I was rummaging through my slides the other day, looking for the original slides of some of the pictures I have hanging on my walls. ; I found them, and a few others from 1986 that I thought I'd scan and share.
In July of 1985, my employer sent me to Folsom, California for a three month contract programming job. ; Well, that three months ended up like Gilligan's "three hour tour", as I was there for two years.
Folsom is an eastern suburb of Sacramento, and yes, it's home to the prison that Johnny Cash sung about. ; It's also in a great location - two hours to the west is San Francisco, and two hours to the east in the Sierra Nevada is Lake Tahoe and, beyond that, Reno.
Needless to say, every weekend I managed to use up a tank of gas and a roll or two of Kodachrome enjoying the sights.
Here's the definitive San Francisco shot: ; a cable car climbing Hyde Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood with Alcatraz in the background. ; The only thing missing is the Rice-a-Roni ad on the front of the car. ; When I look at this, I always hear Groucho Marx singing "And on a clear day you can see Alcatraz; you can learn a lot from Lydia." ; (That thing up in the sky that looks like a hair is actually a kite being flown down by the waterfront.)
Going the other direction, here's a shot of some sailboats docked on the western shore of Lake Tahoe. ; A heavy snowstorm over Presidents Day weekend meant that the ski areas were still open on this Memorial Day weekend. ; That's Heavenly ski resort in the mountains in the background.
In June 1986 I took an Amtrak tour of Yosemite National Park. ; This required taking a bus from Sacramento to Stockton, a train from Stockton to Merced, and a tour bus from there to the park. ; The place was absolutely beautiful. ; Here are just two of the shots from that day.
This is an overall view of the Yosemite Valley, with El Capitan on the left, one of the many waterfalls on the right and Half Dome in the background.
This view of Half Dome hangs on the wall beside my kitchen table.
Whenever I traveled between Folsom and Sacramento, my route took me through the suburb of Fair Oaks and past a Ferrari dealership. ; Late one night I set up my camera and tripod across the street and took this shot of their sign.
Later that same day, I came across this sign stating the blatantly obvious. ; This area is called the Yolo Bypass and is normally dry. ; Whenever the Sacramento River nears flood stage due to heavy rain or snowmelt from the Sierra, they route the excess water around Sacramento, with obvious consequences.
Click on the pictures to go to their Flickr page.
In July of 1985, my employer sent me to Folsom, California for a three month contract programming job. ; Well, that three months ended up like Gilligan's "three hour tour", as I was there for two years.
Folsom is an eastern suburb of Sacramento, and yes, it's home to the prison that Johnny Cash sung about. ; It's also in a great location - two hours to the west is San Francisco, and two hours to the east in the Sierra Nevada is Lake Tahoe and, beyond that, Reno.
Needless to say, every weekend I managed to use up a tank of gas and a roll or two of Kodachrome enjoying the sights.
Here's the definitive San Francisco shot: ; a cable car climbing Hyde Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood with Alcatraz in the background. ; The only thing missing is the Rice-a-Roni ad on the front of the car. ; When I look at this, I always hear Groucho Marx singing "And on a clear day you can see Alcatraz; you can learn a lot from Lydia." ; (That thing up in the sky that looks like a hair is actually a kite being flown down by the waterfront.)
Going the other direction, here's a shot of some sailboats docked on the western shore of Lake Tahoe. ; A heavy snowstorm over Presidents Day weekend meant that the ski areas were still open on this Memorial Day weekend. ; That's Heavenly ski resort in the mountains in the background.
In June 1986 I took an Amtrak tour of Yosemite National Park. ; This required taking a bus from Sacramento to Stockton, a train from Stockton to Merced, and a tour bus from there to the park. ; The place was absolutely beautiful. ; Here are just two of the shots from that day.
This is an overall view of the Yosemite Valley, with El Capitan on the left, one of the many waterfalls on the right and Half Dome in the background.
This view of Half Dome hangs on the wall beside my kitchen table.
Whenever I traveled between Folsom and Sacramento, my route took me through the suburb of Fair Oaks and past a Ferrari dealership. ; Late one night I set up my camera and tripod across the street and took this shot of their sign.
Later that same day, I came across this sign stating the blatantly obvious. ; This area is called the Yolo Bypass and is normally dry. ; Whenever the Sacramento River nears flood stage due to heavy rain or snowmelt from the Sierra, they route the excess water around Sacramento, with obvious consequences.
Click on the pictures to go to their Flickr page.
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