Adam Turtle, Freelance Web Design in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Since1986
Wow, has it really been a week?
- 8th July, 2007
- filed under: San Francisco
- 1 comment
I can’t believe I’ve neglected this thing for a week! Prepare yourself for a long post…
This weeks highlights included:
- Yosemite National Park
- July 4th Celebrations
- Ratatouille
- City Church
Yosemite National Park
So firstly, Yosemite. Working for a tour company, I get to go on our tours for free. So I was given last Sunday off to go to there. Early start – it’s almost 4 hours drive from San Fran. The tour guide was Alan, he’s a cool guy who knows a lot about everything. The group was a mixed bag – a family of three from St. Louis, a Dutch couple, a gay couple from London, another London girl and two French girls.
Getting to the park was fine, Alan made the journey quite interesting. You go through Maraposa on the way, which is nice little town that epitomizes the Wild West. Also the drive into Yosemite is interesting – a rockslide last year took out part of the highway into the park so there’s a crazy diversion.
The park itself is absolutely huge. It covers an area roughly the same size as Co. Tyrone. That might not sound huge but think of the size of some of NI’s parks and compare it with that! It’s massive. I saw most of the sights in Yosemite Valley – Bridalveil Falls, El Capitan, Half Dome, Merced River. It really is a beautiful place:
The fourth picture is of a squirrel. Seems cute at first, but that little furball nicked my lunch. I went for a swim down the Merced River (which despite being a roasting day was still baltic!) and came back to eat my snack box and this little guy was pinching stuff out of it! They’re vicious.
Speaking of vicious, up in the Sequoia grove we spied a bear. Not a Grizzly (they’re extinct in CA), but a smaller brown bear. They’re notorious for stealing food. Speaking of sequoias, they’re the most massive trees in the world. The only living thing that is bigger in size is some underground fungus in Oregon.
4th July
Wednesday was July 4th, of course American Independence Day. The was a big party organised by the city on Pier 39 so I decided to check it out. As an added bonus it was also the warmest day of the year so far! I got there and the place was unbelievably packed. There were thousands there. I spent a good few hours just looking around the shops and enjoying the various entertainment that was going on. One of the main attractions was a big band playing at the pier entrance:
Didn’t really get a good photo, but it gives you an idea of how many were there. The band were actually pretty good, just doing old favourites.
Later on in the day I met up with Cedrick – a French intern with my company. He’s studying English at Berkeley, so he brought a load of Berkeley people with him. It was weird that I was the only native speaker of English among them yet the only language common to everyone was English. There was a Swiss girl in the group, I’ve forgotten her name but she was nice.
We went for dinner at the pier, I got the best rack of ribs I’ve ever tasted – amazing! I also tried a bit of catfish, which is surprisingly really tasty. We stayed waited around for hours to see the fireworks which in the end probably weren’t waiting for – they were good but not as impressive as other ones I’ve seen. The way back home was crazy – I think there was close to half a million people at the fireworks so public transport wasn’t an option for getting back. In the end I walked it which turned out to be quicker.
Ratatouille
Ok, just a short one. I don’t if it’s released in the UK yet but when it comes out GO SEE THIS MOVIE! It’s fantastic, the animation is incredible and it’s very funny. Definitely not just for kids. And it’s even better that there’s a new Pixar Short at the start of the movie which is equally fantastic! Not one to miss.
City Church
Finally, this morning I got my first Sunday all to myself. I got up and checked out City Church SF. I didn’t quite know what to expect but it was brilliant! The people were very friendly and it’s a very lively church. Quite a lot of people go to it, certainly more than I expected. I’ve signed up to get involved so hopefully I’ll be able to meet some new people and grow in faith. I really felt God speaking to me throughout the service, a number of things were said that mirrored my situation. One such thing was the pastor challenging us that just for this year why don’t we involved ourselves in a community based church. How relevant was that to me?! Just to leave you with, I’ll quote the scripture reading that was read today. I couldn’t believe how clear this was, it was the exact encouragement I needed:
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
James 1:2-8
I really really wanna climb half dome, the wires n stuff, it looks absolutely amazing