Weary Travelers

Weary Travelers
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 24 & 25, 2005

On Sunday (7/24) we left the Yosemite area and headed back to San Francisco. We stopped at an IHOP in Merced, CA for brunch. One interesting site we saw as we approached the Bay area were hundreds of windmills atop a mountain. Watching the temperature change was also intriguing. As we began to approach San Francisco Bay, the temperature began to drop. We experienced a high of 106 degrees, but by the time we reached the water on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge it was only 70 degrees. Sunday evening in San Francisco we were actually chilly because it was only in the upper 60s.

We arrived at our hotel near the airport about 3PM for a very short stay. We felt re-connected to the world because we once again had Internet access and our cell phones had a signal. After dinner at a small Italian restaurant in the area, we cleaned up a little, packed for the plane ride home, and took a nap.

About 3AM we got up, packed the car, and headed for the car rental return and airport. We were only a couple of miles away, so by 4PM we had turned in the car. We rode the AirTram (monorail) to our terminal, but then had to wait until a little after 4:30 AM to obtain our boarding passes, check our luggage, and pass through security. Once through security we had breakfast at a coffee stand in the terminal.

The plane left San Francisco on time. The movie shown on the way home was "Guess Who," a 2005 version of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". While no airline food is great, we found the "snack" served on Delta to be particularly bleak - crackers and processed cheese spread, a box of raisins, and a small pack of oreos. They served us the same thing going to San Francisco (an evening flight) and coming home (an early morning flight). We arrived in Cincinnati a little ahead of schedule, but our flight from Cincinnati to Akron-Canton was delayed about 20 minutes because they were "waiting on a crew member."

The flight from Cincinnati to Akron was the roughest we had. There were thunderstorms in the area and we bounced around a little. However we arrived about 4PM, were able to retrieve our luggage very quickly, found our car, and headed to Wadsworth. We made it to our house by about 5PM and Katie and Betsy were at a WHS Band practice by 5:45.

This will be a trip we will always remember. We saw some wonderful things and had many terrific experiences together. The passing of Patty's mom will, of course, be forever linked with this vacation. However we are happy we decided to continue our trip, and truly believe that is what Mrs. Lupinski would have wanted. We look forward to future vacations, including a return to many of the places we've visited in the past few weeks.

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

More Waterfalls and Big Trees

Bridalveil Fall
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 23, 2005

A little about John Muir. Muir is a very important figure in the history of Yosemite. He loved this area and worked as a millworker, shepherd, and hotel clerk in order to live here. He wrote, "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." Yosemite is a beautiful place.

It was another hot day here in the Sierra Nevadas, reaching 103 degrees at one point. The temperature varies somewhat depending on the elevation you are at. In general, temperatures within Yosemite National Park are less than they are where we are staying, just outside the park in El Portal, CA.

Our first stop today (after buying gas for $3.34/gallon - the highest, by far, that we've paid on this trip) was Bridalveil Fall, which the Ahwahneechee called Pohono, "Spirit of the Puffing Wind." This 620 ft. waterfall derives its name from the wind in the area that blows the water from side-to-side, misting all those viewing it from below. Next we headed up Highway 41 to Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. We enjoyed the Coastal Redwoods earlier in our trip more than these trees. Here in Yosemite, most likely due to the number of visitors, the larger trees are cordonned off behind fences - it almost seems like a tree museum. The coastal redwoods are able to be seen in ther natural, authentic setting.

As the options for food in this area are limited, we decided to have lunch at the Wawona Hotel. The Wawona is an old, Victorian style hotel that frankly is looking a little worn. After lunch we traveled back the twisty, winding road, that is an hour-plus trip, to our hotel. Tonight we are preparing to return to San Francisco in the morning and fly home early Monday.

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

The Ahwahnee Lodge, Happy Isles, Mirror Lake

The Ahwahnee Lodge
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 22, 2005

After our long day yesterday, we slept in this morning until about 9AM, leaving the hotel around 11. We drove to the valley, parked, and then rode the shuttle to the Ahwahnee Lodge. This hotel, which opened in 1927, is on a grand scale and rates as a AAA 4-diamond property. We had lunch in the dining room. Here is the description of the dining room from "Yosemite: Your Complete Guide to the Park": "The 34-foot tall trestle-beamed ceiling, wrought-iron chandeliers and candelabras, and original china create an unforgettable atmosphere, while the floor to ceiling windows offer vfiews of the changing seasons as a backdrop to your meal. Freshly baked breads and pastries are created daily to accompany the season menu, which highlights sustainable and organic items." The food, service, and atmosphere were all excellent.

A ride on the shuttle took us to the Happy Isles area, where we visited the Nature Center and walked the paths. The park is quite crowded, but in this area there were few people and it was very pleasant. The Happy Isles are three islets that are in the Merced River. The sounds and sights of rushing water make this a relaxing spot. From Happy Isles, we road the shuttle up one stop and hiked one mile to Mirror Lake. The lake is naturally evolving into a meadow and dries up by the end of summer. But today there was still quite a bit of water present, and a number of people were swimming in the lake. From this spot you also have an excellent close-up view of Half Dome.

We bought food for dinner in the general store in Yosemite Village, got back to the hotel around 7:30 PM, and ate dinner. Michael and Katie went swimming (the hotel has both outdoor and indoor pools). We all watched some TV and generally relaxed.

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite Falls
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 21, 2005

We began our first full day in Yosemite at the Visitor's Center where we saw the movie "Spirit of Yosemite." Following the movie we took the shuttle to the Yosemite Lodge where we boarded an open-air tram for our Valley Floor Tour, a 26-mile, 2-hour overview of the major sites of the Yosemite Valley. Larry Montgomery, a retired high school principal from Frankfurt, Kentucky was our tour guide. Larry had a lifelong dream to become a park ranger, which was only recently fulfilled after he retired. The tour is a good way to start your first visit to Yosemite.

After our tour we ate lunch at the Food Court of the Yosemite Lodge and then walked to Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls is the 5th highest waterfall in the world, and the highest in the U.S., at 2425 ft. It is impressive to view, however today there were MANY people around, which somewhat detracted from the natural beauty. We browsed the shops and museums (including the Ansel Adams gallery) in Yosemite Village for awhile in the afternoon. Then we rode the shuttle bus to Curry Village and had dinner at the Pizza Patio.

Following dinner we returned to the Yosemite Lodge and sat on the porch for about an hour. We had tickets to a program called "Starry Skies Over Yosemite Valley" that didn't start until 9PM. About 8:30 we walked to the location near Yosemite Falls where we were to meet for the program. A park ranger then led us on a short walk to an open field near the elementary school here in Yosemite. Although the walk was short, it turned out to be pretty exciting. As we were shuffling down a dark path, a rustle was heard off to our right. The ranger shined her flashlight over in that direction and there was a brown bear! The bear was pulling some apples off of trees, planted by an early settler in the valley, to eat for dinner. It stood still while the ranger's' light was on it, and then wandered off into the brush. There are many bears in the park; people are warned not to leave any food in their cars because the bears have an acute sense of smell, will find the food, and can easily break in to cars to get it.

It was a night for wildlife as we heard a screech owl and bats once we got to the field. The program was very well done. The ranger was quite knowledgeable and used a green laser pointer to direct our attention to various stars and constellations. After about an hour and 15 minutes of hearing legends related to the stars and viewing constellations from the Big Dipper to Cygnus, we walked back to our car and headed to the hotel after a long day.

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

The Road to Yosemite

Mount Shasta
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 20, 2005

Today was another "car day" as we went from Redding, CA to Yosemite. Most of our travel was via I-5. However, for the last couple of hours we were on California highways 4, 99, and 140 (which twisted its way through the Sierra Nevadas to Yosemite). It was very hot once again. The temperature was in the upper 90s when we left Redding around 9:30 AM and was 104 degrees when we reached El Portal, the little town outside of Yosemite where we are staying.

This evening we drove to Yosemite National Park, paid our $20 entrance fee, and went to the Visitor's Center. Along the way we began to see some of the spectacular scenery that is part of the Yosemite Valley. Going to the Visitor's Center tonight was very helpful in getting us oriented for our visit. Besides picking up some maps, we learned from rangers at the center about some other tours and activities in which we hope to take part. We caught the Yosemite Valley Shuttle Bus and rode to the Yosemite Lodge where we bought tickets for an open tram tour of the Yosemite Valley scheduled for Thursday morning. We also bought tickets to the "Starry Skies Over Yosemite Valley Program," a night time event where you are taken to a meadow within the park and are given a "guided tour" of the stars/constellations.

The park is fairly busy this time of year, so we are going to attempt an early start in order to find a decent parking place and get started before it begins to get too crowded.

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

The Weather

Mount Rainier
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 19, 2005

For the most part, the weather on our trip has been good. San Francisco was warm during the day and cool, but comfortable, at night. The climate in the Bay area is very consistent all year round. As we traveled up the Pacific coast, this pattern of warm days and cool, comfortable evenings continued. In Seattle we had some rain last Saturday, and it was a little chilly on Saturday morning out in Puget Sound, but Saturday evening and Sunday were sunny and warm. Yesterday, as we explored Mount St. Helens, it was a little warmer yet with highs in the 80s.

However, today was something else. We spent the day heading south on I-5, and it continued to get warmer as the day progressed. We reached Medford, Oregon by about 2PM and stopped for lunch. The temperature was 104 degrees. A few hours later when we arrived at our hotel in Redding, California, the thermometer read 109 degrees. Wow!

We traveled through some scenic mountains in Oregon, and saw Mount Shasta, another volcanic mountain, in Northern California. Just north of Redding is Lake Shasta, which appears to be a beautiful setting.

Harry Potter update: Betsy and Michael have finished the book, while Katie (who waited to start reading until Betsy was finished because they were using the same book) should have completed it by tomorrow.

We arrive at Yosemite tomorrow. I'm not sure if we'll have Internet access while there (the hotel web site doesn't list it as being available), so this may be the last post until we get home.

Addendum: Just finishing this up while poolside. The hotel we are at tonight has a wireless network that reaches out to the pool. The temperature has now dropped to the 90s :-)



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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

Incredible Mountains

Mount St. Helens
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 18, 2005

While we were very tired today, both physically and mentally, we experienced some amazing sights and were reminded of the awesome power of nature. Leaving Seattle we drove near Mount Rainier, although couldn't afford the time on this trip to go clear to Mount Rainier National Park. That is something we will want to do on a future visit to this area. Mount Rainier is an amazing edifice; it is remarkable how large it is and how it can be seen from (seemingly) everywhere we were in the past few days. Rainier, part of the Cascade Mountain Range, is actually volcanic, as are most of the mountains in the range.

All afternoon was spent in and around Mount St. Helens. Our first stop was at the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake, which is actually operated by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Department. There we bought passes to allow us access to all visitor centers within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. We also saw a couple of movies at this center that described the mountain and depicted the eruption that occurred on May 18, 1980.

Next we traveled to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. From here you have a view directly into the crater. While we've posted a number of pictures in Flickr, Mount St. Helens is a place that needs to be experienced in order to truly comprehend the incredible destruction that took place when it erupted in 1980, and the rebirth of the mountain that has been ongoing in the past 25 years. Put it on your list of places to visit if you haven't already been there.

The Johnston Ridge Observatory Visitor Center was also excellent, with another very good movie and also some terrific exhibits that help one's understanding of the 1980 eruption and volcanoes in general. After leaving the Johnston Center, we stopped briefly at the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center. Here you can see Coldwater Lake, which didn't exist until after the 1980 eruption. The lahars from the Mount St. Helens flowed down the valley and formed a debris dam, creating Coldwater Lake. You can see the hummocks, or ridges, formed by the lahars in this picture. Now, 25 years later, trees are reclaiming the land (although in other areas we saw the trunks of trees still standing, and many others laying on the ground, that were destroyed in the blast) and animals (even elk) have returned to the area.

Tonight we are in Tigard, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. The next two days are primarily travel days as we head for our final destination of this vacation, Yosemite.

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

Space Needle

Space Needle
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 17, 2005

We spent a leisurely morning in the hotel. The kids were engrossed in Harry Potter and Patty and I read the Sunday Seattle Post Intelligencer. We had 12:30 PM reservations to eat in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. While pricey, the cost of a meal in this restaurant includes the admission you have to pay anyway to ride the elevator to the observation deck.

The view from the restaurant, which is supposed to revolve once per hour but was moving faster than that today, was tremendous. A number of pictures we took from there and one floor up on the observation deck are posted in Flickr. The food was also excellent - Patty, Katie and I had salmon, Michael prime rib, and Betsy a "grilled portobello mushroom napoleon." You can view the brunch menu here. All the meals are the same price and include a "starter," main course, beverage, and dessert. We were stuffed afterwards and didn't eat anything the rest of the day. This was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Unfortunately, the the remainder of this Sunday did not go as well. Patty had called her mother earlier in the morning but couldn't reach her. Her mom has been ill, battling cancer, and Patty had been checking in with her each day. She actually had been doing ok recently, but was in a gradual decline. Patty finally reached her brother and learned that Mrs. Lupinski began having severe pain on Saturday and was taken to the hospital. There she was given a morphine drip and made comfortable. A little after 8PM (PST) Frank, Patty's brother, called and said that mom had passed away. We are very thankful that she didn't have to suffer too much. Patty has decided that we will continue our vacation, although it certainly won't be the same. Mrs. Lupinski didn't want a funeral. Since there is only Patty and her brother, there really is no need for us to hurry home. Patty also thinks her mom was trying to hang on until we finished our trip and would hate it if she caused us to end it early. We will have a private viewing when we return, and then she will be cremated. There may be a memorial service sometime following that.

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

Whale Watching

Orcas
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 16, 2005

Today we went whale watching. We left our hotel about 6:40 AM and walked to Pier 69 where we boarded the Victoria Clipper III, our ship for the day. The weather was kind of chilly and pretty overcast as we began our trip. The Clipper left port at 7:45 AM for a 2 1/2 cruise to San Juan Island.

This ship has two indoor levels and an upper observation deck. It travels pretty quickly, so the upper deck was quite cold in the morning. We spent most of our time in our airline-type seats on the first deck. The large observation windows still allowed us to take in the views as we headed toward the island. The scenery became more and more interesting the further we traveled with rocky islands, majestic mountains, and various forms of wildlife being seen.

Once we arrived at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, some passengers disembarked while those of us continuing on to look for whales stayed put. In about 15 minutes we were on our way once again. The sun had come out and it had warmed up by this time, so we moved to the top deck to keep a lookout for the Orcas. There was a naturalist on board that provided a running commentary of where we were, what we should look for, and details about the Orcas while we cruised around San Juan Islands. We saw some whales off in the distance, but in general they were not being very cooperative in "showing off" for the tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of them. Our naturalist indicated that the whales were staying down under the water, feeding and talking to each other.

Finally, only about 20 minutes or so before we needed to head back to Friday Harbor, a pod of whales came into view very near the coast of the island. At first we saw their dorsal fins, and then a cheer went up from everyone on the ship as an Orca breached (jumped out of the water). We also observed them "spy hopping" (kind of standing up on their tails so that they can look around at what is going on outside of the water) and "tail lobbing" (smacking their tails on the water - a form of communication). It was worth the trip!

Returning to Friday Harbor, we got off the boat and ate lunch at one of the restaurants near the dock. This little town seemed very quiet and serene, not at all like Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie that can get quite raucous on the weekend. We walked around the downtown area a bit, bought ice cream cones, and strolled through an arts and crafts festival that was taking place. Since we only had a 2-hour stop on the island, it was soon time to get back aboard the Victoria Clipper III and head back toward Seattle.

Seattle
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

Since it had warmed up considerable during the day and the sun was shining, Patty, Bill, and Michael spent most of the trip back up on the top deck enjoying the sea air and views. Betsy and Katie were exhausted and took a nap in their seats on the lower deck. We saw a number of birds and seals in the water, and went by a small island of seals that also had a couple of nesting bald eagles. Also observed were three large cruise ships heading out through Puget Sound on their way to the Pacific ocean and Alaska.

We got back to port in Seattle around 7:30 PM and headed out in search of a bookstore to purchase the new Harry Potter novel that came out at 12:01 AM today. A Barnes and Noble bookstore was located in the Pacific Place Mall, and we purchased 2 copies of the book. We had found it earlier in the day, for FULL price, at a small bookstore in Friday Harbor, but convinced Michael that we should wait and by it someplace where we could get a better price. We ended up with 2 copies from Barnes and Noble for just a little more than the 1 would have cost us at Friday Harbor.


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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

Seattle

Pike Place Market
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 15, 2005

We slept in late today, at least late for us on this trip (about 8AM). We ate breakfast at the hotel (a free breakfast buffet, that is pretty good, is a nice feature at Holiday Inn Express hotels, especially for a family of 5), and then walked a few blocks to the Seattle Center to catch the monorail to the downtown area. The monorail takes about 2 minutes to travel the distance between the Seattle Center to the Westlake Center Mall, its only two stops. Seattle is also planning a new, expanded monorail system.

From the Westlake Center Mall it is only a short walk to Pike Place Market, a semi-open air farmer's market. One of our first stops was the originalStarbucks location, where we all enjoyed a beverage. The flowers, fruit, vegetables, and seafood were particularly impressive (both in quality, and in some cases, price) at the market. As an example, for only $5 you could purchase an extremely attractive bouquet of flowers that would probably cost you 3-4 times as much in Northeast Ohio. We purchased some huge (nearly softball size) peaches in the market, which we ate later for dinner. They were very sweet and juicy.

After having some fantastic clam chowder for lunch, we walked to the waterfront and caught a trolley to Pier 69. At Pier 69 we picked up our boarding passes for our cruise tomorrow to the San Juan islands, where we'll also, hopefully, see some whales. We hopped on the trolley again and rode it to the Pioneer Square area of downtown Seattle. An interesting site in Pioneer Square is one of the few (only?) indoor National Parks, the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. The exhibits in this building tell the story of the Klondike gold rush that took place in the late 1800s in the Yukon territory of Canada. Seattle was a major staging area for the men heading off to seek their fortune, and the gold rush became a major economic impetus to the growth of the city.

After walking around Pioneer Square, including visiting the Waterfall Garden, we once again boarded the trolley and rode back to Pike Place Market. We visited a few shops, picking up some bread, cheese, salami and wine (a very nice 2003 Columbia Valley Syrah) for dinner. We decided to walk back to our hotel, which gave us an opportunity to see the Belltown area of the city. Tonight we are staying in and plan to get a good night's sleep. We have to be at the boat by 7AM!

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

Mount Hood

Mount Hood
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 14, 2004

This morning we ate a breakfast buffet at the hotel, and then set out for Mount Hood. Mount Hood is impressive looking, with the upper regions all snow covered. We drove around the southern portion of the mountain (Highways 215, 26, and 35), connecting up with I-84 that runs through the Columbia River Gorge, along the river. If you look at this Google map, Mount Hood is found in the open area with the river (I-84) and the thin yellow lines as boundaries (If you click on the "Satellite" button you can see Mount Hood from space). Part of our travels in the morning were along the Fruit Loop, roads that meander through the Hood River Valley's orchards, forests, and farmlands. There were many fruit stands in this area, and we stopped and bought some raspberries, cherries, and plumcots (hybrid between plum and apricot). The fruit was delicious, extremely sweet.

As we entered I-84, we found ourselves along the Columbia River, in its scenic gorge. We got off of the interstate for a period of time and drove on a portion of the Historic Columbia River Highway, seeing two nice waterfalls (Horsetail Falls and Multnomah Falls) and the Cascade Locks.

By the middle of the afternoon, we were headed north, once again on I-5, to Seattle. Shortly after entering the state of Washington you can begin to see Mount Rainier. It continues to be a focal point of the landscape all the way to Seattle. We checked into our hotel (a couple of blocks from the Space Needle) and then had a nice seafood dinner at a restaurant called the Bonefish Grill. The fresh salmon (grilled on a cedar plank) that I had was especially tasty. Bonefish Grill appears to be a chain, but was not a restaurant we were familiar with.

Tomorrow we begin exploring Seattle.

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

Redwoods!

Big Tree
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 12, 2005

Today started with a trip to the Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, CA. This beach used to be a place where people dumped garbage, including glass bottles, etc. Over the years, the water broke up the glass and rounded it into pebble-like shapes. We saw a number of people picking up the glass in buckets, so who knows how much longer the glass beach will exist. There were also some nice views from the beach, which you can see in Flickr.

We then continued up the Mendocino Coast for about an hour until Highway 1 turned inland to the mountains and some beautiful mountain scenery. Eventually Highway 1 connects with Highway 101. Highway 101 is a 4-lane highway in many places, making travel a little quicker. In this portion of the state Highway 101 is known as the Redwood Highway.

Much of the rest of our day was spent traveling through the Coast Redwoods, stopping to marvel at these trees and the old growth forests of which they are part. It is hard to capture their magnificence in a photo or to express it in words. The picture above is of Patty, Betsy, Katie, and Michael stretching out around Big Tree (that's its name). It gives you some idea of the circumference. Here are some facts about the Coast Redwoods:

• Height: To nearly 370 ft.
• Age: To 2000 years
• Bark: To 12 inches thick
• Base: To 22 ft. diameter
• Have no known killing diseases and suffer no significant insect damage. Survive forest fires due to their thick bark and lack of resin.

Those details, however, cannot communicate what it is like to stand in a grove of the redwoods. It is something that truly has to be experienced. The giant sequoia, their cousins, grow larger in diameter and bulk but not in height. The sequoias are found only on the Sierra Nevadas western slope. Perhaps we'll see some of them later in our trip when we are in Yosemite.

We stopped and went on short hikes at both Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Redwood National and State Parks At Redwood National and State Parks we also saw some Roosevelt Elk , the northern redwood region's most often seen land mammal.

Tonight we are staying in Crescent City, CA Crescent City does have a few more amenities than did Fort Bragg; we found a Pizza Hut for dinner!

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July 13, 2005

This is a combined post because (a) we did not have Internet access to post pictures and the blog last night in Crescent City and (b) there is not a lot to report today. We left Crescent City about 9 AM, setting out through the mountains on Highway 199. Highway 199 is another twisty road, with lots of great scenery. About an hour and 45 minutes and 78 miles later we connected with Interstate 5 which runs from the Canadian border down through California. We will be spending a great deal of time on this road in the next week or so.

We traveled north on I-5, stopping in Eugene, OR for lunch. We also traveled through Salem - Salem is located at the 45th Parallel, which means the distance is equal at that point between the equator and the North Pole. Tonight we are in Clackamas, OR, a suburb of Portland. On tomorrow's agenda is Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge, then on to Seattle.

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A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

The Pacific Coast Highway

Sonoma Coast
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 11, 2005

We picked up our rental car this morning (a red, Ford Expedition), traveled across the Golden Gate, and headed north on Highway 1. This is not a road to travel if you are in a hurry. It is narrow and twisty, but has spectacular views of the mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Our average speed was probably about 35 mph all day. We stopped for lunch at a seafood restaurant along the Sonoma Coast. During lunch we had a local delicacy, barbecued oysters. We were glad we tried them, but won't be in a hurry to order them again. In the afternoon we stopped several places to admire the views, and once to play in the water.

Tonight we are staying in Fort Bragg, CA. As Katie said, "This is really a big change from San Francisco!" Fort Bragg is a small town, without much to see or do other than the ocean. It does have a glass beach, which we will probably try to locate on the way out of town tomorrow. Our hotel is nice, and tomorrow we will continue up the coast to see some of the giant redwood trees.

A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. You might like to watch them as a slideshow. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

The Bauers arrive on Alcatraz

Alcatraz
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 10, 2005

After a large breakfast at the IHOP, we headed to "The Rock," aka Alcatraz. There are a number of pictures from Alcatraz posted in Flickr. The audio tour at Alcatraz is very well done, featuring the voices of former guards and inmates.

Crooked Street
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

After a little souvenir shopping, we had "lunch" at the Ghirardelli ice cream shop. Then we walked up the hill to Lombard Street, the world's crookedest street. Besides being crooked, Lombard Street is full of beautiful flowers.


Leaving Lombard, walked back to the Hyde & Beach cable car turnaround. We waited more than an hour for a cable car (it was VERY crowded everywhere today), but were entertained by some street performers, including "Escape Man," a masked man who got himself out of a straight jacket and chains. We rode the cable car back to Union Square, grabbed some Subway sandwiches for dinner, and then headed back to our hotel. We are all pretty tired this evening.

Tomorrow we pick up our rental car and head north on Highway 1.

A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

San Francisco!

San Francisco Bay
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

July 9, 2005

We are in San Francisco. Our trip yesterday (Akron-Canton > Atlanta > San Francisco) was long, but uneventful. The plane trip from Atlanta to San Francisco alone was 5 hours, somewhat broken up by the in-flight move (Sahara). Fortunately we all brought plenty to entertain ourselves (iPods, GameBoys, books). Despite the terrorist bombings in London on Thursday, we didn't see any real evidence of heightened security. There were a few more uniformed police officers patrolling the BART, which we rode from SFO to the Union Square area of San Francisco. We are staying at the Hotel Union Square, an older establishment very close to the cable car turnaround at Powell & Market streets. If you appreciate places with some "character," you would probably like this hotel. It is not fancy, but the rooms are clean and fairly specious with high ceilings. It definitely has an "old time" feel and counts a ghost among its residents (in room 207 - not where we're staying)!

Seal
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

The weather this morning was cool and a little misty. By the middle of the day it had warmed up considerably, and this afternoon was sunny with temperatures in the low to mid 70s. The climate here is very nice - temperatures don't vary much all year long. It is rarely very hot or cold, and there is little humidity. It can get chilly in the evenings, especially when foggy. After breakfast we road a cable car from the turnaround located at Powell and Market to Fisherman's Wharf. At Fisherman's Wharf we walked around, saw several street performers, and enjoyed views of the bay. We were disappointed that the sea lions that are famous for hanging out at Fisherman's Wharf have migrated south to breed at the Channel Islands. It is believed that they'll return to Fisherman's Wharf in the fall.


We had lunch at one of the many seafood establishments near Fisherman's Wharf (the crabs are piled high at many vendors along the sidewalks), and then walked to Ghirardelli Square. For those who may not know, Ghirardelli Square is located in the old Ghirardelli chocolate factory. Chocolate is not made there any longer, and the buildings and grounds have been transformed into a collection of shops, restaurants, and outdoor entertainers (the kids were particularly amused by a saxophonist who was faking playing the sax to recorded music). From Ghirardelli we walked to The Cannery, which is another collection of shops located in the old Del Monte fruit cannery. At The Cannery there was an outdoor farmer's market taking place, and we tasted, then purchased, some delicious organic California strawberries.

Upon leaving The Cannery, we caught a trolley car and road it up the Embarcardero (where all the big cruise ships dock, although there were none in port today) to the Ferry Building (yet another location that has many shops and eateries). At the Ferry Building, you can catch ferries to other locales, such as Sausalito, around the bay area. After walking around the Ferry Building we bought some beverages, then went outside to the back of the building (which has a nice view of the bay) to drink them and eat our strawberries (they were so sweet they tasted like they had sugar on them)

Leaving the Ferry Building, we walked up Market Street for a mile or so, arriving at one of Apple's showcase stores. This Apple store is actually only located a couple of blocks from our hotel. It was very crowded. Tonight we walked to Chinatown and ate a very good meal at the Cathay House of Cali.

A selection of photos from our trip can be viewed at Flickr. Send us an email by clicking HERE.

Bauer Vacation 2005

Bauer Vacation 2005
Originally uploaded by wbauer.

Check here to keep abreast of the Bauer family's vacation to the Pacific Northwest and Yosemite in July 2005. It will be updated as time and Internet access allow.

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Look for an initial entry when we are in San Francisco the weekend of July 8-10.