San Francisco Anniversary and the Golden Gate Bridge

It's been a while since I blogged. Did you miss me?!

Can you believe that less than a week ago I was in San Francisco? I would have posted about my  trip sooner but I took over 1200 pictures in less than a week. That's a LOT of pictures to look through.

Of course I did not go to San Francisco alone, I went with my husband who was attending the VMworld 2012 conference. I tagged along to play tourist but we left the kids at home with the grandparents. After all, it was our ten year wedding anniversary trip!

I had a blast in San Francisco! It was the longest (and only) trip my husband and I have ever taken without our kids. Although I did miss them, it was wonderful to spend some time alone with my honey.

We went to San Francisco a couple of days before the conference started so we would have some time together before my honey got busy with the conference. The first place we decided to visit was the Golden Gate Bridge.

As you can see, the day we got there it was foggy at the Golden Gate. It was also windy! Check out my hair in the picture below.

The wind was really blowing! I wished that I had a jacket, but it wasn't too frigid. Of course we had to walk across the bridge and take in the view. It was amazing to me just how BIG the Golden Gate Bridge is. I love the orange color of the bridge and it was interesting to see all the rivets and metal panels that hold the bridge together.

While we were walking along the bridge the fog cleared up a little, but we never really saw blue sky. Apparently this is typical weather for the Golden Gate Bridge!

My husband and I walked more than halfway across the bridge before deciding to head back to the hotel. We also got to do some other sightseeing together, which was really fun.

Since I had plenty of time to roam around San Francisco while my husband was at his conference, I decided to go back to the Golden Gate a few days later when the skies were clear and blue. I LOVED the pictures I got that day.

Isn't the bridge beautiful with blue skies behind it? There are many interesting things to look at before you walk on the bridge, including this cool lenticular sign that shows you the stages of the bridge as you move from side to side and change your perspective. I thought it was really cool.

On my second visit to the Golden Gate Bridge, I was determined to walk all the way across the bridge. I actually planned to walk across the bridge and then cross over to the west side of the bridge and climb up to the Marin headlands. In particular I wanted to get a picture of the bridge from Battery Spencer.

So I started my journey. This time as I crossed the bridge it was easier to see the large cargo boats and other ships on the bay. I also had a much better view of Alcatraz in the distance.

I took many pictures of the Golden Gate that were similar to pictures that I took on my previous trip, but they turned out much better without the grey skies!

I finally managed to make it all the way across the bridge. As I got to the other side the fog started to pick up a little bit.

I knew I needed to climb up the big hill on the other side of the bridge, hopefully before it got too foggy. I crossed under the bridge on a pedestrian underpass and then headed up the hill to Battery Spencer. It was a pretty good hike, but luckily I packed plenty of water and snacks.

When I got to my viewpoint I was dismayed to find that the fog had definitely made it there before me! I really wanted to see the bridge from the west side, especially after I had hiked all that way! The fog was really thick and sometimes I couldn't see the Golden Gate at all!

But I decided to wait a while and see if the fog would lift. There were other tourists and hopeful photographers who came and left, but I waited. It was incredibly windy, so the fog was constantly shifting. In the end I was probably at Battery Spencer for almost an hour, but I got the shots I wanted and I think it was worth it!

The sun came out and there was the bridge, with San Francisco in the background. It was stunningly beautiful!

What a great day! Even though it took me several hours to go across the bridge, climb up to the Marin headlands to Battery Spencer, and then walk back across, it was definitely worth it. I had a great time!

As you can imagine, with close to 1200 pictures of San Francisco there is no way I can share them all in one post. So I plan to do a few more posts with the highlights of my trip including Chinatown, Coit Tower, the Bay Bridge, Crissy Field, the Palace of Fine Arts, and graffiti/street art. So come back and see more of San Francisco!



Linked up to Wordful Wednesday, Wordish Wednesday, and Wordless Wednesdays all over.