Mendocino Coast

The last time we were there to take in the sunset at the glass beach in Fort Bragg, San was 7 months pregnant and it was going to be our last trip before Jr. was going to make her grand entrance.

After almost 7 years, we revisited Fort Bragg, the Mendocino coast in northern california (3 hours north of San Francisco) and a bunch of memories.

Had a great time with the kids. Now that all that non stop driving on windy roads for hours on end is over, it is time to literally chill with my girl Volini.

Leaving you with the panorama shots. Like the saying goes, a stitch in time..










Tried that one lying down on the ground under the bridge on the sand sweeping from left to right. Next time, have better ideas for this shot.. there are very few places where there is such an opportunity to be directly under the bridge to take a panoramic shot like that.. (just have to pick a cloudy day..)






















Except for the botanical gardens which closed so early we saw all the main points of interest over the 25 or so mile coastline.

It was a strenuous trip but we made it back within two days and still had a day to recover!

We have some choice glass pieces to show for the trip as well. Here is a shot of the glass on the beach (all courtesy of old glass bottles dumped thirty years ago on the shore and letting the waves do their job).




The glass beach is strongly recommended!


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Mt. Tamalpais - a day trip

We took a trip through the Mt. Tamalpais preserve in San Francisco two weeks ago with San's uncle.

From there we visited Point Reyes for the third time in ten years. This time it was a thursday and could take a lot of stitch shots, thanks to it being just me and San's uncle at the lighthouse.

First we went to the vista point on Mt. Tamalpais where you can see stinson beach and the entire lagoon! (we lucked out because the visibility was really good)




Then we went down back on route 1 to the Point Reyes Seashore preserve and after driving for another 45 minutes we got to the lighthouse. For the first time, tried a composite box stitch shot. Came out okay. Will have to learn and perfect this. (note that you have to eyeball where your last shot was on the Rebel XT! The old powershots will actually split the screen and show you the first shot to align the second one)

You line them up..



Hit Merge on Photostitch ..




and abracadabra..




From the lighthouse we went to Drakes beach, one of the most beautiful places we have ever been to!

Although Chitappa was in two consecutive shots, it stitched him in one piece! Lucky shot..(there are 14 images from which this one was made)




This sweep is from 17 images..




The rock side goes all the way to the ocean




and juts out like some dinosaur leg. Reminds you of Great Ocean drive in Australia.




We also saw a lot of birds and animals we do not see usually when we go on these trips. They were probably out because it was a weekday and there was no traffic.

We saw foxes, hawks, eagles, elk, deer, woodpeckers, cows!

These are not the greatest photos, but because there was this one lane road with no stopping, we had to rush it.













Happy cows come from California. Truly believe it now. If I got to graze on a hillside with such scenery in the background, I would be a happy cow too..

All said and done, a day well spent. Strongly recommended for a one day outing if you live in the bay area!


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Point Reyes Lighthouse

If there was a place that captures "Are we there yet?", it is the Point Reyes Lighthouse.

You start seeing signs for the lighthouse a good 21 miles away and the adults and kids start asking "are we there yet?" and after driving and driving and more driving, you finally get to the "ledge".

Then of course there is the climb down to one of the most amazing lighthouses we have seen! How they built this thing on the mountain face is just beyond me.

The coastline is just spectacular from the top of Point Reyes.

Here are the stitch shots.

The lessons here... when aiming to complete the grid with a shot of the sky, the focus went hunting.. should keep it to manual focus as well going forward.

Please note, these are not taken with a camera with "stitch mode" where you get to see a side by side screen split on your LCD! (the old S30 used to do that and stitching was so easy). These pictures are being taken with a Canon EOS 400D and I have to remember where the previous shot ends and the next one begins. Just using the old software to glue them together! Now that all the technicalities are out of the way... here!





Here is the vertical stitch that missed the sky because of focus hunting (there were 12 photos.. 3 vertical sets of 4.. but!!!!! incomplete.. someday when I compile all these composite shots, there will be a "best known method" that works consistantly)




The magnificent California coastline...


and finally, the girls on a bench on top, enjoying the breeze!


A memorable trip. Should go there again in nine more years and see what the experience is like!


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Nine years later....

Sundar and San go to one of the first places they visited as a newly married couple. A place which forever holds great memories...




We had a great time. Well behaved kids, nice drive, perfect day!

There will be more pictures (stitch ones). Current laptop memory seems to be the limitation. Also the whole lighthouse climb and back was enough exercise!





Was worried that the little one might make me carry her all the way back.. But she did 260 of the 300 steps back on her own and made daddy very proud!

As we were going there, we told the Jr. and the little one about how this was a special place for us.

Jr. : We were not there when you came here before?
Me : No. It was only me and mommy. We were just married.
Jr. : We were not there when you got married!
Me : That is right
Jr. : (continues to extend the first statement with a corollary).. if we were there, then you would not have gotten married , right?
San : probably NOT!
Me : ROMSLOLWDOWRORO!

that was Rolling on my seat, laughing out loud while driving on windy roads on route one!

Kids, sure change your life, almost always for the better.


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Pigeon Point and Gazos Creek

A photoblog of the recent trip to Pigeon point lighthouse and Gazos Creek.

Two more spots on California State Route 1, that made our hearts lighter. Thanks to the cousins for pointing us to the lighthouse!



















The kids really enjoyed the walk around the lighthouse, because it was extremely windy. They also loved playing in the creek where the water was warmer than the ocean water just a few feet away. But the tide comes in very fast and before you knew it, we had to make a retreat to the restaurant.
















Taking pictures of the lighthouse with the fog definitely requires a tripod, so the pictures shown here are not exactly great. There will be another attempt, hopefully soon.

Also, the stitch shot of Gazos Creek from the parking lot has exposed another weakness of this method. A constant setting for exposure results in an over exposed picture on one side of the ocean and an underexposed picture on the other side. Might possibly need some software trick to adjust the pictures individually before stitching them! You can see the fog rolling in towards us, the creek going into the ocean, the restaurant on the other side of the road, all in one shot. You can even see the lighthouse on the right side, if you squint a little. Just that the light was not captured right across the 20 shots from left to right. Better luck next time, I guess..

Would definitely recommend these places for a day trip, if you are in the bay area.


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Trying times

Had many a funny thought in edit mode over the last week, but somehow, never could get in the mood to post anything. No matter how busy at home or work, have always managed to post something here at least once a week.

Yet, once in a while things happen, so fast and in succession that you are just reacting at every level. Last week was one such week.

A colleague died of heart failure. He was 51 years old. Have not managed to get over it. He is already cremated and the funeral service is done and all we have is a plant at home which is now somehow associated with him. His family had requested that we give a live plant instead of flowers! When this was explained to the little one at home, she now points to a plant and goes "is that him?". I guess it is him, now that she constantly keeps reminding me.

Then San's aunt passed away. She was my MIL's closest cousin. San's uncle happens to be my FIL's cousin. As two brothers from one family marrying two sisters from another, they were all very close. San's aunt was struggling with kidney failure, had a transplant, and was living on dialysis for 15 years! She was an inspiration to all of us. She was only 54 years old! The very next day after she passed away, MIL flew back to India!

The kids have now come up with a song which they were singing on their own. (it would make one depressing videoblog). It goes something like this..

Bombay is in India
and we are so sad
Bombay is in India
and we are so sad
Bombay is in India
won't you get her back
1,2,3
she will be back again..

Jr. is a genius. She knew the last line didn't rhyme, and so made a real sad face to compensate for it. The sisters also sing the first two lines in chorus to give an added pleading effect. Maybe she was trying to cheer us up with her antics and song, sensing that the adults in the house are just brooding!

Just when we try to get things going again, open Google and see that Randy Paush passed away as well and that somehow seemed to be the straw that broke the camel! Not that we know Randy personally or anything, but the fact that we have been following his blog and his determined fight with pancreatic cancer and how the words "passed away" would keep resonating in our heads for a straight week! just sent the mood spiralling down.

Last evening, San realized that we could not stay in the house anymore. So we decided to cheer ourselves and the kids by taking them out to the beach. Thanks to the cousins, who came up with an idea to go to the Pidgeon Lighthouse on route 1, we drove for almost 2 hours, saw the lighthouse, let the kids play at Gazos creek and had dinner at a small but beautiful restaurant in Gazos creek.

That was definitely a turn around point. At least it took our minds off the departed for some time and got to see the kids smile and get back to ground zero.

This morning, we went Bike shopping. Yes, Bike shopping.

There have been a couple of new resolutions passed in the house after attending the funeral service.

1. Daddy is giving up his addiction to curly fries. Almost every day when he is at work in the lunch table, he orders a plate of curly fries and puts them in the middle for everyone to share. But fact is that he eats the lions share of the fries. Many a time his dead friend would remark "those things can kill you, you know!". Now that the warning is as real as it can get, no more daily curly's. Maybe, once a month, or at a restaurant....

2. There will be exercise! Hence the bike shopping. The whole family went and visited every bike store in the santa clara, sunnyvale, san jose, cupertino area, found out what daddy needs, and got him a bike. (Jr. has threatened not to get in the van if we ever visit one more bike store. She got really tired at the end, especially when she realized that the whole exercise was for daddy and none of the bikes being selected by her or the little one were being taken seriously by either parent). We now have a Diamondback Insight which daddy already tested in Shoreline park earlier today, and is very very happy with the bike.

3. The per capita potato consumption of this family will be reduced by 50% over the next quarter. Most of it is being consumed by daddy today and he will have to do the brunt of the reducing. Considering that daddy lives on potato, cooked in various shape or form, mostly involving a lot of oil, this reduction might send his body into potacalyptic shock! Maybe my system is a well "oiled" machinery and one fine day when we decide to take the oil and the grease out, it might start squeaking a little.. Only time will tell.

It has been one roller coaster week.

The most profound realization of the week was NOT things that cross my mind in passing like

1. Here today, gone tomorrow
2. We are here for our kids
3. It is important to stay fit
4. Stressing out over little things is not worth it

etc. etc.

These thoughts constantly cross my mind, but somehow subconsciously, I have succesfully learnt to put them in the background and keep moving.

The one thing that I did realize was how much I put San through by not taking care of my health. Somehow we have gotten used to our fights over my health that it feels like a rerun! This weekend, saw her face go really pale, when I mentioned that it has finally dawned on me that "I" should take better care of my health. For once, she did not go into the usual "I have been saying it since the day we got married. blah blah blah.." speech. She just sat there with a look on her face that said "Whatever. If you have realized it for real, I am happy for you!". It was a face that was tired of telling me, again and again.

Here is to hope, less potato, Sundar turning a new leaf.

May all those departed souls rest in peace!


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