One Year Ago: San Francisco!

What's happening: One year ago I had the incredible opportunity to spend a week with my aunt, uncle, and cousins out in northern California playing tourist. I started writing this blog soon after the trip ended, and as I enjoyed myself so much, I have decided to write about my trip experiences in blog form. 

In this article, I'd like to share about when my uncle and I visited San Francisco proper - the Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point, and SF Maritime NHP. It was really fun to visit these national parks and learn of the history and culture that San Francisco is. It was honestly hard to believe that I was seeing the Golden Gate Bridge in person - what a behemoth! I particularly enjoyed the exhibits at Fort Point on soldier life and bridge construction. The architecture of the fort was particularly appealing to me photographically speaking. I hadn't realized that the Golden Gate Bridge is LITERALLY built over the fort!!



I had wanted to visit SF Maritime NHP for a long time and was thrilled when my uncle gave me that opportunity. The visitor's center was absolutely top-notch, and I enjoyed going on board several authentic vessels. One of them was even named "Ukiah", the town where my grandparents used to live! Later, my uncle and I found the oldest geocache in San Francisco, a big bucket in the middle of a public garden.

We wrapped up everything by watching sunset just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, in an area called the Marin Headlands. Combined with visiting Muir Woods earlier in the day, it was an exhilarating, exhausting, but incredibly fun day!! Especially because I got to experience these places with my uncle. It was great material to film and photograph, and I also had lots of fun getting national park passport stamps. Following are some of my favorite photos!

 The lighting was really cool at the fort.

 Really cool angle!!

 Nice lighthouse.

The Pacific Ocean...first time seeing it in 12 years!!

 This is one of the best visitor centers I have ever been to. Each room/section talked about a different period in San Francisco's history, and of course, the effect shipping and trade had on the city.

 This is the C. A. Thayer, a really cool ship with quite the storied past. Served in the first half of the 20th century (and go check out my YouTube channel if you want to learn more!).

 No apologies - I absolutely LOVED playing with angles here!!!

 Across the bridge once more, another cool national park to check out! I enjoyed learning about the different people groups who have lived in this area.

 What a beautiful sunset! :)

There's that famous view!!

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It was a fantastic day. After the sunset it was a two-hour drive back to Sac in the dark, but not without a stop at Chipotle for supper, thanking God for a fun day and incredible year. I honestly cannot believe how much I got done in 2017!!