SAN FRANCISCO

SAN FRANCISCO
Today is Wednesday, June 24, 2009. We are heading to San Francisco to visit the new California academy of Sciences. There are six residents going, plus Tony and Kelli. We left at 0915.
My gasoline report: Shell is $3.00 a gallon, and Chevron is $3.10. The Crude futures price is $69.26 - up $1.74 from yesterday. The weather is sunny, clear and cool, with hazy visibility (left after the morning fog burned off.) We are heading westbound on I-80 in moderate traffic. The “rush hour” is over. Still a teeth chattering ride on this section of the freeway. It’s a wonder the bus doesn’t fall apart. I can’t help but think of the high cost (and inconvenience) to replace tires, replace shocks and realign the front wheels of all the vehicles traveling this busy freeway! Our ride is smoother now. We are riding in the second lane. Both of these lanes have been resurfaced. The two right lanes will be next.
I see another burned area on our right side, near an overpass in Cordelia. Another carelessly tossed cigarette butt. We always pass trucks carrying “containers” to the Port of Oakland. There are many trucks, approaching the Truck Scales, from the opposite direction. Is the economy picking up? We pass a truck loaded with hay. This is valuable cargo.
As we reach the top of Hunter’s Hill, I get a good view of Vallejo down below. It covers a big area - extending beyond both sides of the freeway. It is hazy as the fog is slower to dissipate here. (It reminds me a little of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.) This area is a familiar sight. With four daughters living in Fairfield, We made many trips over this stretch during the 46 years that we lived in Vallejo. The Six Flags amusement park is off to our right. It has just declared Chapter Eleven Bankruptcy - following in the footsteps of the City of Vallejo. We are riding past the Solano County Fairgrounds. The annual summer Fair will be here next month. The next Exit is Redwood, which I have taken so many times. After moving to Fairfield, a little over a year ago, I never thought that I would miss Vallejo. But, each time I am in the area, I still feel a tug of emotion. I do miss it - primarily because of the ideal weather year round.
The next landmark on the right side is the Maritime Academy. This school is now part of the California State College system. We are passing over the fairly new Carquinez bridge now. I can barely see Mt. Tam in Marin County, off to the west. A highway sign says “San Francisco 27”. We are passing the former Union Oil refinery now. It is really a large complex,, They should be making money, considering the price of gas. I notice that graffiti has returned to a portion of the “sound walls” bordering the freeway. For quite a while they would remove the ugly stigma as past as it
Appeared. But, apparently, with the budget cuts, they no longer have the manpower. So sad.
We are passing the Cutting Blvd. off ramp. This is the general area where we lived when I was going to Cal (701 south 51st Street) This is also the Exit for the Del Norte BART station. It is very familiar to me. Besides living near here for a couple of years, I had a week-day Season Ticket to the Oakland A’s home games for about 15 years. I rode the bus from the Vallejo Park & Ride to this BART station. In this El Cerrito area it is overcast with the high fog. We are passing Golden Gate Fields, one of the few horse-racing tracks around. It probably won’t be much longer before it will give way to a high-rise apartment complex. It is prime property. That’s progress I guess.
We are passing the spot where a Heli-pad used to be. On my business trips, Marie would drop me off there. I would check my luggage, and wouldn’t see it again until I picked it off the carrousel at my destination! The helicopter would make a quick stop at their pad in Marin County and then fly on to SFO. They would land, and taxi right up to my carrier‘s Gate area. I just had to walk inside and await my flight! Talk about progress! This hard to believe service is no longer available. In it‘s place you have to allow a big chunk of time to go through “Security“.
We are riding along the East Shore of the San Francisco Bay. It is an attractive area now. I can remember - many years ago - when this portion of the bay was polluted. It was not only unsightly, but there was an unpleasant odor when you drove by. (Our girls used to hold their noses in this area.) Cleaning up the Bay, really was a big improvement.
Tony uses the “diamond lane” for busses and car pools, to get on to the Bay Bridge, avoiding the “parking lot” of commuters off to our left, creeping along to pay their $4.00 toll. Now, we are traveling on the upper deck of the span. I get a good view of the new East Span of the bridge under construction. This is the first time that I have seen it. Before we pass through the tunnel on Yerba Buena Island, I am looking down at “Treasure Island”. This is the location for the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1939 and 1940. After we pass through the tunnel, I can see Alcatraz off to the right. The government discontinued using it as a federal prison many years ago. Now, the Blue & Gold Ferry service run boats out there from Fisherman’s wharf.
It is a big tourist attraction.
I am getting a good view of the City now, out the right window. I always look for the U.S. Bank building where I used to work. Back in 1969 it was brand new, and it was named the Mutual Benefit Life building. I worked on the 19th floor. for 14 years - from 1969 to 1983, when I retired as the Manager of Internal Auditing for California & Hawaiian Sugar Company. In 1969, the building really stood out - even though it had only 30 floors. There were very few tall buildings then. At that time, building heights were limited to 30 floors, presumably because of the damage experienced in the big 1906 earthquake. It wasn’t long before the buildings were anchored on bed rock, and the city changed the building code to permit taller strictures. I watched both the Hyatt Regency Hotel, and the 101 California Street building go up. As many times as I have been in San Francisco, I never tire of it. I would be very content to live there.
There are some ships parked in the bay - waiting to be loaded/unloaded. The famous old Ferry Building comes into view (it survived the 1906 earthquake), and so does the Hyatt Regency, nearby. We exit from the bridge on to 101. Buildings butt up against the freeway, as one would guess, with such pricey real estate. On the side facing of the buildings facing the freeway, some have graffiti. I see a billboard with this message: “Develop a recreational habit that won’t show up in your urine.” (a ski ad). We pass a truck with “Goodwill - not Landfill” painted on the side. There are many luxury town-house complexes along side on the right.
Before getting to the Fell Street Exit, I noticed that the traffic on 101, heading for the Golden gate Bridge, is at a standstill. Not much later, so are we. I see the sign “End of Freeway ½ Mile.” We started and stopped for five minutes, during many signal changes, before reaching Fell street. This is a one way street- westbound. The two lanes are jammed with cars (Isn’t anyone working?) A small motor bike is weaving in and out of the two lanes at a high speed. I commented to my seat mate, “He will be in the hospital - or morgue - soon.” Thirty years ago we zipped along this route on our way to Golden Gate Park. The architecture of the old homes along here is really interesting. Not many gas stations in the City. We just passed a Shell station - ($3.20 a gal.)
We head into the Park on John F. Kennedy Drive. I see a sign
“Japanese Tea Garden
de Young Museum”
There aren’t any parking places along the way, and we are quite a distance from the Academy. It is 10:30. I wonder what time you have to arrive to find parking? Perhaps they parked their car last night, and then someone dropped them off in front of the Academy this morning. One thing about being handicapped - you have easy access. Tony parked the bus in front, and we all got out, while he went and parked. There are a lot of school busses parked nearby, and kids all over the place. One group is wearing orange shirts. I told Kelli that the six of us should be wearing identical colored -shirts.
We joined the long line waiting to go into the Academy I was surprised at the large week-day crowd. Vacationers and schools being out, can generate a crowd. I thought the steep $24.95 admission ($19.95 for us ) would screen out a few people. Not so. I can remember - many years ago - admissions to the Academy and the de Young Museum were free! While waiting in line, I overheard a guy say, “ The best things in life are no longer free.” I asked one of the employees inside how many people they handle on an average day. He said, “Between three and four thousand!”
We visited the Aquarium, and the Coral Reef Dive before lunch. After a very nice lunch (first class!), we went to the Planetarium Show - Fragile Planet, the “Living Roof” and African hall, where we got to see penguins doing what they do in captivity.
We left the Academy at 2:15 - a good time to beat the commute traffic. The orange-shirted kids that we ran into, when we first arrived, were leaving at the same time that we were. What a coincidence! We rode along Oak Street, which parallels Fell, going one way -eastbound. They call this area the Panhandle.
The City is hazy, smoggy and cool. We are back on 101 Eastbound. We pass the S.F. City Jail on the right. We are on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge. There are two container ships docked at the port of Oakland off to our right. We pass through the maze of flyways and freeways at the intersection of 580 and 80We are back on I-80 driving along the Estuary near Berkeley. There is a lot of traffic going in the opposite direction. We pass a lot of high-rise apartment complexes. A sign on one of them, years ago said, “If you lived here, you would be home now”.
We are passing near the Del Norte BART station on the right. We are passing a large apartment complex to the right, the sign running along the top of the building sys “Now Leasing”. I watched this complex being built. Every time I rode the bus into BART, I would check on the progress. It took two or three A’s seasons for it to finish. The builder must have started and stopped construction whenever funds became available, or depleted.
We are passing above Crockett, off to my right. I always look down at the California and Hawaiian Sugar Refinery. I worked there from 1962 until 1969, until I was promoted to their corporate office in San Francisco. We are now passing through Vallejo eastbound. At the top of Hunter Hill, I look over to my left. Numerous trucks are parked at the Rest Stop. I assume that some of the drivers are napping.
We arrive back at Quail Creek at 3:20, after a very nice day. Tony says that we covered 124 miles. It is hazy, windy and much warmer than when we left this morning. I really enjoyed seeing the Academy. I had seen it a few times before it received a face lift. I am very much impressed with the facility. It has moved ahead of the Salt Lake City and Seattle Libraries on my “wonders of the world” list.
RCL - 6/25/09.



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