Bill's Blog

(This is the twelfth post in a series about a cross- country train trip we recently completed)

(Click here to go to my Galleries for full-sized images, the ones below are thumbnails)

Miscellaneous San Francisco...

Store signs:

Wall murals:

Building fronts:

Jack Kerouac corner

A Custom House

Musee Mecanique
(Penny Arcade Museum):

She moves, she talks. The thing of kid's nightmares.

Etc.:

Can't go to San Francisco without taking a picture of the water.

Just after sunset

San Francisco is a beautiful city, but it can also be a very disturbing city. Looking out the window of the <very nice> Hilton we stayed at, less than a block away are the not-so-nice Hotel Mentone and Coronado Hotel. Look carefully at the sidewalk in front of the hotels. Those are tents and tarps belonging to homeless folks who cannot even afford the Coronado and Mentone. It is an encampment that has obviously been there for a while. Within a block of a very nice hotel and blocks from one of the richest shopping areas in San Francisco.    



December, 2017

(This is the eleventh post in a series about a cross- country train trip we recently completed)

(Click here to go to my Galleries for full-sized images, the ones below are thumbnails)

A quick stroll through Chinatown.

One of my favorite parts of San Francisco. Always alive and vibrant. This trip seemed like we were visiting old favorites instead of heading off in new directions...

Chinatown has some of the best doorways.

Dragon steps. We have visited this building, multiple floors full of little shops and stalls, before. Unique. Unfortunately one of the shopkeepers told us the building has been sold and was being demolished.

A Chinatown landmark soon to be gone.

Looking down is interesting.

Fa lun Da Fa? Whatever it is, it's good according to the umbrella.

THE Heart of Shanghai

Great painted walls.

Do you know how to tell you are in a good Chinese restaurant? When you are the only one's speaking English and you can't read anything, including the menus!

Sam Yup fascinates me. I think I have another image of this same sign posted several years ago.

Great facades on buildings!

On a side street hidden away. Not exactly sure what this is, but the colors are great.

December, 2017

End of Day: San Francisco

(This is the tenth post in a series about a cross- country train trip we recently completed)

(Click here to go to my Galleries for full-sized images, the ones below are thumbnails)

Chinatown is next...

December, 2017

(This is the ninth post in a series about a cross- country train trip we recently completed)

(Click here to go to my Galleries for full-sized images, the ones below are thumbnails)

A walk around San Francisco's Union Square...

Union Square was decorated for Christmas

The building is on a hill, making the perspective shift a little strange

Just above the door you can just barely make out Native Sons Hall.

This is at the corner of the building.

No more rhythm at Ruby Skye

New and old signs

Saks

An "unusual" statue

It was SantaCon weekend (25000 dressed like Santa doing a pub crawl). Union Square was a busy place.

Yellow flower just hanging out in Union Square

My two favorite people

And again

December 9, 2017

(This is the eighth post in a series about a cross- country train trip we recently completed)

(Click here to go to my Galleries for full-sized images, the ones below are thumbnails)

San Francisco:

December, 2017

(This is the seventh post in a series about a cross- country train trip we recently completed)

(Click here to go to my Galleries for full-sized images, the ones below are thumbnails)

The last, fifth day of our journey took us through Utah, including a stop at the Biggest Little City in the World, over the infamous Donner Pass, and down into California to just outside San Francisco. 

High desert before Reno

Side Note: 'Mid-morning pulled into Reno to an underground platform. The conductor made an announcement that we would be here for a few minutes for those that wanted to stretch their legs and for the smokers (Amtrak trains are completely non- smoking and the infrequent stops are the only opportunity for a few puffs). He warned everyone getting off the train, however, that whatever they did, DO NOT GO UP THE STEPS. Wander around the platform, look down the tracks, but DO NOT GO UP THE STAIRWAY. Because, he explained, if you went up the steps you would be in a casino. And you would have just enough time to put two quarters in a slot machine, come back down the steps... and see that the train had left.  

Following the Truckee River to the Donner Pass

Just across the California line, last stop before the big pull over the Donner Pass

Donner Lake- the infamous Donner Lake

Taking poetic license with color

Speeding by Donner Lake. Many jokes about what occurred there and the need to get by quickly.

The equally infamous Donner Pass

Peaking the Donner Pass. It took three locomotives.

And down into the California lowlands.

Old buildings beside a siding while we waited for yet another freight to pass

Last leg: across California and into Emoryville, just outside San Francisco. End of the ride.

Next stop: San Francisco, courtesy of our family Uber driver!

December, 2017   

Getting from here to there, our cross- country train excursion, was an amazing trip. I have been posting images and the story through a series of blog entries. The images in the blog are thumbnails... cut down images to fit in a blog. As such, they lose a lot. Now you can see them in my Galleries as full images. Click here to go to the From Here To There gallery. I'll continue to add images, all the way through the days in San Francisco and in Napa.