sashimiaddict

At 6400ft above sea level, it’s the highest point in the park accessible by car, so it’s easy to get to. The view is awesome. Go if you can!

was just this past Sunday (8-13-06). My girlfriend joined up with me in Seattle during my 3-week long tour of the west coast for work and vacation.

I can already tell that this won’t be my last time going there.

The two of us were just blown away by this place. The natural beauty here is beyond parallel, and the extent to which the park is so well maintained impressed us both. The footpaths were very clean of litter, the roads are in great condition, and every effort is being made to preserve the beauty for generations to come. We saw a lot of evidence of restoration projects, especially at reflection lake, and we both remarked how we felt that humanity’s impact was minimized here, to the extent that it can be…

Unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to go along many of the paths; a real visit to this place, I think, may involve several days, and possibly include camping somewhere in the park. We only had a day.

All of the big attractions that we saw are worth visiting. Paradise (where this picture was taken) is stunning for its greenery. My favorite was Sunrise, however, which is the highest point accessible by car. Had we had more time, we would have hiked up the trails here, as recommended by jrocklin below.

Simply put: If you are ANYWHERE nearby at any point in your life, do not miss this! It’s simply too amazing to pass up. Go on a weekday and start your day early!

I’m here right now visiting my brother until the 10th of August. This place is amazing; a picture is worth 1000 words (or more).

I went here for Ultrafast 15, a conference based on laser physics/chemistry using ultrashort pulses. Unfortunately, for this kind of conference, these grounds were perhaps not so ideal. The room for posters was too small, the outdoor social event was too cold (it’s always cold here), and there were only a couple of places on the entire grounds that had internet, and even then only through wireless. On top of that, the main conference hall had really uncomfortable folding chairs. Not quite a great place for 400 people!

But, it IS rather pretty there, with lots of fresh air. Plus, the isolation is kind of nice. The rooms, while not having telephones or TVs, were also nice, and rustic, too. Plus, the staff is super polite and one feels that the folks who work there are doing their best to make your stay as comfortable as possible.

So, I’d say it’s a good place for a small conference, and especially for a religious retreat; for a group of 400 laptop-bound scientists… maybe not.

Just one more thing. Be warned: it’s cold there during the summer. It never got above 60 the whole week I was there (the first week of August).

San Francisco is awesome; I loved my trip there. So much to see and do, so little time. I can’t wait until I return.

My East coast-centric feeling: it has a lot of the feel of both Boston (harbor town, not overwhelmingly huge) and New York City (tight housing, reasonable street layout, “artistic”) combined, with a west coast flair.

Anyway, here’s a picture I took at Fisherman’s Wharf (yeah, touristy, but a must-see).

It’s my awesome girlfriend’s homeland! :) Definitely want to go there and eat the food, too (bulgogi, bibimbap = majorly yummy).

i went there in 2004, on the eve of the 59th anniversary of the bombing, so i was there to see a lot of the events surrounding it’s remembrance. it was beyond words moving, being able to stand almost directly at the hypocenter of the blast and think about the horrid events that unfolded on that day. everywhere we went, people offered us stories of what happened that day. both that, and the museum, were heartbreaking.

what really got me was the memorial to sadako sasaki, a girl who held to the belief that folding 1000 paper cranes would grant her a wish, in her case to survive leukemia (many kids developed the disease 10 years after the bombing). it started a campaign based around the paper crane, and they were everywhere i went, as a result (see the picture i took of cranes folded for the memorial to children workers killed—incidentally, the ribbon denotes the secondary school class which donated the cranes).

definitely worth visiting.

Would love to see the country and visit my cousin who lives in Stockholm!

Will be going to the Bay Area in July for a conference (Ultrafast Phenomena). I can’t wait!

And it’s a great (albeit expensive) place to live. It has all the trappings of a big city with a small town feel.