{"id":1190,"date":"2012-11-03T16:01:10","date_gmt":"2012-11-03T22:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/invertedsky.net\/?p=1190"},"modified":"2012-11-07T17:21:55","modified_gmt":"2012-11-07T23:21:55","slug":"train-trip-part-3-sf-bay-area-explorations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/?p=1190","title":{"rendered":"Train Trip Part 3: SF Bay area explorations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Huge number of photos for this post.<\/p>\n

Dave met me at the train station and we headed over to Berkeley and got Kate.\u00a0 There we had sushi and walked around downtown Berkeley and the college campus.\u00a0 I saw some eucalyptus trees that rivaled the redwoods in height and girth.<\/p>\n

The next morning, we headed into San Francisco on the BART.\u00a0 It was a gray and drizzly day.<\/p>\n

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The first thing I saw when I exited the Embarcadero BART station.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Alcatraz Island. I would like to go there some day.<\/p><\/div>\n

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View of downtown from one of the piers.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The other Dave said, before I arrived in California, "you fucking have to take Randy there."<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Musee Mechanique was loaded with antique coin operated devices.\u00a0 Most of them were quite strange and I suspect that most were only half-working.<\/p>\n

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Put a coin in and monkeys dance and play instruments.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Put a coin in and a drunk guy moves a little. There were a lot devices that featured animated drunk people and executions.<\/p><\/div>\n

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There were some Wurlitzer music machines that played music when you dropped a coin into them.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Unrelated to coin operated stuff, there was a steam powered motorcycle in a glass case. I'd love to fire that up. Apparently it works and is one of a kind. It is called the "Steam Flyer".<\/p><\/div>\n

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After eating some lunch we went to the Haight & Ashbury area and walked around.\u00a0 Then headed over to the Golden Gate Park, where the Japanese Tea Garden is located.<\/p>\n

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Very steep bridge over the water.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The next day, we were intending to head over to what I would call the NE bay area.\u00a0 But we took a wrong turn and ended up going in the totally opposite direction.\u00a0 But that was okay.\u00a0 We ended up in the Marin Headlands.<\/p>\n

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Battery Wagner with shrouded Golden Gate Bridge in background. A hundred years ago, before it was more efficient to protect the harbor with the Navy, cannons and guns were here. It's now an interesting collection of graffiti.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kate and Dave playing around in the bunker<\/p><\/div>\n

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The graffiti wasn't bad.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Nearby Kirby Cove<\/p><\/div>\n

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The clouds gradually lifted<\/p><\/div>\n

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Now we are at Battery Spencer and looking towards San Francisco.<\/p><\/div>\n

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I was intrigued with the mechanics of the bridge and all of those bolts or rivets.<\/p><\/div>\n

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There must be an interesting underlying structure.<\/p><\/div>\n

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We ended up going over the bridge back into San Francisco.\u00a0 We drove around various areas, sightseeing and eventually had a late lunch in the Mission district.<\/p>\n

Then we headed over the Oakland Bay Bridge.<\/p>\n

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Large (huge) scultpures made from scrap metal. These sculptures are 2-3 stories tall.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Dave is in this photo for size perspective.<\/p><\/div>\n

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A two story cabin in a nearby warehouse.<\/p><\/div>\n

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We then headed over to the Pacific Pinball Museum<\/a> in Alameda, where they had maybe 80 pinball machines.\u00a0 We spent a couple of hours there.\u00a0 I didn’t take any photos.\u00a0 There are plenty of photos on their site.<\/p>\n

The next morning I headed out on the Coast Starlight.<\/p>\n

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