Point Reyes Nat’l Seashore
Just north of San Francisco is the Point Reyes National Seashore. A sweeping landscape, with rugged cliffs, long beaches, wildlife, and native plants. Wildlife enthusiasts love it: sea lions, elephant seals, deer, birds of all kinds live and nest on the pristine grounds. The very ruggedness was also danger, there were many shipwrecks so in the late 1800’s a lighthouse was built to warn sailors. It’s still there for tourists to see, although you ave to descend and climb 323 steps. We did…
We also did some birding on the Point. We didn’t see many species, wrong time of the day, but we managed a few sightings.
Part of the rugged coast
And, miles and miles of sandy beaches
The lighthouse at the bottom of the hill
But we made it down
More importantly, we made it back up
Not hard to tell the direction of the prevailing winds
Some local birds
Even more birds
More birds
Quail on point
Scratching? Or doing the Quail Dance?
Female duck
Blue winged teal
A small dragonfly blends with the environment
Thistle flowers
A very unusual house along the road in
An old ship, the “Point Reyes”
A short visit to San Francisco
We’re camped not too far from San Francisco, so a quick visit to the City by the Bay was an obvious activity. The weather was great, so off we went.
Didn’t expect quite so much fog still over the Golden Gate bridge, but it made for interesting pictures. The Bridge continues to be a tourist draw… lots of people at any of the viewpoints. After a short walk, we drove to my favorite parking spot in the city, near Chinatown, relatively cheap, and walking distance to most anywhere. And, you can take the cable cars if you want to roam a little further.
There was a street fair in Chinatown, so right away we were immersed in local events. Lots of street food, local music, and local art all made for an interesting trip. Then we walked to Fisherman’s Wharf. Boy, that place has changed! New buildings, new stores, new tourist traps everywhere. But we enjoyed lunch (love crab and corn chowder!), visited the Grotto, and had a great time visiting this picturesque city.
What could be more iconic than the bridge in fog?
Street fair when we arrived
Street fair
Trans America provides an excellent backdrop
Pretty hard to go hungry here!
St. Peter and Paul Church, Columbus Ave
Coit Tower
A view up Lombardi Hill, as crowded as always
No wondering where we are
Yum! Dungeness crab!
Even the sourdough bread looks like crab
Dockside at Fisherman’s Wharf
Lake Tahoe and Spooner Lake
Since we had some time in Reno, we thought we’d take the scenic drive to Lake Tahoe. A pretty drive, over some high passes by Mt. Rose. Lots of scenic lookouts!
Lake Tahoe is a deep fresh water lake, surrounded by mountains. It is a great vacation spot in the summer, lots of water sports and outdoor activities. But in the winter it really blooms; there are major ski areas around the lake. So not only can you have excellent skiing, but a great view as well.
In 1860 a gentleman (names Spooner) bought 640 acres near Lake Tahoe and started a lumber business. Lumber was in huge demand, it was used as shoring in the many mines in the area. He added buildings, a hotel, a blacksmith shop, and soon it was a thriving community, so much so that The Wells Fargo made it a stopping point. But the timber was eventually decimated, the land was “undesirable” and eventually taken over by the State as a park. So now we have a nice hiking trail around Spooner Lake.
A view of Lake Tahoe from the pass
Another scenic overlook
Romola, at the shoreline
Down at the waterfront
Spooner Lake
Another Spooner Lake view
More Spooner Lake
Some of the wildflowers
Had to share this little fella
Evanston Rodeo
Evanston, WY is kind of a sleepy high mountain town, so when we noticed there was a rodeo not far from our camp site we had to take a look. And, it was lots of fun. Not only the rodeo, but also the people. We did manage to stay away from the fried food, even though it smelled delicious….
Wyoming and US flag on parade
That’s one way to get off a steer….
Ride ’em high!
Not all horses and riders were serious
Grab that chicken! A popukar event
Team roping
Saddle bronc riding
Women’s barrel racing
On to the next barrel!!!!
As fast as you can
Not-Quite-Western-Wear (unless dress codes have changed)
Waiting their turn
Evanston, Wyoming
Our drive yesterday was long and tiring as has we had strong cross winds. Our campground was an older park but well maintained, nicely treed and grass. So we’re going to extend our stay by a day, also because we saw that their rodeo was this weekend, and plan to attend.
Evanston was founded in the 1860’s as a railroad town. It quickly flourished, matured, and shrank back down after the railroad was finished. Today there is an historical site dedicated to the town’s early history. The city it is nicely situated on the Bear River, so it stayed and became a typical Western city. It now has a population of 12,000 or so, and the main economics now are not from the railroad but from the busy I-80 highway… where you will find the Wal-Marts and other stores so typical of this area.
The Bear River has been well maintained and the wetlands protected. There is a nice multi-use trail, Romola and I walked part of it this morning.
Scene along one (of the two) old town main streets
The local coffee shop was deserted on a Saturday morning
The historical railroad Depot
A pretty little pond at the Depot
It may be summer somewhere, but up here spring has spring
The Bear River wetlands are well maintained and scenic
The Bear River water is mostly snow runoff, and picks up sediment on the way down
A quick visit to Cheyenne, WY
As we work our way across country, we like to stop every once in a while and spend a little time at places we normally don’t. This time, we spent an extra night in Cheyenne, WY. We had dinner at T Joe’s, an out of the way hole in the wall we found on our last trip through. Really good steaks and cold beer.
Since the weather was so nice today (high 75, low 42 and sunny) we drove through the city and stopped off at the Arboretum. Actually, Cheyenne is a nice city, lots of nice parks and some typical old west architecture. A great place to live, if you like cold — I mean REALLY cold — weather and snow. But today was great, here are some pictures.
City courthouse. That is 24 kt. gold on the dome.
One of the picturesque downtown buildings
Old buildings on Lincoln Street
The old train depot, now a historical site and museum
Wyoming was the first state to give women the vote; a commemorative statue, here in front of the Depot.
A C130 doing touch and goes at F E Warren AFB
Flowers in the arboretum, 3
Flowers in the arboretum, 2
Flowers in the arboretum, 1
Footbridge over the creek
Wetlands display
Don’t get too close to those geese…
Number 4004, “Big Boy” was one of the largest steam locomotives ever built.
Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath
We took a tour to Windsor Castle (yes, the Queen was in Residence), Stonehenge and Bath on our last day in England. Along the way we stopped and had lunch in Lacock, famous because some of the Harry Potter movies were filmed here. It was a fitting end… a royal dwelling, a very old religious monument, and a middle aged city geared to hot springs. It was a fitting end to our cruise/tour.
One of the turrets at Windsor Castle
Interesting light fixture at Windsor Castle… note the crown
Waiting for the new Guard to arrive
And here comes the new guard!
Off to relieve the old guard
Bath landscape
Rear yard in Lacock
Another bath house
Street where Harry Potter was filmed
A church in Lacock where Harry Potter was filmed
A boot scfraper built into the wall
Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Main church in Bath
A street in Bath
City of Londom
London is a fabulous place to visit. Sure, the weather is iffy (cold!), and prices are super high, but there is so much to see and do! I think Romola and I walked 50 miles on our UK visit alone, much of it in London. But there are so many historical buildings, parks, museums, and exhibitions to visit!
Skyline, looking east
The Eye
Skyline, looking west
Frontal view of Buckingham Palace
Main gates, Buckingham Palace
Tower bridge
Some of the wheels that makes the bridge go up and down
Admiralty Arch, opposite the Buckingham Palace
Horse Regiment guard
Courtyard inside the Tower of London
Big Ben
Westminster Abby
Nelson monument, Trafalgar Square
A Tube in action
Hyde Park entrance
Wellington Arch
Changing of the Guard
Honor guard, Buckingham Palace
The Vatican
No question, the Roman Catholic Church is the wealthiest entity on earth. A one day visit to the Vatican only scrapes the surface, but the amount of property, buildings, artwork and antiquities boggles the mind. And the items on display only represent a small fraction of all the items in storage.
If you plan to visit, leave lots of time. And be prepared to share the sights with others…. the Vatican is a huge tourist attraction. But if you have the chance to spend a day do so… the visual impact is worth it.
This beautiful statue caught my eye
Looking up in the Church
Michelangelo’s first statue
The Altar in St Peters church
Artwork everywhere
Always look up
Wall paintings
Beautiful ceiling artwork
More Michelangelo work
Fabric wall coverings
Even the ceilings have statues
The floor is magnificent as well
This one piece of marble was a bath
Continued ceiling work
Statues everywhere
An artists depiction of the RC Church covering the world
The Rion (or pinecone) represents the Vatican region of Rome
The Coliseum and the Forum
Some 2,000 years ago, the Forum and the Coliseum were the center of Roman civilization. The consisted of enormous churches, palaces, shopping malls, sports arenas and public buildings. Over the centuries, they suffered a lack of upkeep, as well as outright looting. Despite this, the evidence of their building ability is still on display. Now, it is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archeological excavations. A fascinating visit!
And, as luck would have it, we arrived on the 2,766th anniversary of Rome. We were able to catch the tail end of a huge parade with people outfitted in garments like they were over the centuries. So we had the original buildings, as well as representative peoples. It was hard to narrow my pictures down to a manageable level; here are a few.
From a distance, it doesn’t look that big.. but it held 50,000 spectators!
More wall views
Enormous walls still stand
A view of the tunnels under the floor
A night visit gave an entirely different view
It is just as impressive at night
Arch of Constantine
Seating for 50,000
Dressed to kill (literally)
Those are some big dogs!
Roman war formation
Want to fight this guy? To the death?
Forum walls and portal
Some of the Forum buildings artwork
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