Jul 22, 2013

When we awoke, we headed back to the Redwoods trailheads and I went for a hike on the Miner's Trail that I did last year and Joanna stayed in the car to sleep some more. I really love this trail. It was empty and peaceful this early in the morning.

There's something about being surrounded by these trees that calms me in a way that I've never experienced before. I always look back on this hike from last year as one of my favorites of all time. I feel like I'm just walking in wonderment, looking up and being amazed all the time.

I also spotted this guy on a leaf and spent some time shooting photos of him. I didn't take the whole loop this time. I went a few miles in and came back on the same trail. It was still a really nice hike for the morning.

We stopped at a little town and got lunch at a place called Hey Juan Burritos. They were pretty decent. We called a private disc golf course to try to play it, but it would have taken too long so we headed south to Redwood Curtain disc golf course, which looked pretty awesome from the description online. Once we figured out where to park and how to get to the first hole it looked like it would live up to its description.

Just being in a redwood forest is amazing, but getting to play disc golf there is even better. After playing a couple of holes and being a little confused we ran into a guy that was just starting and he offered to show us the course. This was very helpful and a lot of fun. It's his local course (how lucky is he?) so he was pretty good at it.

There were really some well-crafted holes at this course, including a water hazard, some long drop-offs, and yes, even a tee pad on top of a redwood stump. Craziness. We had a great round and played a couple more holes with our friend before we decided to head out.

On our way continuing south, we made a quick stop at Ukiah Brewing. They had a beer called Navarro Yarrow, that is brewed with yarrow instead of hops. It was really interesting and light. It didn't have that full flavor, but it was still amazingly tasty. The Orr Springs IPA was also amazing. It was a quick stop and then we were back on the roads to the Marin Headlands, where we pulled up to a somewhat foggy scene at the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked up to the overlook and took some shots, but I wasn't really happy with the foot shots I got there. It was still a nice view, but it was cold and windy up there so we didn't stay long.

Next stop was a restaurant called Source. It was a pretty cool little place in an industrial neighborhood. Very hip-like. The food all looked fantastic. I ordered some buffalo wings as an appetizer because I feel like I have to always try them wherever I go. The food was really good as well, but slightly disappointed that the menu described it as being topped with pineapple, Sriracha, and teriyaki sauce, but what it meant was there was a sauce made with those three things. I was looking forward to pineapple chunks and Sriracha. No such luck. I ended up getting another dish because of the misunderstanding and taking home the leftovers from both. All good.


We went to a place off Haight where there is a supposedly awesome vegan ice cream shop. Apparently it's true because there was a line around the corner for it! We waited for a little bit, but when the line didn't move and there were literally 30-40 people in front of us, we decided it wasn't worth it. We took the highway west for a little while until we found a suitable Wal*Mart for sleeping.

Jun 2, 2010

After waking up in the parking lot and brushing teeth in the McDonald's we headed back toward San Francisco. We picked up some milk and peanut butter at the grocery store and had breakfast before finding our way downtown to Fisherman's Wharf and walking around before anything really opened.

We could see Alcatraz from the shore. I can see why they call it The Rock. Most things were still closed since it was so early, but we looked around at some of the things we could do and checked out some souvenir stores to kill time.

When the time came I got a ticket for the Alcatraz tour and got on the next departing boat. It was very overpriced. Typical. The description of the park is "this national park is free to the public but transport to the island is provided by a private company." They neglect to mention the exorbitant amount of money said private company charges for the very short ferry ride to the park.

The view of San Francisco's downtown skyline was nice as we left the dock and headed to The Rock.

The ride was short with plenty of opportunities to take shots of the city and the island as we came upon it. We docked and slowly disembarked onto the same dock so many notorious criminals must have walked upon sometimes in the past century.

After a quick orientation from a Ranger we were set free to explore the former penitentiary. I recognized a few things, both from pictures I had seen before and from the movie The Rock.

I watched a Discovery Channel video about Alcatraz that was playing near the dock and learned about its history as a fort, civil war prison, Federal penitentiary, Native American protest ground and, finally, a National Park. Then I wandered and saw some of the dark hallways that still seem to echo sounds of voices long gone.

I walked to the top of the steep hill where the main jail was located. I got a headset to follow along with as I walked the halls of the cell blocks. There were a lot of people there, but I tried to imagine what it would be like if it were empty in the halls.

The main corridor was called "Broadway" and consisted of three tiers of cells on each side. The cells were never completely filled at any point, but I can imagine what it would have been like to be in there with so many prisoners.

The walking tour took me through the rec yard, the library and the solitary confinement cells for the problem inmates. The audio tour was a great way to experience the prison at my own pace.

This corridor behind the cells was visible to show where three prisoners made their way through their cell walls and climbed up to the roof. They are the only prisoners to ever disappear from The Rock without being accounted for later, dead or alive.

After seeing the officer's area, the warden's office and the outside view, I was led back through the main cells. I stood inside one of the cells to imagine what it would be like to spend any amount of time stuck in such a small space. It wouldn't be pleasant. There weren't a lot of amenities.

When I finished the audio tour I saw the dining area on my way back outside. There wasn't a whole lot more to the grounds but I liked this water tower. It had some character as well as being recognizable from photos I've seen of Alcatraz in the past.

I caught the next boat back to the city and got some nice shots of the row houses and skyline on the way.

I met back up with Joanna and went to Boudin for lunch. The place is famous for their sourdough bread and they had baskets of it being transported across the ceiling.

I got a delicious bread bowl. It was more than filling but I was really hungry so I didn't mind. They also make bread into things like turtles and streetcars.

We took a walk around the city and visited the ridiculous "most winding street in the country (or world?)." Either way, I don't believe it. It's stupidly winding, but I think the roads in Utah were more so. The hills in San Francisco really are insanely steep and this was no exception.

We were going to take a ride in an historic streetcar if the prices weren't a little too high. I settled for just watching them and enjoying them that way.

We had to drive down the stupidly winding street before we left, of course. It wasn't really that exciting at all. We went to a park near the famed row houses to get some nice shots. I can't get the Full House theme out of my head..

We spent some time walking around there while plenty of people were enjoying the nice weather out on the grass.

We planned to see the sunset at the Golden Gate Bridge, however the weather had other plans. It was very foggy all day so the sunset was out. I got some decent shots in the fog which I kind of like because it's not "perfect."

We slowly rode the brake through traffic in the city on our way west. Eventually we made it to the Bay Bridge and out of traffic. We saw the sunset from the highway instead of Golden Gate Park. Can't win 'em all.

We found a campground near Yosemite, where we planned to explore the next day so we took it. The stars were bright and I took a handful of photos through the tall trees that surrounded our site.

I was having fun playing with long exposures and my flashlight as well before getting ready for bed. I took a lot of shots like this and some really great ones of the creepy stairs to the bathhouse.

Once I was done playing it was bedtime. I wanted to do more but I don't have a tripod so it's not that easy.

Total distance: 190.8. A short trip that took a long time because the traffic was terrible at first and the roads later were slow and winding.

Jun 1, 2010

I woke up on the plane once or twice and watched some How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock on the in-flight entertainment screens, but for the most part I was actually able to get some rest. I woke up one last time to the sun rising over the clouds and soon after we were making our descent into Los Angeles.

We went to baggage claim and had to wait for a little while until Adam got there to pick us up.

Once we had packed the car again we got right back to it and headed north on I-5 toward San Francisco.

On the way we stopped at Falafel's Drive In in San Jose. It was featured on a Food Network show so it must be good. It was a nice looking place if nothing else, set up like an old drive-in restaurant.

We got the falafel and banana shake, which is the recommended combo. The falafel was good, nothing amazing (actually, it kept falling apart in the tortilla shell,) but the hot sauce was great. That's what made it special. I would like to have a big jar of that hot sauce to put on everything. I don't even know how to properly describe it but if you like hot sauce, you'd understand.

Another couple hours on the road and we saw San Francisco rising over the highway lanes. It looked really crowded together from this side so there weren't a whole lot of great shots to get of the city.

We made our way into the city and to Golden Gate Park, where we found our disc golf course. It's been a while. The park was really crowded. It reminded me of Central Park in New York in many ways. There were museums and gardens; plenty to do. The course was pretty busy as well. We started on hole 10 so we didn't have to wait so long.

There were some really nice holes and some good innovations along the way. Several tees were near the fairways of other holes so they used netting to protect anyone teeing off. I almost lost a few discs here but I managed to find them all eventually.

The course was fun but I played really poorly. This is definitely a place I would come back to for more than just the golf.

We went to the overlook for the Golden Gate Bridge next. I don't know if it's because it has such a well-known history or what, but the bridge is breathtaking. It's so massive and the bay with the hills behind it is the perfect backdrop. I just stood in awe for a while and then took some shots.

We walked around and drove down to get some different angles on the bridge but I became interested in other things in the area like the giant, rusted chains that line the water. They seemed to have a history of their own and their flaking skin was telling a story.

I got another brief view of the city from the area, once again blocked and too far away to enjoy.

As the sun was going down we headed out of the city and went to Olive Garden for dinner. We did some shopping at Trader Joe's and then hung out at Border's to attempt to find a couch for the night or a campsite. Neither were possible it seemed, so we ended up parking in the lot instead of driving twenty miles to a Wal*Mart.

It was really chilly there so I added a few layers and then curled up to get some rest and hope no one came knocking on my window.

Back on the road: 409.7 miles total for the day. Not a bad start after only a little sleep!