Friday, April 2, 2010

Golden Gates and Domes


My husband loves to read and happily researched the literature of the area on our trip to California. He heard about a fabulous French bakery in a nearby town so we headed there on Wednesday morning, Day 4. Afterward I got to glance through several antiques stores. Then we headed on a backroads outing he had planned from his readings on the wine country.







Some of the vines are high (5 feet) and others are relatively low to the ground. Some are thick and others more delicate. I understand that how they are tied up depends on the type of grape they are bearing.Some are starting to leaf, but not all

After our drive, the girls were quite excited by our lunch destination: In-N-Out. For some reason this hamburger chain has become enormously popular even though we don't have them in Oregon. The teens I know talk about their trips to states that have In-N-Outs. How do girls from Vietnam know that this is what they 'should' crave? It was a momentous event to track one down in California. As she was eating, though, Tracy's friend said, "It still tastes just like a hamburger to me" which earned a snort of disdain from Tracy.



We had heard some disappointment from the kids that they hadn't actually been on the Golden Gate Bridge or driven across it or touched it. So after lunch we headed into San Fransisco, paid the toll, and went to the Presidio to take pictures and walk on the bridge. The girls were ecstatic!



Then we drove down into the city to see what a large domed building was. It turned out to be the SF Palace of Fine Arts, originally built in 1915 for the Pacific International Exposition. It was intended to be a temporary structure originally but now recovery is underway to rescue it. It is lovely and so romantic a setting!

chasing the golden dome


By now it was rush hour and we wriggled our way out of San Francisco over to Berkeley to see the University of California campus there. We hadn't realized how far we were from it or how torturous the Bay Bridge traffic would be: 10 lanes at a standstill. Halfway across, the girls developed an urgent need for a bathroom and we were frantic before we got off the bridge! All's well that ends well, and they were happy to tour the campus at dusk.




3 comments:

Gilly said...

What a fabulous trip! If Mr.G had got caught in the rush hour I would never had heard the last of it!

That bakery looks absolutely delicious - making me hungry~!

Steven said...

Great trip! Nice pics of SF.

Judy said...

How fun to read about your trip. It brought back memories of our travels along the CA coast in fall....and our time in San Francisco. We also enjoyed a famous little French Bakery in wine country...called Bouchon Bakery.

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