San Francisco, California

This photo is for those who are interested in seeing RV parks for future visits. This is the office/club house at Coyote Valley RV Resort, Morgan Hill, CA. The park is new and well cared for.
We returned to San Francisco on Caltrain on Dec. 17. It was a beautiful, but chilly day. We wore hats and gloves. We got a kick out of listening to two teen age boys discuss girls and finals.
The bus system and friendly people didn't let us down the second trip. We met a guy whose mother grew up in Wilmette, Il and another who graduated with a physics degree from the U of I, Champaign. Connections are so nice. Then there was the new bride from North Carolina. It is amazing what you can learn about people in a short time. Between the three of them we got to a wonderful Italian restaurant in North Beach.
This Bentley caught our eyes. We saw a new one downtown, but I didn't feel comfortable taking a photo of it because the driver was parked right beside us and looking at us through an open window. Anyway, compared to this one, it was rather blah.
Typical view in Chinatown.
Chinatown on Stockton.
The famous Transamerica pyramid from Chinatown. The solid piece half-way up is the elevator shaft.
Ted wanted to eat at a specific dim sum restaurant in Chinatown, but it was closed for the day. We took a chance on another one and weren't disappointed. The markets were sure fascinating. Wish that we knew what half of the items were or that we could read Chinese.
This photo is for our family and friends who are Methodists. This one is in Chinatown.
It is hard to see the signs, but there are few clues in English telling what they say.
The Bay Bridge from Chinatown.
This shop on Jackson Street, Chinatown sells turtles. Note the sawn shell in the sink.
Here is a tub of frogs. We watched the guy on the right reach in with a plastic covered hand and select the best specimens and put them in the pink and white plastic bag he held in his other hand. I couldn't tell what his criteria were for making his choices. I am not sure I will ever eat frog legs again with the same enjoyment.
Typical residential street west of Chinatown.
In all the times we have been to San Francisco we have never ridden on a cable car. We did this day for $5.00 each. This is Powell. If it looks familiar, it has been in a number of movies.
The end of the line is Market and Powell, in the heart of downtown.
The conductor is descending to help turn the car around. We couldn't figure out what was special about the one lady they let stay on the car as they turned it.
This conductor is pushing the turn table on this side and there is another man doing the same on the other side.
Macys had windows decorated with about six different front door scenes. Each had a live pet inside. See the black cat on the right? Humane Society volunteers stood near-by to encourage the crowd to adopt one or more. What a clever idea.
This limited access street is an oasis of peace in the midst of this very busy city.

San Francisco, California

We took our time driving from Portland to Morgan Hill, CA. Morgan Hill is abt 15 miles south of San Jose. The park is new with nice features. The sites are very narrow and short for our size rig. We have to pull the car in just so or we can't open the door to the coach. Beyond the trees is a wonderful bike path that runs for 19 miles along Coyote Creek and a golf course. Morgan Hill is 4 miles away. It is a cute little town that reminds me of Carlsbad, CA.We ate at Sicilian in Bocca (Sicily in your mouth). The best Italian food since Jersey! Two quilt shops don't hurt either. Flafel's is in San Jose. It has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. The food was delicious! Don't miss this place if you are in the area.

San Jose is clean with the feel of a smaller town than it is.

This is the new San Jose City Hall. The rotunda looks like a plantetarium and connects to the building on the left. The city's website does not explain the appearance.

We rode Caltrain into San Francisco for $30.00 round trip for both of us. We then caught the bus across from the station and rode it to The Presidio and back. We stopped at Russian Hill and Lombard Street, supposedly the world's crookedest street. We were blown away by how friendly people were. Numerous people offered, without being asked, suggestions about where to eat, what to see, and how to get to places. We have been to San Francisco several times, but have, all but one time, toured in our car. Today gave us a chance to rub elbows with the people who live here. At one point, about 25 middles schoolers got on the bus. Took me back to the good ole' days.

Here is the famous Powell-Hyde Streets Cablecar. We were walking from the bus to the top of Lombard. There was a crew filming while we were there, but we didn't recognize anyone, but felt sorry for the actor, who had to repeatedly climb the steep street. I wanted a photo of two women talking outside one of the expensive homes, but couldn't figure out how to without them knowing. They looked just like I expected people who live in this neighborhood to look; wealthy.

Telegraph Hill and The Bay Bridge (I think) could be seen as we walked down Hyde Street.

How much does a house like this cost? It is across the street from the West Gate of The Presidio. The tree is neatly trimmed, but a bit lopsided. What's with that?

Now that we know how to get around for $3,00 for both of us, we will go back and see more.

Winchester Bay, Oregon

October 7 we sold our business. We feel very fortunate. Ted is now really retired. We celebrated by returning to Winchester Bay, Oregon and a county run RV park on a peninsula in the Umpqua River. This is what we saw outside the side of our coach.

The Oregon Dunes are right around the corner of the evergreen forest in the background. The path in front of the coach circles the park and is a mile long. It is great for walking and riding bikes. Last year we were on the other side of the peninsula looking at the marina.
This was taken last year, but shows the relationship of the water to the RVs.

It was fun watching this barge come across the bar into the river. We've ridden our bikes in the evenings to watch the progress being made dredging the river and marina. What fun it is to be able to do this and not feel guilty that we aren't accomplishing something. It reminds me of one of our son's favorite childhood books, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.

Ahh! This is the view outside our front window. The ocean is just beyond the land on the right.

Here is another gorgeous end to the day out our window. Imagine watching this as you listen to your favorite music CD. That is what we did.

Several storm fronts had come through and had the gulls very agitated. They looked like bees swarming. We have a sea lion that pokes his head up outside our door almost every day. Western Grebes and a family of Mallard Ducks add to the entertainment.

Arch Cape, Oregon

Friends, Bob and Sue, hosted us this past weekend at the wonderful beach house that Bob built. For those of you familiar with the area, it is at Arch Cape near the famous Haystack Rock.


Bob rents this gem. If you are interested, go to http://www.vrbo.com/165516. It is such a warm and inviting place with four porches and views of the Pacific Ocean. It is so popular that it is difficult for Bob and Sue to find a time when they can enjoy it. We felt very privileged to be invited to share one of those rare times.

We visited Ecola State Park, which is just up the road from Arch Cape.

Tillamook Rock Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1957 and is now a private columbarium (new word for me); a place where cremated remains are laid to rest (they are taken there by helicopter). Now that is the ultimate in recycling a building!

We walked through the residential area of Arch Cape. It was a real treat to have a guide who knew the residents and had been in quite a few of the houses. One home has its own helipad. The wind and salt spray off the ocean creates the living tree sculptures so common on the coast.

We returned from our walk by way of the postcard perfect beach. How can anyone not want to be here?

The Oregon Coast in July and August

We spent six weeks in Newport, OR on the Pacific Ocean so that we could avoid the periodic heat of Portland. It got into the 100s. Our plan to ride bikes, walk the beach, visit the tide pools, and just be active did not work out. First the winds blew for two weeks. They were so fierce that the coach shook. Then we both got a respiratory bug that really punched us hard for two weeks. Then I discovered that a pin that was put in one of my toes two years ago had not dissolved as it was supposed to do. It bent upwards and frayed rubbing any shoes that I wore. We drove to Portland and back in a day so that my original surgeon could remove it before it poked through my foot on its own. The recovery from that took 10 more days. That left us with four days. We used them well. Here are the few photos that we or our friend, Stephen Hill, took. I did get about 2,000 personal photos scanned onto my computer, put in many hours working on our genealogy, knitted, crocheted, tried new recipes, and whittled my stack of books down to two so not all was lost.

The Newport, Oregon bridge is the landmark for this town and it has many faces.

Ted Alby, III, Ph.D.

This the view from RV park. It is across Yaquina Bay to the condos at the Embarcadaro.
Hatfield Marine Science Institute and the Oregon Aquarium are along the walking paths across the street from where we are staying.

A view along the path.

Seal Rock, off of US 101, south of Newport, OR.

Looking south from Seal Rock.

Hecate Head Lighthouse

We had visits from five friends from Portland while we were in Newport. That is a plus of being within three hours of home and in a place people like to visit whether we are there or not. During our last four days Jenny and Steve Hill came. We visited the Oregon Aquarium to see all the beautiful changes that have been made since our last visits. Steve used my camera and taught me a few things that I didn't know it could do. I can't believe the close-ups that he was able to get.

Stephen Hill, Ph.D.

Sample of art seen in almost all of the fish tanks at Newport Oregon Aquarium, former home of Keiko.

Stephen Hill, Ph.D.

Japanese Spider Crabs that stand about 2 ft tall with bodies about a foot across. They were very creepy although they are said to be very docile.

Stephen Hill, Ph.D.
Jellyfish

Stephen Hill, Ph.D.

Camoflaged fish

Stephen Hill, Ph.D.

Bottom of the sea.