From Home to Home

We lived in Pacifica for almost ten years and we return now and then. Spending time in Pacifica always feels like we are home again and, as we also feel at home here in Santa Fe, going between them is like leaving home to go home.

We visited old friends, saw old sights and visited favorite restaurants. It is always gratifying to walk into a restaurant you've not visited in several years and be warmly greeted and remembered. Likewise with old friends.

You can see more of our trip in the Devil's Slide and the Sweeney Ridge entries. This is the photo blog of the key part of the trip.

Here is where we lived for many years. Every day ... often several times a day ... I'd walk along this beach enjoying the air and sights and my fellow Pacificians. The pier is somewhat famous in the Bay Area because whenever there is a strong winter storm, all the local tv news teams send their cameras down to the pier to see the waves crashing into the shore. Which gives people the idea that Pacifica is a terrifying place to live with horrible weather. Well, it's pretty nice, actually.

The Sharp Park golf course is along the beach. The golf course belongs to the City of San Francisco. It seems to be a decent course but I think it's a lot prettier than it is technically good.

When we got to town, the first thing we did is to rush down to the Green Apple and the City Lights bookstores. Here is the pile I bought ... Cyndi's pile is about half this high. This should get us thru the winter but we'll have to return in the spring for another book run.

We then headed to SOMA for a visit with Jane and to see Aidee, Fausto and their new baby Mateo. When Aidee and Fausto found out it was our birthdays, they immediately bought us a celebratory dinner. The meal was very nice but it was their company that made this a very special birthday.

Here we are on Cyndi's birthday at the coast.

This is again on the Pacifica Beach, closer to Mussel Rock where the San Andreas fault dips into the sea and where apartments are falling into the sea. We almost bought a house near here but it fell into the sea before we could make that mistake.

And finally, a pic of Cyndi overlooking Linda Mar (the southern most of the seven little towns that form Pacifica) and Monte's house (the topmost house in the center of the photo).

Sweeney Ridge

When we first moved to California, we lived in San Bruno a couple of miles east of Sweeney Ridge. A year later we moved to Pacifica, a couple miles west of Sweeney Ridge. So I walked up to Sweeney Ridge quite a few times in the first few years we lived there.

But then I started walking elsewhere and later we moved, and it's been more than 10 years since I walked up there. So one day while Cyndi was getting drunk with Monte and Shirley, I hiked up again.

I found it much the same. Better signs and quite a few more people enjoying the views were about the only changes I found.

No one knows why it is named "Sweeney" but it is. Discovery Point is at the top of the ridge, where the Spanish discovery of the Bay is commemorated. And it's one of the few places on the Peninsula where you can see both the ocean and the bay from one spot.

The easiest way to get to Sweeney Ridge is to drive down I-280 to Sneath Lane, head west past the San Francisco County Jail (located in San Mateo county ... the San Mateo county jail is located in Santa Clara county ... don't ask how I know this stuff) ... past the jail to the end of the road and hike up the hill. Nice views along the way and from the top but I've mostly just included pictures of little things I found interesting.

Like this grass against the sky

There were these red things growing all over the area. Again, I just like the colors and contrasts

Or this moss growing in a dead tree

Why not another one like that?

There are isolated groves of eucalyptus trees along the way up. I like their colors and scent. I could only include the colors; you'll have to visit to get the scent.

The colors in that last one makes it my favorite.

Here are some leaves.

And finally a couple of views. First, Linda Mar with Pedro Point and the new Devil's Slide bypass tunnel.

And looking the other direction, a nice view of Mount Diablo.

And Cyndi's favorite part of the walk up: the Fog Line. And the fog does end pretty much exactly here. When we first moved to the Bay Area, we were surprised the fog was so predictable. Later, we learned to expect it.

Devil's Slide

Hwy 1 used to run along Devil's Slide. Cars routinely fell off the highway, plunging 1,000 feet to the ocean below. The road itself routinely slipped off and had to be rebuilt. So finally, a couple of years ago, the  highway was moved inland a mile, routed thru a new tunnel under Montara Mountain, and the old route has become a wonderful little park and hiking trail.

The highway followed this path because the old railroad ran here 100 years ago. The railroad kept falling into the ocean. In over 30 years of attempted operation, the railroad was only open one time for a full year without sliding into the sea. So the railroad was shutdown and the highway opened. They were surprised when the highway also kept falling off the crumbly side walls of this cliff.

And a couple hundred years before that, a lost Spanish expedition was stymied by the Slide and before they turned back, they sent a scouting party to the top of the nearby ridge. The  scouting party was the first Europeans to see San Francisco Bay and were duly impressed, reporting it as a wonderful harbor. The Spanish were always looking for good harbors on the west coast, so naturally they immediately ignored the reports for 50 years before they finally settled the Bay Area.

After years of white-knuckled drives across the Slide, we finally got to enjoy a leisurely walk, with the great views, a bit of wildlife and rocks to see. We like rocks more than most people.

I'll start with a picture of a falcon, cause it probably will fit onto the page here:

We spotted the falcon at the top of this outcropping, which itself is kind of pretty. You can sort of kind of see the falcon at the top center.

But these are the pictures you want to see. A view northwards past Pedro Point with Point Reyes in the distance. 

And looking pretty much straight down at guano covered rocks. If you look closely and have really good eyes and perhaps an imagination, you can see birds roosting atop the largest rock.

Ah, the vast ocean and a small sailboat. Tranquility (as long as you aren't the one sailing the boat).

A pod of dolphins passed by below. Two pics, the second just a closer view of the first so you can see that indeed these are dolphins and not, for example, porpoise.

I'll finish up with a few rocks. If you have any interest in geology, this is a nice place to visit ... but I'll leave the geology pics out.

This is another outcropping.

A rock with interesting fan shaped features.

And calcite deposited atop what I think it Montara granite, but I'm not very good at rock identification, so it's probably something else altogether. I just like the colors and textures.

Thanks for checking this out. I hope you get a chance to visit Devil's Slide someday (make sure it's not a foggy day, tho).

Yellowstone

We spent a couple of days in Yellowstone taking hundreds of pictures. I've rejected most of them and am making you only look at a few of them.

Thanks for looking.

But before the pictures, here are links to two more sets of photos. Yep, this is a trilogy. Or a triptych. See all three for the price of one !!

Wyoming ... we passed thru Wyoming on the way in and out of Yellowstone. Some pretty scenery.
Colors in Yellowstone are pretty weird and a bit scary. You must see this.

You know it's Yellowstone

The classic pics that tell you where you are. For example, a fly fisherperson near a geyser.

And here a bison stands by a river near geysers.

Or a geyser pouring into the river.

Or some geese at dawn.

You get the idea

Mud geyers.

More fly fisherpeople

More geysers

A hot spring by Yellowstone Lake

And dead trees in geyser fields

Here is an extinct mud volcano which as turned to travertine

And a travertine face

Waterfalls

And Cyndi enjoying this waterfall

Rock Faces and Rivers

My favorite

Or maybe this is my favorite

And more fly fisherpeople. Cyndi in the distance

Obsidian Cliffs

We had to stop here, where molten lava of the right type poured out forming these cliffs of largely obsidian. We had to just look, not take ... for if we and everyone were to take a piece of obsidian home, well in about 3 or 4 hundred million years there would be no obsidian left for our descendants to enjoy.

Oh well, I find plenty of obsidian when I walk in the desert near Santa Fe.

Cyndi found a piece of obsidian she wants to take home. I think she is pointing at the entire cliff. Thank god I had seen the "No Collecting" sign.

Encrusted Obsidian

Tourists

Another way to tell you are in Yellowstone is by the tourists. We were in the off season, so tourists were relatively scarce.

My Favorite Tourist

As I said, it was the off-season, so when we arrived at Yellowstone's least popular campsite at 9:00am, we were able to find an open site. The last open site. The one next to the toilet. The pit toilet.

Actually, it was fine and nearby we had a nice view of Lewis Lake. Fisherpeople here, too

Cyndi

I'll end with the best.