Levi's Stadium Tour - October 2014

Welcome to Levi's Stadium, the new home of the Santa Clara 49ers! Actually, they are still called the San Francisco 49ers, but they now join the Arlington Cowboys, East Rutherford Giants, and Anaheim Angels as one of the few professional sports teams playing outside their namesake city. The new $1.2 billion stadium opened for the 2014 season and is loved by everyone in the club tower. Mixed reviews are coming in from the players and the fans who are roasting in the ever sunny Silicon Valley. Santa Clara can get very hot during the season, and most seats get direct sun all game.

Very quickly, the tour takes you into the inside club area. They moved most of the expensive seats to the west side of the stadium in a tall tower - much like a fancy hotel in Las Vegas. This is a very high end stadium. The days of freezing with blue collar workers at Candlestick Park are long over. They cater well to the extreme wealth of the Bay Area and offer fancy digs at a very fancy price. Interestingly, they make most food onsite instead of standard foodservice with all the modern foodie options and the good old junk food for a real football experience. Even the nacho cheese is made in the stadium. They just put regular cheese on the seats for about 18 minutes to melt it!

This is a cool shot from the press area. The 49ers host several hundred journalists and on-air talent for each game, and some of the club levels include the television area where you can mingle with the various broadcasters and see if Joe Buck's voice is really that deep in person. They give the reporters lots of free food and drink during the day, but it does not affect their journalistic integrity. In an unrelated subject, the press loves the stadium.

The stadium is LEED Gold certified meaning it is very environmentally friendly. They have a living garden on the roof of the club tower that cuts down on energy use and yes you can get tickets up here! There are LED lights everywhere, but they cannot use them on the field or else the uniforms would turn pink and the field would have a weird glow. They use recycled water in the toilets and generate enough solar electricity to offset their 10 game season of games. All of the steel in the construction was recycled - except the trophies.

I am writing this entry during halftime of the 49ers-Rams game after an 80 yard touchdown play just before the end of the 2nd. We are not winning yet, but this game you cannot blame the turf. The maligned playing surface is pictured above. The 49ers have not been happy with the grass and had some major issues early in the season. It is working now including the sprinklers as shown in the picture. The tour takes you to field level through the ultra-exclusive investment bankers club level. If you have to ask how much the seats cost, you cannot afford them!

Gotta love that new locker room smell! This is the visitors locker room which is very basic but a huge improvement over other fields. The tour guide told us the 49ers locker room is twice as tall with carved wood lockers. The stadium has two home locker rooms, one visitors locker room, cheerleader locker rooms, and two guest locker rooms for non-NFL games like soccer or high school sports. The stadium was built to host two NFL teams including a gift shop designed to split in two. The Oakland Raiders are an obvious choice if they do not mind the red seats. The NFL also can use the stadium as a temporary home for other teams that lose their stadium to disasters.

The stadium is also home to the 49ers Museum and Hall of Fame. This technologically advanced museum showcases past and present players and a good selection of memorabilia. There are replicas of Bill Walsh's office and the original locker room at Kezar Stadium. Interactive exhibits allow you to step on the field and make some plays, and yes you can walk in the giant helmet. Concussions are optional, but not recommended.

If you are a 49er fan, you have to come here. They also play other teams. If you are a fan of the other team and live in the area, you have to come here. If you cannot afford the $1,000 needed for a Sunday afternoon with the family for tickets, I highly recommend the tour instead. The stadium is right next to the light rail and Amtrak/Caltrain stations for easy access. Time will tell how this stadium works out, but as long as the Super Bowl trophies keep coming, the fans will like it. The place is very nice and fancy and should take care of my team for a long time. Please enjoy the rest of my pictures below (without the express written consent of the National Football League).

Go Niners!

Alpine County Fall Colors - October 2014

It is always a challenge to pick the first picture for each posting. Do I post my best picture first or slowly build up to it? In this case, I decided to put my best foot forward so to speak. As you would expect, Alpine County in California is rather remote. This sparsely populated county is south of Lake Tahoe nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains with altitudes over 7,000 ft. This area is high enough to have extensive aspen groves that glow yellow in the fall when the conditions are right. The crisp blue skies are clear of pollution and dotted with just enough clouds for a pretty picture.

My route was rather long, beginning early in the morning heading up Highway 50. It was touching to see so many signs in Placerville thanking the firefighters who battled the King Fire this year. Just before you hit South Lake Tahoe, there is a turnoff for Highway 89 heading south into Alpine County. California Highway 89 reminds me a lot of the sheer beauty of Arizona Highway 89 heading from Flagstaff to Sedona. This route takes you through Luther Pass and Hope Valley. Both are well worth a stop and a hike. I stopped in Markleeville for lunch as pictured above. There are a couple of cute restaurants for lunch, but it is a hotspot for motorcycle clubs so keep that in mind.

I shot this beauty over Monitor Pass. While driving down the highway, I saw this cloud formation out of the corner of my eye and immediately pulled over to take a picture. Clouds like these are common over the crest of the Sierras due to the unique wind and moisture currents over the craggy terrain. The dark blue sky is mainly courtesy of my polarizing filter.

For this trip, the main event was waiting for me at Ebbets Pass over Highway 4. In this area, Highway 4 is really a "highway" in an academic sense. It is really a paved sidewalk running crazy up 20% grades and switchback turns. In most places, it is a tight squeeze for two large vehicles to pass. It is a definite white knuckle ride, but worth the effort for the remote desolation and gorgeous pictures.

Coming back down the grade, there are many small mountain lakes and reservoirs. This is where California's water comes from. Up here it just looks pretty, but it is the life-blood for our booming agriculture and drinking water for nearly 40 million people. After a long drive, I had the fortune of spending a nice evening with friends in Murphys before heading back to Sacramento.

It is always a nice time to take a drive through the mountains, but something about the fall always makes it more spectacular. The air is clean and crisp; the trees are full of color; and you can just feel something special in the air. Please enjoy the rest of my pictures below.

Heavenly Ski Resort & South Lake Tahoe - September 2014

It is still summertime in Northern California. The temperatures are still too hot in Sacramento for outdoor activities, so it was time to head back up US 50 to South Lake Tahoe, CA and Stateline, NV. Lake Tahoe is a gorgeous alpine lake on the California-Nevada border and is very large. It is pretty awesome to see it for the first - or 30th time! South Lake Tahoe is a big tourist destination with a large vacation town and several casinos right on the state line. This is why the town is called Stateline! In the summer, the Heavenly Ski Resort opens up their main gondola and mountain area for summer activities including hiking, zip lining, tubing, and others.

Halfway up the mountain, the resort installed an observation deck. This is a cool stop to see the whole region and stretch your legs. The deck is a metal structure perched on a rock outcropping as shown above. It is a little unnerving to look down through the metal grates and see a large drop, but things are pretty safe. If you have a huge fear of heights, you probably should not be on the gondola in the first place.

The gondola ride only takes about 15-20 minutes, but it takes you up 3,000 ft in elevation. This valley is normally full of skiers and snowboarders in the winter, but in the summer the place takes on a different vibe. Families and explorers alike wander around in thin air. Heavenly has a lot of cool things to do in the valley, including a great lodge for meals and drinks. That said, it was time to do some hiking in the surrounding forest.

By the way, here is the official boundary between the California Republic and Nevada Territory. Now we know them as the states of California and Nevada. The park includes land in both states.

Hiking at altitude is a real challenge. There is about 30% less air around 10,000 ft which is where the picture above was taken. Hiking up here is about 50% harder than at normal elevations, so your heart is pumping and you will hyperventilate just to maintain blood oxygen levels. Easy hikes are not that easy, but the view is simply spectacular. Make sure to wear your sunblock. Less atmosphere means more exposure to solar radiation. My skin was not well protected, and I can still feel the burn.

Near the top of the mountain, the scenery was perfect for photography. You can see Lake Tahoe on one side and the high deserts of Northern Nevada on the other. The mountain has a lot of construction in the summer, but I was able to find a very secluded spot to enjoy hearing the wind through the alpine pines and enjoying the near perfect temperature. It was a delight to experience alpine hiking without the pain of climbing 3,000 ft in elevation.

After hiking back to base camp and once again catching my breath, I decided to have some fun and try summer tubing. In the winter, most ski resorts have a tubing hill where people can slide down the snow in an inflated tube. The resort modified this for the summer by installing a giant Slip'n Slide down the hill. It is basically an artificial grass surface in a long track lined with bumpers. They also use sprinklers to keep the surface wet and slippery. I had a very fun time zooming down the hill at near escape velocity, and the brief shower was a nice way to cool off after hiking. Highly recommended! After my unpleasant experience zip lining in Cancun this summer, I decided to pass and head back down the mountain.

OK, this is pretty cool. The gondola ride back down the mountain is a straight shot, and I had a car all to myself. I took a video of the ride back down and posted all 13 minutes to YouTube. There is little sound except the noises of the gondola and the surrounding nature. If you cannot make it to Lake Tahoe, here is a little preview for your enjoyment!

And yes, there is gambling in Lake Tahoe. They put the casinos and resorts here for a purpose. Fortunately, Lady Luck was smiling on me for this trip. I still have to return to work on Monday, but it is always nice to win some gas money.

The new marketing campaign calls the region Tahoe South, but this has always been South Lake Tahoe. I have been here many times both as a kid and an adult and have always loved the area. It is only 2 hours from Sacramento, and the drive around the lake is one of the most scenic and challenging drives in the world. It is well worth a trip, no matter what corner of the Earth you call home. Enjoy the rest of my pictures below.