California Trip, 2007

Muir Woods

In spite of the rough beginning, the trip to California turned out to be our best visit yet.

I was supposed to fly out to LA for the TAB series and the PRC meeting. Unfortunately, we had a snowstorm on Valentine's Day, and all flights out of Albany were canceled. Fortunately, it was possible to participate in the PRC by telephone - which was a much more responsible way to accomplish that need anyway! And equally fortunate, I was able to book a seat on the same flight as Linda on Friday afternoon.

The flight was tiring - Southwest did their usual job of trying to make up for their shortcomings with a little humor, and we did get in close to the scheduled time. It took a long time to get our luggage, and then we had difficulty finding the hotel. My bad - I should have checked the map more carefully before leaving.

But the visit with Dave was very nice. On Saturday we went shopping for furniture for his new apartment. He didn't buy anything that day, but he did go back this past weekend to purchase the dresser we saw at Ikea. Lunch at The Counter in Palo Alto. Nice formal tea (a 1960 vintage puer) late that afternoon.

Dave's apartment is spacious. It's an older place, but its in remarkably good condition. Beautiful camellias at the front entrance. He needs a little more furniture before he can do any serious entertaining.

On Sunday we went into San Francisco to the Ferry Building. Then we walked down to Pier 39 for lunch at Dante's (fabulous!), and after strolling along the Embarcadero and watching a portion of the Tour de California bicycle race, we drove to Golden Gate Park to visit the deYoung Museum. That was really nice - mostly vintage work, but still a nice experience.

Linda and I drove down to Monterey on Monday. Did a little shopping, lunch at Lucinda's on Fisherman's Pier, and then drove the 17mile drive - both ways. We started Tuesday photographing Weston Beach at Point Lobos, stopped at Carmel Mission for a while, lunch at the Grill on Ocean Avenue, and shopping, followed by a drive back up the coast to San Jose.

Wednesday was devoted to Marin County. Photographed at Marin Headlands, strolled through Sausalito, lunch at Let's Eat in Tiburon, and then hiked through Muir Woods. Ended the day with a delightful tapas dinner with Dave at Cascal in Mountain View - and one of the things that made it especially nice was that the restaurant was within walking distance of Dave's apartment.

I approached the trip with a lot of trepidation because it was the first time that I tried to travel with the big camera. Turned out to not be a problem at all. TSA inspections were a non-event, and the big pack wasn't too heavy without the tripod. I opted to take the Slik tripod because it was lighter, but it was also shorter and less stable - something to consider for the future. The only problem was that darkening motel bathrooms to change film in holders is an adventure. Lesson for the future - be careful to dry the sink in case the film slips off the counter into the sink! I have a number of good negatives that I am looking forward to printing.