July4th

A day or two late but an update none the less. I spent The fourth mostly traveling San Fran. It was quite the trip, though not quite what I would expect. Certainly a large city, but traffic and crowd was minimal to moderate at worst. It was certainly colder than I would have expected, I even had to resort to putting on a hoodie to protect myself from the wind and fog of the bay. I found the best view of the bay to be from "construction 129" which is an old gun fort that was built to house large cannons to protect the coast from the Soviets. From the top of this fort, there is hazy view of San Fran on one side (pictured) and mountains and the Marine Mammal Recovery center to the other (pictured). Went from there down the back roads, past the NIKE Missle sites and to the Recovery center. Then there was a picnic next to a the Exploratorium, a hands on science museum, and honestly who is shocked that I went there ;) This "city getaway" although right down town was absolutely gorgeous in layout and architecture (pictured). The museum was entertaining, more physics than chemistry but still entertaining. When it closed we ventrued back to Livermore, enjoyed a genuine 4th of July American meal of Chinese food, and wandered down to a park to watch the fireworks. All in all it was an excellent day. Certainly a change from the 4ths of the past (chalk up one point to the east in the east coast vs. west coast rivalry), but good company and good times so still a good decision.