Dave's Family Visits California - March 2018

Click on any photo to see a larger version or click here for the menu
San Francisco - Ocean, Golden Gate, Sites Dave, Nicholas, Jen, and Andrew at the 'painted ladies' of Alamo Square Jessica with her cousins Nicholas, Andrew, and Jessica on a walkway View of Lands End Path to the Lands End lookout Dave and Jen Andrew takes a picture Andrew and Nicholas with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background Marshall Beach The family with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background Golden Gate Bridge from the other side How the bridge was designed Resisting the twisting Wind speed and wind pressure Andrew takes a turn How the suspension bridge works View of San Francisco from the bridge Jen and Nicholas on the bridge Jen and Andrew on the bridge Jen and Jessica on the bridge At the Palace of Fine Arts Birds flying past Turtles in a row on a log Walking into the rotunda of the Palace of Fine Arts Yacht harbor at the Marina Dave and Andrew listen to the wave organ Nicholas and Jessica also listen to the wave organ Hilly streets Park at 90 degrees The crookedest street in the world The crooked street with Coit Tower in the background Coit Tower The Bay Bridge and East Bay as seen from Coit Tower Monterrey pine trees Ruins of the Sutro Baths on the Pacific Ocean Nicholas with the Pacific Ocean in the background Andrew and Jessica with windblown hair Waves on the rocks Danger Going into a sea cave The Cliff House Dutch Windmill at Golden Gate Park Touching the Pacific Ocean at Ocean Beach San Francisco - Cable Cars, Wharf, Alcatraz Cable car at the Powell Street turnaround Cable car on Powell Street Nicholas stands on the outside of the cable car Jen tries to take pictures Cable car tracks Hanging on for dear life The cable car passes by the crookedest street The cable car goes downhill towards the bay At the cable car terminus The boys experience a block and tackle at the Maritime Museum Pete attempts to tie a knot The C. A. Thayer museum ship The family explores the Eureka ferry boat All of the museum ships in the Maritime Museum The Hercules ocean tug Enjoying the view Nicholas reads about a Chinese junk Visiting a real fish company Inspecting the crabs for sale today Dungeness crabs Antique street cars Fishing boats Crabs packed for traveling Fishermans Wharf sign Lots of sea lions at Pier 39 Big sea lion sunning himself The family at Pier 39 Shops at Pier 39 Our boat to Alcatraz is arriving Boarding the boat Jessica, Dave, Andrew, Nicholas and Pete Nicholas's favorite sea gull Jen, Jessica, Dave, Andrew, and Nicholas The new portion of the Bay Bridge Sailboats on the Bay Nicholas, Dave, Andrew, and Jen as we approach Alcatraz The sign says 'Warning. Persons procuring or concealing escape of prisoners are subject to prosecution and imprisonment.' Indians Welcome Surprise meet-up with friends from Florida Florida friends Paparazzi Both families from Florida Guard tower Pretty lily Flank defense howitzer Old brick building Ruins of the Officers Club Apartment building Home of the Free Indian Land Shoes, towels, and robes for showers Showers Prison cells Listening to the audio guide Tour narrators are former correctional officers Typical cell Cell block Bedding Dangerous criminals Famous inmates like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly Jen comes out of solitary confinement Keys on a string from the guard's gun gallery View of San Francisco from Alcatraz Nicholas Nicholas and Pete look at the cell where a prisoner escaped Fake head in the bed and escape hole in the wall Outlines of knives to make it easy to see if they were all there A sightseeing boat goes by Watching the boat go by Inside the New Industries building Photos on the wall from when the prison was operational United States Penitentiary Wildflowers through the barred windows Contemplating our escape Inmate daily routine (with lots of inmate counts) Water tower Pretty flowers Stairs and guard tower Alcatraz boat and a large cargo ship The Florida kids at Ghirardelli Square We take an antique streetcar back to BART Nicholas and Andrew at the BART station Had to go to In-n-Out for burgers Nicholas loved Susie and Hazel Silicon Valley A visit to Adobe Systems in San Jose With Pete Waiting for our tour A yarn room divider In Adobe's upside down room At the Apple Visitors Center The iPads showed an augmented reality view of the new 'spaceship' building The guys peruse the Apple catalog Apple's brand new 'spaceship' building Gingerbread man at Google KitKat Marshmallow Jen, Andrew, Nicholas, and Dave at Google's Android statues An AI tries to guess what's being drawn The Google store Facebook's entrance Sangria at the Teleferic Barcelona restaurant in Walnut Creek Mmmmmm They like their paella An interesting sculpture in Walnut Creek Another interesting sculpture Walking to the ice cream store Dessert Muir Woods Andrew points to a sculpture at Muir Woods Cross section of a 1000 year old redwood tree Tall redwoods Huge clover leafs Another pretty view of the tall trees Lots of burls at the bottom of these trees Jen and Dave next to a large tree Pretty Jen and Nicholas between two trees Andrew wonders what's lurking in that hole Nicholas inside a tree trunk A huge banana slug Counting rings Sonoma At Domaine Carneros in Napa No leaves yet on the grape vines Dave reads the tasting notes Stainless steel tanks for making the sparkling wine Containers for hauling grapes at harvest time The Sebastiani Theatre in downtown Sonoma Vallery of the Moon with Nicholas Vallery of the Moon with Andrew Mmm... Chocolate tasting Interesting hallway Mission San Francisco Solano The last of the Spanish missions founded in 1823 The original adobe brick wall is exposed here Some history Inside the mission church The altar The pulpit Nicholas and Andrew next to some huge cacti on the grounds of the mission The mission courtyard Mission porch History of the gold rush California Bear Republic flag More old buildings from the mission era Lunch at the Sunflower Caffe Nicholas patiently waits for his food I don't think Dave is so patient Merlot vines Yosemite Hiking to Bridalveil Falls at Yosemite Bridalveil Falls Traces of snow on the cliffs A rushing stream and a high waterfall on the cliff El Capitan There are pretty waterfalls everywhere Yosemite Falls El Capitan and Yosemite Falls Sheer cliffs surround the Yosemite Valley A model of Yosemite Valley Nicholas in a Native American house Learning about the Native Americans Half Dome Three Brothers and Half Dome Jen and Dave with Half Dome in the background Yosemite Falls in the gap between the trees Andrew at Yosemite Falls Nicholas is thirsty Jen next to a big crack in a huge rock The family in a rocky stream bed Nicholas's foot sinks into the snow Andrew and Nicholas in a tunnel through a tree trunk Jen and Dave by the tree tunnel