Last Two Day's in Palo Alto

We've spent the past few days driving around various areas of Palo Alto which Stewart & Kathy often visit.  We were at the Hidden Villas farm where Stewart acts as a docent, completing a nice hike up into the forest behind the farm.  We then visited the Foothill Park where wild turkeys were prevalent (photo), then today (Friday) we walked in the Baylands salt flats (another photo), ending up at a favorite Redlands breakfast eatery (photos).  Jim's brother, Stew, and wife, Kathy, in this shot.

We board the Coast Starlight tonight at around 8pm in the city of San Jose, our journey via this train will take about 24hrs, arriving at King's Station in Seattle about the same time tomorrow. The PSU-Temple opener at Lincoln Field (Eagles) will begin around 12:30pm, PST, so maybe we'll catch the game on the train??  May insert a few photos at the Amtrak station at the San Jose or Seattle terminals if the opportunity presents itself.  On to Seattle!!

Here are today's pics from the Stanford campus, one of their mall area with the Herbert Hoover tower in the background (he was in their pioneer class), another from up in the tower, and a third showing their state-of-the-art tennis complex.

Back in Palo Alto

Spent today touring Stanford's campus and some small shops, including a quilt store where Sheila found an interesting purse pattern.  I've included a few more shots from our B&B, notably the "Hugh" single redwood tree out front, estimated to have been there since the 1830's.  This B&B was down south in the Cambria, CA, area, we came back from there yesterday (Tuesday).

I wanted to include two additional pictures from the castle, the tennis courts (go figure!) and the beautiful indoor swimming pool with its walkways inlaid with gold and skylights looking guess where, up into the tennis courts.  Oh, just as an aside, in the previous set of photos there is one of a dinner setting at the main dining room showing bottles of ketchup and mustard, Hearst wanted these on the table to remind him and his guests of the many camping expeditions he had been on during his rise to such fame and fortune.

The Hearst Castle

Today was our day to visit and tour the famous Hearst Castle sitting high atop the rolling hills of San Simeon, CA.  On the way we stopped to view humpback whales which were cruising in the water off of William Hearst State Park.  The pier offered a good vantage point to see the whales.

After whale watching it was time to visit the Hearst Castle, sitting 1600 ft up in the Santa Lucia Mountain Range overlooking the Pacific.  Our tours included the main large rooms on the main floor as well as the upstairs with its many bedrooms (over 60) and bathrooms (also over 60).  The castle is over 90,000 sq ft, finished in the 1930's.

We traveled further down RT1 yesterday and settled into the Olallieberry Inn B&B in Cambria, CA.  I've attached a few shots of the Inn and a sunset off of the southern CA coast.

On Sunday morning we got an early start on our travels south of Palo Alto.  Our first stop after lunch on the road was Point Lobos State Park.  We've visited this park before but I never get tired of the beautiful scenery.  A treat this time were numerous humpback whale sightings while we walked along the cliff side trail.

After Point Lobos we continued our drive down Route 1 along the coast, headed through Big Sur, soon crossing the iconic Bixby Bridge, built in 1932 and seen often in ads and commercials.  After crossing this single arch span we then came to the double arch span of the Big Creek Bridge, built in 1937.

A very busy day in California!  Started out this morning with a visit to Jim's nephew Matt's house in Half Moon Bay with a great visit with Matt, wife Stacey, son Conor, and little Emma.  After brunch we then headed North towards San Francisco, stopping for a few minutes at a popular hang gliding area.

We then continued our journey up to the city where we then visited Jim's other nephew, Ferris, and his wife, Kelly, and sons Brixton and Aengus.  We had a good time at Presidio Park playing with Brixton and his friend, Sammy, then got a chance to see little Aengus after his nap.  Our journey then took us into the city to a small theater named Club Fugazi to see a very interesting and entertaining live show called Beach Blanket Babylon.  I took a quick shot of the Transamerica Building on the way to the show.  This show had (10) performers who wore great outfits and wigs and could all sing very well, using music from many genre's.

After a good night's sleep (we needed it), the four of us drove less than ten minutes from Stew & Kathy's home to a beautiful scenic area called Baylands,  a tremendously large area featuring hundreds of waterfowl (see photos) and miles of wide walkways.  Lunch at Michael's on the Shoreline Golf Course was a nice midday treat.  Modern sculptures are scattered around the area, these birds in flight were a favorite.  Tomorrow will be spent visiting Jim's two nephews, Ferris and Matt, and their families at their homes in Half Moon Bay and downtown San Francisco, respectively.

We finally made it out to Palo Alto by 3am this morning, having taken a rather circuitous route from Harrisburg, see Snoopy below, thru Detroit, then onto Seattle, notice the fish (probably salmon) all along the tiled floors, ending at San Francisco Int'l at about 12:30am.  Jim's brother Stewart and wife, Kathy, were nice enough to greet us at the airport and shuttle us back to their home in Palo Alto.  Needlesstosay we were "pooped" and slept in this morning.  But, overall, the flights were a little delayed and most of that delay time was made up in flight.

Leaving the mountains of central PA

Well, it's about time for our departure out of Happy Valley (aka State College).  We head down to Harrisburg tomorrow, flying out Thursday early afternoon via Detroit.  Jim's brother, Stewart, will be picking us up at San Francisco Int., then we'll be staying with Stew & Kathy in Palo Alto while traveling with them around the area.  Jim's nephews, Ferris (in the city) and Matt (over in Half Moon Bay), will also be visited  and we'll also see Kelly, Brixton, and Aengus and Stacey, Conor, and Emma, respectively, at their homes.  We wish the Nittany Lions the best of luck in their opener against Temple on Sept 5th!  A beautiful Summer morn in the valley!

1.