Jim and I landed in San Francisco on, Friday night
October 26, to find David and Kris waiting inside the
terminal with big smiles and warm hugs to welcome us-
the trip was already worth it. :)
Friday morning we were at the local airport to take
an "air tour" over San Francisco in the Larsen plane!
Kris, Coreen, Jim
Kris and David
"Co-pilot" Jim and Pilot David.
Away we go!!!
David and Jim took the front row view.
Flying over the Larsen home in Danville.
Great wing view!
Two lovely passengers yackin' it up in the back seat.
Jim's "flying" the plane!!!
Just a small adjustment here and there...
"Look Ma-No hands!" says David!!
I spy the Golden Gate Bridge.
San Francisco!
Awesome view of the Golden Gate Bridge!
Fogs rolling in.
Alcatraz or also known as "The Rock."
Sailin' away...
Good thing those pilots don't need
back seat drivers!
Hey, hey, hey!
How cool is that to see those propellers pumping'!
Good thing too because there's the landing strip ahead.
David had the smoothest landing ever!!!
A view of San Francisco from the Oakland Temple grounds.
Beautiful sight!
Heading into San Francisco for the rest of our day.
Alcatraz Island seen in the distance from the wharf.
A bit of information:
Alcatraz Island is often referred to as "The Rock."
It was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a
military fortification, a military prison (1868), and
a federal prison from 1933 until 1963.
Kinda pricey, $40 bucks-per person, to ferry over
and take a tour.
A bit of information:
Alcatraz Island is often referred to as "The Rock."
It was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a
military fortification, a military prison (1868), and
a federal prison from 1933 until 1963.
Kinda pricey, $40 bucks-per person, to ferry over
and take a tour.
The Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
It took a little over 4 years to build the bridge and was open for traffic
on May 28, 1937. 11 men died while building the bridge. This set
a new record for construction fatalities where one man killed for every
million dollars spent had been the norm. On February 17, 1937, 10
more men lost their lives when a section of scaffold carrying 12 men
fell through the safety net. The most conspicuous precaution was the
safety net, suspended under the floor of the Bridge from end to end.
During construction, the net saved the lives of 19 men who became
known as the "Halfway-to-Hell Club." The cost to construct a new
Golden Gate Bridge would be approximately $1.2 billion in 2003
dollars. It has not been the longest suspension bridge for many
decades now. The 4, 200-foot long suspension span of the bridge
was the longest in the world from 1937 until 1964 when New York
City's Verrazano Narrows Bridge was opened. It is 60 feet longer than
the Golden Gate Bridge. In 1981 England created the Humber Bridge
was longest. Now the Great Belt East Bridge in Denmark, a span of
5, 328 feet, and a bridge in Japan are longer-Japan's bridge is the
longest at 6, 532 feet. There are many misconceptions about how
often the Bridge is painted. Here is what I learned. It was painted
when it was originally built and was only touched up until 1965.
Then advancing corrosion created the need, in 1965, to remove the
original lead-based paint. This removal took until 1995 to do-30 years!
There was a different paint component used in 1965 and in 1980 the
paint system was changed again. The bridge will continue to require
routine touch up painting on an on-going basis. The color of the bridge
is international orange because of it's visibility in the fog.
You can google movies to see who "destroyed" the bridge best in
their filming. :)
Family Fun Fact: The Great East Bridge in Denmark, mentioned
above, was opened in June 1998 and we drove across it during
the first week it was opened!!! This the front end of our
trip into the Scandinavian countries that summer!
Kinda cool!
It took a little over 4 years to build the bridge and was open for traffic
on May 28, 1937. 11 men died while building the bridge. This set
a new record for construction fatalities where one man killed for every
million dollars spent had been the norm. On February 17, 1937, 10
more men lost their lives when a section of scaffold carrying 12 men
fell through the safety net. The most conspicuous precaution was the
safety net, suspended under the floor of the Bridge from end to end.
During construction, the net saved the lives of 19 men who became
known as the "Halfway-to-Hell Club." The cost to construct a new
Golden Gate Bridge would be approximately $1.2 billion in 2003
dollars. It has not been the longest suspension bridge for many
decades now. The 4, 200-foot long suspension span of the bridge
was the longest in the world from 1937 until 1964 when New York
City's Verrazano Narrows Bridge was opened. It is 60 feet longer than
the Golden Gate Bridge. In 1981 England created the Humber Bridge
was longest. Now the Great Belt East Bridge in Denmark, a span of
5, 328 feet, and a bridge in Japan are longer-Japan's bridge is the
longest at 6, 532 feet. There are many misconceptions about how
often the Bridge is painted. Here is what I learned. It was painted
when it was originally built and was only touched up until 1965.
Then advancing corrosion created the need, in 1965, to remove the
original lead-based paint. This removal took until 1995 to do-30 years!
There was a different paint component used in 1965 and in 1980 the
paint system was changed again. The bridge will continue to require
routine touch up painting on an on-going basis. The color of the bridge
is international orange because of it's visibility in the fog.
You can google movies to see who "destroyed" the bridge best in
their filming. :)
Family Fun Fact: The Great East Bridge in Denmark, mentioned
above, was opened in June 1998 and we drove across it during
the first week it was opened!!! This the front end of our
trip into the Scandinavian countries that summer!
Kinda cool!
Pier 39 hosts some noisy critters!
But they are pretty cute Sea Lions.
The Sea Lions began their stay on Pier 39
after the 1989 earthquake hit San Francisco.
Being environmentally protected from predators,
it is a perfect living situation. The number of
Sea Lions grew from 300 to 1701 the all-time high
record set in November 2009.
record set in November 2009.
Fisherman's Wharf where we enjoyed the
Clam Chowder Sourdough bread bowl in the
Boudin Sourdough Bakery & Cafe restaurant
overlooking the wharf. Delicious!
Clam Chowder Sourdough bread bowl in the
Boudin Sourdough Bakery & Cafe restaurant
overlooking the wharf. Delicious!
Trolley car-nope didn't ride it.
A visiting sailing ship with a huge number of masts,
can't remember how many....
Guess where we went for dessert???
One of the Larsen's favorite stops in town.
Had to send a photo to Sister Erika Larsen so
she's knows its still here waiting for her. :)
We drove along the beach front and could see the
fog rolling in below the Golden Gate Bridge.
~Lombard Street~
This is one of America's crookedest streets
built this way for safety reasons. It is lined
with Victorian mansions that are some of the
most expensive real estate in the city.
Headed down the street.
Some of the beautiful houses and flowers
along the street.
We made it to the bottom, and no one got sick!
Here we are on the other side of the bay with an
awesome view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
This is the size of ship we sail on for our cruise.
What a wonderful day!
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