Eric (left), Terry (right)
Showing posts with label WP travels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WP travels. Show all posts
Monday, July 25, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Twin Towers - SF
If you have never been to Twin Towers in SF it is a must... especially on a crystal clear day. One hill provides sweeping views of downtown from the Golden Gate to the Ferry Building. The other, an endless view of the Pacific Ocean. Park along the road and walk to both and let the mind compile a 360 degree panaramic view of the City.
Brian L.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
How I Spent My last Friday Off - Mary
Briefly: we went from our house (basically Folsom) to Auburn, up 49 to Grass Valley, across 20 to Yuba City, ate breakfast, continued on 20 to Williams, decided to go to Clearlake, ended up going around the lake, back to 16 through the Rumsey Gorge/Capay Valley to Esparto. Drinks at Rose’s Island, then down to Davis, where we ran into a serious traffic jam on 80. Tried to skirt it south, didn’t work, ended up going back to Woodland via farm roads, down 5 to 80, to Roseville to home. Whew. 360 miles. 14 hours out. - Mary
How I Spent My last Friday Off - Jeff and Kim
“I’d like to thank the Academy…”
Kim and I decided to take advantage of our last extended weekend by spending some quality time in City by the Bay, San Francisco. We had heard great things about the new Academy of Science building in Golden Gate Park by Renzo Piano so we said to ourselves, “hey, it would be easier to visit the museum on a weekday with small crowds rather than on a Saturday,” not realizing some schools are on spring break. The place was a mad house; the building was filled to capacity, you literally had to park miles and miles away since you couldn’t drive anywhere near the museum, and to top it off you could only enter as people left which meant you may or may not get in before closing due to a quarter mile long line that was wrapping around the plaza. Deciding to come back first thing the next morning, we did finally get into the museum.
I had visited the original museum as a youngling but couldn’t remember much more than the fact I was starving most of that day because I had forgotten my lunch box on the bus. I thought the museum was well conceived with an undulating green roof carrying into the major space with two large contrasting spheres flanking an open courtyard. The major theme throughout the museum was the environment and how humans have negatively impacted certain ecosystems and climates and what we can do to help. There was a great rain forest exhibit which was a 3-story glass panel sphere which contained a mini rain forest ecosystem inside which you can walk around in with birds, butterflies, ants, frogs, fish and rain forest vegetation. Many of the exhibits and displays throughout are interactive which really got the kids involved. One of the most interesting sites, for me at least, was the large rolling green roof covered with indigenous plants which you can go to the roof and see.
In the end it was a lot of fun, even with the crowds. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun way to educate themselves or their children about natural sciences and environmental issues facing society… and get there early!
Kim and I decided to take advantage of our last extended weekend by spending some quality time in City by the Bay, San Francisco. We had heard great things about the new Academy of Science building in Golden Gate Park by Renzo Piano so we said to ourselves, “hey, it would be easier to visit the museum on a weekday with small crowds rather than on a Saturday,” not realizing some schools are on spring break. The place was a mad house; the building was filled to capacity, you literally had to park miles and miles away since you couldn’t drive anywhere near the museum, and to top it off you could only enter as people left which meant you may or may not get in before closing due to a quarter mile long line that was wrapping around the plaza. Deciding to come back first thing the next morning, we did finally get into the museum.I had visited the original museum as a youngling but couldn’t remember much more than the fact I was starving most of that day because I had forgotten my lunch box on the bus. I thought the museum was well conceived with an undulating green roof carrying into the major space with two large contrasting spheres flanking an open courtyard. The major theme throughout the museum was the environment and how humans have negatively impacted certain ecosystems and climates and what we can do to help. There was a great rain forest exhibit which was a 3-story glass panel sphere which contained a mini rain forest ecosystem inside which you can walk around in with birds, butterflies, ants, frogs, fish and rain forest vegetation. Many of the exhibits and displays throughout are interactive which really got the kids involved. One of the most interesting sites, for me at least, was the large rolling green roof covered with indigenous plants which you can go to the roof and see.
In the end it was a lot of fun, even with the crowds. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun way to educate themselves or their children about natural sciences and environmental issues facing society… and get there early!
- Jeff and Kim
How I Spent My last Friday Off - Brian
I've lived in Sacramento for almost 2 years now and still have not been to SF to see the sights. So, I took advantage of the last Friday off and heading to "The City" as people call it. The day was beautiful and sunny and the city was in full swing. First thing on the list was MOMA. How disappointing! The building was less than impressive from the outside and that theme continued once inside. I'll spare you the hours it would take deconstructing my thoughts on the building but let's just say it takes the honor of worst art museum I've ever experienced. The art on the other hand was top notch as would be expected. From there it was off to explore the city. I have no idea how I got anywhere but somehow ended up in Little Italy for some delicious pizza. Then it was up, way up, to Telegraph Hill and back down to chill in a little park with the locals. It was a fitting end to the last day of a short lived but much appreciated 4 day work week.
Before - full glass, whole pizza
After - empty glass, no more pizza
Before - full glass, whole pizza
After - empty glass, no more pizza-Brian L.
Monday, April 6, 2009
700 miles on a bike...
...ok, a motorcycle but 700 miles none the less!
Jeff’s 50th birthday was on Friday. He decided that he didn’t want any sort of party, just to take a motorcycle trip. We decided to base camp out of his brother’s in Valley Springs. Three nights there and we never saw each other, as he works swing shift and worked all weekend.
Friday the weather was supposed to be windy, so we decided to try to leave early, 8ish, and just see how the day went and not go too far. We ended taking an beautiful road across the ridgeline between Sonora and Columbia. Had a drink in the Saloon in Columbia and decided to head for base camp. Good thing too, after stopping for groceries in Angel’s Camp we hit wind gusts of probably 40-50 mph. Riding on a straight road and tilted at a 20 degree angle to keep on the road at 65 mph was a thrill I could do without.
Saturday’s trip was from base camp to Angel’s Camp for breakfast, then down 49 to Mariposa. On the way down we stopped at Chinese Camp. The site of the first Chinese Tong War in the state was fought here. (
All in all it was a great weekend of riding. The Sierra foothills are fabulous this time of year. Everything is so green and the wildflowers are a riot of color. We did over 700 miles, ate great food and had a wonderful time.
- Mary
Monday, March 9, 2009
Heath Ceramic
If you are ever in Sausalito and have two hours to spare, I highly recommend checking out the Heath Ceramics manufacturing facility off of Bridgeway Blvd. Heath ceramics is named after the late Edith Heath who founded the company in the mid-1950’s. She and her company are known for their unique and timeless design as well as their dedication to producing quality products (that cost a pretty penny, but are worth every penny at the same time). The facilities were incredible, not due to size nor enormity of production mind you but because of how down to earth and understated it was; they used their own pottery pieces (that retail for $70+ in the store)for putting ‘slip’ and other mixtures in, their sinks/floors/backsplashes were clad in mosaics of their own broken tiles, and flanked throughout the space was everything ranging from ceramic bowl/glaze/cup/tile prototypes to hand molded pumpkins that they entered in their annual Halloween contest. The tour consisted of brief visits with the various artisans where, at each station, they described and exhibited their craft. The artisans as well as the tour-ista, as I will call her, were all very passionate about the work as they spoke. It is that passion that makes their product special. The attention to detail and the extreme pride in what they create. All of these qualities come together to transform clay into beautiful works of art.
Entrance to Heath, ceramic art by Edith Heath
Fresh from the mold. Notice the open door...each employee has the ability to open a door or window as well as access to natural light.
Amazing tile. Revived from the archives a few years back, this tile is a classic modern design
Heath is known for their glazes...such vibrant and beautiful colors
Seconds?... those on a budget can visit their seconds store for bargains on near perfect pieces. -Amber
How we spent our President’s Day Weekend!!!
Over the President’s Day Weekend, Jeff and I went to visit my parents up in Tahoe. We decided to take a leisurely drive down to Mono Lake with my mom. I hadn’t been there since I was little, and Jeff had never been. It was a beautiful drive down and the scenery was spectacular…
…these are right out of Bridgeport and are the backside of Yosemite. To give a small sense of scale, Bridgeport sits at an elevation on 6772 ft., so those mountains are pretty high. Our destination, Mono Lake, was just as I had remembered…very flat with the tufas sticking out of the water.
We took a lunch break, had a nice leisurely walk down to the water’s edge, then headed back home. On the way home, just outside of Walker, we came across this memorial.
It is to commemorate a fire plane accident that happened in 2002, killing all on board and setting the town of Walker on fire. It was a very humbling place…seeing the trinkets that people have left over time and seeing the rows of tee-shirts that other firefighters have left. We saw shirts as far away as New York and Alaska. We took one side trip…up the road to Sonora Pass (I think) and saw the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center…the following is a blurb from their website about what they do…
…these are right out of Bridgeport and are the backside of Yosemite. To give a small sense of scale, Bridgeport sits at an elevation on 6772 ft., so those mountains are pretty high. Our destination, Mono Lake, was just as I had remembered…very flat with the tufas sticking out of the water. 
We took a lunch break, had a nice leisurely walk down to the water’s edge, then headed back home. On the way home, just outside of Walker, we came across this memorial.
It is to commemorate a fire plane accident that happened in 2002, killing all on board and setting the town of Walker on fire. It was a very humbling place…seeing the trinkets that people have left over time and seeing the rows of tee-shirts that other firefighters have left. We saw shirts as far away as New York and Alaska. We took one side trip…up the road to Sonora Pass (I think) and saw the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center…the following is a blurb from their website about what they do…“The Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MCMWTC) is one of the Corps most remote and isolated post. The center was established in 1951 as a Cold Weather Battalion with a mission of providing cold weather training for replacement personnel bound for Korea. After the Korea conflict the name was changed to the Marine Corps Cold Weather Training Center. As a result of its expanded role it was renamed the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in 1963. MCMWTC operated on a full time basis until 1967 when it was placed in a caretaker status as a result of the Vietnam War. The training center was reactivated to a full-time command on May 19th 1976.
The center occupies 46,000 acres of Toiyabe National Forrest under management of the U.S. Forrest Service. A letter of agreement between the Forrest Service and the Marine Corps permits the use of the area to train Marines in mountain and cold weather operations.
The center is cited at 6,762 feet, with elevations in the training areas ranging to just under 12,000 feet. During the winter season (October - April) snow accumulation can rear 6 to 8 feet. Further, severe storms can deposit as much as four feet in a 12 hour period. Annual temperatures range from -20 degrees to +90 degrees Fahrenheit.
The MCMWTC conducts formal schools for individuals and battalion training in summer and winter mountain operations. The training emphasis on enhancing overall combat capability.
Marines at the center are also involved in testing cold weather equipment and clothing, and developing doctrine and concepts to enhance our Corp’s ability to fight and win in mountain and cold weather environments.”
(My parents have gone jeeping up in those mountains and have come across the troops in full gear, with tents, rifles and anything else they needed.)
All in all…we had a great little trip and I highly recommend it as a day trip to anyone wanting to get away.
The center occupies 46,000 acres of Toiyabe National Forrest under management of the U.S. Forrest Service. A letter of agreement between the Forrest Service and the Marine Corps permits the use of the area to train Marines in mountain and cold weather operations.
The center is cited at 6,762 feet, with elevations in the training areas ranging to just under 12,000 feet. During the winter season (October - April) snow accumulation can rear 6 to 8 feet. Further, severe storms can deposit as much as four feet in a 12 hour period. Annual temperatures range from -20 degrees to +90 degrees Fahrenheit.
The MCMWTC conducts formal schools for individuals and battalion training in summer and winter mountain operations. The training emphasis on enhancing overall combat capability.
Marines at the center are also involved in testing cold weather equipment and clothing, and developing doctrine and concepts to enhance our Corp’s ability to fight and win in mountain and cold weather environments.”
(My parents have gone jeeping up in those mountains and have come across the troops in full gear, with tents, rifles and anything else they needed.)
All in all…we had a great little trip and I highly recommend it as a day trip to anyone wanting to get away.
-Kim N.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Where has the W+P card been lately?
southeast of Fiddletown
Mary's card on Knights Ferry Plaque
Shenandoah Valley school house
Knights Ferry covered bridgeIt’s been to Knights Ferry to see the covered bridge and mill. See link for more info. We went here on Friday with Jeff’s brother. http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/KnightsFerry.htm
On Saturday we took a meander around the foothills southeast of Plymouth, through the Shenandoah Valley, up through Fiddletown, Volcano, back to Sutter Creek and home.
The Shenandoah Valley School. This bell called the children of Shenandoah Valley to school since 1852. The school district was first named Williams after the family with the most children, then changed to Shenandoah in 1916. In 1952 with the creation of the Oro Madre School District children attended school in Plymouth. The schoolhouse became home to the community center.
On Saturday we took a meander around the foothills southeast of Plymouth, through the Shenandoah Valley, up through Fiddletown, Volcano, back to Sutter Creek and home.
The Shenandoah Valley School. This bell called the children of Shenandoah Valley to school since 1852. The school district was first named Williams after the family with the most children, then changed to Shenandoah in 1916. In 1952 with the creation of the Oro Madre School District children attended school in Plymouth. The schoolhouse became home to the community center.
- Mary
Monday, January 12, 2009
Tahoe Winter
I took these pictures (8 pictures combined into a panorama) on Jan 1st from the 6,400 foot elevation overlooking Lake Tahoe, just south of Tahoe City and above the area of Sunnyside.
- Beverly
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
4/9 weekend
In case anyone wonders how us 4/9 people like our extra day off, well, this is how I spent mine.I was up Friday at the usual time and headed west on 50 by 6:30. I thought I’d be freezing by butt off, but it wasn’t bad. We hooked a north and zig-zagged through the farm land and ran into some serious wind, hoping it would subside, we continued past Cache Creek and up the Ramsey Gorge where we stopped and ate breakfast - McGriddle’s and a thermos of Chai tea. The wind had died down and it was beautifully warm. We continued toward Clear Lake, which was fogged in at both ends, but clear in the middle. And it was only 10:20. We headed on toward Willits, arriving just about 11. But noticed a sign indicating Ft. Bragg was 33 miles. Well, we hung a west and were in Ft. Bragg by noon. Sunny, warm and beautiful. I’ve been dying to go to the coast for a long time. We found a place to grab some lunch and found Glass Beach. We walked around town and ate our picnic lunch we’d brought for dinner. We woke up Sat morning, walked to a restaurant for breakfast and were on the road toward home by 10:00, wanting to get home before dark (it was a 5 ½ hour trip there). One the way back between Ft. Bragg and Willits we stopped for a break at the Jackson Demonstration Forest. There was a mist coming off the grass (unfornatly my phone camera just couldn;t capture the beauty). Anbd that's how I spent my weekend.
-Mary
Monday, November 10, 2008
Kurt Versen Lighting Tour and Trip to NEW YORK CITY: October 2008
Times Square, NYC
Central Park
Central Park Amber Seevers and I were invited to tour the Kurt Versen Lighting Factory by our ALR rep, Ryan Culver. A trip to New York City… who could turn that down? We arrived just before midnight on Thursday – after one of the most difficult traveling experiences I’ve ever had (I won’t mention the airline – although they did eventually get us there). We awoke Friday morning and were shuttled off to Westwood, New Jersey to visit the Kurt Versen factory and to meet the people who run the company. Well, we were a little sleepy, but the content and photometric lighting labs were great. I never realized there was so much to know about recessed down lights! Everyone was knowledgeable and pleasant and we had a great time! After the tour, Kurt Versen staff shuttled us over to Manhattan to check into our digs: the W Hotel in Times Square! We changed for dinner and walked over to Ruby Foo’s for a magnificent dinner! Thinking it couldn’t get any better – it did! After dinner they treated us to the Broadway production of Wicked (if you haven’t seen this yet and like the Wizard of Oz… it’s a MUST!) It was a full day that left us with smiles on our faces as we fell fast asleep.
Saturday was our day in the city. Ryan treated us to breakfast at the Boat House – a restaurant on a lake in Central Park. Again, amazing. We wanted to walk off some of the opulence of that last few days – which was not hard to do in Central Park. Imagine being from the city of trees – and being awestruck by Central Park! It was truly magical. We finally grabbed a taxi and left the sheltered canopy and headed to Battery Park. We saw Wall Street, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty and Trinity Church. All of which inspired us. We returned to the hotel long enough to change, then headed off for dinner at Buddakan. The interior of this restaurant was a mixture of an Asian inspired sanctuary, complete with Buddha heads and a Catholic Church, complete with a huge mural of the last supper. The food was tremendous! We jetted off to the top of the Empire State Building and proceeded to end the night in typical New York fashion… with a slice of late night pizza!
Sunday was our departure day, but not before we scoured Times Square, visited the ice rink at Rockefeller Center and did a little shopping. All in all – it was a trip Amber and I won’t ever forget – our first time in New York!! We want to thank Ryan Culver – who was a gracious host and all the people at Kurt Versen! Thank you for your opening up your factory to us and sharing a little bit of your New York with us!
Saturday was our day in the city. Ryan treated us to breakfast at the Boat House – a restaurant on a lake in Central Park. Again, amazing. We wanted to walk off some of the opulence of that last few days – which was not hard to do in Central Park. Imagine being from the city of trees – and being awestruck by Central Park! It was truly magical. We finally grabbed a taxi and left the sheltered canopy and headed to Battery Park. We saw Wall Street, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty and Trinity Church. All of which inspired us. We returned to the hotel long enough to change, then headed off for dinner at Buddakan. The interior of this restaurant was a mixture of an Asian inspired sanctuary, complete with Buddha heads and a Catholic Church, complete with a huge mural of the last supper. The food was tremendous! We jetted off to the top of the Empire State Building and proceeded to end the night in typical New York fashion… with a slice of late night pizza!
Sunday was our departure day, but not before we scoured Times Square, visited the ice rink at Rockefeller Center and did a little shopping. All in all – it was a trip Amber and I won’t ever forget – our first time in New York!! We want to thank Ryan Culver – who was a gracious host and all the people at Kurt Versen! Thank you for your opening up your factory to us and sharing a little bit of your New York with us!
-Andrea
Monday, October 27, 2008
Crossville Tile Factory Tour, Nashville TN
Brian Lefholz and I joined a large group from all over California and headed east to Crossville Tennessee to tour the factory of Crossville Tile. It was an extremely fun and educational experience. We toured two factories, their oldest and their newest. The oldest of the two was a hodgepodge of activity. We bounced from room to room like a pinball, trying our best to make sense of the tile making process. Needless to say it was extremely confusing and I couldn’t exactly tell you I learned a whole lot except for that the good people of Crossville start every sentence with, “This here is…”. Now on to the new factory… much more informative. Our tour guide was a barrel of laughs and he really deconstructed the tile manufacturing process so that a one semester high school ceramic class attendee such as myself could understand it. What was extremely valuable was that we were essentially able to follow the same piece of tile from start to finish learning the in’s and outs of the production, packaging, and shipping process.
Real quick, I have to give props to the employees of the factory; everyone we met with really seemed to love their job and have a passion for what they were doing. It said a lot about how Crossville runs their operation.
Real quick, I have to give props to the employees of the factory; everyone we met with really seemed to love their job and have a passion for what they were doing. It said a lot about how Crossville runs their operation.
As for Nashville… it gets a big ‘F’ for FABULOUS! I think I speak for Brian when I say it was a blast and a half. Made up of Second Avenue, Lower Broadway, and Printer’s Alley, the district serves up the best of Nashville’s historic past, dining, shopping, and nightlife like you’ll only find in Music City. Day or night, you are guaranteed to experience live music at a number of bars and restaurant in the area. Nashville certainly has more than its fair share of talent. If you ever have a chance to go, I recommend getting an ‘Alley-Gator’ shooter at the Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie Bar and treating yourself to a sweet baked potato (brown sugar, butter, and a sprinkle of heaven) at one of the top 10 restaurant in the US, The Stockyard.
-Amber
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
WP travels - Oregon
This is definitely a first for the blog...a WP employee that contributes to the blog without actually having officially started work! That's exactly the case with Tom Ventura, who will be joining us in a few weeks from the great state of Oregon. Thanks for the pics...see you in September!
Camping along the John Day river somewhere in Eastern Oregon.
Interactive Public Art - Eastern Oregon Style
Camping along the John Day river somewhere in Eastern Oregon.
Interactive Public Art - Eastern Oregon Style- Terry
Monday, July 14, 2008
WP travels - Wisconsin
While on vacation in the great dairy state of Wisconsin I snapped a picture of my Timbuktu bag in front of a real farm.- Jason Masty
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Deltek Convention – May 19-22
Joey, Cigi and Jodie attended the Deltek User Conference in Nashville, May 19-22. The Conference was focused on learning new ways to apply Deltek software technology to our business and make our operations more efficient. All of them attended a variety of classes, and Jodie was invited to participate on a panel for one of the sessions.The conference was held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center which use to be an amusement park. It’s now a domed hotel with over 3000 guest rooms and a huge conference center, all connected under several large domes that are truly an architectural and engineering marvel. Be sure to check it out next time your in Nashville.
While there was lots of great sessions and work to be done, there was also time to see the sights and take in the sounds of Nashville, know as Music City USA. The photos are of Joey and Jodie at the Wednesday night party in Downtown Nashville along the river overlooking LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans.
- Jodie
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
AIA Convention '08 - Boston
Convention 2008 can be summed up in two words: Green BIM (ok, so it’s one word and one abbreviation). While many of the seminars were hit and miss, the exposure to the latest in technology was a good eye opener. The world of professional services is moving rapidly into the world of Building Information Modeling and Integrated Project Delivery. We learned some great things about on-line sources that can assist in conceptual energy performance modeling through linkages to Revit, conflict analysis on 3-d models, and linkages to help facilitate LEED compliance.We also learned that the profession in on aggressive path beyond LEED to “Regenerative architecture” and that the Architecture 2030 Initiative (http://www.architecture2030.org/) is leading the way in reducing our country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
And then there is Boston – a charming mix of incredibly historic buildings and places and trend setting new architecture, some of it like the sixty’s era Boston City Hall fueling debate in our small W+P delegation. The current Mayor of Boston wants to tear it down, which is what they did to their cross town freeway (aka “The Big Dig”) which was a great improvement to the waterfront, market place and historic State Street area.
Finally the good news is that we pretty much missed the mini heat wave here. Boston was a lot like early March around here – tulips, dogwoods blooming, and long sleeves and sweaters.
-Jim
