These were all shot with a Canon Rebel 35mm camera on T Max film. I have enjoyed going back and experimenting with the old school film and using Paintshop Pro to do in a few minutes that would have taken me days in the darkroom.
The Winchester Mystery House, located in San Jose was the last stop on our trip to California, actually we stopped on the way to the San Francisco Airport. I would not go so far as saying I was disappointed, but the awe and mystery just was not there.
Beautiful ParlorSarah Winchester
So the story goes, Sarah Winchester was the widow of William Wirt Winchester and heiress to his estate. He died from tuberculosis in 1881. Sarah felt that her family was cursed, and sought out spiritualists to determine what she should do. A psychic told her that the Winchester family was cursed by the spirits of all the people who had been killed by the Winchester rifle, and she should move west to build a house for herself and the spirits. She believed that if construction on the house ever stopped, she would die. Continue reading Winchester Mystery House→
I have been fortunate to see some amazing things in my life including The Twelve Apostles and the Great Ocean Road in Australia. I have stood atop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and strolled through the crater of an old volcano in Hawaii. Nothing was as spectacular and beautiful as Yosemite National Park. Continue reading Yosemite National Park→
I really was impressed by some of the buildings we saw in and around San Francisco. It was refreshing from all the cookie cutter architecture I see (and design) on a daily basis in Atlanta. Unfortunately it costs money to build something different and unique.
Sequoiadendron Giganteum or Giant Sequoia are absolutely indescribable. They are similar to the giant redwoods at Muir Woods.
These are located in the Mariposa Grove at Yosemite National Park in California. The pictures do not do these giants justice as to how large they actually are. Being in the grove is stunning and just beautiful and very surreal.
We paid $25 each for an hour and a half guided tour on a tram which was well worth the money. You can hike through the grove but it is several thousand feet in elevation change.
I was up early on our fourth day, my day, a bucket list day.
Growing up I became a Beach Boys fan, not just Surfin USA and Help Me Rhonda, but the great harmonies of the late sixties and early seventies like Trader and California Saga. They sang about John Steinbeck and places like Salinas, Monterey and Big Sur. Places I had only dreamed about as a teenager.
After learning I would have a day to kill in California, I got on Google Maps and started mapping out a trip to Big Sur and putting all my Beach Boys songs on my phone.
Jennifer needed to be at Tesla at 7AM and I was on the road by 7:01 heading south on I-880 towards Santa Cruz via San José.
San José was only 20 minutes from Fremont where I-880 turned into California Highway 17. I went from an 8 lane interstate to a rural 4 lane divided highway. I could have taken interstates all the way to Monterey, but what fun is that. Highway 17 goes over the mountain range between San Francisco bay and the Pacific Ocean into Santa Cruz. I had left the brown grass-covered foothills of Fremont and was traveling on a curvy winding road through redwood forests with California Calling blaring out of the Kia Soul’s tiny speakers. The color change from brown to green was quite distinctive and calming.
Santa Cruz Boardwalk Amusement Park
Santa Cruz was a quaint small town on the ocean and was not on my original lists of places to visit, however it was on the scenic route to Monterey. I visited their Municipal Wharf and was there way before any of the shops opened. I browsed for a short period, checked out the amusement park on the beach and then drove south. Continue reading California Dreaming (Day 4)→
Every where we went in California the terrain, vegetation, trees and landscapes were all different and Pebble Beach was no different. They even have their own tree which only found there called the Monterey Cypress.
Pebble Beach is not just a golf course but a rather large private community that you pay $10 for the privilege to drive through…worth every penny.
14th Hole, Monterey Peninsula Golf & Country Club, Pebble Beach, California
Monterey Peninsula Golf & Country Club, Pebble Beach, California
This was the highlight of my solo day trip to Big Sur, where the mountains meet the ocean. It was a chore staying on the road and trying to catch all the beautiful scenery. So many scenic points, so little time!!
