San Francisco!

Hi All,
 

Well, I have had a busy week traveling from HI to CA. The ride was long but enjoyable. The weather here is fantastic- warm days and cool nights. And more beautiful beaches!

 

California is the most populous US state and the third biggest. It is the home of the giant sequoia tress, some reaching over 300 feet. More turkeys are raised here and more avocados are grown here than any other state. One out of 8 US residents lives here. CA has the largest economy in the states of the union and ranks the 7^th largest economy in the world.

My first stop was Fairfield. Home of the Jelly Belly Factory. They have art made from jelly beans. There are 100’s of flavors to choose from. We went on tour and saw how they are made.

 

 

Then on to Napa Valley (Aunt Gayle’s favorite area) which is considered one of the premiere wine regions in the world. There are over 450 wineries in Napa Valley. The combination of the Mediterranean climate, geography and geology of the region are conducive to growing quality wine grapes. Over 4.5 million people visit Napa every year.

 

 

We then traveled south to San Francisco. The leading financial and cultural center of “Northern CA”. It is 2^nd most densely populated major city in the United States. Today, San Fran is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, and is renowned for its cool summers, fog, steep rolling hills, cable cars, Alcatraz Island, Chinatown, the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman’s Wharf. I visited all except Alcatraz.

 

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay. It is arguably “the most famous bridge in the world”, and is an “iconic” engineering marvel. It has 4 tremendous 746 foot tall towers, expanding 1.7 miles. It was declared one of the “Wonders of the Modern World”.
 

 

Fisherman’s Wharf is also a popular tourist attraction. It is famous for its Dungeness crab, lobsters and Pier 39. Clam chowder is served in the famous “sourdough” bread bowl (Uncle Rick’s favorite).
 

 

 

 

 

 

 Lombard Street, is famous for having step, one block sections that consists of 8 tight hairpin turns and is known as the crookest street in the world.

Coit Tower is a 210 foot tower on Telegraph Hill in San Fran. It has been added to the National Register of Historical Places.

Love to all and on to more interesting places. This has been a great year for me so far. I do miss home but everyone is so good to me I miss each one I have visited with already.

Bear hugs,

Robert