This morning we did our laundry but after lunch Pat decided to take it easy so David and I headed over to the Moffett Field Museum.
In the 1920s the US Navy became interested in rigid airships for ocean patrol. In 1923 the ZR-1, USS Shenandoah, was built and stationed at Lakehurst Field in New Jersey. Then in 1924 the ZR-3, USS Los Angeles was built and also stationed at Lakehurst. To encourage the Navy to station airships in the San Francisco area a group of local citizens raised $480,000 and bought 1,000 acres of farmland on the banks of San Francisco Bay. They then donated this land to the Navy as a home for the ZRS-5, USS Macon. It was originally called Naval Air Station Sunnyvale but after Rear Admiral William Moffett was killed in the crash of the ZRS-4, USS Akron, it was renamed in his honor. To house the Macon, an enormous hanger, Hangar One, was built to house the airship. Here are two photos of Hangar One that I took.
The hangar covers over 8 acres of floor space, is 1,133 ft long, 308 ft. wide and 198 ft. high. Both Hangar One and the USS Macon were completed in 1933. Unfortunately, all of the Navy's plans came to nothing as the three large airships thy had built crashed, the USS Shenandoah in 1925, the USS Akron in 1933 and the USS Macon in 1935. After this Moffett Field was transferred to the US Army who used it as a training base.
After the start of World War II, the Navy regained control of the field for use in anti-submarine warfare. The Navy's premier anti-submarine patrol aircraft, the P-2V Neptune and P-3C Orion were stationed here. Here is a photo I took of a Orion outside the museum.
In 1994, the Navy left Moffett Field and it was turned over to NASA's Ames Research Center.
In 2012, the exterior skin of Hangar One was removed as part of a restoration project. In 2014, NASA leased Moffett Field and Hangar One to Planetary Ventures a subsidiary of Google and they are in the process of cleaning up hazardous chemicals from the hangar in preparation for restoration.
Adjacent to the Moffett Museum was a lot with some historical NASA aircraft, including this U-2.
And this F-104 Starfighter.
After this we did some grocery shopping at the Moffett Field Commissary and then called it a day.
This morning we headed across the Santa Cruz Mountains to the coast to visit Half Moon Bay and then drive up the coast to Golden Gate Park just west of San Francisco. Our first stop was Pillar Point on the north edge of Half Moon Bay. Pillar Point is the peninsula that forms the northern border of the bay. Here is a photo from Wikipedia that shows the bay with the peninsula at the north end.
On top of the bluffs at the end of the peninsula is Pillar Point Air Force Station that has radars and large dish antennas for receiving telemetry from satellites, missiles and boosters that are launched out of Vandenberg AFB 250 miles to the south. This site was originally built as a fire control site for the harbor defenses of San Francisco and provided azimuth data to coastal batteries that protected San Francisco during World War II. Here is a photo I downloaded from the web that shows the current configuration of the station.
On the south side of the peninsula is Pillar Point harbor. Here is an aerial view of the harbor that I down loaded from Wikipedia..
We walked out along the south edge of the peninsula so we could get a better look at the breakwater and the end of the peninsula. Here is a photo of the breakwater on the north side of the harbor.
And some fishermen trying their luck out on the breakwater.
And here is the marker and fog horn at the entrance to the harbor.
Here is a photo of the commercial fishing pier inside the harbor.
Off the end of the peninsula are a group of rocks and here you can see the surf breaking on them.
And a fishing boat working its way past the point.
What Pillar Point is famous for is the world class surfing that happens offshore in the winter. Apparently, the configuration of the seafloor forces the waves to build to enormous size about two miles offshore. This site is know as Mavericks and waves routinely top 25 ft. and can reach 60 ft. during winter storms. Conditions permitting there is an invitation only big wave surfing contest every winter. There is even a movie that was made about Mavericks. Here is a link to the trailer.
Or if you want to see the whole movie, here is the link:
And here is a photo I was able to download showing the size of the waves. If you look closely you can see a surfer
Unfortunately, a couple of big name surfers have lost their lives trying to surf Mavericks
Continuing up the coast we came to an overlook where I took this photo of the beach and the coastal bluffs in this area.
After this we headed up the coast on California 1. Our next stop was the Devil's Slide Trail. This is a section of the coast where CA 1 had been cut into the bluffs along the coast. However, frequent slides forced the state to move the highway back from the coast and route it thru tunnels. They then took the old road and converted it to a walking trail. Here is a photo of the start of the trail.
You can see why they had trouble with slides as the bluffs in this area are very sheer and the rock very crumbly. Here is a photo of our son David on the trail. This area was very windy and cold and we had to button up our jackets to stay warm.
Here is a photo looking north up the coast.
And some of the offshore rocks.
The rocks had lots of birds on them and their dropping stain the rocks white.
There were two guys flying one of the quad rotor drones over the shoreline. They really knew what they were doing as they flew the drone out to sea until it was just a speck and then brought it back and did it again and again. The trail we were standing on was the only place that they could land as everything else was either ocean or cliff. At one point they climbed up into the clouds and you could not see the drone at all but eventually brought it in for a safe landing.
A little further up the trail we had this spectacular view of the coastline to the north.
More bird infested rocks.
And the coastline to the south.
We then stopped in the town of Pacifica for lunch. and then continued up the coast to Golden Gate Park with our first stop at Fort Funston.
The land for this fort was purchased in 1900 and was used for coastal defense during World War I and II and in the 1950s and early 60s it had a Nike anti aircraft missile battery. What it is famous for now is as a world class hang gliding spot on top of the 200 ft. tall bluffs along the shore. The prevailing winds are on shore and when they hit the bluffs they create tremendous updrafts that the hang gliders use to fly. The secret of hang gliding is that the vertical velocity of the updraft along the face of the bluffs is higher than the rate of descent that the glider is capable of, i.e., the glider is always falling but the updraft that it is flying in is rising faster than it is falling. Here you see several hang gliders awaiting their turn to fly. They set up behind the row of trees to keep out of the breeze.
When it is your turn to fly, you strap yourself into the glider and then take a running start for the cliff edge as you can see this pilot doing.
The updraft then catches you and off you go soaring up and down the beach. You have to fly along the edge of the bluffs as that is where the updraft is. If you get too far out or get behind the bluffs you loose the updraft and have to land. However, once you are in the updraft you can cruise for as long as you want.
They also have two man versions and here you see two guys getting ready to jump off he cliff.
And here they are cruising effortlessly along.
During World War I and II they had gun batteries installed on these bluffs to protect San Francisco Harbor. Here is David standing in front of the land side of Battery Davis which was built in 1938 and housed a 16" gun with a range of 26 miles. It fired a shell weighing 2,400 lbs. There was a second gun emplacement 600 yards up the beach.
Here is the interior of the battery.
And here is a view of the ocean side of the battery.
And here is what it looked like in 1948.
We then continued our drive up the coast all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. And here you see a photo I took of the bridge.
This photo shows what is left of Battery Marcus Miller. This gun battery was completed in 1897 and had three 10" guns for protection of the entrance to San Francisco Bay. The guns were removed in 1920.
This is Battery Boutelle which was completed in 1900 and had three 5" rapid fire guns that were designed to defend against mine sweepers and fast torpedo boats. It lost its guns in 1917 as they were needed in the field during World War I.
We then drove into the Presidio. This Army fort was originally built by the Spanish in 1776, passed to the Mexicans and then to the US in 1848. In 1994, the Army left and the Presidio became part of the Golden Gate National Park. This photo is of one of the old officer's houses that line the Lincoln Avenue right along the coast and overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. The Presidio had a lot of living quarters for the officers and enlisted and their families. Today, those quarters have been refurbished and can be rented. Prices range from $3,200/month for a one bedroom 600 sq. ft. apartment to $11,500/month for a four bedroom 2-1/2 bath, 3,700 sq. ft. house.
This photo is of Torpedo Wharf. There has been a pier at this location since 1854. It was originally built to aid in the construction of Fort Point. It got its name when the Army built a submarine mine depot next to it around 1908 and used it to load mines on ships which would then plant them around the harbor as a defensive measure. The current pier was built in 1941. Today it is used as a great place to take a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge or to go crabbing or fishing..
Here is one of the ferries that you see running all over the bay taking passengers across the bay. If you look closely you can see a brave wind surfer skimming along just in front of the ferry and out in the middle of the bay.
Here is a photo of Alcatraz.
And a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge taken from the Torpedo Wharf.
After this we headed into San Francisco to one of our favorite Pho restaurants,
Tomorrow is going to be laundry day as we are running out of underwear.
This morning we went to Mass at the old church in Menlo Park and then grabbed some lunch. After lunch we drove to San Jose to visit the Rosicrucian's Egyptian Museum.
The Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, according to their web page is a community of mystics who study and practice the metaphysical laws governing the universe.Again from their web site their studies include: The Mysteries of Birth and Death, The Illusory Nature of Time and Space, Awakening of the Psychic Consciousness, Human Consciousness and Cosmic Consciousness, Mystical Power of Vowel Sounds and Mantras, The Creative Power of Visualization, Influence of Thoughts on Health, Development of the Intuition, Psychology and Mysticism, Metaphysical Healing, Sacred Architecture and Spiritual Alchemy. AMORC stands for Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. This group in San Jose was founded in 1915 but claims a legacy going back to the 17th century. It has a compound in the city that dates from the 1930s that includes an Egyptian Museum, a Planetarium, a Peace Garden, a Labyrinth, Library and the Grand Temple. Here is a photo I took of the entrance to the Egyptian Museum.
It's a good museum and was built here as the order claims some connection to ancient Egypt.
In the center of the compound was this pretty fountain but it wasn't working.
And here is a photo of the Grand Temple.
The Grand Temple is used for healing meeting and by the Council of Solace which is a group of people who meditate daily on behalf of others. According to their web site, the goal of the Council is to bring cosmic help to all those in need. The Council does this by putting certain spiritual energies into motion and directing them in accordance with mystical law and natural principles. We attended a show in the planetarium but they were just showing a NASA video on solar studies. After this we drove thru some of the area older areas of San Jose and then called it a day.
This morning we took it easy but after lunch we did some driving around and ended up at El Palo Alto Park. This park and the city of Palo Alto are named after a coastal redwood tree that is located in the park. In Spanish Palo Alto means tall stick and is the name given to the tree by Spanish explorers led by Gaspar de Portola on the expedition that discovered San Francisco Bay in 1769. This redwood is designated as California Historical Landmark No. 2 and was used by the Spanish as a sighting tree when they were laying out El Camino Real (The Royal Road).
El Palo Alto is currently 110 ft. tall. It was 162 ft tall in 1814 but pollution from coal burning trains and the lowering of the water table resulted it the dying of the top. Since 1960 conservation efforts have restored the health of the tree. The measured age of the tree is 1,076 years old. Here is a picture I downloaded from Wikipedia showing the tree and the railroad trestle right next to it.
That trestle is used every day by Caltrains for the commuter trains that run from San Jose to San Francisco. Here is a video I shot of one of these commuter trains.
As mentioned in our last blog post, we are now set up at an RV park in Redwood City, CA. On Saturday and Sunday we took it easy, did a little shopping, visited local places and spent a lot of time catching up with our son David who we haven't seen in a while. However, on Monday we headed up to the Skyline Boulevard (Cal 35) which runs along the crest of the Santa Cruz mountains that separate the Pacific coast from the Silicon Valley. From overlooks on a clear day you can see San Francisco Bay to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Today it was hazy so we didn't get a chance for that view. Here is a view into Silicon Valley. The mountains in the hazy distance are on the other side of the bay.
And here is a group of amateur artists trying to capture the scene.
We drove a section of the boulevard and then headed west towards Santa Cruz but first we made a stop in Big Basin Redwood State Park. Big Basin, founded in 1902, is California's oldest state park and contains the largest continuous stand of old growth redwoods south of San Francisco. These are coastal redwoods which are the tallest living organisms in the world reaching a height of 375 ft. and living for 1,000 to 2,000 years. Here is a photo of a slice of a tree that was cut down in 1936.
At the time is was cut down it was 1,392 years old. It was almost 1,000 years old at the time that Columbus discovered America. Pat's knee was still bothering her so we only walked a short loop trail thru the park and here is the beginning of the trial.
These trees are very resilient and survive forest fires due to their very thick and insulating bark. However, occasionally the fire does get thru the bark and starts burning the heart wood in the center of the tree. This does not kill the tree as it is the layer right under the bark that the tree needs, So you see examples like this of trees with the center burned but the tree still growing.
Here is an extreme example where the fire has burned completely thru the center and you can see straight up the center of the tree. The tree is alive and still growing.
Redwoods sometimes grow burls when they are damaged or stressed. The burls are basically buds from which new trees can sprout and sometimes they can get very large. Here is an example of one.
As mentioned earlier coastal redwoods are the tallest living organisms but it is hard to convey how tall they are but here is a photo that might give you some idea of how tall they are.
This photo is of Pat and I in front of the "Father Tree". It is the oldest and largest tree in the park. It is 16' 10" in diameter at breast height, 66' 9" in diameter at the base and 250 ft. tall.
And this photo is of the "Mother Tree". It is the tallest in the park. At one point it was 329 ft. tall but lost part of its top in a storm and is now "only" 293 ft. tall but it is still growing and will eventually be once again over 300 ft. tall.
We had lunch under the redwoods and then continued on our way west to Santa Cruz. Here is a photo of the light house at Santa Cruz. It currently serves as a surfing museum. This is where surfing on the US mainland began. The story is that a Hawaiian prince who was attending college in the area had one of the wood working shops make him a surf board and he taught the locals how to surf.
And appropriately here is a guy riding the small surf that was forming around the base of the light house.
Off shore there were kelp beds and you can see a young lady out there working her way thru the kelp.
Just south of where we were is the Santa Cruz pier and here is a photo.
One of the sea creatures that lives among the kelp beds is the sea otter and here you can see a photo of one floating on his back and eating something. The sea gull is hoping he will drop something.
Here is another photo of the sea otter. He would dive down, find something to eat and then come up to the surface and eat it. One of the enemies of the kelp is sea urchins and sea otters eat sea urchins.
Also in the area were seals and lots of birds and here they are basking in the sun.
Very pretty coast with sections of sandy beaches interspersed with rocking outcroppings.
Here is an example of a natural bridge that has been carved by the action of the waves.
More seals ant birds. You can tell which side of the rock is for the birds and which is for the seals.
Lots of birds decorating the rocks with their droppings.
Here is a cormorant drying his wings. Cormorants do not have waterproof feathers and so they get wet and have to periodically stop and allow their feathers to dry.
Here is a little mini beach.
Just south of the Santa Cruz pier is an amusement park. Not very large but here is a photo.
We had dinner out on the pier. After dinner we walked out to the end of the pier and found openings cut in the surface of the pier so you could look at what was going on under the pier. There were a number of seals resting on the pier supports and I shot a short video of the action under the pier.
And here is a photo down the length of the pier with the Santa Cruz mountains in the background.
After this we drove back to Redwood City and a good night's sleep.
