>Two years ago during my first visit to the Golden Gate Bridge I wasn’t very happy because it was drizzling all the time. The sky was grey and gloomy. And for someone who likes photography (like me), we usually prefer sunny blue sky with a dash of cloud for a good contrast.
This day was exactly the very next day after the Tsunami in Japan. I received emails and messages left by friends telling me to stay away from the Pacific coast. Tsunami alert enforced in California state for the bay area residents was then removed after hours of monitoring and confirmed no hazard.
I went to the beach! Wave was big but that’s normal so no issue.
Serge drove me to Napa Valley on that weekend, and since the weather was so fine, he suggested that we spend a little time for Golden Gate Bridge. *Yippie~*
From San Jose we took the Skyline route, passed by San Francisco and crossed Golden Gate Bridge before going to Napa Valley. Here’s the view of Golden Gate Bridge from Presideo, so tiny!
Princess Cheryl’s second visit to San Fran and the Golden Gate Bridge~
The Golden GateDeep sea geology exposed
The scene before you is the result of a tectonic collision that went on for millions of years, beginning in the Jurassic period — about 200 million years ago. Two of the plates that form the earth’s crust collided. The floor of the Pacific thrust beneath the North American continent, scraping and fracturing rock, forcing it together to form the Franciscan Complex along 500 miles of this coast. You are standing on the complex now — rocks of the Golden Gate headlands were assembled by that collision, from 80 to 125 million years ago.
In fact, the headlands on both sides of the Golden Gate are world-renowned for rarely glimpsed oceanic rock that were forced to the earth’s surface: serpentinite found in the earth’s mantle, deep-sea chert and other sedimentary marine rock, greenstone from the ocean floor, and greywacke sandstone from the continent’s margin. Greenstone and greywacke are the most common rocks here at Lands End.
Port of San Francisco
Canoes, clipper ships, and steamers
From the native Ohlone and Miwok peoples’ tule reed canoes to today’s immense cargo ships, vessels have plied San Francisco Bay for centuries.
In 1775, the Spanish ship San Carlos sailed through the Golden Gate and became the first European vessel to enter the harbor. For the next seventy-nine years, under Spanish and then Mexican rule, the port saw little traffic. That changed soon after the United States gained control of California in 1848 after the Mexican-American War. The following year, after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevada, it seemed the whole world headed for San Francisco. In addition to soldiers and opportunity seekers of all sorts, clipper ships and steamers brought trade goods from around the globe.
Today, shipping continues through the Golden Gate on ships guided by computerized navigation systems unimagined a century ago.
Riding in a Toyota Prius. *wink wink*
Getting nearer to the Golden Gate Bridge.
Poser. Such a beautiful day!
Main span 4200 feet.
The gift shop. They sell CANNED FOG!!? Interesting…but how do I verify if there’s real fog of San Francisco inside. =)
Snap^ snap^
Someone passed by and volunteered to help me snap this one. Outside the walkway of the gift shop.
Moments of crossing the bridge.Unbelievably sunny when the forecast said it might rain…
I made it through the day under the hot sun, and lucky I didn’t get drunk after drinking tasting so much of wine at Napa Valley. =P
The Princess Diaries - Cheryl's Travels 
>nice view ^.^