June 27, 2011 - California Coast Part 2

Monterey.  We lived here two years in the late 80's while I went to the Naval PostGraduate School.  Good years!  It's a beautiful area.  Also, the professors didn't like to teach class on Fridays so essentially I had three-day weekends for two years. 

You can see the airport center right. During my student pilot days, I landed there in a Cessna 150 with my instructor on my first cross-country flight. 

 
I flew across Monterey Bay to avoid the Class D airspace and resumed my jounrey up the coast.   I wonder what happened to this barge that had washed ashore.   
 
There is a lot of agriculture along the coast north of Monterey, especially artichokes. 
 
Over the years, my high school buddies have had a number of party weekends at the Pajaro Dunes resort below. 
 
Those little white dots in the water are surfers looking for the perfect wave.
 
Santa Cruz beach and amusement park.  When I  was a kid growing up in the south San Francisco Bay area -- now known as Silicon valley -- this is where we went to the beach.  It was only an hour drive over the coastal mountain range. 
 
"The Big Dipper" which has been around for XXX years. 
 
The Santa Cruz pier.
 
I have never travelled the coast between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, either by car or air.  So this was a first for me.
 
Interesting little beach.
 
Para-surfers having fun.
 
P13
 
You can only see something like this from the air.
 
A big golf resort; I wonder what it is. 
 
Half Moon Bay airport. 
 
The entrance to San Francisco Bay is in the far distance.
 
San Francisco is on the other side of that ridge.  An airliner is climbing out of SFO in the center of the picture.  The smudges on the picture are from bugs on my canopy.
 
 
A golf course on the San Francisco coast.
 
Hang gliders are flown off these cliffs overlooking the ocean.
 
A freighter doing wifferdills off the coast. 
 
The first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge.  The dark forested area running from left to right is Golden Gate Park. 
 
Approaching the entrance to San Francisco Bay. 
 
There used to be a big outdoor swimming pool to the left of that building on the water.  My dad swam in it as a kid.  It is long gone now.   The veterans hospital is on the top of the hill in the center of the picture. 
 
The wooded area on the hill used to be part of the Presidio Army Base; I camped there once as a boy scout.  The city is in the background.  You can also see the Bay Bridge. 
 
And there it is -- most beautiful bridge int he world:  the Golden Gate.
 
On the north side of the bridge is this overlook.  It's hard to see in this image but there are concrete bunkers there amongst the trees.  They were built during World War II to house 16-inch guns to keep the Japanese away from San Francisco.  The war was begin won by the time the bunkers were completed so the guns were never installed.
 
Another good shot of the Golden Gate, the city and the Bay Bridge.
 
Alcatrez.  Famous because of the Federal Penitentiary located there from XXX to XXX. 
 
North of the bridge and also one of my favorite places to visit, is Muir State Park, and the home of huge redwood trees.  Looks a lot different from the air.  Just another forested area giving no hint as to how majestic it is from the ground.
 
I continued following the coast up to Drake's Bay seen in the distance. 
 
 
 
This area isn't developed very much. 
 
I saw a fairly large sailing boat and then I noticed this whale nearby.  It was at least two-thirds the size of the sailboat.  My family thinks it is kelp instead of a whale.  This issue has caused a division in the family. 
 
UPDATE:  A friend of the family Marine Biologist graciously provided her professional expertise on the alledge whale sighting:   
"After some critical analysis, my educated guess is that it is not a whale.   My reasoning goes as follows:
 
-During these months the whales that migrate in the SF area are the Blue Whales and Humpback whales.  The Blue Whale being 70-80ft in length and the Humpback being 40-50ft.  Judging by the picture of the sailboat, the supposed "whale" looks far too small
-Whales tend to surface with a purpose.  Either to spout air or to feed.  If that was a whale at the surface, he [Bill] would have most likely been able to see some sort of action.  
 
Thats, all.  Could have been kelp, or a seal, or (hopefully not) some human garbage. "
 
The point at Drake's Bay.
 
Looking north from the point.  But at this point it was time to head east towards Sacramento.
 
I crossed over Napa Valley on the way to Sacramento.  Below is a winery that I remember visiting on a fun vacation four years ago.
 
Napa Airport which has an excellent on-field restaurant called Jonesy's Steakhouse.
 
The famous Napa Valley. 
 
Sacramento can be seen in the distance.
 
Sacramento Executive Airport.  I'm on downwind for 29. 
 

Lynnette and my parents were on-hand when I taxiied up.  They had followed my progress via the web and SPOT, and could figure out my ETA.

As you can see, Sacramento Executive is a towered-airport.

 
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