The photos were taken with my iphone on our first beach walk. I haven’t taken my Nikon to the beach yet, but will soon! This bird is a Willet and part of the Sandpiper family.
We finally made it to the beach! It was a long drive and we stopped along the way to visit our old home town and friends from my husband’s childhood and earlier days of married life. We hadn’t seen them in years, so it was a nice way to break up a long drive.
This is a Snowy Egret known for their golden slippers.
This beauty is a juvenile Gull. The specific type of gull will be known in a couple years when it loses its brown colors and turns white with markings and features of its species.
Another photo of a Willet. They were gathered along the shore catching a bite to eat between waves.
We walked on our favorite beach early in the morning before the sun broke through the clouds and fog. I can’t tell you how good it feels to take beach walks. Next, our son and daughter-in-law will be joining us. They met in college at UC Santa Barbara and love to visit and stay with us when we’re here. Our DIL surfs, so it will be a delight to sit at the beach with a book and watch her in the waves.
Evening Photos:
What a change from the morning to the afternoon. The sun is out. People are on the beach, but it’s not crowded at all. It never is.
Look at the American flags. Love it!
Is that a gorgeous view or what? All I need is a few dolphins leaping through the surf.
Ten years ago I was looking back on my summer vacations before we had kids. I’d visit my home state Washington and schedule way too much stuff using a Daytimer to keep track. I also posted photos from our 2016 beach vacation and noticed how much more relaxed I was.
You can read that post HERE. I was contemplating whether I should swim in the ocean with several sightings of great white sharks. Yikes.
We’ll be heading to the beach later this week. I’m ready to get out of this terribly hot summer in the desert and enjoy some fresh air!
A week ago, we visited our son and daughter-in-law in the East Bay. This was the line at the bakery before it opened. My son introduced me to this bakery a few years ago. Now when we stay at the Claremont, I make it to the bakery which is across the street, before it opens and they sell out of the most delicious croissants.
A couple times, they sold out of my favorite ham and Manchego cheese croissants just as I was next in line! Also, they serve sandwiches a few days a week and I’ve never been lucky enough to buy one because they sell out, too.
Yum! Fortunately there are plenty of other tasty items to choose from when my favorites are sold out. I went every morning and was thankful for the steep walk down the hill from the hotel. It made me feel less guilty making the steep walk up the hill to the hotel with a bag full of treats.
One of the highlights of our trip was the food! The first night we went to a Mediterranean restaurant with our son. Night two, I treated my son and DIL to a famous French restaurant. And besides the hotel that has amazing food, we went to Nob Hill in San Francisco for Italian. All were delicious. But now I’m so spoiled nothing sounds good to eat at home.
But the biggest highlight of all was spending time with my son and daughter-in-law including a trip to Sonoma and this park in Fairfax with redwoods.
Looking down the hallway of the Marin County Civic Center in San Raphael, California.
One of the highlights of my recent trip to the Bay Area to see my kids was visiting the Marin County Civic Center. I was surprised that touring a civic center was on the agenda with my son and daughter-in-law. But I soon learned that it was Frank Lloyd Wright’s largest public project and also his last commission.
Intended to centralize thirteen dispersed Marin county departments, the Civic Center project encompassed an entire campus of civic structures and incorporated ideas from Wright’s Broadacre City scheme of the 1930s. The three-story 580-foot long Administration Building, and a four story 880-foot long Hall of Justice together spanned the valleys between three adjacent hills. The flattened dome of the circular library and its connected gold tower (built to encase a smokestack and a radio transmitter) form the focal point of the plan. The concrete Civic Center’s pink stucco walls, blue roof and scalloped balconies are distinctive. The interiors feature glass walls and are arranged around open atriums in order to promote the transparency that Wright felt governments should promote. Though Wright planned the atriums to be open to the sky, practical considerations saw barrel-vaulted skylights put in following Wright’s death. Construction was carried out by William Wesley Peters and Aaron Green. The Hall of Justice was completed in 1969, the Veterans Memorial Auditorium opened in 1971, and the Exhibit Hall opened in 1976. The site also includes a circular post office, Wright’s only commission for a national U.S. government facility. https://franklloydwright.org/site/marin-county-civic-center/
This was a model of the Marin County Civic Center I discovered outside of the library.
A committee interviewed 26 architectural firms in 1956 to select an architect for the civic center. Peter Neutra was the lead candidate. Frank Lloyd Wright was not interviewed and refused to participate in a competitive selection. Wright had an ardent supporter on the Board of Supervisors but it was a battle to get him appointed as the architect. Wright eventually earned the commission and was directed to proceed with detailed design on April 28, 1958. In March 1959 Wright was appointed to design the post office. On April 9, 1959, Wright died at age 91. The Civic Center continued under the direction of two of Wright’s architects, Wesley Peters and Aaron Green.
Here’s a view of a spire through the ceiling glass. We have a Frank Lloyd Wright spire at a shopping center in Scottsdale. That spire was originally planned for a capitol building that Wright designed without anyone asking for it. His project was never approved or brought to life, but the spire was built.
This is the library in the civic center. We walked the entire length of the building and saw the sheriffs department, attorney general’s office, library, a state senator’s office, cafeteria, court house and government agencies including financial, community services and administrative offices.
Next to the large building is the jail. Isn’t that amazing? The jail is underground and a tunnel connects it to the court house.
Here’s s view of the spire from outside.
The design has been controversial with the blue roof. But I thought it was beautiful!
I wrote about Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s compound in Scottsdale HERE.
This is my favorite hotel to stay in when we visit our kids. It’s the Claremont in Berkeley. I was walking to the most amazing bakery across the street when I stopped to take this picture of the tower and flag.
They don’t make hotels like this anymore! This is the backside of the hotel.
The Claremont Resort & Club opened in 1915 as a grand 22-acre Tudor Revival landmark overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Known as the “White Castle on the Hill”, its origins trace back to a late-19th-century private estate that burned down in 1901 before being developed into the iconic hotel. — The San Francisco Standard
Isn’t it gorgeous? I took this photo from inside the health club with a gym, pool, tennis courts and spa. I was on an elliptical machine and you can see the window reflection across the photo.
I zoomed in on the city view from the strategically placed outdoor sofas and chairs where I enjoy peaceful quiet time outside.
The Golden Gate Bridge is part of the view. The main restaurant has a deck where you can sit outside and enjoy these same views. Inside there is a wall of windows facing the bay.
The hotel’s prices vary from reasonable to too expensive. It all depends on what is going on at nearby UC Berkeley. If it’s parents weekend or a football game — forget about it. This past week, there was nothing going on, so the hotel was no more expensive than any other hotel like a Marriott Courtyard.
This is one of many hallways on the main level. It’s easy to get lost trying to find your room because there are hallways taking off in many directions. By the time we are ready to return home (like today) I have it all figurerd out.
An early morning view. I’ll share more highlights of our trip later this week including a visit to Sonoma and the Marin Country Civic Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Have a wonderful week! What are your plans for the rest of July?
I looked up at palm trees while on sandy beach near Hilo.
Here are a few photos and videos from our family vacation over Christmas week. We visited beaches, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and lastly, I posted a video of two daredevils on Rainbow Falls in our rental house’s backyard. All I can say is WOW!
Flying into Honolulu over Waikiki Beach. I can’t believe how much it’s grown. I was thankful we stayed on the Big Island in a rain forest!
Kīlauea before the rain started pouring. Our kids and DIL made a day hike out of view points and hiking down into and out of the caldera. My husband and I stuck to the crater rim trail to see views — until it was socked in and we couldn’t see a thing. Plus, it was wet and freezing cold. I wasn’t dressed for the weather. I was thinking Hawaii in my mind. Kudos for the kids hanging in there and seeing marvelous sites.
Looking down into the caldera.
This was a video I took of waves at a beach called Richardson Ocean Park. It was very busy on Christmas Day. My son and DIL traveled further away with our rental car and hiked to a Green Sand Beach (Papakōlea Beach). We took a Lyft to the beach and met the kindest man, Eddie Spaghetti, our driver who was in his 80s and has lived his life in Hawaii. Now that we’re home, Eddie calls and sends us videos and photos of his grandson and other family members. We made a friend!
Richardson Ocean Park was 20 minutes from our rental home.
Here’s the story of Aloha spirit and why the beach park was named after George Richardson.
A little critter hanging out inside a kitchen window.
AND NOW FOR SOME EXCITEMENT:
Was I surprised to see someone standing at the edge of the falls. I watched the guy walking back and forth, scoping it out. Then his friend in a pink boat showed up. They took a few practice runs before doing this! Watch it all.
FYI, I looked up Rainbow Falls and learned that swimming is not allowed because it’s extremely dangerous. Thanks for tagging along on our Hawaiian vacation!
I post Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you missed part one of our Hawaiian vacation with views of our unique rental home, designed by two architects from San Francisco for their own home, it’s posted HERE.
Would you attempt a daredevil move like the two guys above?
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Aloha to everyone! We spent the week under one roof with our grown kids and daughter in law. This was the backyard of where we stayed on the Big Island. It was a magical week together making memories and mostly enjoying the sights and sounds of staying in a rain forest with Rainbow Falls in the backyard. We were serenaded by the peaceful sound of the waterfall, birds and what I thought were the noisiest birds I’d ever heard — but they turned out to be an invasive species of frogs!
I kept thinking there was a sound machine on — the kind people use to fall asleep — with the waterfall and frog noises! Someone could make a fortune with those sounds.
This is the invasive species of frog I mentioned. It’s very tiny and we found a couple frogs inside the house. I found this photo from a website called Horizon Guest House:
About the coqui (frog)
Originally from Puerto Rico, the coqui arrived in nursery plants and quickly became established, in particular on the Big Island. The coqui makes a distinctive whistling sound at night that sounds almost identical to its name (‘ko-kee’). This sound can be quite loud, reaching up to 95 decibels.
I honestly didn’t need to leave the property, but we managed to explore beaches, the active volcano in Hawaii named Kīlauea, a farmer’s market and went out a few times out to eat.
Our daughter, DIL and my husband did a nighttime snorkel trip with manta rays. I should have gone but I was not excited about swimming in the ocean in the dark, so I missed what they called a most amazing experience. But I did get an evening one-on-one to hang out with our son. He’s the one who did the research and found this house to rent!
Our son and DIL viewing Rainbow Falls from the backyard.
Here are some photos of the unique house we stayed in:
A view of the house from halfway to the waterfall in the backyard. I love the lava stone walls used in landscaping the backyard and also lining the driveway. Below are a few interior shots.
Because the home is in a rain forest, the three main parts of the house (bedrooms, living room and kitchen) are connected with lanais.
The kitchen was gorgeous — as were the views from every single window.
Below is a waterfall video:
Here’s a video of Rainbow Falls with a person standing on the edge to give you perspective of size. Rainbow Falls State Park is above the falls, where this person must have come from. Turn on your volume to enjoy waterfall sounds. I’m posting a crazy video of the falls Wednesday with this guy and a friend!
My husband can be seen (photo below) going for a walk around the property. He’s a tiny dot in the background on the lawn.
Why did I call this post “Safe in My Garden?”
Because it’s one of my favorite songs from childhood. Also, I had several very stressful weeks before we went on vacation. I felt so safe and relaxed in our rain forest (and almost) treehouse with a waterfall!
What did you do this past week to celebrate holidays or spend time with family?
