Month: July 2018

Tuesday I drove from where I had been staying in San Rafael, CA north to Ukiah, CA.  Much of the drive was along US Route 1 which, in many places, runs right along the coast.  Once I reached Route 1 in Point Reyes it was roughly 100 miles north to Manchester, where I had to turn and head inland towards Ukiah.  Here are some of the things I saw throughout the day:

And if wildfires and earthquakes aren’t enough to keep you on your toes, there’s always this.  If fire doesn’t get you, water might.

This was the view from the deck (and practically from my table) at the restaurant I went to for lunch.  The Jenner Inn, which came highly recommended, has new ownership and is now only open for dinner.  I went across the road to the Jenner Post Office and the woman working there recommended another place up the road.  It was an excellent choice.

This is a three shot panorama from right to left.  This is actually the Russian River draining into the Pacific.

 

Tuesday I drove from where I had been staying in San Rafael, CA north to Ukiah, CA. Much of the drive was along US Route 1 which, in many places, runs right along the coast. Once I reached Route 1 in Point Reyes it was roughly 100 miles north to Manchester, where I had to turn and head inland towards Ukiah. Here are some of the things I saw throughout the day:

After having lunch in Jenner I continued up the coast towards Manchester. I actually backtracked a little ways to some of the more interesting things I had seen to take a break and just watch the birds fly and sit and listen to the ocean. It was INCREDIBLY windy – a very stiff, steady wind (in North Carolina we often give them names…). Believe me, at times it was hard to just stand and hold the camera out in front of me. I once had a client in North Carolina who came to our office when it was extremely windy in Durham and commented “I don’t know how little people stay on the ground”. I was worried that the constant movement might make my pictures blurry but fortunately they turned out ok. Even with full sun the temperature was only 60 degrees which made the wind chill about 10 below. It really didn’t feel all that cold, even though I was only wearing shortpants and a t-shirt.

Below is the same rock formation seen at the top of the first photo of this post. When I drove up the road a short ways from where I had been parked I noticed it had a big hole through it. Some of the formations in the next post (Late Afternoon) also have such holes, creating an arch above them.

This is a beach called Goat Rock. If you look closely you’ll see vehicles parked along the beach access area.

As I was driving back out to the main road I noticed this phenomenon to the south. If you look very closely a little right of center you’ll see a “cloud” rising up from the ocean surface and going towards land. I tracked down a lifeguard who I had seen driving from beach to beach and asked him what it was. It is fog forming. I could see a layer of fog out at sea (which oddly looked white while wearing my sunglasses but gray when I took them off) and while I could clearly see this white cloud of fog forming near the coast with my sunglasses on it was more difficult to see without them (and in the photo).

Looking north up Highway 1 I could see that this was where the road was going to take me next.

And this was the the view looking back down at where I had just come from.

Looking north this was the hill above the road:

And as the hill descends to the ocean:

Tuesday I drove from where I had been staying in San Rafael, CA north to Ukiah, CA.  Much of the drive was along US Route 1 which, in many places, runs right along the coast.  Once I reached Route 1 in Point Reyes it was roughly 100 miles north to Manchester, where I had to turn and head inland towards Ukiah.  Here are some of the things I saw throughout the day:

This is the Point Arena lighthouse.  It closed about an hour before I got there but I am hoping to get back there on Thursday to get a closer look.

Monday was my last full day in the San Francisco area and I rode one of the Golden Gate ferries over to the city.  The ferry station parking lot was full but fortunately I could find free street parking nearby (the same place I had parked the other day when I took a photo of the “Mendocino” arriving) and just barely caught the 940am ferry.  Once in the city I walked to the Museum of Modern Art and spent about two hours walking the 7 floors of exhibits.  My Fitbit informed me I had my 10,000 steps in for the day as I was walking back to the ferry station.  Here are a few photos from the morning ride over to the city:

I leave San Rafael later this morning to resume my drive north up the California coast.  I’ll be spending the next three nights in Ukiah, California (inland a bit) and hope to finish posting many of the pictures I took in this area while I’m up there.  I plan to just take my time and meander up the coast, eventually all the way to the Canadian border.

Thursday I ventured in to Sausalito for the first time.  Sausalito is located along the shore of Richardson Bay, north of the Golden Gate Bridge.  There are many neat (and expensive) restaurants in town, as well as some beautiful homes.  There is also a huge marina housing a wide variety of boats.

Crowds gathered along the marina to watch this guy work.  It was fascinating to watch him raise and lower the big poles (extreme right of photo, and another at the far end of the platform) to anchor his platform and use the arm of the huge backhoe-type machine to position his rig.  He was apparently scraping the bottom of the Bay to provide additional clearance for large boats to dock.  His trusty dog had a wonderful time scurrying along his platform chasing seagulls and watching him raise and lower the mechanical arm and dump water and mud.

Now this is what I call a true houseboat!

And here is another one:

I hope these mobile homes don’t get too mobile…..

A good reason to come to Sausalito in December:

When I left Sausalito to drive to my next destination I discovered that it actually wraps around the southeast corner of the peninsula giving a great view of downtown San Francisco and Alcatraz Island.  I didn’t have time to take more pictures from this vantage point but returned on Sunday to get more photos which I will post later.

Here is the city skyline.  You can see the iconic TransAmerica Pyramid and to it’s right the new Salesforce tower, which will soon be the tallest building west of the Mississippi.  At the far left is Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.

I was hoping to make it out to Alcatraz for a tour but didn’t make a reservation (and tours are booked through the end of July) so it will have to wait for my next trip to the area.

One of the more interesting things to see in Sausalito is the Bay Model, constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the mid-1950’s.  This 1.5 acre hydraulic scale model of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta was designed to help scientists and engineers study the effect of various weather and man-made scenarios on the local environment.  Little metal strips are scattered throughout the model to help accurately simulate tides and the flow of water.  With the advent of computer-assisted technology this model is no longer used.

Here is a small (dry) sample of what the Model looks like up close:

And here are some photos of the actual Model.  It is housed indoors in a large building which covers more than two acres:

There are little signs indicating where cities, bridges and various landmarks are:

If you look closely there are two people standing just to the right of center in the following photo:

There are also large signs hanging overhead which name the general regions of the area:

I went over this bridge (the real one) Thursday morning when I drove from San Rafael over to Berkeley:

There are numerous spots on both sides of the bridge where there are overlooks affording the viewer some great photo opportunities.  Thursday afternoon I went to several on the northwest side.

Friday morning I crossed the bridge to get over to the southwest side.  While Thursday was sunny and warm, Friday morning was very different – overcast and chilly with a stiff wind – much more San Francisco-like.  Mark Twain is once thought to have observed “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco” (although historians are beginning to suspect that he never actually said it.  It is a great line, regardless of who thought it up).

Thursday I visited the Marin County Civic Center which was designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

This complex is so big it is next to impossible to find a vantage point to get it all in one photo.  Here is a scale model of the main building (there are also buildings on the property at the fairgrounds, where the Marin County Fair just concluded with July 4th fireworks, and a nearby outdoor amphitheatre).

The original design called for the roof to be gold (to blend in with the local mountains and to conform with California’s motto as “The Golden State”) and the spire to be blue.  Those color choices were ultimately swapped, which I think turned out very well.

Thursday I visited the Marin County Civic Center which was designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  Here are additional photos:

Inside the building the long corridors include atriums with plants and skylights:

Workers were in the process of renovating the blue domed roof:

This is a fountain located outside the second floor cafeteria:

And a view looking out from the balcony:

More roof work:

Mr. Wright also designed the Post Office located across the street from the Civic Center:

As some of you know from previous posts I am a fan of structures designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and try to visit houses and buildings he designed during my travels.  Well, this may come as a surprise even to FLW fans but he once designed a doghouse!  I heard about this on NPR a few months ago and learned that it was designed for a family who lived in this area.

Mr. Wright designed a home for the Robert Berger family of nearby San Anselmo.  When the house was completed Mr. Berger relayed his 12-year-old son’s request that Wright design a doghouse which would fit in with the house design but would be inexpensive enough so his son could pay for it with money earned on his paper route.  Mr. Wright wrote back that he was too busy and that they should ask again a year later.  Well they did and this time Mr. Wright complied.

The design was completed in 1957 but construction wasn’t completed until 1963 (after selling many newspapers!).

Here is a photo of the original doghouse:

(Photo credit: wikipedia.org)

The doghouse was thrown out after it was no longer needed but was later reconstructed following the original plans (note that it is sitting up on a dolly so appears taller than it actually is):

(Photo credit: sf.curbed.com – courtesy of Marin County Civic Center)

(Photo credit: J. Michael Welton)