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After missing 4th of July Fireworks due to engine repairs, we made sure to "catch the orange" last night - a great bridge-based fireworks display celebrating Portland's new pedestrian, bike and light rail-only bridge, the Tilikum Crossing. Click here for photos we took from the boat. And here for some from The Oregonian. It was a strange night for fireworks given all the wildfire smoke that blew into Portland yesterday from Washington State cause air quality alerts and making the whole city smell like a campfire.
Drew finally got his film developed from his trip to Portugal back in July. Click here to see them. The final few are from San Francisco/Sebastopol where he finished off a roll.
For our final day in California, we visited Point Reyes National Seashore. Click here for photos. It was quite a change from the density of San Francisco to be driving through miles and miles of seaside farmland and undeveloped coastline.
Also in this album are a couple of photos (of old photos) from our last trip to San Francisco back in 2005. The trolley definitely hasn't changed!
We spent the day in San Francisco, exploring Golden Gate Park, Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square. Click here for a few photos.
We had dinner in Chinatown at Great Eastern Restaurant. President Obama has eaten there, so we figured it was a good choice.
The cable cars were fun, though ridiculously crowded. We had hoped to take in a Golden Gate Bridge sunset, but the evening fog was too thick by the time we finished dinner.
Drew did manage a nice shot of the sunset - and Alcatraz - from the cable car we were riding after dinner.
Emily was happy to get to check out Uniqlo, and after taking a full year off from sugar, Jake enjoyed shopping at Ghirardelli. We had not visited San Francisco since 2005, so the twins didn't really remember the city.
Today, we drove California Hwy. 1 from Salt Point State Park, north of Jenner, south to Bodega Bay. We saw sea arches, sea lions, and more along the way, as well as a beautiful sunset viewed from Portuguese Beach.
Before heading for the coast, we stopped by D's Diner in Sebastopol where Emily and Jake got to practice a bit of Arabic with the very kind owner and artist Patrick Amiot's Junk Art garden, which spans 3 blocks in his Florence Avenue neighborhood.
Emily managed a bit of hiking at Salt Point, despited her sore toes. The views were too good to pass up. Click here for photos.
We are spending the week in Sebastopol, CA - home of Charlie Brown's creator, Charles Schultz - on a home exchange. Sebastopol is in the heart of California's wine country and not far from the Sonoma Coast, which includes Bodega Bay pictured below.
Click here for photos of the boys surfing and body boarding at Salmon Creek Beach yesterday, which is in Bodega Bay and just up the road from where the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds, was filmed. (Album credits to Jake.) There were several dolphins enjoying the surf too.
Emily is sporting a broken toe and 11 stitches after dropping a table on her foot last week, so she had stay on shore duty. She aspires to be able to put an actual shoe on before we head to San Francisco later this week.
The vineyard below is the view from our home exchange and part of the Russian River Valley viticultural area.
