San Francisco

This Thanksgiving we went to San Francisco to visit Russell's family. It was a good trip. I was able to go on a very nice hike the morning of Thanksgiving where I could see some spectacular views! On the last day of our trip, Russell, Ben, and I took a bay cruise and enjoyed more great views of the city. We didn't do many of the touristy things we did last year, but instead hung out with family. I was happy to keep it low key and I think Russell was too.
Wintery trees with bay in background
Some Kind of Succulent (this grows wild everywhere in SF)
Pickle Weed (this grows wild in the marsh lands and is another succulent)
Shore Birds
Pine Cones
Different View of Wintery Trees (with bay in background)

More SceneryOn Top of a Big Hill Overlooking Mountain Town

Redwood Hike
Muir Woods (Redwood Forest)
On the Way to the RedwoodsLooking up into the trees... My camera doesn't do this place justice.
Very Old Remnant of a Redwood
Mountain Creek in Muir Woods
Fern growing on trunk It's very dark under the canopy

A little perspective on the size of a Coastal Redwood. The ancient trees are massive in size and I felt dwarfed by them. In the park there is a trunk section cut and mounted to show the historical timeline of events going on while the tree was growing. The atmosphere was cold and damp. This particular forest is the last of the primordial forests and is precious.








909 A.D. A tree is born
1100 Building of cliff dwellings begins Mesa Verde
1325 Aztecs begin construction of Tenochitlan Mexico
1492 Columbus sails to America
1607 Jamestown Va founded by English colonists
1776 Declaration of Independance
1849 California Gold Rush
1908 Muir Woods Monument established
1930 Tree falls

The Bay Cruise
Ben and Russell play rock/paper/scissors on bay cruise.


Golden Gate From Boat: This is the North end of the bridge and is the route we took each time we left San Fran to go to Russell's grandmother's house. ...Off to granma's we go...In the distance to the right is a mountain with a tunnel cut through it. Everyone in the car liked to hold their breaths until reaching the other side. Ben even got into the act.