Attractions and other places we visit.
We visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The aquarium had timed entry tickets, with a very long line to get in, and having to show ID and vaccination card (the first time we’ve encountered that):
We enjoyed exploring the various exhibits, starting with a feeding of the sea otters:
Lots of fish exhibits:
Fascinating jellyfish:
An impressive 90-foot window on the open sea exhibit:
Sea birds:
Octopus:
More fish:
Interactive exhibit:
Sea birds:
One of our goals in traveling the country is to visit all of the national parks, and the Thousand Trails San Benito Preserve campground is conveniently half an hour away from one — Pinnacles National Park:
We went to the east entrance, which we were warned was busy, being a free entrance day. But since it was the afternoon, the crowds had died down, so we didn’t have any difficulties.
Here’s the Old Pinnacles info sign:
We’re not into hiking (yet?), but got a view of some rock formations from the parking lot:
There wasn’t a huge amount to see from there, so we decided to drive an hour to the west entrance. On the way, we enjoyed the wide open countryside:
A small delay due to some produce spilled from a poorly loaded truck:
Another field:
The road to the park is mostly only one lane:
Burnt area:
The Pinnacles National Park west entrance:
This side has a much better view of the rocks:
Pinnacles National Park sign:
Fire lookout:
Rocks:
Info sign:
Rocks:
Road and rocks:
Rocks and the moon:
Info sign:
Hey look, more rocks:
Birds, probably condors:
We went along a path for a better view:
A selfie with Jenn and me:
While near San Jose, we had of course to make a pilgrimage to the mothership, i.e. the Apple Park spaceship.
Or at least as close as we could get to it; the Visitor Center across the road from the campus:
I’ve been there before, during the Apple’s developer conference (back when it was held in person), but this was Jenn’s first visit.
One can glimpse the spaceship from the roof deck:
The roof deck:
Below is a cafe, an AR display (currently closed due to COVID), and an Apple retail store:
Cute AirPods display:
I want to get a new MacBook Pro 16″ like this, though I want a specced-up model that isn’t available in stores yet, so I’ll hold off for now:
We’d talked about getting a base model MacBook Air like this for Jenn:
So we did:
We visited the California’s Great America amusement park in San Jose. We’re not really into amusement or theme parks, but Jenn wanted to do the Mass Effect ride, so we went basically just for that.
A selfie:
We wandered around and looked at the other rides, though nothing really appealed:
Jenn with Snoopy:
Gondola:
We decided to ride the gondola back to the entrance:
Then it was time for the Mass Effect ride:
Jenn really enjoyed the ride, so mission accomplished.
Posing with Wrex:
Jenn with Garrus:
Since we were at an amusement park, we had to have some park food to round out the experience; we shared a tasty funnel cake:
While staying near San Jose, we toured the famous Winchester Mystery House.
A rather bizarre house, with low-riser stairs, windows in floors, a door to nowhere, and other strange things.
Here’s a model of the house:
Info plaque:
Winchester goods:
Green screen tour photos:
Low riser stairs:
Bedroom:
Desk:
Low riser stairs:
Bedroom:
Pictures:
Floor window:
Arboretum:
Hair wreath:
Desk:
Sink:
Basin:
Bedroom:
Floor window:
Arboretum:
Stained glass:
Display:
Door:
Roof:
Dresser:
Bathroom:
Laundry:
Stores:
Kitchen:
Unfinished room:
Dining room:
Front door:
Dining rooms:
Fireplace:
Parlor:
Pantry:
Dining room:
Parlor:
Ceiling:
Foreman’s house:
Fruit drying shed:
Water tower:
Carriage:
Greenhouse:
Back of the house:
Gardens:
Windows:
Fountain:
House exterior:
Door to nowhere:
Front door:
Gardens:
We visited Bidwell Mansion in Chico, CA, and had a guided tour inside.
The exterior of Bidwell Mansion:
Portraits:
Drawing room:
Dining room:
Kitchen:
Laundry:
Library:
Office:
Stairs:
Hall light; both electric and gas:
Main bedroom:
Bathroom:
Closet:
More bedrooms:
Bathroom:
Servants bedrooms:
Servants bathroom:
On the third floor, a ballroom:
Skylight:
More bedrooms:
Storage:
Stairs to the tower:
Back door:
Architect’s house:
Carriage house:
Plaque:
House exterior:
Info signs:
We visited a vineyard… which isn’t a particularly unusual thing for us to do, but this was an interesting one: the New Clairvaux Vineyard is part of a Cistercian abbey; yes, wine made by Trappist monks.
Tasting room:
Cork cross:
Picture and model of the abbey:
Info:
We enjoyed a tasting, and bought some bottles.
While staying at Heritage RV Park, we took an hour drive to Lassen Volcanic National Park.
We’ve been to this park before, but wanted to visit again, even though the park is closed at present, other than the visitor centers at a couple of entrances. If nothing else, it was an enjoyable drive.
For example, here’s a viewpoint on the way to Lassen:
Getting closer to the park, we saw some burnt trees:
A little snow on the side of the road as we gained elevation:
A snowy peak in the distance:
More snow by the road:
The southwest entrance to Lassen:
The visitor center:
Relief map of the park:
Snowy peaks:
After going out of the park, we headed northwards, through a tiny town named Manton, which made me think of the creator of the Micro.blog service, Manton Reece:
A couple of narrow bridges:
Small town Halloween; they were holding traffic to enable the kids to safely cross the highway:
Manzanita Lake, near the northwest entrance to Lassen:
Ranger station:
Seismograph:
Museum:
Museum displays:
A bridge led to a trail:
Stream:
Trees:
Burnt trees:
Fallen tree:
Burnt trees:
More trees:
Trees and mountain:
A selfie with Jenn and me:
Lassen Volcanic National Park is closed currently, other than the visitor centers just inside the southwest and northwest entrances. So we visited both in our pickup truck, taking a route outside the park that took about an hour. It was an interesting drive, so I thought I’d share a timelapse.
Another roadside attraction that we visited in southern Oregon was the Oregon Vortex.
To quote from their website:
The Oregon Vortex is a glimpse of a strange world where the improbable is the commonplace and everyday physical facts are reversed. It is an area of naturally occurring visual and perceptual phenomena, which can be captured on film. No matter your education or profession you will find a challenge to all your accepted theories.
The Oregon Vortex entrance:
Entrance and gift shop:
Info signs:
The main gimmick of this place is that things appear to have different heights depending on where you stand. We had a guide to ourselves, who got us to stand against poles, then reverse positions, and it appeared our heights changed. Certainly not evident in the pictures, but while there, it did kinda feel like it, either through the power of suggestion, sloping backgrounds, or other magic:
A feature of the place is the “House of Mystery”; a 1904 gold assay office that slid off its foundation:
Within it, there is just one small level platform, as demonstrated by our guide:
Jenn on the platform:
Behind the house, another level platform:
Another demonstration was a board between our guide and Jenn, where they swapped places again, and felt a height change, though again the camera shows it was an illusion:
Another demo, with me and Jenn swapping places:
The gift shop:
It was an interesting place to visit, and an iconic Oregon attraction.