Trip to California for MacWorld 2002


First I drove down to my Dad's house in Paradise, CA. One evening we took a drive up the Feather River canyon, and I got this photo as we were entering a tunnel. I've never got such a neat blurring effect before... and we were going only 40 MPH or so.

Driving into tunnel


The next leg of the trip was to drive to Palo Alto. Soon after leaving Paradise, CA one comes to Oroville. I stopped to get a picture of my favorite aqueduct, which in the hot summer always makes me want to jump right in! I really like my Audi A4.

Oroville aqueduct


Once in Palo Alto I took a train ride up to San Francisco. Here is the Palo Alto train station, which still displays the Southern Pacific logo over the door. The SP is now part of Union Pacific.

Palo Alto train station


Here is the train approaching the station from San Jose. $8 buys a round trip ticket to SF.

Approaching train


Note that the train is driving backwards! Crazy.

Backwards train


The inside of the cars were in good shape, with comfortable seats, although they are set too close to each other.

Train interior


Once we arrived in the city I walked to Moscone center for MacWorld. Here I am between Moscone North and South, looking north to the rest of SF.

Moscone


iPhoto was released, a neat package for downloading, organizing, editing, and printing digital photos. I downloaded it for free as soon as I got home.

iPhoto banner


After registering for the show I went and found breakfast on 833 Mission at Melsdrivein.com, which is not a drive-in, but it sure had a great breakfast! Highly recommended.

While walking downtown I saw this neat construction area. Note the patriotic note of the flag post September 11th...

SF construction site


A hook and ladder fire truck passed by with siren on...

Hook and ladder fire truck


Apple had ads up all around the streets of San Francisco for the new iMac.

iMac poster


Finally I got into the show and saw and played with the new iMac for myself. It is sure slick!

The new iMac has a 700 MHz or 800 MHz G4 processor, 128-256 MB of RAM, 40-60 GB hard disk, and a CD-RW, or Combo, or DVD-R SuperDrive built into the base. All come with a 15" LCD display showing 1024 x 768. My biggest complaint is the small screen pixel-wise. The display is very readable, but I wish it could go to a higher resolution. The whole unit feels very well made and very stable. It comes with lots of great software and is priced from $1299 to $1799.

New iMac


Here is my Grandmother's house that I stayed at. The house was built in 1940.

Grandma's House


I then returned back to Paradise, where the green hills were a welcome sight.

Green hills of Paradise


I got to see a short Union Pacific train near Paradise, powered by a pair of SD70M diesels.

UP train


These are amazing engines, the finest of the DC era.

SD70M diesels up close


Here the train has made a loop and is soon to enter the Feather River canyon. I then returned home to North Bend. Another fun trip!

Heading into Feather River canyon


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Created:  19 Jan 2002
Modified: 22 Mar 2002