"Every day we make deposits in the memory banks of our children" - Charles Swindoll
This blog covers September 2nd-25th, 2002 in the San Francisco Bay area as well as a motor trip up the San Joaquin River into the Delta Region.
Downtown San Francisco
We arrived in the San Francisco area on September 2, 2002 after a 9-day offshore passage from Vancouver Island. Here is a view of San Francisco from across the bay in the headlands above Sausalito. The Golden Gate has a $5 toll when crossing towards downtown, an expensive commute for those working downtown!
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| A view of downtown San Francisco |
Chinatown
Chinatown was a happening place with some cool shopping and a great start for exploring San Francisco. We had a beautiful day, in the high 80s.
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Chinatown in San Francisco
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Food sampling doesn't get any better...
Rather than eating a sit down meal, we wanted our day to be filled with different tastes. Here we take a quick break to eat Chinese-style BBQ pork and ribs.
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| Sampling Chinese BBQ pork & ribs |
What's San Francisco without the Iconic Cable Cars?
The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated cable car system. There are four cable car routes and one central power plant driving massive electric motors, which move the cables running beneath the streets. The cable cars grip the cable to go and release it when they want to stop.
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| Cable car |
No experience is more uniquely San Francisco than a ride on a cable car.
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| Chris and Sheila's great cable car adventure! |
K-Dock - Pier 39's West Marina.
When you think of San Francisco icons, the sea lions are up there with the Golden Gate Bridge. They are one of the reasons why Pier 39 is the top-attraction in San Francisco. On a typical day, you can find them lounging in the sun or piled on top of each other on K-Dock in Pier 39's West Marina.
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| Seals of Pier 39 |
Other modes of transportation...
Scooters for the boys have been an excellent mode of transportation so far on our trip. Joel and Gerrit agreed, especially whipping down the very steep hills in San Fran! We were able to cover many miles as a family, to the point where we all wore out at the same time.
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| Boys and their scooters |
Alcatraz Island
The infamous Alcatraz Island looms in the haze over San Francisco Bay. Afternoon winds on the bay often top 30kts.
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| Alcatraz in the haze |
Angel Island
In the middle of the bay, just northwest of Alcatraz is Angel Island, which has a very interesting past. This particular cove (Ayala) was home base for the Spanish survey vessel San Carlos, whose crew surveyed the entire San Francisco bay area for mapping purposes. Later this Island became a major depart and disembark point for the US Armed Forces during the Cold War. It also served time as a quarantine. Tioga is anchored in the background, behind Gerrit's head.
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| Angel Island State Park |
We hike the perimeter trail, which offers views of the entire San Francisco Bay along the 5.5 mile loop around the island.
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| Joel admiring Angel Island views. |
The Delta Region
San Francisco Bay is fed by both the Sacramento and San Joaquin River systems. The area is called the Delta Region and we decide to motor up and check it out. We have to pass under some pretty significant bridges....it feels like our mast will touch, but in the end we clear with distance to spare.
There are hundreds of miles of navigable water made possible by a massive system of levees and dikes. The delta area is largely agricultural, with farmers' fields some 30' below the water level in the rivers and levees.
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| Motoring up the San Joaquin River |
New York Slough
One of many anchorages in the Delta, we anchored here twice.
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| Anchored in New York Slough
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The water was both fresh and warm, perfect for swimming in the 90-100F temperatures we had.
We all love swimming in the super warm water and end up spending 10 days in the Delta region.
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| Enjoying the warm waters of the Delta Region |
School's year starts...
While you may have thought we were lazing about living the life of Riley, we were using our time in the Delta to get settled into our first ever home-schooling routine with the boys, about a 3 hour per day endeavor. Here, Gerrit works at a math assignment at the table in our main cabin.
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| Gerrit doing a math assignment |
While Joel and Mom work on reading in the back cabin. What a change from traditional schooling.
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| Joel works on reading and writing. |
Science experiment #1 - where does popping corn come from?
Way down a bank at the Potato Slough, we discovered enormous fields of corn. The boys were certain that the corn should pop, so we collected a sample and brought it back to the boat for subsequent scientific testing...
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| Exploring the inner workings of a cornfield |
Experimental popping results - NOT!
The boys later discovered in the Benecia Public Library that what we had was "dent" or feed corn. The other two types of corn are "sweet" and (yes) "popping" corn, with the latter discovered by the Indians years ago when a kernel left by a fire exploded into a fluffy piece of popcorn.
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| Will the corn pop? |
The trip into the nearby town provides the opportunity for ice cream...a welcome treat in the heat.
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| Gerrit enjoys his cool treat. |
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| As does his mom...mmm chocolate :) |
September 22, 2002 - Happy Birthday Sheila!
Back in Sausalito prior to leaving the Bay area, here we conclude Sheila's 40th birthday celebrations on a friend's boat with (finally) a Pina Colada!
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| Sheila turns 40, with a Pina Colada |
7:00 am September 25, 2002
Today, we departed San Francisco in thick fog after 3 weeks of great weather.
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| Leaving San Francisco in the fog |
Join us in Log 4 where our next destinations are to the south on the way to Disneyland and San Diego, with ports of call including Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Newport Beach.
