Pleasanton, CA Costco Grand Opening (Cellphone Photos)

The brand new Pleasanton, CA Costco opened at 8 AM on the 27th November 2024. I did not get up that early to go see the ribbon cutting, and my parents and I waited a few hours before going. We were still stuck in traffic on the way there and had to circle the parking lot a few times before we managed to find a spot. It was crowded inside!

I know this isn't really photography related, but I took photos with my cellphone and wanted to share it.

A photo of my parents and I waiting in traffic to go to the new Costco. The traffic was backed up all the way to Stoneridge Drive.

Getting closer!

Almost there! None of the surrounding businesses were allowing Costco shoppers to park.

Photo from when we were circling the parking lot trying to find a spot. In the distance is the new Costco Petrol Station.

A close up photo of the new Costco Petrol Station.

A close up photo of the new Costco Petrol Station.

A photo of the new Costco and parking lot.

A photo from inside the new Costco. It was crowded!

A photo from inside the new Costco. It was crowded!

A photo of the checkout lines and the new food court inside the new Costco. Pleasanton PD officers were on site.

A photo of the new food court inside the new Costco. Pleasanton PD officers were on site.

A photo from inside the new Costco. It was crowded!

A photo from the clothing and gift card section inside the new Costco.

A photo from the frozen section inside the new Costco.

A photo from one of the sample stations inside the new Costco. It was crowded!

A photo of the alcohol and produce section in the new Costco.

The new Costco was selling arcade machines.

The new Costco is selling giant teddy bears.

The new Costco is selling giant Pikachu Squishmellows.

One of the staff members made some LEGO art for the new Costco.

This is the toilet paper and bottled water section in the new Costco. This corner was not as crowded. There are toilet paper rolls piled as high as the ceiling.

A photo from a sample station in the new bakery of the new Costco.

A photo from a sample station in the new bakery of the new Costco.

The new tyre center at the new Costco.

A photo of the entrance of the new Costco.

The new Costco was doing new member sign ups right in front of the entrance.

A photo of a Cadillac vehicle in front of the new Costco advertising Costco Auto.

A photo of a Cadillac vehicle in front of the new Costco advertising Costco Auto.

A photo of the new Costco Petrol Station and parking lot.

A photo of the new Costco Tyre Center in the new Costco.

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.

Sequoia National Forest (Part 13) - Sequoia & King's Canyon NP (2014)

I recently took a trip to Sequoia and King's Canyon National Park (the two parks are connected). I had a great time photographing many scenery and enjoying the beauty of nature both inside the two national parks and out in Sequoia National Forest. Through this chain of blog posts, I will be showing photos of natural scenery, mountains, meadows, forests, wildlife, and the wonderful trees of the parks. I will also be giving some travel advice into the park as I know some of you viewers are probably looking at this to try to plan a trip to the parks. In these parks, is one of the world's largest species of trees, the Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum). I will also have a few photos of the world's most massive tree the General Sherman Tree in blog posts to come. I hope you enjoy viewing this chain of blog posts!

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best photos from this trip, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

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Today I continue with my photos from day three. The photos for today are from Sequoia National Forest shot along SR-180 as I drove to the other part of King's Canyon National Park. You may or may not know this, but King's Canyon National Park is split into two sections with Sequoia National Forest in between. In this blog post, you are seeing photos from that section of SR-180.

A photo of the forest.

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 36 46 23 N 118 57 39 W  

The smoke from the forest fire was affecting the entire drive into King's Canyon National Park. The visibility was not as good as I wanted. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 36 49 01 N 118 54 51 W  

A black and white process of the photo above.

On the bright side, the smoke does give the photo a foggy look. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 36 49 03 N 118 54 31 W  

A black and white process of the photo above. 

Another photo of the forest and the mountains in smoke. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 36 49 54 N 118 53 23 W

Next I arrive at King's Canyon Lodge. Home of the oldest working gas pumps. The gas was pretty expensive, but filling up is a pretty good experience. :) It was interesting to see such old technology. I see people complaining on Yelp that the owners suck at dealing with customers, but they were pretty nice to me when I was there so I have no clue what they are talking about. Maybe they saw the reviews. Who knows. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 36 49 06 N 118 53 12 W  

This is the sign for the lodge. 

Here is the store/restaurant at the lodge. 

Not sure what this is but it was at the lodge.

Now I continue on my drive into King's Canyon National Park. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 36 49 56 N 118 52 29 W  

A black and white process of the photo above. 

Another photo shot on my drive into the park. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 36 49 10 N 118 50 32 W  

A black and white process of the photo above. 

These are all the photos for today. Next time I continue with more photos from Sequoia National Forest as I drive to the other section of King's Canyon National Park. 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 Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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Rhyolite Ghost Town - Death Valley National Park (Part 13)

At the end of November last year (2012), I took a trip to Death Valley National Park. This is the second trip there in my life. The 1st time I went, I was still a little kid, and I didn't start taking photos yet. This time, I have a pro camera and I am ready to shoot the scenery. Death Valley National Park is known for its "out of this world" scenery, UFO sightings, and many other things. The desert is a very mysterious and beautiful place. In this chain of blog posts, I will be showing you mainly photos of Death Valley National Park, but also photos from surrounding areas like The Mojave Desert, Alabama Hills, and Rhyolite Ghost Town. I have picked out over 400 photos from my trip to show you guys and I will be dividing them into many blog posts. Unlike blog  post chains before, I obviously can't put a link of ever blog post on every single blog post, so instead, I will do the same thing I did for my Yellowstone National Park photos before, by sticking a link of the Next and Previous post on each blog post instead.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best work from Death Valley National Park, use this link. To see all of the photos from my Death Valley National Park trip use this link.

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Message from the Photographer: So according to the weather report there is a 20% chance of rain on Saturday in San Francisco, CA. I just hope it doesn't because I really want to take photos from the parade! :) If it doesn't rain, I will most likely go and will show you guys the photos as soon as I can finish processing them. Even if it means I have to hold off on the Death Valley National Park photos. The other reason I kind of want to go is I want to test my Canon GP-E2 GPS to the max. No better place to test accuracy of a GPS than a big city with lots of tall buildings. :P This is pretty much all I want to tell you, so lets move on with the photos.

I will continue with the photos from Rhyolite Ghost Town in Rhyolite, NV for today. The photos will include some HDR compositions, some normal photos, and a panorama. The ghost town itself is not in Death Valley National Park, but falls right outside its boundaries. If you do visit Death Valley National Park, Rhyolite Ghost Town is a must see! If you are into star trails, this is definitely a great place to do one! I even did one myself and it turned out great. :) I will show you the star trails I did soon in a future blog post. Also, if you want to learn how to do star trail photography, I have written up a nice tutorial here. As with all ghost towns, this used to be a very populated area, but as time passed, the place is now deserted. If you want to learn more about Rhyolite, NV, you can read more about it on Wikipedia.

Here is an HDR shot of the Rhyolite Ghost Casino. Not sure why they fence off the buildings and mark them as dangerous and contaminated... Not sure how it can be dangerous and contaminated, but I can see why they would want to fence it off... I can see how people walking on the old building could possibly destroy and degrade them, but can't see how it can be dangerous and contaminated. 

HDR compositions of the remains of a house. Not sure what the name of it is.

Another photo of the house. 

Here is a photo of the abandoned gas station. 

Abandoned gas station from another angle.

Photo of the hills off in the distance. 

Rhyolite Ghost Casino on the right. 

Mountain

Cook Bank Building. This is the building I did my star trails time lapse at. That photo will be posted later on.

Another shot of the Cook Bank Building.

Panorama of Rhyolite Ghost Town.

These are all the photos for today! I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. :) 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 Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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