On my visit to San Francisco’s deYoung Museum last August I revisited some of the blown glass pieces I had seen previously, in 2019, and spent some time getting a better look. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with some of the pictures I shot with my phone on my earlier visit; this time I used my Canon SL2, and I think […]
Some portions of Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park are definitely reminiscent of the terrain in the Grand Canyon, almost 200 miles to the northwest. Like my post earlier this month, these images show the Blue Mesa, which lies south of Interstate 40 within the Painted Desert. I shot all these photos in the same area, roughly halfway along the 28-mile […]
We had parked alongside Highway 1 not too far south of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County; while I wandered the windy bluff top, the Big Guy was getting down to the serious business of casting out into the surf, looking for fish. It was just across the road from where he was fishing that I eventually discovered part of the […]
On our most recent stay in Point Arena last month, I was eager to get out one morning and take a walk down the road to the pier. It wasn’t the first time I had visited the pier, but this time I arrived on foot and was able to look around at some of the details I missed before. It […]
Photos can’t even begin to convey how amazing and overwhelming the landscape is when you’re standing in Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park. I’m so glad that we stopped and took a couple of hours to see this incredible place, even though we only scratched the surface of what the park has to offer. One of our stops along the road […]
There were a few brightly painted houses that caught my eye as I walked up Arguello toward Geary Boulevard to catch my bus. But I wasn’t expecting to find such a colorful garden of flowers growing right at my feet beside the sidewalk. It was too irresistible; I had to stop and check them out. I was intrigued by the […]
Along with the Big Guy, I was a roadside spectator for all but a couple of editions of the annual bike race known as the Amgen Tour of California between in the first edition in February 2006 and its final run in May 2019. I first shared these images from February 2009 soon after the event; Stage 1 took the riders from Davis to Lake Berryessa, then across the Vaca Mountains to Napa County, eventually crossing the finish line in Santa Rosa — a total of 115.9 miles. Two days before the race, Friday, the Big Guy and I drove from Sacramento to Napa to scope everything out and pick a good place to watch. We drove past the first of two King of the Mountains checkpoints, near the Monticello Dam at Lake Berryessa. After accidentally taking the wrong road, we passed through Angwin and came over Howell Mountain, the location of the second KOM, driving in the opposite direction of the race route, then down into Pope Valley. We didn’t drive the race route along the western shore of Berryessa, but we did see some pretty sites on our way back to Route 128. On Sunday, we knew exactly where we wanted to go. And despite the crazy weather we bundled up and made the trip back over to Napa. Narrow bridge near Pope Valley Somerston Vineyards Not part of the peloton! Actually, on race day the wind didn’t […]
It wasn’t yet noon, and after visiting the Lyon Street Steps I found myself in the southeast corner of San Francisco’s Presidio, trying to decide the best way to get back to my hotel. I had already been on my feet a lot that day; and even though I was tired and slightly footsore, I chose to walk the mile […]
I think that once you’ve seen one of Al Farrow’s mosaic sculptures you’ll never quite forget it. That was why on my visit to the deYoung Museum in San Francisco last August I suddenly found myself experiencing a strange feeling of deja vu; it took me a few minutes to realize why. His intricate pieces are both jarring and thought-provoking, […]