on top of the cave. It looks like a whale spout. It is so cool.
We then went to Florence and saw this sign coming into the old town.
We ate at Mo's. Really good seafood. Then home.
Today David and I had lunch at Quiznos and then set out to see my favorite waterfall, Salt Creek Falls. It is a big and very pretty waterfall falling into a valley. Driving up the mountains and seeing walls of nice green trees. It was so cool. We get there and it is just as I remember it. We walked down to the bottom of the valley to really see it. We stayed and visited my waterfall for about 2 hours. It was so nice.
On our way back to Eugene we stopped to see a really nice covered bridge called Wild Cat Bridge.
Then headed back to Eugene and ate at Steelhead. I ate some pizza and had some real home made root beer. It is so good. We the came back to David and Julia's (his wife) place and listened to each others music. It was great to listen and talk about each other's music and give each other suggestions and ideas. It was something we had not done in person in awhile and it was nice to experience that again.
On the 5th I went to the college to check email, voice mail, make sure the books for my classes were in the bookstore and to make sure my office was still there.
The 6th was the General Assembly. The assembly starts at 8a and ends at 4:30p. This is a big meeting with the faculty, staff and administration. It includes reports, a state of the college address by the college president and a couple of outside presentations. Some of the faculty and I acted out some scenes during the assembly. They were work related situations in which we showed the wrong and then the correct way to deal with a situation. For example, one of my scenes was talking to my supervisor about respect saying that I give my dogs more respect than she gives me and the scene ended with each of us at each others throats. The audience got a big laugh out of it and it was a really fun to do. This assembly also included free breakfast and free lunch. The quest for free food has begun in the new year.
Today was a not so exciting meeting that went from 9a to about 3p. One good thing about the meeting was the free pizza. I went back to my office to work on Syllabi for my classes. It should be a fun semester.
Here are current pictures of my office.
Here are some pictures of the Historic Downtown Galveston that I had taken during the Lofts Tour a month ago.
Here are a some very old (before 1900) and restored buildings.
Here is a sky view of the Galveston skyline taken on top of one of the loft buildings.
This is an example of some cool cloud coloring. The Moody Garden pyramids are in the distance.
Today was the trip to the Houston Space Center. We went on the tour and saw Hangar X (which was originally going to be the escape ship form the International Space Station), the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (where the astronauts train for up coming missions) and the Historic Mission Control Center (where all of the Apollo mission were controlled from). It was amazing to see the control center. After watching movies and documentaries of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, to be in the same room where all that happened was almost a religious experience.
DD and I went to pick up Mom from the Hobby Airport. We then went to the Moody Gardens Rainforest Pyramid. It was really cool. Actually it is really humid. In the pyramid is an actual rainforest with 2,000 different species. The rainforest within the pyramid is split into 3 sections. The rainforests are Africa, Asia and South America. There are so many animal species that every time you go into the pyramid it will be different every time. Just to continue the rainforest theme, we ate at the rainforest Cafe complete with large fish tanks and mechanical gorillas, elephants and an occasional thunder and lighting storm.
Ok. Let's try to sum up all the fun and chaos I have gone through this past week. Well, On Sunday, DD and I want to the aquarium at the Moody Gardens here on the island. Moody Gardens consists of 3 pyramids; the aquarium, the rainforest, the discovery museum, a paddlewheel boat (like on the Mississippi River) and IMAX theater. It was fun seeing the fishies. There were also penguins there which are also cute.
Monday was supposed to be my Monday/Wednesday Music Appreciation class but not enough people signed up for it so it ended up being cancelled. At 6p that evening I was honored with a reception. It was a way to announced to the community that Galveston College finally has a full time music professor. This was followed with the 1st community choir rehearsal of the year. It is a good group and it will fun rehearsing and conducting them during the year.
Tuesday was my Tuesday/Thursday Music Appreciation class at 9:30a. I have 19 students in this class. That is a big for a music class for a college this size. This was followed by the History of Rock class at 11a. This class has about 12 students. I really enjoy teaching and talking about music in a college setting. It is still amazing to me that I blab away about music and people are taking notes on what I say. It is almost surreal.
Wednesday I have the hard drive of the computer in my office taken for a day. It has Microsuck 2000 instead of XP. Since the school is networked with XP they needed install it on my computer.
Thursday I have my Music Appreciation class and History of Rock class, same time as on Tuesday. I also have a Music Application class from 6-9p every Thursday once a week.
During the week between teaching classes, DD went around the island and explored. He went to the Train Museum and walked around the History Downtown. Also during this week when I was not teaching classes we moved around the heavy boxes and furniture around or upstairs. By Friday we had finished with the heavy stuff.
I have not had time to describe my recent exciting adventures here because of the fun of packing my stuff into brown boxes.
On Sunday, my friend Lauri was nice enough to spend the afternoon helping me pack my stuff into those nice brown boxes. Thanks for your help!
On Monday, my friend Jules came to help me pack. We did take a long break from the fun of packing to enjoy San Francisco. She had lived there at one time and she gave me a tour of the city though her eyes. She showed me the Embarcadero Center,
the Financial District, Union Square, Mission Dolores in the Mission District and Haight and Ashbury where she used to live. We went to Treasure Island and saw an incredible view of the city.
We also went to Twin Peaks to see an arial view of how compact and cramped the city looks.
We then went to a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown called The Pot Sticker. The food was really good and we even ordered some pot stickers which were also very good. We then walked around Chinatown and walked into a few stores. The prices in these stores were cheap. I bought 2 real Chinese soup bowls and spoons. I also bought some decorated chop sticks. The soup bowl was only $2 and is probably worth at least $10.
We then went back to my apartment to pack until about 2a. We got up the next morning and packed some more. I really appreciated her taking the time to help me pack my stuff in those brown boxes. I now have almost all of my stuff packed into those nice brown boxes.
Here are a couple of pictures of San Francisco at night from Marin.
A moving surveyor came today. He give me a moving estimate and tentative moving dates. Let the moving fun begin.
Then my friend Silvia from the Santa Anita (near LA County) came through town. We had lunch at Chevy's. I like their food and their Blue Aguave margarita. I then took her for a walk on the Corta Madera River. I then took her to the Headlands. Now at any other time during the year you could see the entire bay. Well it is summer time and in the summer there is fog. Still nice though.
It was getting late and she wanted to check into her hotel. We then walked to an Italian restaurant called Louisa's in Pacific Heights. Really good food. We stayed until they closed talking. We later had a really cool conversation with our waitress for at least an hour after it closed. She was also really cute. Ya I know. I then walked Silvia back to her hotel and headed back to my apartment. We said bye and off she went back to her hotel. It was a nice distraction from the chaos of moving.
We went to the Crescent City Lighthouse on Battery Point.
We could not go to the lighthouse yesterday because the trail that leads to the lighthouse was covered by water during high tide.
What a great lighthouse. We took the tour and had the opportunity to walk around the lighthouse and even got to go up to the lantern room on top of the lighthouse and stand next to the Fresnel Lens. What a view.
We then went up to Point St. George
to see the Point St. George Reef Lighthouse in the distance.
We then started our way back home down the 101. Took a look at Crescent City at a view point
and stopped at Trees of Mystery to buy a miniature of the Point St. George Reef Lighthouse. We also looked at the Native American Museum that we did not see the 1st time when we were there on Thursday.
We continued on down the 101 and saw 3 Roosevelt Elks in the Redwood National Park.
We took a detour though the Avenue of the Giants. An amazing road that goes right through the forest.
We finally made it home. That was a long drive.
We took a bridge from Eureka to Woodley Island.
While there we saw the Table Bluff Lighthouse
accompanied by pretty scenery.
Then crossed another bridge to Samoa located on a peninsula.
We then traveled north on the 255, merged with the 101 and continued up to Trinidad to see the Trinidad Lighthouse. It is a replica of the Trinidad Head Lighthouse.
Combined with a nice view of the bay.
We also saw a really cute church called The Holy Trinity Catholic Church. It looks exactly like something one would put in a village under the Christmas Tree.
continued up to the Trees of Mystery.
While there we walked on a trail through unusual redwood trees like the Cathedral Tree
We then took the Sky Trail over the trees.
It was like we were one of the redwoods enjoying the view of the ocean.
It went up to an observation point where through binoculars I could see an osprey and its nest on top of a tall redwood tree.
We continued up on the 101 to Crescent City. We checked in at the Anchor Beach Inn. When we walked into the room and for a second we thought it was a big picture of a beach on the wall. Instead it was the window.
What a sight.
We made a straight shot up the 101 to Eureka. Dropped off our stuff in the hotel and then walked through the historic downtown. We stopped at the boardwalk.
We then ate at Mazzotti's. It was really good Italian food. Mom said its like a hole in the wall right out of Italy. Then back to the hotel.
At 4a Mom and I started up on the Interstate 5. This is way too early to get up and drive but it is the only way to avoid the massive amount of "going to work" traffic. There are only 2 ways to get out of LA. They are the I-5 over the Grapevine (The Santa Ynez Mountains) and the Highway 101 along the coast. The 101 is a long drive to get to San Francisco so we to the 5 up to Los Banos. We then went west on Highway 152 toward the ocean to check out the lighthouses. We stopped in Santa Cruz to see the Santa Cruz Lighthouse.
What a nice looking lighthouse. Mom said it looks like a toy. The area around the lighthouse is really nice and has a park like atmosphere.
Then up PCH (highway 1) to Pigeon Point Lighthouse
It looks just like the Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport, Oregon.
The lighthouse is deteriorating but it is in the process of being restored. The point view is amazing.
Then up the Golden Gate to my apartment to rest for the drive up the coast tomorrow.
For breakfast/lunch we went to The Strand and ate at Mod. It is a nice cafe. We both got a wrap which were very good. Then proceeded off the island on the I45 to the Hobby Airport. DD went to his flight to Long Beach at 5:35p and I left for Oakland at 6p. I had a stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The same kind of stop I had in Phoenix on the 21st.
Then off to Oakland. Here is a view from the airplane.
We ate breakfast/lunch at pancake house and then headed north to check out Tiki Island. All I could think of while driving on the island was 
"In the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room."
While there we saw houses along the water that were raised on stilts and a balcony over the water. Underneath the balcony were boats raised up above the water.
A view of Galveston Island from Tiki Island.
From Tiki Island we went to Pelican Island. On this island is the ocean oriented branch campus of Texas A & M University. We then went back to Galveston Island and headed west Seawall Boulevard,
passing though Jamaica Beach, over the San Luis Pass and stopped at Surfside Beach.
We took a walk out on the jetty. The coast wind was still warm and humid, but it was a nice view.
We then drove up to Houston. DD said, "It looks just like LA."
On our way back we saw a very unusual car. The driver was sitting way high up over the car.
Then back to Galveston to eat at Fish Tales Seafood Grill.
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Today I went with my friend Lauri to Angel Island which is 10 minutes away from Tiberon by ferry. While on the ferry we had a nice view of the bay and the Golden Gate.
We arrived on the island and began the 4 mile walk around the island. We walked clock wise around the island. We could see a nice view of east bay.
We stopped at this table to relax and eat a lunch that she had packed. A turkey sandwich, carrots and chocolate cookies.
The new immigration facilities opened on Angel Island in 1910 to replace the old cramped quarters on a San Francisco pier. Most of the immigrants were from China. Here is the Immigration Station.
Continuing around the island we could see Fort McDowell located on Quarry Point.
We then stopped at Quarry Beach to view the bay.
I walked out on this.
To see this. While I was standing there it actually felt like I was standing on the water.
Continuing on around the island, we say a view of Point Blunt. The US Coast Guard is located there.
Here is the Golden Gate Bridge viewed from Angel Island.
With concern mounting over threats to the Bay Area from Confederate sympathizers and naval forces, the federal government established Camp Reynolds.
Here is a view of Camp Reynolds.
Here is a view of the bay. Tiberon is on the right. Sausalito is on the left. Mt. Tam is in the distance.
This weekend's exciting adventure began with driving west on Sir Francis Drake to the city Point Reyes Station and then up PCH (highway 1) to end of the Tomales Bay at Willow Point.
During the summer it is always foggy in the bay area but it did not stop me from having fun. I still took many stops on the way up. Here is a view of Hog Island which is in Tomales Bay.
Here is a view of Preston Point with the Keyes Creek moving toward Tomales Bay.
Here is a farm view on the east side of PCH on the way to Bodega Bay.
"Cow!"
"We've got cows!"
A panoramic view of Bodega Bay.
A view of the fog over the Pacific Ocean.
A view of the coast at Bodega Head.
I then continued north on PCH to Salmon Creek.
Just north of Salmon Creek is a view of Salmon Creek Beach.
Just north of Salmon Creek Beach I stopped and got out of the car to view a pretty sunset while the music of A. C. Sharp was playing out of my car.
It was a perfect soundtrack to a perfect sunset.
Yesterday I was invited to a party which was held in a mansion in Sausalito. We could see the ocean though windows facing the bay. It was also a really nice house. We had food and wine while viewing the water. At 9:15p we watched fireworks from the balcony that were launched off a ship in the ocean. We were pretty close to the fireworks and had a great view of them. They were very pretty. When they exploded, the sound of the explosion bounced off the hills behind the mansion which created a nice effect. What a great way to spend Independence Day.
This is a view of the bay from the bedroom.
Here is a picture of an old style tall ship.
We got up and had breakfast in the cafe at the hotel. Today was the 1st day it opened which was great timing. We both had a pancake and eggs (mine scrambled and DD's over easy). Now I wrote "A" pancake. That "a" pancake was huge, about the size of a medium pizza. It was very good. Then drove up to take one last look at Crater Lake since we were only 7 miles from it. Then headed down highway 62. On the way we passed the Rouge River Gorge which was created by lava flow from Mount Manzama, which also created Crater Lake. What an amazing sight.
We also saw along the Rouge River the natural bridge in which the river goes underground for 35 seconds.
We got on the I-5 and up to Grants Pass and took a look around. It looks like a nice town. I actually would not mind living there. Here is something interesting about the city. They had statues of bears all over the city. They were in different poses like eating ice cream, holding a broom and eating a hot dog. We then headed south on I-5 and said goodbye to Oregon. We stopped and eat at Grandma's House. Not actually my grandma's house but a restaurant in Yreka with really good food. We continued heading south on the I-5 and passed Mount Shasta. What a great mountain. Almost like it is keeping watch over the town below.
We are now in Redding for the night. Took a dip in the spa and now it is time for bed. Goodnite.
Leaving Springfield, DD and I started the day driving around Eugene while I pointed out some sights around town. While there I saw people with name tags walking from the University of Oregon to the Unversity Inn. I realized that they were singers, composers and conductors in the Oregon Bach Festival. I could tell who the composers were, they are easy to spot. I flashed back to the times I had made that walk when I was in the Bach Festival for 2 years. Those were great memories.
We then drove south on highway 58 to Lowell. While there we saw a couple of covered bridges.
Then continued on the 58 to Salt Creek Falls. It is the 2nd tallest waterfall in Oregon with a high of 286 feet. Multnomah Falls it the tallest in Oregon. Salt Creek Falls is such a great waterfall. It is one of my favorites. We walked down a trail to get a better look at it.
Continuing on highway 58 to 97 to 138 we reach Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. What an incredible sight. The water is so blue. There was still snow on the ground which created a soft white landscape contrasted by the green trees.
Even though I had been here before, it did not lessen the impact of seeing this incredible lake. DD had not seen it before and was impressed by it. We drove around the rim on the west side of Crater Lake. The road on the eastern side was closed due to snow still on the ground that had not been plowed yet. We stopped at all of the turn offs to see different sides of the lake including Wizard Island.
Since it was around 4p, bugs were out wanting to feed. So every time I stepped out to take a picture, within a few seconds I was surrounded by bugs. We stopped at the Rim Village to eat. We ate at the Watchman Restaurant were we had a buffet while viewing Crater Lake though a big window. After dinner we stopped by the Historic Crater Lake Lodge to view the lake while sitting on rocking chairs. That was so cool. By the time we left the sun was setting.
We left the park to head to the city of Klamath Falls to get a hotel when on the way down we found the Aspen Inn in Fort Klamath. We got the A shaped cabin, cabin #6 (my favorite number). DD really liked the cabin.
Well off to bed. We have more exciting adventures tomorrow that was have to encounter.
Today DD and I drove up to Silver Falls State Park which is east of Salem. This park has 10 waterfalls. We only saw 4 which were Upper North Falls, North Falls, Winter Falls and South Falls.
Upper North Falls
Behind North Falls
Winter Falls
We then went to Salem for dinner but since it was 9p it appeared that everything was closed or as DD said, "They rolled up the streets." We happened to find one place open called the Coffee House Cafe. We both got a tuna sandwich on a bagel with a side of pesto pasta. DD got tea and I got a vanilla Italian Soda. Everything we ordered tasted great as if it came from a high class expensive cafe. This place seems to be popular for the college students in the area including some really cute girls. Then we drove back to Springfield for the last day in the hotel.
Today Jules, DD and I drove up the I-5 from Sacramento to Eugene, Oregon for David's wedding. It was very fun driving up with them. Jules and I took pictures on the way up including Mt. Shasta. What an incredible sight. Arrived in Eugene in time to have dinner with David and Julia's friends and family.
Today I took a trip to the top of Mt. Tamalpais or as they call it here, Mt. Tam. I have been up there before and wanted to see it again.
A View from Mt. Tam
It is a great view from up there. From the top of Mt. Tam I could see all of Marin County, the Bay, the City and the Richmond and Bay Bridge.
I then took a different road down the mountain.
I wanted to see Alpine Lake again.
It was so quiet and peaceful there. I walked a trail I had not taken before. The trail took me over a small but nice bridge.
The trail lead me to a waterfall which feeds the lake. It was not a big waterfall but a bunch of small ones falling over the rocks.
The trail kept going but decided to head back since it was getting late. One of the sights I saw on the walk back was some plants peeking out of the water.
Before leaving the lake I did enjoy the moon hovering over the trees. It was a great sight.
Today I decided to take a walk along the Corte Madera River that I can see from my apartment. I took the trail that follows the river to the College of Marin. That hike is about a mile walk one way. Great scenery while enjoying the outside air.
Here is a sample of what I saw.
The adventure today began with a short 1/2 mile hike to the Point Bonita Lighthouse.
During the hike, the trail led me into a tunnel cut through the rock.
The trail ended at the Point Bonita Lighthouse with its original second order Fresnel lens still in the tower and is still in operation.
To get to the lighthouse I walked over a suspension bridge in which only 5 people can walk across it at a time.
The Point Bonita Lighthouse.
The lighthouse is now automated using this light bulb.
The Point Bonita coast line.
A view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge from Point Bonita.
Point Bonita and the lighthouse.
I then drove over the Richmond Bridge to east bay to get to Point San Pablo.
Out into the bay from Point San Pablo is the East Brother Lighthouse.
The lighthouse is currently a bed and breakfast and the proceeds go to preserve the station. For more info about these 2 lighthouses click on these links.
Point Bonita lighthouse
East Brother Lighthouse
I originally went out to take a picture of Happy Lane. Yup. In the City of San Rafael, Sun Valley Elementary School is on Happy Lane. I cracked up when I heard about it.
I then continued on 5th street, which crosses Happy Lane, and the street dead ended at Mt. Tam Cemetery. So I drove in. I drove around and up a hill. Got out and looked around at the graves and the Crayon Hills over looking the cemetery. I had gone out for a drive to mull over my problems and somehow ended up here. I realized that whatever I am going through, it can't be that bad. I know a Babylon 5 reference. To quote B5 again, "I am alive. Everything else is negotiable."
I drove out of the cemetery turned right and ran into Sir Francis Drake Blvd. I know this street goes all the way to the coast so I turned right on to it passing the town of San Anselmo, Ross and Fairfax and then noticed a place called
I was curious and decided to go in. A really nice area.
There were a few people painting the incredible scenery. I found a trail.
Started walking up this trail to see where is ends up. About a 1/2 hour later I stopped to take a break. I had been walking up hill this whole time with the wrong kind of shoes. I was getting hungry and thought I should go back, but there was this part of me that really wanted to see where this trail went even though it might be awhile before I found the end of the trail and it probably would get dark before I got back . In those moments I rediscovered something about myself. When there is something I want to do or see the end result of, I want to keep going even though it might be a bad idea. Having this drive is good when I have a project to do but not good when I do something that might get me in trouble regardless of my good intentions. I have to know when is a good time to have this drive and when it is not.
Just when I started to head down I happened to look up and I could see San Francisco in the distance. I was too busy looking at my feet walking up the trail to notice it before. (Ya I know symbolism and metaphor.)
A progressive close up on the city.
So down and home I went. I was surprisingly calm all the way home even with a lot of cars on the road. What an enlightening day.
Had the 2nd of the 2 day interview yesterday. I think is also went well. Did my presentation and also got to work with the University Choir. It is a really good choir and it was a joy to rehearse them. Then back down to Fargo to fly home. So the flight home was to be from Fargo to Chicago to San Francisco. Well the problem was that Chicago was experiencing a major thunderstorm so my flight into there was delayed. It ended up being so delayed that I would have missed my connecting flight in Chicago and that was the only flight that would take me to San Francisco that evening. So the airline got me a deal at a Best Western so off I went. Got some sleep. Got up way to early in order to catch the Fargo-Denver-San Francisco flight. It is a much shorter flight. I could not get this flight yesterday because the last Fargo to Denver flight is around 3p. I was so tired I slept on both flights all the way home.
Main Street
The City of Mayville
DD and I drove to the Vista Point before the Golden Gate Bridge. We then walked from the Marin side across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco. It took an hour to walk across. What a great view of The City and Alcatraz Island. Hanging out for a bit before walking back across the bridge. It was quite windy. Also saw a large variety of boats go under the bridge. After walking across back to Marin we walked up this hill to see a "bird's eye" view of the Golden Gate Bridge. What an great day and an amazing view. Click on the pictures below to see what I saw.
The Golden Gate Bridge seen from Tiberon.
The Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin side.
The Bridge.
The Golden Gate Bridge from the San Francisco side.
What an incredible sight.
Today DD and I went to the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. We took a look at Ocean Beach watching the surfer's freezing their butts off.
Then to the North Dutch Windmill built in 1902. Really nice with a flower garden next to it called Queen Wilhelmina Garden. There were a variety of flowers and colors.
Then took a quick look at the bison at Buffalo Paddok
before making a quick stop at Lloyd Lake where two columns once graced the porch of a Nob Hill home, and were all that remained after the 1906 earthquake.
Then to Stow Lake where Strawberry Hill, and artificial island, is at the center of the lake. On Strawberry Hill is Huntington Falls. A nice size waterfall. We walked up to the top of the falls walking across 3 bridges that cross in front of the falls.
Walked over the Hill and over the Roman bridge we then walked around the Lake. Then to the Japanese Tea Garden. What a nice and peaceful place.
Took a quick look at the Conservatory of Flowers before heading to The Presidio to take a look a the Golden Gate Bridge. We then went to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. We ate at Fisherman's Grotto and had a great tasting bowl of New England Clam Chowder. I also had Halibut Linguini and DD had a Crab and Lobster Salad. Great tasting fish. Then drove around the city through Market Street and then home.
A friend of mine that I know from the jazz a cappella choir I sing in invited me to an Easter picnic out on Mt. Tam. It is a family gathering which started over 20 years ago. Even though I was not part of their family, they made me feel right at home. A real nice group of people (which was about 30 to 40 of them). I ate chicken (yum) and some other stuff I had know idea what it was but I tried it anyway. It was good though.
We walked from our picnic site to the edge of Mt Tam. I could see the fog racing in. Unlike the fog I am used to in Southern Cal which comes in slowly, stays awhile then burns off, the fog here comes in really fast from the ocean. You can see it race in over the city of San Francisco and Southern Marin.
Within minutes, the mountain is surrounded by "cotton."
We walked back and the kids hunted for Easter eggs. I was being taught by one of the family members how to play with the Chinese Yo Yo. I picked it up pretty quickly and was even able to throw it up and catch it.
I arrived at the picnic sometime after 1p and left at about 5p. Instead of going back down the mountain the way I usually come up, I kept going north to see where this road went. During my drive I encountered a really pretty lake.
I then encountered and drove over the dam that creates the lake.
I got out of my car and just stood there enjoying the silence and the smells. Then kept going down, making a few more stops to check out the scenery. I even saw a couple of deer right off the side of the road eating.
The road led into the town of Fairfax and headed home.
What a great way to enjoy Easter. Enjoying friendly people, good conversation and enjoying the scenery of God's creation.
Happy Jesus Rising Day.
Added four new pictures in the Animal Picture Gallery page of My Professional Web Site.
I also revised the Works List page. Now each piece has a link to its own page which includes program notes, instrumentation and performance history.
Today my "Weekend Adventures" took me to Muir Woods. An incredible area filled with redwoods and with the Redwood Creek flowing though Redwood Canyon. The 560 acre park includes 6 miles of trails. Unpaved trails out of the canyon connect with trails in Mt. Tamalpais State Park. I took the 2 mile loop hike. It was a very nice walk with the talking creek as my soundtrack. I of course took pictures. Two of my best are below. The rest I put in My Photo Gallery. Can you hear the creek?
I took a drive to east San Rafael and saw a great view of the San Rafael Bridge and in the distance behind it was the Bay Bridge. It was just past sunset and I had to take pictures of this incredible view. I took a series of pictures with different apertures and shutter speeds. Each picture has different feel and atmosphere.
Here are a couple of nice shots.
The rest are in My Photo Gallery.
My dad had asked before I came down if I would sing with his church choir. It seems like something he wanted me to do and to me it seemed like it had some meaning to him for me to be there. My dad, which I call DD (a story for a later time) will do almost anything I ask him to do and hardly ever asks for anything. So when he asks for something it usually is something he really wants. So I agreed and I went. The music was pretty easy. I sight read most of it and the rest I had sung before. Then back to DD's apt for a goodbye to my family and send off for the journey home. Half the trip was spend talking on the phone to our good friend David so he would not feel left out of our exciting road trip. Of course he was enjoying it at home were he can walk around while we were stuck in a car for over 7 hours. One of which was trying to get out of LA. It seems like every time I go back there the traffic gets worse and worse. I got home between 9 and 10p, got ready for bed and crashed. I did not get up until 12 hours later.
Here are a couple of pictures of the grapevine.
This week's "Weekend Adventure" took me to the top of Mt. Tamalpais or as they call it here, Mt. Tam. A 45 minute drive to the top. I took a small detour and hiked up a short trail to the outdoor theater before driving up to the very top. Shakespeare plays and musicals are performed at this theater during the summer. After viewing the theater I drove up to the very top and parked in the parking lot. I then started my hike up to the very top were the lookout tower is located. It is a rock trail for about .03 miles to the top. Once I got there, what a view. Stayed there for about 2 hours before heading down. Here are some pictures of the view I saw.
Here is a view of San Francisco.
Here is a view of my Apt.
A really nice picture. It was taken facing west toward the ocean.
I went up on the 101 to Novato because I was craving a Carl's Jr. vanilla milkshake and the only Carl's Jr. in all of Marin County is in Novato. (But yet they have 7 Mc Donald's.) After getting the milkshake I kept heading north on the 101. Before entering Petaluma there was a small side street that looked interesting. By now the sun had set and there are no street lights on this side street. I stopped once to take this picture.
Click to enlarge
Looked too cool to pass up. I then continued on "Bob's Road" seeing outlines of the hills against the slowly darkening sky. After about 9 miles I saw a sign pointing at a street that heads towards Novato. So 11 miles later I was back in Novato and headed home.