USA Travels, 2009

2m 39s

Bill and Judy's garden at their lovely home in Seattle

2m 24s

Views across Elliot Bay to downtown Seattle from West Seattle/Alki, and then from Queen Anne Hill.

1m 49s

A visit to Snoqualmie Falls and the nearby town of the same name. The end of summer means there is not a great deal of water flowing over the falls, and the power station there was in operation, reducing that flow even more.

4m 56s

A journey north from Seattle to Darrington, then around to Rockport, stopping at the Sauk River, which joins the Skagit River at Rockport on the North Cascades Highway. From there on to Puget Sound Energy's Baker Lake (a dam used for hydroelectricity generation) for views of Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan.

3m 38s

To say thanks to Bill and Judy for their hospitality, I shouted them dinner at one of our favourite eating places - the grill at Newcastle Golf Course, on a high hill with spectacular views.

3m 17s

A trip to Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, a former prison (1934 - 1963), and before that a military base (1850 - 1934). It was occupied by Native Americans (1964, and 1969 - 1971) and is now under the care of US National Parks Service.

3m 06s

This is a modern construction (one of only 2 in the world) of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine Number 2. It's purpose was to calculate tables CORRECTLY for more complex mathematics, to be used by mathematicians, astronomers and navigators.

3m 29s

Travel with Jeffrey from San Jose area to Yosemite National Park, and then watching sunset over the Yosemite Valley from the Tunnel View lookout

4m 38s

Our journey though Yosemite Valley, which is part of Yosemite National Park. After seeing most of the valley from the bottom, we drove to Glacier Point for a view from the top.

4m 10s

Final day was a leisurely journey into the park, to areas we had not visited previously before heading on home - firstly to the motel to check out and head on back to Jeffrey's home

1m 40s

After lunch at Google, there was time to go for a ride on my old motorcycle, along Skyline and down and up to the coast. And stop for a view over Silicon Valley

3m 06s

This is a modern construction (one of only 2 in the world) of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine Number 2. It's purpose was to calculate tables CORRECTLY for more complex mathematics, to be used by mathematicians, astronomers and navigators.

1m 52s

Jeffrey and I rode down to San Simeon, the small town nearest to Hearst Castle. Peggy (aka Yiwen) and Lu came down in the car! We had rooms booked for the night in a motel in town. Next day was to join a tour of the castle (booked for relatively early) and then head back home at a leisurely pace.

4m 00s

A tour of Hearst Castle, at San Simeon, California. The tour includes Casa del Monte, the first of the permanent structures on the site, and Casa Grande (main building) bedrooms in the north wing, concluding at the pool underneath the tennis court.