San Francisco and Lake Tahoe

San Francisco and Lake Tahoe - July 2017

Circular patterns from irrigators

We had a good flight from Calgary to San Francisco on Saturday 15 July. Great views of the countryside and San Francisco Bay and city as we neared our destination. Saw some strange patterns on farms in places. Looked like UFO landing pads, I thought. Turned out that rather than having the long sprinklers which our NZ dairy farmers use, these Californian ones have stationery ones in the middle of a paddock, and the circular pattern shows the reach of the water! We were also intrigued to see pink and white salt flats at places around the Bay.

San Francisco skyline

Karen and an excited Blair met us at the San Fran baggage claim while Erik waited poised in the car to pick us up. We drove through the central city past familiar landmarks such as Lombard St, then went to Chrissie Field which is a large park beside the harbour. It was transformed starting in 2001 from a former military airfield into a vibrant environmental showcase through the generosity of two local couples, as well as thousands of community volunteers and donors.

Today, the restored Crissy Field is a stunning place to walk or bike on a flat, hard-packed promenade with iconic views of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge. There were hundreds of people there as it was a lovely fine day, and it  was a hive of activity. Kids flying kites, families having picnics, skate boarders, cyclists, walkers, swimmers, windsurfers, etc. Driving from there up to the approach to the Golden Gate bridge was painfully slow – it took about an hour to progress only about 1.5 kilometres.  In total, about four hours for a trip from the airport of just over 50Km, which in ideal conditions, should take just over an hour. The joys of driving in a big city on a sunny Saturday when everyone is out and about!

Delicious brunch

Karen, Erik and Blair were staying in a house belonging to their good friends, and it was roomy enough for us to stay with them. Clare and Thue's house in Fairfax was lovely, in a nice suburb looking out to tree covered hills. They were away to England with their two kids, so Karen, Erik and Blair were house and pet sitting - fish in two tanks, an adorable dog, and aloof cat.

Had the bonus of a lovely pool out the back gate. It is a large round one shared by about eight surrounding houses.  Great idea. We enjoyed swimming in it on 35C days.

Yum yum!

On Sunday morning we drove over to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel church at Mill Valley, where Karen and Erik lived when they first moved to San Francisco. Lovely Mass and the music group comprised a keyboard player/ lead singer accompanied by a superb drummer. Afterwards we went for lunch to Sunnyside café, which was bursting at the seams. A popular spot with the locals, and one of Karen and Erik’s favourites. Has been owned by the same man for years, who is very hands on, and recognized them from previous visits. Delicious brunch, which filled us for the day! Spent the rest of the day relaxing around the pool.

Karen and I trying out a Tesla for size!

Karen and I went shopping one afternoon

and came home with some new clothes.

Managed to resist a classy all electric Tesla

which the salesman would have dearly

liked to have watched us drive out the door. 

At over US $100,000 we didn't think so!

We drove from there on the Monday, heading for South Lake Tahoe, which is 300Km north-west from San Francisco. Drove through a large area of wetlands not far north of San Fran. Bypassed Sacramento as we intended visiting there on our return journey, and stopped in Placerville at lunch time. It was an historic town with an interesting history. In 1849, the town earned its most common historical name, "Hangtown", because of the numerous hangings that had occurred there.^[10] According to the museum guide at the Fountain & Tallman Museum, there were only three hangings that occurred after three men on horseback came into town with guns ablaze. The name stuck after that. By about 1850, the temperance league and a few local churches had begun to request that a more friendly name be bestowed upon the town. The name was not changed until 1854 when it became the City of Placerville. References to Hangtown are seen around the town, including one mannequin hanging from an upstairs window! Paul located an historic pub in which we had a delicious clam chowder lunch.

Curious chipmunk

Karen had booked a very comfortable and spacious house set among trees at South Lake Tahoe.

Tuesday was a lovely 25C day and we started out at 9am (Paul had a rest day back at the house) on a hike in the diverse El Dorado National Forest. Quite challenging at times - taking a side trail over rocks, tree trunks etc to avoid a very watery section of the trail, walking on tree trunks to traverse streams, navigating some steep uphill sections etc. Great scenery - trees, snow capped mountains, tumbling streams and cascading waterfalls, some huge rocks of various types, etc. Saw cute chipmunks (got photos), a squirrel, who like his cousins in BC scooted away too quickly for me to get a photo, and several species of brightly coloured birds. But most exciting was seeing three bears - a medium sized black one ambled across the road in front of us just before we reached the parking area, a large cinnamon coloured one was about 50 metres away from us on the trail, and saw another black one just as we were leaving. Karen and Blair had never seen them in the wild, and Erik not since he was ten. So that made our day. 

Lind family enjoying hike

Rugged landscape on hike

Big bear in forest

Lakeside view at Lake Tahoe

Beautiful waterfall

Blair standing on great stack of rocks

Cascading creek

The next day we went on another hike, but a gentler one, at Emerald Bay around the shoreline of Lake Tahoe. No bears, but several chipmunks, squirrels and lizards.

Lunch by Emerald Bay

Erik at Vikingsholm Castle

Eagle falls

Smoke haze over Lake Tahoe

Casinos over border in Nevada at South Lake Tahoe village

The Vikingsholm foundation was laid in 1928, but the building was constructed in 1929 by 200 workers.^[2] Vikingsholm was built by Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight as a summer home. Before starting construction, Mrs. Knight and her architect traveled to Scandinavia to gather ideas for the construction of the house. Some parts of the structure contain no nails or spikes, as a result of old-fashioned construction methods. Most of the building was made from materials found at Lake Tahoe.

Mrs. Knight is best known for building Vikingsholm, but she and her husband Harry, a businessman were primary backers of Charles Lindbergh's non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927.

By that evening the whole area was covered with smoke from forest fires near Mariposa, which borders the Yosemite National Park, almost 300Km south of Lake Tahoe. Here's hoping and praying that they are brought under control soon. Many thousands of people  had to be evacuated from their homes, and a State of Emergency was in place from 18 July with the evacuation order not being lifted until 28 July, by which time the blaze had destroyed 78,500acres and burnt down 130 buildings.

Dramatic mountains

We saw Vikingsholm Castle which is a 38-room mansion on the shore of Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe, in El Dorado County, California, and on the National Register of Historic Places

Mountain pass

Sacramento building

On our way back to San Fran we stopped at Sacramento, which is the Californian State Capital, and saw the Capitol State Parliament building. We went to an amazing Railway Museum there. While queuing with 8yr old Blair to have his turn as a train driver on the simulator, we were chatting with a family of Mum, Dad, and four lively boys aged between 3 and 11. They told us that they had been evacuated from Mariposa, which is at the heart of the big fire burning near Yosemite National Park. They said that the smoke was really intense, and rather than stay in the area, they had driven north in their car until they had run out of the smoke. So that fetched them up in Sacramento, 240Km north of their home. We do hope and pray that they have a home to return to when the fires are finally extinguished. 

Blair at Railway Museum

Sonoma engine

Knowledgeable volunteer

Karen beside large diesel engine

Blair receiving instructions on simulator

Listening intently

Driving the bullet train simulator at 250kph

Very dry prairie on our way back to San Francisco

So a couple of relaxing days at Fairfax at the end of our trip were very welcome. The pool was great to swim in on the hot days. Late Saturday we flew from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and then on Air New Zealand back to Auckland.  Just as well it wasn't either of our birthdays on the Sunday as we completely lost that day!