Iceland

In June 2016, I participated in the Road Scholar Photography Tour of Iceland.  Over 10-days, we explored the southern one-third of this stunningly beautiful island country.

We started the tour at the Blue Lagoon, traveled east along the rugged coastline, past magnificent waterfalls, glacier fields, iceberg lagoon and black sand beaches.  We turned north into the central highlands into multi-colored mountains, an active volcano and rift valley.

The tour ended in the capital city of Reykjavik, one of the nicest small cities in the world.  There is a separate blog post for Reykjavik following this album.

The tour was very well organized and we stayed in some unique hotels. The Eldhestar, a ranch hotel noted for its beautiful Icelandic horses was really special.

The two tour leaders, Eric and Petur, created an itinerary that captured the essence of "The Land of Fire and Ice" - both in its beauty and culture.

To view the album, click on "Iceland" below the photo:

From Iceland

Reykjavik Iceland

Reykjavik, the capital city, was the last stop of our 10 day tour of Iceland.  We spent 2 1/2 days here and being a very small city, it was enough time to see most of the city's high points if you are a fast walker.

The total population of Iceland is only 321,000 and greater Reykjavik makes up half of it.  I would unequivocally say, Reykjavik is the nicest small city I visited in all my travels.

The city has a world-class performing arts theater, several small but excellent museums, a hip and vibrant downtown core with a burgeoning high-rise district, nice residential neighborhoods, beautiful parks and bike paths, and a working waterfront.  Although small, the city has a big city feel without any of the big city drawbacks.

The city is clean, green and tidy.  Iceland has one of the lowest crime rates in the world with only one homicide recorded last year.

Iceland is being discovered by the world with tourism growing 20% annually since 2010.

To view highlight pics, click "Reykjavik Iceland" below photo:

From Reykjavik Iceland

NYC 2016

NYC was the first stop on my way to Iceland.  It's been more than 25 years since my last visit to the Big Apple and a lot of cool stuff have occured that I wanted to see.

High on my list were the new Whitney Museum of American Art,  High Line Park, Museum of Modern Art, Barclay Center and Brooklyn, WTC and the 9/11 Museum, and of course, a few Broadway shows.  There's been several new cutting-edge buildings designed by some of the world's "starchitects" that I wanted to see.

I also wanted to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and see Storm King Art Center (see separate blog post following this one).

Well folks, Mission Accomplished!  I was able to see everything on my check list plus a few other surprises I wasn't aware of.

I spent 10 fabulous days in NYC and some friends from Sactown (Peter, Susan, Tom and Lisa) joined me on this leg.  A big shout out to Tom - "Jersey Boy"- who grew up in the area and showed us some of his favorite places and eateries.

To view highlight pics of NYC, click on "NYC 2016" below the photo:

From NYC 2016

Storm King Art Center

Storm King Art Center is located approximately 70 miles north of NYC in the Hudson River Valley.  Storm King is recognized as one of the premier outdoor sculpture parks in the world with over 100 monumental pieces displayed on 500 rolling acres of the Appalachian Mountains.

The Art Center was established in 1960 by Ralph E. Ogden and his son-in-law, H. Peter Stern with the intention of creating a center for the visual arts and music.  The Center takes its name from Storm King Mountain, a majestic nearby peak.

Visiting Storm King has been on my bucket list for quite a long time.  My 10-day visit to NYC allowed me the time to take a day-trip to the Art Center.  Tom and Lisa joined me on a remarkable visit to this amazing sculpture garden.

To view high-light pics of Storm Kings, click on "Storm King Art Center" below the photo:

From Storm King Art Center

Yosemite 2016

With a near normal snowpack in the Central Sierra this year, the waterfalls in Yosemite National Park are flowing with great gusto once again.  It's been four years since this has happened.  Who knows what the future holds for precipitation, so if you are a waterfall enthusiast, it was high time to high tail it down to Yosemite.

I joined a hiking buddy, Surjit Dhillon, on a 3-day impromptu trip to Yosemite after the Memorial Weekend to check out the waterfalls.  A highlight of the trip was an 8 mile RT hike on the John Muir and Mist Trails which does a circuit of Vernal and Nevada Falls ascending and descending approximately 2,000'.

We also took in heady views of the valley from Glacier Point and Tunnel Viewpoint, and a drive to Olmsted Point and Lake Tenaya on Tioga Pass Road.

To view the album, click on "Yosemite 2016" below the photo:

From Yosemite 2016

2016 Amgen Tour of CA - Stage 8

The 8th and final stage of the Tour of CA ended in Sacramento after traveling south to north from San Diego.  The 8 stage, 700 mile route took in the southern CA mountains, the central coast, the mountains of Lake Tahoe and foothills of Folsom, the Sonoma coast before ending in Sacramento.

Stage 8 was won by Mark Cavendish, Team Dimension Data.  Peter Sagan, Team Tinkoff and Alexander Kristoff, Team Katusha, came in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Julian Alaphilippe, Team Etixx-Quick Step, won the GC with Rohan Dennis and Brent Bookwalter, both of Team BMC, in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.

The 4th and final stage of the women's race was won by Kristen Wild, Team HPU.  Lisa Brennauer, Team LPR, and Marriane Vos, Team RBW, took 2nd and 3rd respectively.

To view some highlight pics from Stage 8, click on "2016 Amgen Tour of CA - Stage 8" below the photo:

From 2016 Amgen Tour of CA - Stage 8

SFMOMA

It's been multiple decades since I visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).  In the 1980's, I used to have the "out of town" membership to the museum and would visit frequently.

The years passed and my activities moved on to other things but my interest in contemporary art has been rekindled with the expansion and decided to renew my membership.

SFMOMA officially reopens to the public on May 14th but as a member, one is entitled to a member's only preview before the grand opening.  We went on the 2nd day of the pre-view period and nearly had the museum to ourselves.

I invited Eric Saur to join me on a pre-view excursion to The City and we took my favorite means of traveling to the Bay Area - by public transit - the Capitol Corridor Train and BART.  We took the train to the Richmond Station and transferred to BART which zipped us within two blocks of MOMA at the Montgomery Street Station.

Brief history of SFMOMA:  The museum was established in 1935 and in its first 60 years occupied the 4th floor of the War Memorial Veterans Building at the Civic Center on Van Ness Ave.  It was the first institution on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th Century art.

In 1995, a new 50,000 s.f. museum building with its iconic striped cylinder and step-backed stone facade designed by Mario Botta opened across the street from the Yerba Buena Gardens.

In 2013, the museum closed for 2 1/2 years for a 235,000 s.f. expansion.  The seven-story addition was designed by the Norwegian architectural firm of SNOHETTA.

To view the photo album of our visit, click on "SFMOMA' below photo:

From SFMOMA

Fairy Falls Hike 2016

A swift-moving spring storm swept through Northern California the day preceding the April hike of the Sacramento County Hikers making way for an ideal day of hiking to Fairy Falls in the little known Spenceville Wildlife Area (SWA).  SWA is located directly east of Beale Air Force Base and the Camp Far West Reservoir .

The temps were in the low 70s, the hills were green, the brilliant blue sky was full of puffy cumulus clouds and the trail was a moderately easy 2 1/2 miles to the water falls.  It was literally a picture perfect day for a day hike.

Sixteen hikers participated in today's hike organized by Rich Blackmarr.

To view the hike pics, click on "Fairy Falls Hike 2016" below the photo:

From Fairy Falls Hike 2016

Mt. Diablo - The Grand Loop Hike

With heavy winter rains breaking the strangle-hold of four years of drought, the hills in Northern California are finally vibrantly green and beautiful.

Rich Blackmarr, the Sac County hike leader, selected the Grand Loop Trail on Mt. Diablo as the destination for the March hike.  Grand Loop, aptly named, circumnavigates the upper tier of Mt. Diablo and offers grand vistas in 360 degree directions.

The hike is rated very strenuous descending and climbing 2000' over 7 miles of pretty tough terrain.  But the superlative views from high vantage points makes the effort definitely worth-while.

It was a mildly cool but clear day at the top of Mt. Diablo and a fabulous day for a hike.

To view the hike album, click on "Mt. Diablo - Grand Loop Hike" below the photo:

From Mt. Diablo - Grand Loop Hike

NAHBS 2016

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) made its second appearance in Sacramento over its 11 year history.  More than 175 custom bicycle builders and bicycle related merchandisers took up most of the exhibition space in the Sacramento Convention Center.

NAHBS keeps getting bigger and better and with an increasing number of bike builders from Asia and Europe participating this show has grown to become an international exhibition.

If you're a bike geek, it was time to affix a drool cup to your chin.  The exquisite craftsmanship and attention to detail of the bike builders are beyond belief.  They are as much amazing artists as they are engineers/craftsmen.

Some highlights from this show are posted on this blog.  To view the album, click on "NAHBS 2016" below the photo:

From NAHBS 2016

Road Scholar Tour of Mexico

It's winter time in Sactown so it's time to head south.  Mexico City, known for its cutting edge architecture and modern art, has been on my bucket list for sometime and I finally decided to fit it into my travel schedule this year.

Road Scholar, a travel company I have not toured with before, offered an intriguing program which took in three fascinating colonial cities - Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Queretaro - in addition to Mexico City.

I knew nothing of these cities but friends spoke highly of them so I decided to sign up.  Five other friends from Sacramento - Tom Graham, Peter Saucerman, Susan Twining, David and Kristina Vandershaf - were also interested in the trip and decided to sign on.

The "Sactown Six" joined 18 other travelers from across the U.S. and Canada for the Road Scholar Tour named "Mexico's Orgins: Silver, Culture and Revolution."

Road Scholar tours are known for its educational component and our daily itinerary included lectures by a historian on the history and culture of Mexico.  And in particular, the relevance of the cities to be visited to its history.

In addition, two local guides led the tours of the sites we visited.  The tour was very well organized and very interesting.  We learned a lot over the 14 days of the tour.

The Road Scholar program - itinerary, lodging, food, transportation and staff were all great.  There will be more Road Scholar tours in my future.

Guanajuato, a World Heritage site,  was the first of four cities we visited.  As it turned out, of the four cities, Guanajuato turned out to be my favorite (as well as for many of the others).

From an engineering standpoint, Guanajuato has a unique street system of tunnels interlaced under the city due to it being sited in a steep gorge.  The city is a visual feast for the eyes with the homes painted in bright colors as it rises up the two mountainsides.  The architecture, city parks, lively street life, especially at night, made this city a most memorable experience.

There are individual blog posts for the other three cities - San Miguel de Allende, Queretaro and Mexico City.  After viewing each post, return to the homepage, scroll to the next city and click the link to the relevant photo album.

To view the album, click on "Guanajuato" below the photo:

From Guanajuato

San Miguel de Allende

The second city on the tour was San Miguel de Allende, a small artsy city with a population of 140,000.  San Miguel is a popular retirement city for Americans and approximately 9,000 ex-pat Americans reside here, mostly year-around.

We spent three days in San Miguel.  Being a fairly compact and upscale city with colorful streets, nice parks, and historic town center, it is a very pleasant town to just wander and hang.

To view album, click on "San Miguel de Allende" below photo:

From San Miguel de Allende

Queretaro/Bernal

The third city on the tour was Queretaro, a growing suburb to MX City with a population of 800,000. Many industries have located in the city's periphery but the historic district is well preserved and very lively at night.

We spent three days in Queretaro with a day trip to a small colonial village of Bernal, known for its towering monolithic rock formation.

To view the album, click on "Queretaro/Bernal" below photo:

From Queretaro/Bernal

Mexico City

Mexico City was the fourth and last city on our tour.  With a city population of 9 million and a metropolitan population of over 21 million, it is the largest metro city in the Americas.

The Road Scholar tour encompassed three days but we (Tom, Peter, Susan and I) added three additional days to see more of MX City on our own.

To view the album, click on "Mexico City" below the photo:

From Mexico City

Coffee City USA

Move over Seattle, Portland, San Francisco . . .

The coffee scene has literally exploded in Sacramento and we're not just talking Starbucks and Peets.

A remarkable phenomena has been occurring in the urban core with home-grown coffee crafters led by Temple, Old Soul, Insight and Chocolate Fish creating a coffee culture second to none.  These local coffee purveyors have supplanted Sacramento's original Big Four (Huntington, Hopkins, Crocker and Stanford) to become the city's new Big Four creating new history with the coffee bean.

Being a java junkie, I have been watching in amazement and delight at the third wave of the coffee movement crashing on the shores of the capital city.

It is not just the sheer number of new coffeehouses that continues to populate the urban core but the high quality of the brew itself.  The local coffee crafters of the new Big Four continue to score in the mid to high 90's in Coffee Review, recognized as the national arbiter of quality brew-making with annual taste tests.

When time allows, I have been photographing and documenting the growth of the Sacramento coffeehouse scene.  Although not totally inclusive, here are some of my favorites.

To view the album, click on "Coffee City USA" below the photo:

From Coffee City USA

AIA Downtown Architectural Bike Tour - 2015

I never thought I would live to hear the words "hip and cool" and Sacramento in the same sentence.  But believe it or not, Portland has come to Sacramento.  In the last maybe five years, and in particular, the last couple, downtown has been evolving into a lively and entertaining venue.

Midtown has been cool for some years but who would have thunk the K Street Mall would ever come alive . . . but it has, and with the new arena opening up in another year, it'll be unbelievable.

Sacramento will actually have traffic jams downtown at night . . . not just during the rush hour.

People are already crying about how difficult it is to find parking.  Uber and Lyft apps are going to be on everyone's smart phones, even for old geezers like me.

The other district that is quickly catching up to Midtown for millennial action is the R Street corridor which has quickly and dramatically changed from its former declining industrial base into hipsterville.

It was only a matter of time and with a new generation of young, hip developers coming of age and putting their money behind some really innovative developments, Sacramento is transforming its image from being a halfway stop between the Bay Area and Tahoe, to a dynamic city with a "there, there."

For it's third year, the local AIA chapter led a bike tour of downtown (and nearby) development projects. Most were in the core area and R Street.  But with the development momentum taking a wider arch in the new economic recovery, the tour took us to the South of Broadway area to see The Mill and to Oak Park to visit the Triangle.

Our tour leaders - Bob Chase and Peter Saucerman - arranged this year to have a few of the developers and/or architects of some of the major projects brief the group on their respective developments.  This was really a nice touch to hear about the background and vision for their projects.

For Bob and Peter, this was the third year of leading the bike tour and I would have to give them high marks for this one.  They are getting better with experience.

And with many of the developments we visited nearing completion and new ones in the pipeline, these tours can go on for many years without repeats.  I just can't wail until next year.

To view the bike tour album, click on "AIA Downtown Bike tour 2015" below photo:

From AIA Downtown Bike Tour 2015

Empire Mine State Historic Park Hike

Empire Mine State Historic Park near Grass Valley was the destination for the October hike of the Sac County Hikers.  Twelve hikers led by Rich Blackmarr participated in the excursion to the foothills.

The 856-acre park with a maze of 367 miles of deep mine shafts and tunnels, some as deep as 8,000', was once California's richest gold-producing mine.

The impressive and unique feature of this state park is the juxtaposition of the mine's rustic 13 buildings on barren earthen ground in contrast to the lush landscaping of the Bourn Family residence and gardens.

The park has a Jekyll and Hyde personality and the dramatic contrast between these two areas are unlike anything I had ever seen.  It was like visiting two parks for the price of one.

The state park in its entirety is a real gem and well worth a visit.  Within the visitor center is a crude but very interesting 3-D model of the network of tunnels and shafts and a audio narrative of how the labyrinth was created using "hardrock" mining methods.

The docent led tour of the Bourn Cottage and Gardens was very informative and the self-guided tour of the mine structures and operations were excellent.  Most of the buildings at the park have been restored.

Although the hike itself was short (2 1/2 miles), the outing to the Sierra foothills and tour of the state park were outstanding.

To view the album, click on "Empire Mine Historic State Park Hike" below photo:

From Empire Mine State Historic Park Hike

US Route 66 Bike Tour

US Route 66, also known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road was one of the original highways within the US Highway System.

Route 66 was established in 1926.  The highway became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago ILL, through MO, KS, OK, TX, NM, AZ ending in Santa Monica CA.

It was recognized in popular culture by both the hit song, "Get your kicks on Route 66" and the "Route 66" TV series in the 1960s.

Route 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, and officially removed from the US Highway System on June 27, 1985, after it was replaced by the Interstate Highway System.

Portions of the original Route 66 remain and been designated a "National Scenic Byway" or "Historic Route 66".

Recently, Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) released the Bicycle Route 66 map series following as much of the original route as practical for bicycle travel.

Through New Mexico, Route 66 is not one continuous roadway but is broken up into remnant sections interrupted in places by Interstate 40 freeway.

The plan of our group - Bob Anderson, Peter Saucerman and myself - was to do a drive/bike tour of New Mexico's Route 66 using Bob's pickup truck as our sag vehicle and cycle only the authentic sections of Route 66 and drive the freeway portions.

Quoting Charles Dickens Tale of Two Cities, the tour turned out to be "The best of times and the worst of times."  Everything was working as planned and the tour was fantastical until we got within 5 miles of Santa Fe when Bob got into a most unimaginable and freakish accident.

Long story, short - two cars collided head-on right near where Bob was riding and flying debri hit Bob's front wheel causing him to go somersaulting over the handle-bars.  He suffered major but not life-threatening injuries and after treatment at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Santa Fe, life-flighted back to a rehab facility near Santa Rosa where he is recuperating.

This put a real damper on the tour and Peter and I aborted the cycling portion of the tour in Santa Fe. Making the best of a bad situation, we continued some sight-seeing in Taos and on the long drive back to Sacramento visited Ship Rock, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Las Vegas and the Eastern Sierra.

To view the tour album, click on "US Route 66 Bike Tour" below the photo:

From US Route 66 Bike Tour

Lassen NP Hiking Trip

Steve Gibson has been the volunteer camp host at Warner Valley Campground located on the eastern edge of Lassen National Park for the past nine years.  As an admitted creature of habit, Steve takes his tiny teardrop trailer to Warner Valley every summer to administer his camp host duties.  He loves this life-style and enjoys the solitude of one of Lassen's more remote campgrounds.

Steve invited some of us "flatlanders" to spend a week of hiking some of Lassen's iconic trails.  I'm always eager to take "Musubi", my teardrop trailer on a road-trip so I took Steve up on his invitation.

Herb Lee, Peter Saucerman, Frank Gerace, Rich and Linda Blackmarr joined me on this outing.

Using Warner Valley as base camp, we tackled three of the Park's iconic trails - Mt. Brokeoff, Lassen Peak, and Cinder Cone/Fantastic Lava Beds.

To view album, click on "Lassen NP Hiking Trip" below photo:

From Lassen NP Hiking Trip

Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands Hike

It's an island I crossed a thousand times driving into San Francisco but never set foot on until today.  Yerba Buena Island and adjacent Treasure Island were the destinations for the July day hike of the Sacramento County Hikers.

Located literally in the middle of SF Bay, these two island's history is as colorful and fascinating as any of the communities in the Bay Area.

Briefly, Treasure Island is an artificial island connected by a small isthmus to Yerba Buena Island.  It was created in 1936-'37 for the 1939-'40 Golden Gate International Exposition of fill from the bay.

Treasure Island was planned and used as an airport for the Pan American Airline's Pacific Rim service of the famed China Clippers flying boats.

After the 1939-40' World's Fair, the Navy offered to exchange Mills Field on the SF Peninsula near Millbrae for the island.  The City/Co. of SF accepted the land swap.

During WWII, the island became part of the Treasure Island Naval Base and served largely as an electronics and radio communications school and major departure point for the soldiers leaving for the Pacific campaign.

In 1996, Treasure Island was decommissioned and opened to the general public and the property reverted back to the ownership of the City/Co. of SF.

In the 1990's and 2000's, Treasure Island old aircraft hangers served as sound stages and used in film and television productions.  Some notable films include Matrix, Indiana Jones and Lost Crusade, Flubber and Patch Adams.

In 2005, the City/Co. of SF entered into a contract with a major development company to redevelop and transform the islands into a self-sustaining city.

The master plan calls for a mix of low-rise and high-rise towers consisting of 8,000 residential units, a mix of commercial, office and hotel uses, a new ferry terminal, organic farm, wind farm, and 300 acres of parkland.

The master plan is designed to be as car independent as possible.

To view the album, click on "Yerba Buena/Treasure Island Hike" below photo:

From Yerba Buena/Treasure Island Hike