Saturday, June 23, 2006 – We arrived at SFO (San Francisco Operations) and Maria drove the rental Toyota SUV through San Francisco, across the Bay Bridge, site of the earthquake of 1989, across a dark, crooked, close-to-God-in-elevation mountain pass to the Lake Tahoe area.
Sunday, June 24 – We successfully arrived at our home for the next week in South Lake Tahoe, California. It was about 2:30 AM local time, which was 5:30 AM New York time. We left our house in New York at 8:30 AM, so the trip lasted for 21 hours. By comparison, when we travel to Budapest, it takes about 24 hours from door to door. We were all pretty tired and quickly fell asleep. The place is beautiful and very spacious, with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, enough sleeping places for 10 people. You, Kati, you could’ve had your own bedroom!!!!!
We are in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which have the highest peaks in the country. Our elevation here is above 2000 meters. We are very close to some famous ski areas and some of the surrounding mountaintops still have snow on them.
It is night now and we just came home from a drive around Lake Tahoe. There were many places along the way where we could stop and walk a little and take pictures. There are many huge rocks wherever you look and they were fun to climb on. We were gone most of the day and we saw some breathtaking sights. One of them was the overlook at Emerald Bay, which is one of Maria’s favorite places. We visited the site of two Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. Lake Tahoe is the third deepest lake in North America and tenth largest in the world. Because it’s so deep, it never freezes. We took many nice pictures, which we will enjoy for years to come.
It is at night now and we just came home from a drive around Lake Tahoe. There were many places along the way where we could stop and walk a little and take pictures. There are many huge rocks wherever you look, and they were fun to climb on. We were gone most of the day and we saw some breathtaking sights. One of them was the overlook at Emerald Bay, which is one of Maria’s favorite places. We visited the site of two Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. Lake Tahoe is the third deepest lake in North America and tenth largest in the world. Because it’s so deep, it never freezes. We took many nice pictures, which we will enjoy for years to come.
Monday, June 26 – We went to Virginia City. Nevada.
It was the richest city in the world in its heyday, with 40,000 people (the current population is 600). This is the town where silver was discovered in addition to gold. There were 101 saloons, 10 churches and 15 cemeteries. The Catholic Church had 4000 members. There were separate cemeteries for each denomination, many nationalities and organizations, including Masons, Catholics, Jewish, Irish, and one for the Firemen. There were many brothels and one famous madam wanted to be buried in the common firemen’s cemetery, but the ladies of the town would not allow it. Thus the 15th cemetery exists, where she is buried alone. There were several unique buildings and many points of interest, the MacKay Mansion, St. Mary’s in the Mountain Catholic Church, Piper’s Opera House and several old mines. While visiting this town there were brush fires that started outside of town. We could see the smoke and later that night the stream of fire.
Maria bowled that evening and just as she got herself on track, she injured her shoulder. So needless to say, she did poorly the last game.
We spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Reno, Nevada. Maria finished her tournament and we visited several casinos and the Harrah’s National Automobile Museum. This museum was very nice and the guide was very knowledgeable about the history of cars and their makes and models. We learned that 60% of the Ford Model Ts were NOT black. (“You can order one in any color, so long as it is black.”) Of the 60%, 20% were red. They had a nice red example in the museum. Duesenbergs and Rolls Royces were ordered sans wheels, body, seats, steering wheel, etc. Then the dealer gave the new owner a list of names of businesses he could hire to complete building his car. Even in this form the prices were in excess of $5,000, so a completed car was very costly. All Rolls Royces were “built” in America, that is, they were built in England, then were taken apart, boxed and shipped to the US to a handful of businesses, who then reassembled them. This was done to avoid paying a 50% tariff on goods made overseas. The “flying lady” hood ornament was a statue of Royce’s mistress, Eleanor Velasco Thornton, and is dubbed “Nellie in a nightie” in England. Deloreans had a lot of problems during ownership, hence they are not sought after nowadays. The biggest of the problem was that they were made from stainless steel, which absorbs heat, rather than reflect it, so they were very warm. The car that would bring the most money at an auction would probably be the 1936 Mercedes Benz 500K Special.
Thursday, June 29 – We went to Yosemite National Park, Ca. We started this adventure by crossing the Sierra Nevadas via Route 88, a very nice winding road with several switchbacks. This took us to the East entrance of Yosemite National Park where we then traversed the Tuolumne Pass. There were many pretty sites along this road with many waterfalls, valleys and peaks. We spent most of the day on this pass. After arriving at Yosemite Village we hiked to Bridal Veil and the base of the Lower Yosemite Falls. Both were beautiful and you could feel the force and power of these falls. Yosemite Falls is the tallest falls in North America and the 5th tallest in the world. On the way back to Lake Tahoe we took route 301, which is also a very winding road. It took us to over 10,000 ft elevation. It was a shame we could not have seen this section during the daylight. We arrived back at the condo around 2:00 AM. This was a very long day for us, but worth the travel time to see such beautiful sites.
Friday, June 30 – Friday was a day of rest, shopping, swimming in the pool, soothing our tired bodies in the Jacuzzi, and doing laundry.
Saturday, July 1 – Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe Heavenly Valley Gondola ride afforded us a lovely view of Lake Tahoe and surrounding snow-capped mountains. Elevation was in the mid-nine-thousand feet. The gondolas are six-passenger models, and we experienced the ride both facing up and facing down. Both were equally impressive. Travel to San Francisco was over roads we traversed coming here in the dark and they were much better this time. It was the fourth-of-July weekend and the line of cars going to Lake Tahoe was endless. Traveling in our direction was much better.
Sunday, July 2
We acted like typical San Francisco tourist and visited many of the local sites. We started with a ride up to Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. The tower is a monument shaped like the nozzle of a fire hose and is dedicated to the Fireman. Lombard Street is billed as “the world’s most crooked street” and is probably experienced by every tourist in the San Francisco area. It is very short and is lined by some high-priced homes and gorgeous flowers. Ghirardelli Square was very nice with its many unique stores and the Maritime Museum was a pleasant surprise filled with many historical artifacts on maritime US travel from East to West.
We had a very nice lunch at the famous Mel’s Diner, from the movie, American Graffiti. Golden Gate National Park is another popular site and those visiting it won’t be disappointed. It was extremely windy and surprisingly cold for July. We were told by many that it is quite normal and much preferred by the natives. At first, I was skeptical but by the end of the week I was used to the searing sunshine during the day and wearing-a-jacket weather at night. The Golden Gate Bridge is as long in person as it is in the pictures and traffic moves at a rapid pace. The views are of Alcatraz and the San Francisco skyline. The Palace of Fine Arts consists of several buildings, the one with the dome being the centerpiece. It looks much nicer from a distance and has been featured in some movies I’ve seen. China Town is very quaint and is full of every gewgaw, chachka, and souvenir you can imagine, from the cheap tee shirt to the multi-thousand-dollar hand-carved ivory, five-foot tall masterpiece. We had dinner at Kan’s and took a lot of food back to the condo.
Monday, July 3 – Hearst Castle & South Pacific Coast Highway
Hearst Castle was William Randolph Hurst’s home. He lived there with his actress mistress, Marion Davies, for a number of years, while his wife spent time elsewhere with their 5 sons. He entertained many famous people, including most of Hollywood’s superstars. We took the “overview” guided tour, sampling a little of the whole castle. The Neptune & Roman pools were very impressive. Marble columns and statues lined the Neptune pool, and the Roman Pool has 24K gold inlaid in the tile of the pool bottom and deck. Guests were welcome to stay as long as they wished, but at meals the further away you sat from William the closer you were to overstaying your welcome. It is a very lavish palace, but we still prefer the Biltmore house for its elegance.
On our way to Hearst Castle, we took the Pacific Coast Highway from San Fransico to San Simeon. There was one beautiful view after another. There was a stretch of many miles where once you got on the Highway, Route 1, which follows the cliffs along the Pacific Ocean, there was no way to get off. It is worth experiencing. Just make sure you have plenty of gasoline.
Tuesday, July 4 – Alcatraz and Fisherman’s Wharf
Fisherman’s Wharf is a step up from a “tourist trap”. It has some descent restaurants, such as Bubba Gump, where we had a very nice dinner and some high-end shops, along with the normal stuff. It is an extremely popular place, so for me (Geza), once was enough. Alcatraz, originally a military fortress on the west coast with the first and oldest lighthouse, was a military prison from 1859 to 1924 and a federal correctional facility for 29 years from 1934 to 1963, where problem prisoners from other prisons across the country were sent. The amenities and privileges were minimal, and regiments strictly enforced.
We took an audio tour, which explained things as you walked along. The whole place had a cold and unfriendly air about it. Two of the most infamous prisoners who spent time there were Al Capone and the Birdman of Alcatraz, from the movie of the same name, that night we watched the fireworks from the Fisherman’s Wharf area. The display was unusual but disappointingly sparse and short. We couldn’t understand why so many natives flocked to see it. There were many police to watch the people, many of whom were bussed in on special buses.
Wednesday, July 5 – We were rudely awakened by the alarm clock at 3:30 in the morning to get ready to travel to the world-famous Napa Valley for a balloon ride. This was a special gift from Sonny and Maria for our anniversary. Sonny stayed behind to take some pictures of us ascending, while the rest of us anxiously awaited our very first balloon ride. Jake was especially anxious and didn’t calm down until we were in the air. The ride was very smooth and peacefully soothing, but it didn’t last very long. After the ride we were treated to a free breakfast and were given our balloon pin and certificate of completion. The picture we bought of us in the basket turned out very nicely.
— Napa Valley is a unique place, weather-wise, as there is very little rain and temperature is always cool at night. We visited the Robert Mondavi and V. Sattui vineyards. We took the tour at the first and sampled wine at both. Both Mary and Maria bought wine to ship home.
Breakfast after our hot air balloon ride. Sonny was our chaser (he followed the balloon by car to our landing site).
Thursday, July 6 – Muir Woods
Geza bought a new camera, just like Maria’s, and used it to take many pictures worthy of being used for postcards, just like Maria’s. J. Muir Woods is a half hour’s drive from San Francisco, but it is truly a different world. It is named after a naturalist and conversationalist John Muir, who spent a lot of his life in the Yosemite area, logging fallen trees. The national park is home for the redwood trees, which are truly a wonder of nature. Some of the older ones were standing when Christ was born, if you can imagine that! We took a little hike and, of course, took many pictures. —
Point Reyes National Seashore Park is one I had seen on a high-definition program a while back and thought that we should see it. It is a nice area, but we didn’t have time to drive to the end to see the lighthouse, maybe next time. The Pacific Coast Highway (the PCH or California Highway 1) in general, but specifically, north of San Francisco, is an experience in itself. The views of the rugged coastline afforded along the way are magnificent and its tight turns will challenge even the best of drivers. I would love to drive it again, either in a convertible or on a motorcycle.
Friday, July 7 – Grace Cathedral & San Fransico
The new camera used inside of Grace Cathedral worked marvelously well, enabling its user to take pictures in low-light conditions where a conventional 35 mm camera would fail to deliver. The cathedral is beautiful, and someone played the organ during the whole time we were there.
SF City Hall was impressive with its shimmering gold-trimmed cupola and imposing size, The Spinnaker restaurant was the reason we dressed up for dinner. It had changed some since Maria’s last visited, but the food was still very good, and the view of the SF skyline was beautiful.
Saturday, July 8 – Return home to New York. We arrived in Philly around 4:30 and were back in our own beds before midnight.
Final thoughts:
(Geza) – It was a very enjoyable vacation. We managed to survive without getting on each other’s nerves enough to want to commit a crime.
- I may have changed my mind about SUVs. The one we had, a Toyota Highlander, performed flawlessly, and was quiet, civilized, with enough power for the mountains, and afforded us enough elbowroom, once we discovered the third seat. The one time we measured mileage, it was almost 23 MPG.
- Maria did a great job of planning the events for the days. I guess, I’ll hire her for the next vacation, too.
- It was the most expensive vacation Mary and I had ever taken, what with the new camera, bowling ball bag, etc. I feel bad that I didn’t get Mary something to commemorate this trip.
(Maria) – I second what Geza said and add the following. We were blessed again with great weather, and I really enjoyed seeing the new sites and sharing the many other sites and memories with everyone. Even though things have changed over the years, this trip brought back a lot of fond memories for me and thus made this vacation even more special for me.
Click on image to see description.
