Stairway to Heaven

Here's James & Ashwin climbing yet another set of stairs on our hike at Muir Woods. We ended up travelling up the wrong way on the path - instead of the easy option of going down the stairs we were going up the stairs! And Ashwin was getting heavier with each step. It was certainly worth the hike to go up the path as the changes in humidity were very noticable & was much warmer the higher you went. When we reached the top the sign was on the ground (pic below in previous entry). It felt like being in a fairy tale grove of trees up high in the sky!

Get straight on the Golden Gate!

It was very exciting the other day going over the Golden Gate bridge and finally seeing the San Fracisco icon first hand. It was an amazing view of the city and north of San Francisco from there but it was over in minutes. One day we will have to do the walk across the bridge or even ride (but that might be hard with Ashwin!) I can see how the bridge needs to be painted constantly, as being up close you can see the faded orange vermillion. I promise once we get a good vantage point there will be some better pics on offer!!

Land of the giants

This is a young giant sequoia tree that was on display at Muir woods. These trees grow to be the worlds largest tree (in terms of total volume). They grow to an average height of 50-85 m and 5-7 m in diameter. Looking forward to our next trip out to the forest to Yosemite National Park which includes the 'Grizzly Giant' tree, the largest in Yosemite. The groves are in the Sierra the eastern part of California... cannot wait to see these giant trees in real life!

Walking on sunshine

Here is a my fave pic of the moment. A maple leap that landed gracefully on a fallen log and through the canopy of the trees there was a ray of sunshine which brought this leaf to life.

If you go down in the woods today...

Welcome to Muir Woods National Monument!

"This is the best tree-lovers monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world," declared conservationist John Muir when describing the majestic coast redwoods of Muir Woods.

Here are some pics of Muir Woods north of the Golden Gate bridge - so called Muir Woods National monument after a conservationist John Muir. As the story goes this rich guy purchased the land many years ago and then named it in honour of Mr Muir. And what a monument it is - it is old growth Californian Redwoods, simply breathtaking!

I have been down to Tasmania & also to Victorian old growth forests but this place is just incredible. Redwoods are so straight and when they are this old they are so tall, you practically have to bend over backwards to see the top of the tree!

Pics are of a grove of trees in the forest, a banana slug (that's a big slug!), ladybirds settling down for the winter. Bottom pic is a sign to no where, we climbed up many stairs (blog entry to follow) and found this sign - man where do we go from here!!

In the hanging garden, please don't speak

Here are some pics of us at the Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Fran. We travelled there courtesy of our new Aussie mate Shona in her cool Subaru with GPS attached.

It is just so peaceful there with it's bounty of trees & water. Ashwin was having fun in the pram & as soon as we had a bite to eat he was off & wanting to take a bath in the water. This time of year the colours are spectacular and everything had an autumnal glow.

A hiking we will go...

Our first real hike with a group of people from meetup.com (this is the Silicon Valley way to meet people here). James' mate from work was a member & told us about this 'moderately easy' hike on Sweeney Ridge, San Bruno. A drive down the 101 got us there & we drove up some hills of some cool 50's style houses to get there. We were rearing to go with Ashwin in his little backpack & water & snacks in our pack. Off we went up a paved trail & when I say up - I mean up! There was a portion of this hike that nearly killed me, there was this fairly steep area where it seemed to go on for ages - as I couldn't breathe properly! But once that was over the hike was cruising along and we got to the top of the ridge to see a foggy view of the beach. After the sightseeing of this magnificient spot we wandered up to a monument for a dude who brought up thousands of people to experience the panoramas. This is when we went off road up a trail that took us to a dead end - which was funny because this area was fenced off & said 'No Loitering', didn't seem such a good place to do any loitering anyway!

The hike down was pretty good as the fog had 'burned off' (this is SF speak for the fog dispersing) and there was much more to see in the valleys. We saw a huge reservoir on the other side of where the ocean was & there was also a grove of some huge gum trees, that I imagine will just love the weather here. Ashwin had enough of the backpack by then & was having a ball on Dads shoulders - pulling James'hair & laughing away as the ride was pretty bumpy!

It was a great hike & would be worth another viewing on a day where there is less fog - mmmmm this is San Francisco so that might be very unlikely :)

Spending the greenback

at the Great Mall of the Bay Area... Man this is definitely a place to check out when you want a shopping experience - this link has the store directory greatmallbayarea.com. We just hung around the Off Saks (5th Avenue outlet) area as you really need the whole day or more to see the whole mall - it was crazy!

Zooming Squirrel

Pic out of a squirrel in action - I was playing around with the digital camera, using the digital zoom (not very good quality pics) & managed to get half a squirrel in one pic & half in another. So what we have is action squirrel in digital zoom mode... they are still so cute! Am going to try to attract some to our patio by offering them hazelnuts :)

Afternoon delight

Friday afternoon Ashwin & I went to meet some new mums from Sydney & Melbourne, we had a great time hanging out at the Childrens Discovery Museum in San Jose. Looks like we'll be making it a regular event as Ashwin just loves it there. There is always something fascinating for him to find there!

We're on the road to somewhere...

Here we are going somewhere pretty special. The return trip from the beach was quite stunning with lush green fields with the ocean meeting the horizon with happy cows grazing away.

The route we took home was called La Honda Road and as you can tell from the pic on the left it was very circuitous (a James word!). We drove through some enjoyable open space with tall, straight old trees forming a canopy of autumn leaves above us as we drove through. A highly recommended route to travel for a picturesque journey home but watch out for the sports cars & motorcycles - due to the twists & turns of this route it attracts the 'i feel the need, the need for speed' dudes!

Let's go surfin' now!

Come on a safari with me... we decided it was about time to go day tripping & we went out to Half Moon Bay which is about an hours drive due west from where we are. We were very excited to see the Pacific Ocean - westside!

It reminded me a lot of Tasmania's beaches on the west coast with the rugged coastline & rough waves. The sand was salt & pepper & very different to the white sandy beaches in Australia. We enjoyed seeing & feeling the Pacific Ocean as that was a reminder of our home. The drive to the beach was quite a surprise due to the amazing views of the valleys & open space (national parks) areas that surround the valley itself. It is untouched with some huge trees & undulating green areas safe from development.

It was a cold day down at the beach with lots of chill winds & the water was icy. Here we are chilling out and there I am with Ashwin testing out the water. We had to go back to the car soon after as we were all turning blue. My feet were like icicles & about to freeze off - lucky there were some socks in the bag.

[']=0 <- Ashwin did this!

This is a close up of an oriental lily - part of a bunch we bought at TJs (Trader Joes) market. The flowers & the smell are just so exquisite. Thought I would capture this flower just before it disintegrated into petals & stems. Speaking of TJs - it is the best market with lots of tasty food. The quality is just incredible & it is our new weekly haunt. Whole Foods is very good too but we just wander there for our free range chickee & organic beef for Ashwin. Whole Foods has a fantastic range too, but it can be a bit expensive if shopping there every week - so it a treat to go every so often.

It's a wide open road...

This is a pic of the roads near our place from the railroad overpass. The railroad is home of the light rail & Caltrain and the roads on either side are two different ways to one place. You can travel faster on the right as that is called the Central Expressway. In the background you can see a bus on another highway that crosses both that is the 85. The driving is interesting here with having to learn all where the highways go - the patterns of roads are like snakes that weave in & out of each other. When you look at a map there are daisy chains of off ramps that can be hard to decifer. I am hoping one day soon we will invest in a GPS as I don't want to get lost in amongst the piles & piles of concrete that surround the residential areas.

Hey hey hey it's a sun shiny day!

Ashwin & I have found a great new park called Fairmont Park - it's an easy walk away & even quicker to drive. Ashwin just loves to crawl around in the sand plus he just loves the kiddie swing - he thinks it is the best thing ever! It is quite a small park with some beautiful trees with plenty of shade for the summer time. I have to thank my fellow Aussie mate Alice for letting me know of this little gem. There are many more parks to explore in our area, so looking forward to checking them out. Still I do miss the gardens in Melbourne - but for now I will enjoy what the U S of A has to offer. I cannot waste the sun shiny day opportunities as winter is approaching very slowly.

I met you at J C Penney...

As the classic Beck track goes...

I met you at j.c. penney
I think your nametag it said jenny
I cold step to you
With a fresh pack of gum
Somehow i knew
That you were lookin' for some
Like a fruit that's ripe for the pickin'
I wanna do ya like that zankou chicken
'cause you got a thing
That i'm tryin to get with
blah, blah, blah...

We visited the crappest mall in America - Vallco Fashion Park on Sunday - here is a shot of the boys wandering through. There was a makeover of the mall in progress, which didn't look like it was going to help the place. We thought how exciting, our first interior mall in America & we did visit J.C. Penney & it was crapola too! All the shops there had rubbish for sale & I have no idea why we wasted our time there - anyway it was an experience & we ain't goin' back for more.

Goin' bush...

Sunday was a family day where we decided to go for a bit of a hike (bit - being the operative word) as it was a very short hike! Anyhoo off we went on the Stevens Creek trail out to check out the reservoir in amongst the valley. It was a very full reservoir, unlike some of the reservoirs in Australia at the moment. There was even a guy fishing but there was this sign that said not to eat the fish due to the amount of mercury in the water - yikes! We ended up at a picnic ground for lunch & had some stale tortilla wraps and Ashwin pigged out on his usual fare. While we were at the picnic ground we saw this car stop by a huge garbage bin & then they got out of the car to take a look inside the bin (this was where Ashwins poo nappy was!!) and when they had enough they played the American national anthem and saluted to the sky. Very strange behaviour so we just power walked the hell outta there!!

Stone the crows...

...and pickle the lizards. (Australia, colloquial) Generalized expression of surprise or amazement, or just for emphasis.

Yeah Ashwin felt quite surprised when he went down the slide (not by himself!!). It was fun for me too to hang on to him & slide down as well. This is another great little play area near where we live - a walk away in fact. As a task for the Artist's Way I had to shoot some shots, just for the sake of it in a short period of time - which was easy for me! I like this pic of the shadow on the stone, the sun was in a perfect position to get a 'neat' (colloquial Good, excellent, desirable) little silhouette.

The owl & the pussycat went out to sea...

In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

Edward Lear

And it certainly is a beautiful pussycat pic, made from little stones & sequins stuck to the canvas. It was found at this cool retro store called Be-pop http://www.be-pop-us.com/

Movin' on up!

Sun :: Day trip out to San Francisco for an advanced knitting class. Enjoyed learning how to get myself out of nasty little knitting mistakes!

So I arrived fairly early in the morning to take in some sights of the area while waiting for the workshop to start. Ended up wandering up Sutter St where I found a few galleries & these side streets that just go up & up. No wonder there are cable cars as the streets are very steep. The architecture around the area was just breathtaking as a lot of the buildings are very old & I've probably seen them in films before. It was quite an enjoyable little area which leads into Chinatown (yet to explore...) Check out the funky apple teev - get the kids hooked early!! On the way home, travelling the MUNI, it was great to see the Bay bridge in all its glory, at the Embarcadero (The Embarcadero is the eastern waterfront roadway of the Port of San Francisco). Cannot wait to see the Golden Gate bridge one of these days!