Wetmore Rd & Sycamore Grove Park - Livermore, CA (Cellphone Photos)

Yesterday, on the 30th December 2024, my parents and I went for on a walk along Wetmore Road and in Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore, CA. We checked out the historic Olivina Winery, which has a history that goes back over 100 years. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

Message from the Photographer: I am still dealing with long COVID. I have had to take a very long break on processing the RAW photos from my camera, due to lack of energy. Unfortunately my energy levels seems to be slowly getting worse over time. It will be quite some time before the photos I have taken on my camera in November and December will be posted.

A scenery photo of Sycamore Grove Park, vineyards at historic Olivina Winery (left), mountains, clouds, trees, and grassland. The photo was shot on the side of Wetmore Road in Livermore, CA.

A close up photo of olives on an olive tree in the historic Olivina Winery. The photo was shot on the side of Wetmore Road in Livermore, CA.

A scenery photo of Las Positas Vineyards, Mt. Diablo (in the distance in the center), mountains, clouds, and walking trail (right). The photo was shot at the intersection of Wetmore Road and Arroyo Road in Livermore, CA.

A scenery photo of the historic Olivina Winery gate that was built in 1906, Sunol Peak (in the distance on the right), the sun, mountains, trees, clouds, a person (right), and cars (right). The photo was shot at the intersection of Wetmore Road and Arroyo Road in Livermore, CA.

A scenery photo of a fallen tree, trees, grassland, mountains, walking trail, and clouds. The photo was shot near Arroyo Del Valle Regional Trail in Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore, CA.

A scenery photo of trees, power lines, grassland, clouds, and mountains. The photo was shot near Winery Loop in Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore, CA.

This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Ravenswood Historic Site - Livermore, CA (Cellphone Photos)

On the 22nd December 2024, I visited Ravenswood Historic Site in Livermore, CA. The site is operated by Livermore's Parks & Recreation Department and is open for tours on the 2nd and 4th Sundays each month. The site is also rented out for weddings, parties, and events. I took the tour and took some photos with my cellphone. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

Ravenswood was once a summer home and country estate of Christopher A. Buckley. Christopher Buckley was born in 1845 in New York, and moved to San Francisco in 1862. He was a powerful in politics in San Francisco, and was also known as the "Blind Boss" due to a disease which slowly took his vision away. After the Great San Francisco earthquake in 1906 he moved to Ravenswood full time due to his San Francisco house burning down. The country estate was used as a home and as a winery by Mr. Buckley. Later the property was sold to the German Catholic order, and then later on was donated to the City of Livermore. 

The tour guide told us at one point the Livermore Fire Department wanted to use the dilapidated house as a practice house for putting out a fire, but someone locally spoke up about it and started publishing stories and the history of the place. It ended up being preserved and restored, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Message from the Photographer: I normally post cellphone photos on the same day they are taken, but unfortunately long COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome left me bedridden for the past 2 days due to an energy crash.

A scenery photo of the historic house, palm trees, and clouds.

A scenery photo of the historic vineyard, mountains, and clouds.

A photo of the chandelier in the historic home.

A photo of a desk in the historic home.

A photo of a bookshelf, pictures, stereoscopes, figurines, chairs, and other stuff in the historic home.

A photo of a stereoscope in the historic house.

A photo of pictures, paintings, and chairs in the historic house.

A photo of the living room in the historic house.

A photo of the living room with a fire place, Christmas tree, and other stuff in the historic house.

A photo of a sewing machine in the historic house.

A photo of vintage dresses in a bedroom of the historic house.

A photo from the bathroom in the historic house.

A photo of the bathroom in the historic house.

A photo of the powder room in the historic house.

A photo of a bed in the bedroom of the historic house.

A photo of a 2 chairs and a wardrobe in the historic house.

A photo of chairs and a Christmas tree in the historic house.

A scenery photo of the historic house, palm trees, and clouds.

A scenery photo of a water fountain, palm trees, the historic house (left), the historic vineyard (right).

A photo of a Penny Farthing Bike and other stuff at Carriage House.

A photo from Carriage House.

A photo of a gazebo, trees, the historic house, and clouds.

A photo of a gazebo (left), Carriage House (right), trees, and clouds.

A scenery photo of the historic house, trees, and clouds.

This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Sycamore Grove Park - Livermore, CA (Cellphone Photos)

Today, on the 17th December 2024, my mom and I went for on a walk in Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore, CA. There is still some autumn foliage present despite it being December! I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

Message from the Photographer: I am still dealing with long COVID, but my doctors and I have found multiple medications that seems to partially and temporarily suppress the symptoms. I am walking a fine line between side effects from the pills and the long COVID symptoms. This was the most exercise I have gotten in months, and I suspect I will be paying for it the next few days. The COVID infection in November 2023 triggered chronic fatigue syndrome and mast cell activation in me. I am working on the RAW photos from my camera, but it has been slow. None of the medications are touching the brain fog.

A scenery photo of autumn foliage shot on Magpie Nature Loop.

A scenery photo of autumn foliage shot on Magpie Nature Loop.

A scenery photo of autumn foliage, cows, farm, mountains, and clouds. The photo was shot on Winery Trail.

A scenery photo of autumn foliage, cows, farm, and clouds. The photo was shot on Winery Loop.

A photo of an abandoned building shot on Winery Loop.

A photo of high voltage powerlines, trees, and autumn foliage. The photo was shot on Winery Loop.

This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Nike Missile Site SF-88L & Sausalito, CA (Cellphone Photos)

On the 7th December 2024, my parents and I took a trip to Nike Missile Site SF-88L at Marin Headlands in Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County CA, and Sausalito, CA. It has been very smoggy in the SF Bay Area, so there weren't many photo opportunities. I took photos on my phone and on my Olympus mirrorless camera, and the photos are split into 2 posts. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos!

Parts: Olympus Photos (Coming Soon) | Cellphone Photos

These are the photos I took with my cellphone. The photos were shot at Nike Missile Site SF-88L and Sausalito, CA. The smog was really heavy so there really wasn't any opportunity for scenery photos. 

We begin our trip with Nike Missile Site SF-88L at Marin Headlands in Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County CA.

The Nike Missile Site SF-88L is open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 12 PM to 3 PM and on the first Saturday of every month, volunteers give tours of the site. Most of the volunteers giving the tours are veterans who have served at this site in the past. This is the first time I've been inside of the site due to the limited time that it is open for.

Before I get into the funny story, if you don't know, on the 5th December 2024, there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook northern California and the effects of it were felt all the way down to the SF Bay Area. A few minutes after the shaking, everyone's phones went off with a tsunami evacuation warning, which was later cancelled due to the earthquake not being the type that generates tsunamis. One of the volunteers/veterans told a funny story from last Thursday during the earthquake and tsunami warning. Apparently they had a group of visiting cadets from a landlocked area of the US and the cadets have never seen the ocean before. They received quite a jolt at the site as it is on the fault line. At first there were some panic amongst the cadets as they never experienced anything like it. A few minutes later everyone's phones went off with the tsunami warning. The veterans told them "We have to evacuate now", but the cadets had other plans. The cadets insisted on hiking up a nearby hill to see the tsunami coming in. The veterans had no choice but to let them do that. These cadets have never seen the ocean, and apparently thought the fog and smog were the waves. They posted photos and videos to the internet saying they got to witness a tsunami and an earthquake. Some higher up military officials apparently saw it and started calling the NPS and the volunteers being like "Are you crazy? Why didn't you all evacuate? You let them watch the tsunami?" The volunteers had to explain the cadets didn't listen to them and that the tsunami never came.

A photo of missiles at Nike Missile Site SF-88L in Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

A photo of missiles at Nike Missile Site SF-88L in Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

A photo of a missile computer at Nike Missile Site SF-88L in Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

A photo of missiles at Nike Missile Site SF-88L in Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

A photo of missiles at Nike Missile Site SF-88L in Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

We spent the last half our trip walking around Sausalito, CA. There really weren't any photo opportunities here due to how heavy the smog was. The only San Francisco you can see from Sausalito was just a very faint outline of the skyscrapers. 

A sunset and smog scenery photo of clouds and yachts at Sausalito Yacht Harbor in Sausalito, CA. In the background in the center is Mt. Tamalpais.

A sunset and smog scenery photo of clouds, yachts at Sausalito Yacht Harbor, and Sausalito, CA.

A sunset and smog scenery photo of clouds, San Francisco (in the distance on the left), San Francisco Bay (left), Scoma's of Sausalito & The Trident (left), sidewalk (center), Bridgeway (right), and buildings (right) taken in Sausalito, CA.

This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: Olympus Photos (Coming Soon) | Cellphone Photos