Time Travel 1893 - Philadelphia

Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, PA


Traveling back to 1893 Philadelphia
I Spy Tulips To Gladden My Desk
Little Changed Here - 125 Years Away in My Home-Time

~ ~ ~

Resources

https://readingterminalmarket.org/about-us/

Pinnacles The Old Latch at Bacon Ranch

The Ranch - Pinnacles

Ben's Wife Orea Called To

Him -Husband Supper!

Resources

Pinnacles is 25 miles from Hollister CA

Known for Condors, Caves - Take Flashlights-, Very Warm Summers

Bacon Ranch is a quarter mile from the Campground - It's highly accessible

Reservations for Camping are Challenging - Check Early 

https://benitolink.com/features/walking-san-benito-pinnacles-national-park-bacon-ranch

Stone Riiiiiivveeeerrrr (Field Trip San Francisco Bay Area, Stanford University, Cantor Art Museum)

"Stone River"
Cantor Center for Visual Arts , Stanford University, Stone River,
British environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy

(sung to the tune of "Moon River")

Stone River, wider than a mile

I'm crossing you in style

Someday

Dream maker

You heart breaker

Wherever you're going, I'm going your way

...

My huckleberry friend

https://news.stanford.edu/news/2002/january23/goldsworthy-123.html

https://genius.com/Audrey-hepburn-moon-river-lyrics

Fall Fennel - Sing it Gilbert and Sullivan (Palo Alto Baylands Field Trip)

Put on some good walking shoes.

Head to the Palo Alto Baylands.

Click on that Pirates of Penzance recording and sing along....

Foeniculi - Foenicula - Foenicula ha ha ha ha!

Fennel

It's just Fennel

No, I don't know if it's safe to eat. I wouldn't take a chance - especially as some of the nearby flowers are from the carrot family and look suspiciously like poison hemlock. Yah, that's the stuff Socrates drank and three hours later - no Socrates.

So just sing along. 

OK?

~ ~ ~

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Alto_Baylands_Nature_Preserve

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foeniculum

A fan of Gilbert and Sullivan Pirates of Penzance - I thought the song was called 'Tarantula' now am wondering..... Is it called 'When the foreman bears his steel'?

When the foreman bears his steel - Tarantula!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirates_of_Penzance

http://stageagent.com/shows/operetta/385/pirates-of-penzance/songs

Fall Colors: Redwood Shores (pickleweed, endangered salt marsh harvest mouse, San Francisco Bay Area)

Bay Side Pickleweed

Redwood Shores - Redwood City

Harbor for Rare Mouse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_marsh_harvest_mouse

Summer Previews: First Wild Rose of the Year

Pulgas Ridge, Mid-Penninsula Open Space, San Carlos CA

Wildflowers: Iris douglasiana - Hiking Contra Costa

                 

My daughter and I spotted Iris douglasiuna while hiking around the Lafayette Reservioir, in the East Bay. We live across the San Francisco Bay from the East Bay, also known as Contra Costa - the Other Coast.

Native Iris say 'late spring' to me.

Mule Deer Field Trip - Hiking San Francisco Bay Area

CA Mule Deer

Walked along Sawyer Camp trail. 

Made some new friends.

~ ~ ~

Sawyer Camp Trail, San Mateo County, Just North of Silicon Valley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawyer_Camp_Trail

San Francisco Field Trip:Academy of Sciences - Golden Gate Park

The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, provides us with an indoor rainforest, macaws, fish and reptiles from around the world, and - oh yeah- an albino alligator named Claude.

In Between Raindrops - Succulents and More Stanford University

Can you spot my happy pooch Jasper posing in front of the Stanford family Mausoleum?
He wanted me to show him off more - so I put a great big version at the bottom of this post!

The Stanford Succulent Gardens, known officially as the "Arizona Garden", is a great walk with or without a favorite pooch alongside. We're enjoying a short break between rain storms - though you'll never hear us complaining after several years of drought! - and this outdoor arboretum is the perfect place for a low-key outing. 

That Agave Americana- also known as a Century Plant - is so exciting to see in bud! Jasper Dog and I are going to go as often as possible to keep an eye on that once in it's lifetime bloom.

~ ~ ~

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_americana

http://bgm.stanford.edu/groups/grounds/special/arizona

In between our California Raindrops - Golden Gate Bridge Yonder

On a long walk to Fort Point with my three favorite young guys on one of the two days we had in between rain storms. 

Crissy Fields Beach, headed for the Golden Gate Bridge. 

A Classic Union Square Christmas

Take BART to the Powell Street Station then head up hill to Union Square
https://www.mapquest.com/us/california/business-san-francisco/union-square-265678973

Fall Colors: Hiking Pulgas Ridge - San Francisco Bay Area field trip

Thanksgiving doesn't get much better than a hike into the Mid-Penninsula Regional Open Space (http://www.openspace.org ). 

And what could be tastier than the sight of local fungi, toyon berries and local oak acorn cups?

Slow Travel San Francisco: Piazzoni Murals

I visit the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park every couple of months.

Mostly, I go to see just one exhibit, and focus on that.

I always, however, stop in to see the Piazzoni Murals: The Land and The Sea on the first floor. You don't need to buy a ticket to the museum to see them.

These are portions from two of the ten  panels, from 1931, originally displayed in the San Francisco Public Library. They are associated with the Beaux-Art style.

Finest Pumpkins and Art in the West - Half Moon Bay CA, Oct 7 - 10, Oct 15-16

The Pumpkin Festival starts up in Half Moon Bay this coming weekend - October 7. I have a lot of fond memories that go back to the 1970's of visiting this annual event. And it doesn't get much more beautiful than the San Mateo County coastline.

Town's Schedule for 2016 http://pumpkinfest.miramarevents.com/schedule-of-events.html

History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Moon_Bay_Art_and_Pumpkin_Festival

Time Travel Portal - 1915 - CA Tower - (San Diego Field Trip)

Looking for a way back to 1915? Travel up the stairs of the California Tower in San Diego's Balboa Park. Back to the time of the Panama Pacific Exposition, when folks saw the world through a pair of rose colored  - Beaux Arte flavored - glasses, International was another word for exotic, and California drifted like an almost unexplored cultural island.

Balboa Park San Diego (Field Trip)

Franklin Roosevelt 

Climbed these stairs to see Expo

Panama Canal!

Panama Pacific Exposition, San Diego, Balboa Park, 1915

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama–California_Exposition

Grenwich Time - Walking Jefferson Market Garden (NYC Field Trip)

I went part way along with Rosalinda when she headed off to her graduate studies Friday night , then made an abrupt turn at Washington Square and headed for West Greenwich Village.  Yah, yah, I know they call it "the village" around here. I was in the mood for a walk that involved more than window shopping, and I found it when I stumbled on Jefferson Market Garden. The garden is one of those hidden gems I always hope I'll discover on a ramble.

Backed up by the gorgeous historic Jefferson Market Library building, this secret garden packs a floral wallop in a compact footprint. Even in September the roses are still blooming in the sunny spots, along with varied colorful daises.  Hydrangea, a variety of tuberous and wax begonias, and a plethora of shade-loving flowers and ferns gather close beneath a green canopy. There's an inspirational greenhouse and pond as well - complete with water plants. 

 

 Despite it's small size a number of people, pups and kids had all managed to find a bench and a place to hang out and companion each other. I could have stayed all day, but the Boheminian charms of the West Village were calling.

Still Holding a Torch for You (New York - Field Trip)

Remember folks, The Bronx is Up and the Battery's Down

I've been on a prolonged visit to New York City, helping my beloved daughter, Rosalinda, move into her new apartment on the East Side of Manhattan.  Rosie's come to take a bite out of the big apple and pursue a graduate degree. I've come along for the ride. As much as I'm looking forward to returning to my California home, I've been savoring this ultimate big city experience.

One of my favorite discoveries was learning that we got an excellent view of  that celebrated Old Lady - a.k.a. The Statue of Liberty - from the cafeteria window at Ikea! Hey, don't you think the Old Gal must be getting tired of holding that torch up for everybody by now?

 ~ ~ ~ How to Acquire Apartment Furniture in NYC ~ ~ ~

Many of us are familiar with that new-apartment dwellers-shopping utopia, Ikea. Back home in California, we use our own car to load up our purchases. Over here in the land of 8.8 million people, it works a little differently for those without a car - which seems to be the majority.

Here's how my daughter acquired an assembled bed, compact eating table with two chairs, and a desk.

-  We called ahead to get advice on ordering on-web versus going to store. Nice man told us that if we ordered on-line, it would take two or three weeks, but that by visiting the store we could get a delivery date of our choice. Not wanting to sleep on the floor in Rosie's new apartment, we went to the store. - Give yourself a solid day. We went late morning Tuesday and it took us about four hours - though we did eat lunch first in the cafeteria. Yes, my daughter had already identified the names and product numbers for the furniture she wanted. Thank goodness.
-  Locate the various free Ikea shuttle stops in (our case) lower Manhattan. You can take a bus or subway to those. The MTA website might help you find them. There is also a water taxi which, I believe, leaves from Wall Street. Sounds fun but we were too exhausted to locate it after we heard this fun fact in the Home Delivery line.
- You might want to pay to have your items pulled from the shelves in the self serve warehouse area. We did not. The mattresses were really shoved in tight and I was glad I'd had a nourishing lunch, as I slammed my body repeatedly against one to make way for another to come out. Other bed pieces were pretty durn heavy. Between the two of us we just managed it - oh and my daughter had a stress fracture on her foot. Normally here, I work on being her feet, but there we were - us and those big heavy cartons that had to get into the carts. I do not recommend moving in this temporarily disabled condition. Given that fracture, we should have paid the forty bucks to have somebody else pick the furniture.
- Once Rose paid for the furniture boxes we'd struggled to load into and onto two carts, we thought we were all set. 

Har de har har.

It took an hour and a half to get through the Home Delivery line. Funny, it didn't look that long. But we moved at a snail's pace. It was like a Disneyland queue were they forgot to keep folks going.
- Rosalinda got the date and delivery window of her choice. The two men that came, schlepped the stuff up her five flights of stairs, assembled the furniture, and carted the boxes back down to her recycling area, were really nice. I practiced my Spanish with one of them. The other, who spoke English as his first language, communicated effortlessly with his non-English speaking helper. He looked to be of Italian ancestry. I've noticed many, many non-Latino folks in the area speak excellent Spanish. No, I didn't know before that 25% of people in the area are of Hispanic ancestry.
- Flat delivery fee at this time was $99. What a deal! Rosie also paid for the assembly - I think it's calculated based on weight. I've seen my husband assemble Ikea beds before and knew it was a big job, so I was really glad we didn't have to deal with it on our first day in.

 

Road to Half Moon Bay - Sanchez Farm (field trip)

Stock blooming at Sanchez Farm

Highway 92 cuts across one of the narrower sections of the Santa Cruz Mountains, past Skyline Boulevard and then on down to Half Moon Bay. Before reaching our destination we stopped off to buy peaches and admire the in-bloom stocks.