VIEW FROM ON HIGH

We're on the road for my wife's birthday celebration. Given her choice of possible locations, designed to burn as many hotel and airline Frequent Traveler points as possible, she settled on San Francisco and the California Wine Country.

We're not meeting up with friends (sorry guys!!!), nor doing any really touristy things. This is her birthday week and so we're doing things quietly and to ourselves, save for one or two work-related things I'm going to be doing. Fun stuff.

Last night we took in a play, and tonight it's a late-night dinner at a jazz joint.

Slept in to 8am, myself. That's three hours after my usual morning rise.

I'm taking the lazy morning as time to get some writing done on the book and update various websites. I could get used to this.

The view from our window....

CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY

Will be in the Bay Area for the next few days. San Francisco and the Sonoma and Napa Valleys. (Burning off tons of frequent traveler points.)

For real-time updates, follow our Twitter and Instagram feeds.

One of our global favorite destinations. Wine Country, here we come!

MONDAY PLANNING

In two weeks we venture to the wilds of Northern California for a stop at Safari West, as well as swings by the Napa Valley and San Francisco.

Excited to get back on the road.

Welcome to Monday! Here are some giraffes to make you smile.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - WAITING FOR THE BART

Waiting on a subway train can be tedious, particularly in larger systems. The BART, Bay Area Rapid Transit, is not an extensive system, but it covers a lot of ground. Um..."underground".

Today we boot up our new tagline: "Awaken the Explorer Within" and encourage you to follow up on our Twitter and Instagram feeds. It's a big world out there and we've really only getting started.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - CURVES MOST DEFINITELY AHEAD

I've driven all over the Western Hemisphere, under all sorts of conditions. This is a sign you see in a lot of places, indicating there are curves ahead. Usually they mean just a handful of curves on a moderately winding road.

In San Francisco the sign may be taken literally if you're facing Lombard Street. 

600-ish feet in length, paved with bricks and featuring 8 curves along a 

one-way (downhill) road with a better than 25% grade.

"Curves ahead." In this case the sign is an understatement.

Drive carefully, and test your brakes before turning in.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - A DAY IN THE SUN

Pier 14 at San Francisco's famous Embarcadero.

Good place for an afternoon in the sun.

In the background are the Oakland Bay Bridge as it lands onto Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay.

MONDAY

The famous Westin St Francis Hotel, adjacent to Union Square, San Francisco.

Pic of the Day: Post Street Blues

185 Post Street. San Francisco. In B&W.

It's Monday morning. At 4am Pacific as I write this. Pre-caffeine. Insomnia. Just took three Advil.

I have jury duty starting this morning.

If it's a graffiti artist, they're toast.

Pic of the Day: San Francisco Fog

Not just an urban legend. This dense overcoat blew in and then out again in the space of 45 minutes.

Pic of the Day: Union Square in Shadow

Walkway around Union Square, San Francisco

Pic of the Day: Artist at Work

This guy was busily sketching the grand entrance to the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco. It struck me that while most people were occupied with the exhibits inside the building, he was taking the time to appreciate and absorb the exterior.

Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, San Francisco.

Pic of the Day: Cable Cars

The only "Mobile Historic Landmark" in America, Cable Cars are a fundamental part of the fiber of the San Francisco character. I cannot imagine it being the same without the classic "clang" of the bells, or a visual cue identifying the below image as unquestionably the City by the Bay.

Packed Up and On the Road!

"Life is either a great adventure or nothing."  
                                       Helen Keller 

Okay, I've been remiss. I admit it. I owe you at least two blog posts I've been threatening to put up for the last two weeks. Yeah, yeah, life goes on.

Just a handful of things and I'll get round to it. I AM busy having a good time and documenting it visually. If you're not already doing so, follow me on Twitter for the most current up-to-date adventures and posts. @stevebarber_tt 

(continued below)

High above Los Angeles

Landing at SFO

Many martinis

The Southwestern sky

Offroad safari in Sedona

These last two months have seen a marked increase in my travels, which is gladly accepted and appreciated. Sand Diego, Del Mar, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Phoenix and Tucson, just to name a few. Yes, it's heavily Southwestern, but any time on the road or in new lands is a good thing.

I "discovered", for instance, Albuquerque's reverence for its Route 66 past. There are several sections of the city which are breathing new life into the strips of hotels, motels and formerly cheap diners which marked the roadway's life during first half of the 20th century. Likewise I was drawn to find chocolate in the small New Mexican art town of Madrid (MADrid, for you tourists). The shop is appropriately owned by a man named Harvey Shugarman. 

Of course it is.

So.

In the next two weeks we're heading up to the Morro Bay area of California for a weekend of wine tasting and general falderal, and my work will take me to Las Vegas and Phoenix....and possibly El Paso if the wind blows just right. My little red car is getting quite the workout these days!

So to keep you interested and coming back, here are a handful of shots from the adventures year to date. Stay tuned. More chocolate, pictures and falderal to come.

Aloft over Albuqerque

Rock climbing in Red Rock Park

Cho-co-late!!!

Sopapillas in Santa Fe

Truck stop (and terrific huevos rancheros!)

Sedona's Church of the Red Rocks

VEGASSS!!!

Joshua Tree Nat'l Park

Sunset in Malibu

Aboard the Midway in San Diego

Disneyland and California Adventure!