My Cali Trip (Part 3)

Part 3 awaits! Go on, read and enjoy! (Read part 1 and part 2 if you haven't already.)

This post's pictures are all from the outskirts of the San Francisco area. 

This is in a small city called Sausalito. It is right next to San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito has ferry rides in which you get a view of the Golden Gate, San Francisco City, and Angel Island. Sausalito has a great port and it's just a small comfy town. The thing about this picture is the weather. It's just so different from the East. The Bay Area's (the general area of San Francisco) weather is so changeable. (As far as I have witnessed.) There are these micro-climates that dissolve throughout the area. There could be up to a 10 degree difference from a 20 minute drive. (That was a bit exaggerated...but seriously...its drastic!!!) For example, in the morning, you could wake up to a foggy, cold morning. Then around lunch time, it would become a bit warmer and the fog would've disappeared. Then around 4, it could have gotten very warm and sunny. When it's night again, the fog would've somehow returned and suddenly became cold and windy. So... a piece of advice. Always, always carry a light jacket around. :) Anyway, about this picture... the fog is so spectacular. It's slowly creeping onto the house-filled hill. 

The fog looks even better in this picture. This shows what really happens almost every morning and evening. :) Just look at it..... The mysterious, thick fog lurking on the residential hill. 

I know I have this picture in another post, but I am re-posting this again because I'd like to say a few words... :) Public transportation. Genius idea. Absolutely brilliant. Whoever created public trans. is intelligent. I know I just discovered public trans. recently even though it's been around for hundreds of years. But knowing such a thing exists makes me feel great. It's assuring knowing that there is a way for people to go places if they cannot afford it or if it is more convenient than other ways.

 When I left California, I had ridden on a bus and a train for the first time in the US, for as long as I can remember. Riding the train was awesome. Waaay better than the bus. Taking the bus is just a little bit more confusing at first, but it can be something to get use to. The train is a bit more straightforward. You pay for your ticket depending on where you want to go. For the bus, you pay just for the ride (I think). The catch is that you have to take the right bus. I only rode the bus three times and it was all in one day.

 My Dad and my way of transportation for the most part that whole trip was through the train. We had a car for the first week and then the second week, we changed hotels to San Francisco. We realized parking was extremely expensive so we kept the car at a cousins house. It was really cool not having a car...having a car isn't necessary when you are in the city. Unless you are touring the place in a wide-spread area. Which is why public transportation has a beauty in all these big cities. We could take the train anywhere and get some exercise by walking to where we need to go. If bus is necessary, then it's there. Riding bicycles are also really convenient. I saw people taking their bicycles through the trains all the time.  

To explain this picture, this was at a Bart station (the subways are called Bart in San Francisco). This station was called Fruitvale, which is a very shady town. At the time, we had no idea. What actually happened was that we were heading in the wrong direction, so we stopped at Fruitvale to change Bart. Later on, I came to find out that Fruitvale is a rather shady area so it's best to avoid the station. Well at least you know I made it through because you are reading this post after the experience happened. 

This was taken at a hiking trail near Mountainview. I believe these are some kind of grass growing...or dead... Not sure because California is going through a drought and there's less water for the plants. Photographically, this is a nice picture. You can see the plants up close in detail and see that it extends to the horizon. Plus, the sky was absolutely clear which makes the background look like a gradient blue. 

This was the hiking trail up the mountains. When we first arrived at this trail, I expected a woody, dirt trail that goes up to the top of the mountain. What I saw though was a gravely, dry dirt road. It was still really nice because there were great views and challenging paths. The view from just walking for 15 minutes was rewarding. You could see the entire Bay Area. My Dad and I went only for about 4 miles because it was so hot there. I believe the whole trail goes for 19-20 miles.

This is the 15 minute view we got from our hiking experience. You can see quite far in this. The mountains in California are quite bare. So there wasn't an abundant amount of trees for shade. 

Ok so that sums up part 3. I just have one more part that takes place in the core city of San Francisco.