A large day it was indeed! The mountains/hills are still amazing and even stranger when you see them covered with houses. That is what San Francisco was like. Do any of you remember the Streets of San Francisco with Carl Malden and Micheal Douglas that was on years ago? Or, how about those movies that showed cars flying through the air coming down a hill during a chase? Well, San Francisco really looks like that (only more modern from the older tv shows). I was saying a silent prayer that the brakes would hold on the Jeep while we were stopped behind traffic on some of the steepest of hills. It was nice having my own tour guide because he knew where to take me to see some of the most phenomenal views I have ever seen. As it happens, he did some work near one of the more famous towers (the Sutra) and it was on a lookout in Twin Peaks (another tv reference). You could see the city and the Bay for miles. It was like nothing I have ever seen. I got my first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge tucked behind a hill but it wasn't where I thought it would be.
We left Twin Peaks and headed towards the GG Bridge. That is one busy stretch of roadway and the pedestrians walking on the bridge looked crammed in their little walkway. We pulled into an area just past the bridge and took more pics of San Francisco looking back at where we had been earlier. Alcatraz was just off the coast in the distance and I have never seen that many sailboats in an area before. Even more than in Florida I'm sure. We followed a path that lead us under the bridge to the other side. Man it was so noisy there and a tad scary. We walked on the pedestrian walkway on the bridge a ways and got some great photos although they were through a chain link fence.
We left there and traveled through a tunnel located on the side of a mountain. It looked pretty cool but was a shorter ride than I thought. From there, we decided to drive through Sonoma County and Napa Valley. We were scoping things out with plans to return through the week when it is a little less busy. Wine country is pretty impressive.
By the time we got through wine country, we decided to stop at a place called the Blue Frog Grog and Grill in Fairfield for dinner. Again, thanks to my tour guide who happens to have eaten here before, we had a delicious prime rib meal with creme brule for dessert (a first for me).
We visited one of the biggest wind farms I have ever seen (even bigger than the ones in Illinois and Indiana). Joe had been there before working so he took me on a trip through the farm. We stopped the car and got out to hear what these huge suckers sound like when they are spinning and it was much like an airplane jet. It was really interesting.
We left there and headed back to our hotel in Newark (Silicon Valley area). We actually drove in one very big circle with no backtracking. It's been a day to remember.
There are a LOT of pictures from today. I hope you find them as interesting as I did.
Highlight of the day
I saw things today that I've read, heard about and seen on TV and never thought I'd ever see in person. That's a big deal for me.
A lot of businesses and homes use this shrub for landscaping. The flowers a beautiful
The hills are filed with homes
The Sutra tower
The view of San Francisco from Twin Peaks
The Famous Castro District is right at the bend of the big road in the center of the picture
The Golden Gate Bridge in the distance
Alcatraz is off in the distance
My tour guide and hubby
Moi
No use worrying about my hair. This is a windy place.
For you music lovers, this is the famous Haight District
This was a cool bumper sticker
For those of you in the US, this is pretty expensive. For those of you back in Canada, it's pretty cheap I hear.
Yep, the streets really are steep
On our way to the Golden Gate Bridge
Approaching the first span
This is a shot from the lookout area past the bridge
Alcatraz Island
The Lupins here are huge
San Francisco in the background
California Wildflowers
A view from under the Golden Gate Bridge
The pedestrian walkway
This is where we stopped
A look back at where we took our photos from the walkway on the bridge
Alcatraz Island
Tunnel through a mountain
On our way to wine country
a biplane
Sonoma County
Napa Valley
We were picking out Joe's next airplane
Dinner at the Blue Frog Grog and Grill
A massive windfarm
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