Peter Mason's visit...

Peter Mason arrived from London on November 1st, en route to visit with Andy, Linda and girls in Hervey Bay, Australia.

We picked him up at the international terminal after a 12 hour flight from Heathrow.  Peter was in pretty good shape considering that he had missed a nights sleep!  We got home, had dinner and a quiet evening so that he could adjust to the new time zone.  Early to bed and then we were up and ready to go on Friday for some sight-seeing.

Friday we packed a picnic lunch and drove first to Treasure Island.  There is a great view of the city from there and of course the sculpture of Bliss that you have seen here before.  We took pictures of Pete with the naked woman, then drove over to Chrissy Field where we parked.  We first toured Fort Point, which was built during the Civil war era to protect the San Francisco bay from attack from sea which fortunately never came.  The fort was open and we were able to see all of it, including the lighthouse on the roof and the underneath of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Next was a picnic at Chrissy Field and a long walk along the waterfront.  The weather was gorgeous - warm with a slight breeze and pretty clear.

Saturday we headed south.  We drove down Skyline (Hwy 35) to Highway 9 and then into Santa Cruz.  Along the way we stopped at the Henry Crowell state park and had a great walk among the redwoods.  We saw lots of grazing deer, who paid very little attention to us, as well as squirrels.  Again, the weather was perfect!!

We had lunch on the wharf in Santa Cruz and enjoyed the sights from the pier, including lots of sea lions.  We did some shopping and then started home.  Along the way we stopped at the Natural Bridges State park and also the "pebble" beach along Highway 1.  Lee fired up the bar-b-que and we enjoyed one of those yummy marinated tri-tips for dinner.

On Sunday we went into San Francisco to take a "Duck Tour"!  It was a perfect day - nearly 80 in San Francisco!  The duck tour is aboard an amphibious craft that drives like a car on land and then drives into the sea and becomes a boat!  Our captain - Captain Crunch - was full of facts about San Francisco and our land tour took us all around the area, including Union Square!  I would NOT have wanted to drive that thing around downtown SF!!  We then went to the ball park and to the bay along there, where we drove into the bay!  We had a leisurely tour of McCovey cove, where the home run balls land in the bay and watched the Fish and Game boat stop boaters who were trying to sneak in with crab.  Crab season had started on Saturday and they were making sure that the crab were of legal size.  Sure enough, they detained fishermen with under size crab - and the $850 fine to go with them!

After the tour we spent some time on Fisherman's wharf where we had lunch, did some shopping and visited the new Maritime Museum.  The museum is great and has lots of great displays as well information on San Francisco's maritime history.  

The crowds finally got to be too much and we headed back to Moss Beach.  Peter had gotten a huge piece of salmon for us for dinner, which was just delicious.

Then it was Monday and Peter had to continue his journey.  He and Lee had a nice walk up to the Montara Light House in the morning and then we were off to the airport!  Peter had many hours of flying ahead of him at this point!  But he arrived safely and is enjoying the warm weather in Hervey Bay and spending time with everyone there.

Thanks, Peter and we'll see you in two years!

 Peter arriving from Heathrow

Pete with Bliss

 

And Alcatraz behind him

 

 Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge

 The series of doorways in the barracks side of the fort - it was quite an illusion

The same series of doorways, from the other side

 

 The Golden Gate Bridge from our walk along the bay

 Peter and one of the many large redwoods at the park

 One tall redwood reaches for the sunlight!

 This tree was hollowed out and you could stand up inside of it, which Lee and Peter did - not so easy getting out, though!

 Lee crawling out of the tree.  Needless to say, I declined to go in and took pictures instead!

 This "island" of sea lions were floating right off the pier in Santa Cruz.  It looked like they were sleeping!  We wondered if this is a natural behavior as we had never seen them do this before - it was quite interesting.  By the way, a group of sea lions is called a "raft" - pretty fitting!

 Here's a closeup - eyes closed, noses out of the water, and barely moving

 This picture was taken at Pebble Beach - its a rock that has been hollowed out in a pattern that almost looks like a fish - all of the holes were filled with tiny pebbles.

 More of the sculpted rocks and tiny pebbles that give this beach its name

 Fisherman's Wharf before the Duck Tour!  Blue skies, sunshine and WARM!

 A nice Japanese tourist took this picture of the three of us.  He then came back with his wife and asked if we would take a picture with him.  His wife took that picture with their camera and then she got in the shot and he took it.  What a hoot!  We're in the Japanese tourists holiday pictures!

The Duck!  Getting ready to load up and take off on the tour

 Getting ready for the tour

One of the painted houses along the tour

 

 As part of the tour we were all given duck-bill "quackers"!  Here's Lee and Peter with their quackers!  Needless to say, we were a very noisy bus with everyone blowing on their quackers!  We did attract attention....

 They asked who wanted to drive the Duck in Mc Covey cove and of course I raised my hand!  I then realized that I was the only adult to do so.... so several children and I had the experience of driving - it was fun!

 I'm taking this job very seriously!

 AT&T ball park from McCovey cove

 A huge transport ship was moored near the cove

 This picture shows the loading dock for the ship - all manner of huge things can be driven into the ship and then the loading dock folds up and stows

 This rusty old tub is actually a floating dry-dock

 AT&T park from the duck

 "Say hay" Willie Mays!

Home in time to watch the sun set into the Pacific ocean

 

Peter at the Montara light house

 

And heading off to "down under", where his brother and family were anxiously awaiting his arrival

 

Our trip to New Jersey

On Wednesday, October 17th, we flew to New Jersey to visit with Donna and her family and April and Karl Webber, Donna's good friends there.

We left San Francisco at 7:00 am, and arrived in New Jersey, via Detroit, at 7:30 pm - a full day of flying, but great flights and seats together so we were pleased!

The weather in New Jersey was beautiful!  On Thursday we had lunch at Jim's (Donna's Dad) golf club and looked out on the beautiful landscape as the trees were all turning those amazing fall colors!  After lunch we took a great drive through the countryside and saw the area where George Washington's troops camped!  You forget how full of history the east coast is!

On Thursday night April came and picked us up and we went out to dinner and saw the play "A Chorus Line".  I'd never seen it before and it was just fabulous!  Dinner was delightful, too - it was a grand and glorious day!

On Friday morning it rained but we didn't care, as we were driving down the Jersey shore to spend the weekend in Cape May.  We stopped along the way in Atlantic City where we had lunch at Caesars and a walk on the boardwalk - much of which is no longer there, thanks to tropical storm Sandy....  very, very sad!

We stayed at Donna's brothers condo in Cape May!  It's in a great location, right on the inlet from the sea and not far from the Coast Guard installation where Nathan attended boot camp.  While we were in Cape May we spent time at the beach, shopping, eating and enjoying the beautiful scenery.  The weather was clear and warm on both Saturday and Sunday.

On Sunday we drove home and then in the afternoon went to Steven and Kristen's (Donna's nephew and his wife)  house for dinner.  All of Donna's family were there as were April and Karl.  Kristen prepared a fabulous dinner and we all enjoyed the kids!  There were 8 of them there, and the oldest is 8!  They're all great kids, and had a blast playing outside and in.  There were plenty of people to hold the 9 month old twins and follow around behind 10 month old Mikey, as he's walking and all over the place!

On Monday we took another drive, across the Delaware River, into Pennsylvania!  We spent some time in New Hope where we had lunch at a great outdoor restaurant right on the river.  Then we browsed the town and did some shopping before heading home.  Unfortunately, April had to work, so she wasn't able to join us.

Monday night we went out to dinner with Jim and enjoyed spending the evening with he and Donna.  

And then it was time to come home!  We changed our route coming home as the flights we had planned on were filling up fast.  Instead of leaving mid-afternoon, we were on the way to the airport at 6:00 am (thank you, Donna!) for an 8:00 am flight to Minneapolis.  Then a flight to Los Angeles, and finally a flight into San Francisco!  We got home about 7:30, so another long day of travel.

Thank you so much, Donna and Jim, April and Karl and Steven and Kristen, for your wonderful hospitality!  We had a fabulous time and we'll be back next year in October!  In the meantime, our door is always open, so you can come this way, too!

This is the view from our table at the club - as you can see, the trees were putting on quite a show!

A close-up of the tree with all it's brilliant colors!

We loved this 5 story stone tower which was located on the grounds of some gardens

Donna and I in the garden

The Atlantic City boardwalk.  The rain had stopped but the sky was still gray.

More of the board walk with the casinos

More of the boardwalk - you can see how wide it is - now much of it is gone.

Atlantic City boardwalk

A great war memorial on the boardwalk

This was an amazing sculpture!

Cape May, New Jersey!  Cape May is located on a peninsula so you can see both the sunrise and the sunset over and into the ocean!

The Cape May lighthouse!  As you can see, the rain was gone, the sky was blue and it was wonderful!

Donna, April and I on the walkway

Looking for sea glass and Cape May diamonds - agates that come down the Delaware river and get polished to the point that they look like diamonds!  We didn't find any...  The thing sticking up out of the water is the remains of a cement ship!  Apparently there were 11 of them commissioned, and only two remain - this one, and the one on Sunset Beach in Santa Cruz!  Cement ships - doesn't seem like a very good idea to me....

Donna, Lee and I on the walkway

The remains of a horseshoe crab on the beach!  There were a lot of them around

Donna, April and Lee at Cape May beach

Taking a shopping break!

One of the dozens of Victorians that are a great part of the charm of Cape May!  I'd like to go back and spend a week there!

We were able to walk to the Lobster House for dinner on Saturday night.  The Lobster House is a Cape May icon!  And the food was FABULOUS!!

The amazing Maple tree in April's yard!

Dinner at Steven and Kristen Priscos'!  This is Mia - she's 10 months old and just adorable!

Donna, Jim, Pat and James - he's Mia's twin brother - also adorable!!

Here's Mikey!  He's Phil and Jen's little boy and at 10 months, he's raring to go!  He wanted to jump in the trampoline with the big kids!

We crossed the Delaware!!  That's New Jersey on the far side of the bridge - we're now in Pennsylvania!

A wonderful historic stone house in New Hope

Some of the sights in New Hope!

This Halloween decoration is in Cape May.  The Washington Street Mall was decorated with all kinds of Halloween "people" like this - done by all of the retailers there - it was a hoot!