It’s about 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. After driving through the hills and dales of San Francisco (why you have to drive through the city to get to the Golden Gate Bridge is just beyond me) we are here! Because its early there are very few people (nice). Here are some photos before I got there:
Look Mom! No cavities!!!! 😉
And some photos when I got to the other side.
This statue is there to honor the National Guard.
Off to our next stop!
It’s 6:30am and we are in the road! Well, almost. We had to stop for a road joe as my sister calls it, at Starbucks. I’m blogging live so you’ll experience the trip with me.
We are on a “no reservations” adventure up the Pacific Coast. Next stop is the Golden Gate Bridge! Then I want to take you on a back road along the cliffs that overlook the ocean, that I’ve never driven.
As my Dad always says “every minutes a mile” so lets hit the road!
Tomorrow morning we are hitting the road!!! Where you may ask? I’m not exactly sure but I know we’ll leave early. I also know I want to take us over the Golden Gate Bridge, up highway 1 and then just head north…having no idea where we’ll end up.
Knowing me we’ll be on the road early and should have our first glimpse of the ocean by 8/9am. I can’t wait to smell the ocean, watch the sunrise and sip my cup of Starbucks…all at the same time.
For this trip we have no reservations. I have no idea where we’ll be tomorrow night and actually no idea how long we’ll drive. 2 days, a week???? Who knows!
Here are some places we might visit. If you have a vote then chime in and write me a comment. Bodega Bay, Mendocino, Clear Lake, Avenue of the Giants, Mt Shasta, Ashland, OR, Napa Valley/Sonoma for some wine tasting??? Living in Nor CAL there are a lot of choices. I feel very lucky and blessed.
I’m off to bed but will see you in the morning…. Bright and early! Sweet dreams and get ready for a fun adventure!!!
A couple of nights ago I discovered a hidden, private golf course located in Almaden Valley in Northern California – The Boulder Ridge Golf Club. Because it’s a members-only club I felt fortunate to have this special opportunity to take a peek during a two part adventure: A sunset drive in a golf cart so I could shoot some of the photos you see here…and a fabulous dinner.
Although you’re right in the middle of Almaden Valley, you feel like you’re in another world. Since it’s a private club I thought it would be fun to take you on a photo tour so you can get a “behind the scene” view of this stunning course.
One of the first things you’ll notice are the beautiful hills which give you the most amazing views at sunset.
This is driving range where you’ll find stacked balls in the shape of a pyramid. I have no idea who does that but what a job. (You can just barely see them in the photo.)
On the road driving in…
You’ll also find a Pavilion where they hold parties, weddings, events and the view is spectacular. The photo shows the approach to the Pavilion along with my faithful driver, who patiently waited while I snapped a few 😉
When you arrive at the Pavilion you’ll see this walkway out to where they hold events and weddings. You can see the chairs lined up over on the right. I’m sure there’s not a bad seat in the house.
There are also a number of areas where you can sit and have a drink…I don’t believe helmets are required but I would keep an eye out for a random ball – especially if someone like me is playing.
This photo was taken outside of the bar / restuarant where there is a cozy patio where you can watch the sunset and sip a glass of wine.
And finally, our fabulous dinner. Filet mignon with a special sauce, risotto (which was amazing), mashed potatoes and veggies. The spinach salad was great too (sorry, no pic). A special thanks to my most excellent tour guide. What a fabulous adventure! 😉
About the Club:
Their website: www.boulderridgegolfclub.com
Also, a special thanks to Sandie Weis, the Director of Food and Beverage and her team for the fabulous service – and of course our bartender Tracie (and Lisa too!)
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Would you like a print? Please click on “Contact”. My photography is printed on aluminum. Utilizing an advanced process which infuses dyes directly into the metal, the colors and saturation are really amazing. In addition, your print will be displayed using mount blocks which float the image ½ inch off the wall.
©2013 Shelley D Spray – No content on this site (including all photography) may be reused in any fashion without written permission from the author.
The thing I love about living in California (and there are many) is that you can drive a short distance and find yourself in a different world. As most of you know, I live in Los Gatos. I’m two hours from Napa Valley, an hour from the quaint, seaside town of Carmel, and I most recently discovered, 30 minutes from one of the most beautiful golf courses – The CordeValle Championship Golf Resort. If you joined me when we visited the AT&T Pebble Beach PRO-AM you know I have held a golf club before. Granted, the ones I have look like they are made of bronze (they have titanium shafts which I’m sure have been obsolete for years) My driver head is about 1/16 the size of the ones they sell today. And Arnold Schwarzenegger could have weight trained with my bag – apparently it’s that heavy. But even so, someone was brave enough to take me with them to play on the CordeValle Championship Golf Resort last Friday, knowing I had not swung a club in almost 15 years. 😉
I will admit I was a little nervous. I have hit a few scary balls in my time, so the ones who should have been nervous really should have been the other three in this foursome. I mean, how can you hit a ball that shoots out directly in front of you. No, not to your left, out toward the green but directly in front of where you are standing. Or, I’ve even heard of someone who hit a ball and it shot out behind them. Even with these life threatening occurrences, people still grab their clubs and head off to play a round. I’m surprised they don’t make you wear a helmet if you’re playing with someone who has not broken a 100.
As I smacked away at the ball I kept thinking, thank God I’m not driving because I truly had no idea where we were going. I mean, I knew where the green was, but the cart path seemed to wind around in a multitude of directions once you picked your ball off the green. A one point, we let other players through – although I picked up my ball many times to keep the game moving, I’m sure I still did slow things down a bit. But when you have lemons, what do you do? You make lemonade. In our case, we drove this little lemon over to the Clos La Chance Winery, got her a bottle of Pinot (I did share), and headed back over to play the rest of the course.
So you may be wondering, how did I play? Well, with the help of some very good instructions from the “hummer”, I did play 18 holes (sort of) and, I actually parred one!
So I’ll leave you with my sunset photo – We played later in the afternoon so when we got to the last holes we saw a gorgeous sunset… all in all, it was pretty spectacular day… A special thanks to my very brave hummer for taking me along for the ride. 😉
If you missed my Pebble Beach PRO-AM Golf Tournament post: http://photogirltravels.com/category/golf-2/
CordeValle Golf Championship Resort information:
Website: http://www.cordevallegolf.com/packages?gclid=CNL10aTBlLcCFUQ6QgodLWsABA
Here’s a link to a hole-by-hole tour which is a pretty cool site: http://www.cordevallegolf.com/golf/course/hole-by-hole-course-tour
And a map of the course:
Would you like a print? Please click on “Contact”. My photography is printed on aluminum. Utilizing an advanced process which infuses dyes directly into the metal, the colors and saturation are really amazing. In addition, your print will be displayed using mount blocks which float the image ½ inch off the wall.
©2013 Shelley D Spray – No content on this site (including all photography) may be reused in any fashion without written permission from the author.
If you’re joining me we’ve been exploring Death Valley, California, and we’re on my last post. We just left Scotty’s Castle and now we are off to Rhyolite Ghost Town – which is located just over the Nevada state line. (Quick note – In 1908 Rhyolite was the third largest city in Nevada.)
After I checked into The Ranch which is where I stayed, I decided I’d drive over to the Ghost Town. It was about 4:30pm so I was hoping I’d have enough time to get there and back before the sun went down. I didn’t want to get stuck in the dark with no cell phone reception, all by myself on the back roads of Death Valley. (EEE!) Just a quick note – when you see that your destination is only 18 miles – it’s not a quick 18 miles if you’re in the Death Valley State Park. First, the speed limit ranges from 50-15mph and you have to watch for the signs. Even though you feel like it’s just you and a few rattle snakes, I actually saw a police officer pulled over on the side of the road handing out a ticket. Yikes!
I got to the ghost town around 5:30pm and I was all by myself. Well, me and the ghosts. I walked around and shot some photos and kept a keen eye out for rattle snakes (yes, I am confessing one of my fears). It’s actually just a lot of old, deserted buildings, but here is one of the most interesting ones to see – it’s called the “Bottle House“. The photo below was taken in 1906. It is believed that Mr. Kelly is the man in the doorway. According to a government report Mr. Kelly used between 25,000 and 30,000 bottles building the house. Now I have to wonder- where did he get 25-30,000 bottles for God’s sakes? Either he was a heavy drinker, or had a bunch of friends who were heavy drinkers. Or, maybe Mrs. Kelly hit the bottle(s) after finding how she was going to live in a house of bottles???? Anyway, food (or drink) for thought. The house has a double bottle foundation, three rooms with a door and window exiting each room. (Original Photographer Unknown)
And here is my photo of this house:
As I strolled through the falling down, boarded up homes one thing I love to do is try and imagine what it was like when the homes were new, and the people were just moving in. What were they wearing? Eating? What kept them awake at night? (wondering where they would find another 1000 bottles?) It was a bit eerie to be there by myself. It’s not like shopping at Nordstrom and you’re the only one over 20 in the sassy junior department…should I be shopping on another floor? Or seriously, should I head over to a more sophisticated department where I will find people with shirts that actually cover their belly button??? No, in Death Valley, there is NO ONE around…no cars and no cell phone reception (and nowhere to shop!) Makes me shutter just to think about it.
As I walked around I did I did find this old truck interesting. If you look in the first photo in this post (above), you’ll see this truck out behind the building.
And here is a closer view (photo below). Quick note, I did walk up and peak inside, and scared myself to death when a bird flew out! I obviously am not that man on the reality show who gets dropped off in the desert with a broken match, 1/2 a Snickers bar and a cup to collect sterile urine. No, not me. I somehow managed to have an ice cold Coke Zero and some Red Vines waiting for me in my air conditioned car… That’s it for Death Valley. I just did a trip to the Hearst Castle yesterday so I’ll be posting on my amazing visit soon. If you click FOLLOW you’ll get my post via email.
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There is a lot to see in Death Valley. I didn’t see everything but here are some other places that you might want to consider:
The best thing to do is go to the Visitor’s Center in Furnace Creek and have them help you. I hope you enjoyed visiting Death Valley with me!
Death Valley Road Trip! http://photogirltravels.com/2013/04/10/death-valley-road-trip/
Death Valley CA Overview & Travel Tips: http://photogirltravels.com/2013/04/18/death-valley-ca-travel-tips/
Death Valley Road Trip: Ghost Towns and a Sunset: http://photogirltravels.com/2013/04/10/death-valley-road-trip-ghost-towns-and-a-sunset/
Death Valley: Dantes View: http://photogirltravels.com/2013/04/19/death-valley-dantes-view/
Death Valley: Zabriskie Point: http://photogirltravels.com/2013/04/23/death-valley-zabriskie-point/
Death Valley: Badwater, Lowest Pt in N. America: http://photogirltravels.com/2013/04/24/death-valley-badwater-lowest-pt-in-n-america/
Death Valley: Where to Stay: http://photogirltravels.com/2013/04/25/death-valley-where-to-stay/
Death Valley: Scotty’s Castle: http://photogirltravels.com/2013/04/26/death-valley-scottys-castle/
