It was a bit quiet on my website this summer, mainly because I had a fun filled time… filled with great experiences, amazing vacations, exciting camps, city and museum trips, a leadership summit, and visitors from Germany and Connecticut… and while busy it sure was awesome.
This months I want to share some of the pictures I took while we were on our family vacation in California.
There is this saying,
“Leave nothing but footprints, and take nothing but pictures.”
of course that speaks to my photographer’s heart, and so that’s what I did, a lot. Over 1,000 🙂
We spent the first part of our time in San Francisco marveling at the ocean, the other part in the Sierra Nevada Mountains enjoying Lake Tahoe.
San Francisco, one of the most beautiful cities, was nice to us. Pure sunshine greeted us every morning instead of the expected fog.
I was surprised to find out that San Francisco is actually rather cool in June and July. I learned that this was due to the hot air in the California valleys forming a low pressure system which draws cool air from the North Pacific inland gifting San Francisco with fog and cool winds.
Even though our weather was phenomenal there was still a light breeze playing with our hair as we explored Muir Beach, the Point Bonita Lighthouse and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Muir Beach is a quiet cove, beach and lagoon. A favorite of the locals.
Point Bonita Lighthouse is located at 124 ft (38 m) above sea level at Point Bonita at San Francisco Bay entrance, near Sausalito. It can only be reached by crossing over a shaky suspension bridge. In 2012 they rebuilt the bridge with tropical hardwood and steel suspension cables; replacing the 56 year old bridge that had started to rust and deemed unsafe.
The Golden Gate Bridge is also a suspension bridge, connecting San Francisco City and the northern part of the San Francisco Peninsula. Additionally, the Golden Gate Bridge is also part of the famous Highway No. 1.
Construction started in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression and was finished ahead of schedule and under budget after a little more than four years. With its 1-mile length and its 746 ft (227 m) height it was the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world when it was completed.
It is one of the Wonders of the Modern World (as listed by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1994).
Lake Tahoe is a four hour drive east of San Francisco, and sits at the border of California and Nevada in the mountains. It’s known for its calming beaches and adrenaline packed ski resorts.
The area is absolutely wonderful – I loved the lake, the sunshine, the mountains, the colors, and the friendly people. Residing in a beautiful Airbnb apartment we enjoyed the more quiet north side of the lake.
Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America and with a depth of 1,645 ft (501 m) the second deepest lake in the US (only Crater Lake in Oregon is deeper). The clear freshwater gives it the deep stunning blue color.
For me it was a photographer’s paradise – plenty of white cupped mountains, spectacular sunrises (yep, I made my family wake up at 4 am) and sunsets, all combined with the striking blue waters made it truly picturesque.
Our Volkswagen Bug “Otto” accompanied us on this vacation for the first time, and he already gained some miles with this trip to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe…
He is looking forward to future adventures with us…
I hope your vacation was as amazing as ours. What was your favorite experience this summer? Tell me in the comments…
Live inspired!