Hawaii 2009 via Riverside, San Diego and San Francisco

Our journey to Hawaii this year included some sightseeing on the West Coast in the cities of Riverside, San Diego and San Francisco. Most of our sightseeing was done in the San Francisco area before heading for Hawaii. Travis AFB is a beautiful facility filled with troops to whom we are thankful for their service to this country. We drove out to Bodega Bay and along the coast to Goat Rock. This is advertized as one of the most beautiful parts of the west coast. We visited downtown San Francisco, Telegraph Hill, The Golden Gate Bridge with the view of Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf and The Presideo. We made our flight and flew to Oahu spending one night and then on to Kaua'i. Kaua'i is called the "garden island" for good reason. It is very green and rural in many places and represents the true meaning of "Aloha". A gentleman explained to us that aloha means more than welcome and love.. It has a spiritual meaning of all that is good in life. We felt that there. We stayed on the Pacific Missle Range Test Facility called Barking Sands. It has some of the most beautiful beaches on the island. Whales can be seen from many sides and were of great entertainment to both of us. We spent 6 glorious days sunning ourselves and seeing all the sights. We watched the kids surf and the waves clash. We returned to San Francisco and then visited the Muir National Forest north of the city, the Pt. Reyes Light House and had dinner on San Pablo Bay on Valentines Day. We retuned through Riverside and then back to Charleston where our car was waiting for us. This was a wonderful relaxing trip and one that we will remember always.


The Presideo. These buildings date back to the 1800's


Fisherman's Wharf, Fisherman's Grotto.. Oh, the aroma!


Alcatraz Island taken from Crissy Field


The Golden Gate Bridge , San Francisco, Ca.


View of San Diego, CA. from the Coranado Bridge


At the entrance to Napa Valley, CA.


Grape vines blanketed with yellow mustard.


The Berringer Winery Mansion. Built in the 1800's
The Berringers were from Meintz, Germany.


The hills of San Francisco, Ca.


View of San Francisco from Telegraph Hill


San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge


Pacific coast along Rt. 1


The Pacific Coast, Bodega Bay, Ca.


Early morning on Ohau, Hawaii

View of Oahu coast from the plane.

Sunset on the west side of Kaua'i

Wiamea Canyon. The canyon measures 10 miles

long, 1 mile wide, and more than 3,500-feet deep.

Spouting Horn Blow Hole on south side of Kaua'i

Surfer on Barking Sands Beach, West side of Kaua'i

New sport of paddle surfing

Kileuia Light House is a bird sancturary

but is an excellent place to spot whales from

the lookout.

Mr. Whale showing off doing a peck slap.

One of the many bays created by the breakers

Pt. Reyes Light House, North of San Francisco

One of My Favorite Destinations.... Home

We are definitely blessed to have been able to see as much of the world as we have. This blog contains the pictures and tales of places we have been since puchasing our digital camera and starting our digital library. Previous to that we had been to Northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Austria , Holland, Czech Republic, VietNam, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico and Mexico. At some point I will get motivated to scan some of the pictures from those trips. As much as I love the traveling, my our favorite place is right here in our own home in NC. I love to garden and care for our home. We usually have some project going on around here although the older we get, the longer it takes to complete them. Following are a few recent pictures from around our yard.

Germany, Northern Italy and especially Venice

My hubby turned 70 in September and as soon as we got his big party over with... we took off on another adventure. This time our destination was Venice with a few stops along the way. We traveled from Charleston AFB to Spandalham, Germany. Someone mentioned a quaint little town nearby called Bern Kastel so we decided to go see what it was all about. It was charming and provided a full day of shopping streets and architecture dating back to before 1600. The town lies along the Mosel River and is surrounded by vineyards. Beautiful! The next day we drove down to Ramstein to see if we could catch a flight to Italy. Nothing for a few days so we set our sights on Heidleburg, Schwaibish Hall, Waldenburg and alot of countryside in between. Waldenburg is the home of my 5th great grandmother and where the ancestors were married in 1723. It was a thrill for me to stand in front of the alter in the church they were married so many years ago before coming to America. They had 10 children while living in Germany and then another 7 after coming to America in 1737. She must have been one strong woman!

We then got a flight to Aviano, Italy and spent two weeks seeing the area around the AFB. We met a wonderful couple in the airport and decided to rent a car with them. We spent a week traveling together and had a fabulous time. We toured the Prosecco Wine Road and a winery. We spent another day in small villages, seeing the sights. We took the train from Pordenone to Venice and spent a day seeing the sights from the water buses and visiting Burono and seeing all the textiles they create there. Lunch was a treat as we ate outside beside the canal. Our friends left to continue their trip so we spent the next day traveling north to Cortina along the Dolomite Mountains and then back through them in the direction of Avanio. Then back to Venice where we never used the water to get around. We walked through the neighborhoods in and out from the Grand Canal. Beautiful and something everyone should experience if they have the opportunity. Three weeks after we got back home Venice was covered in water. The worst flood in 22 years... We were blessed to have been able to see it in sunshine. After our second day in Venice, we thought it best we start heading for home. No flights out of Aviano for a while so we decided to take a train from Italy back up to Germany. Something that I have always wanted to do anyway.. so it seemed like the time to do it. We spent 14 hours on a train with high, wide windows that allowed me to soak up all the panoramic views any old woman could absorb. We arrived in Kaiserslautern, Germany about 9:30 PM after having left Pordenone, Italy that morning at 7:00 AM.. It was a long day but well worth the time. Two days later, we were headed back to Charleston with memories of one of the most interesting trips we have ever taken.

Bern Kastle, Germany

The Road to Waldenburg, Germany

Waldenburg, Germany, The Town Tower

Church Steeple, Waldenburg, Germany

Waldenburg Church alter, 1723 marriage

Jan and Dick at Castle Brando, Italy

Countryside Scene, Germany

Heidleburg Castle

City of Heidleburg in background

River through Schwaibish Hall, Germany

Ruins at Heidleburg Castle

Harvest time in Prosecco Wine Country

Burono, Itlay

Picking Grapes and showing the harvester the pic.

Beautiful Northern Italy, Wine Country

Lunch beside the canal in Burono

St. Marco Square, Venice

St. Marco Square

Water Traffic, Venice

The Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

We are in front of the Rialto Bridge

Venice

St. Marco Square from the water

The Dolomite Mountains

Parking a Gondola, Venice, Italy