ALBUQUERQUE TIRE DEALERS

It took me a few tries but I got it and it was a fun adventure getting it. There is no parking anywhere near it and people are not really allowed to be there. The first attempt was disastrous. My friend, Sarah, dropped me off on the road. I climbed down to the bottom of the slope and realized I was not in the right spot. I decided to shoot from there anyway. Then I discovered I had put my tripod foot on my other camera and I could not take a shot. Talk about fuming! I was so mad at myself. So I hiked back out and when I got up to the top I realized my phone had fallen out of my pocket. I was exhausted and my legs were literally shaking from the strain. Definitely not used to walking up hills. I decided I would have to try another day to get my phone. Two days later I did retrieve my phone during the day but I could not take any pics.

The next time we tried, my friend, Sarah, and I went to the closest legal parking, which is also a tourist spot, as the SF skyline and bridge are visible. See previous photo. There were many people there and it just so happens a lovely couple asked Sarah to take their picture. We found our ride! Chris and Vanessa were so sweet and they took us right up there and dropped us off. Thank you so much Chris and Vanessa, you rock!

Sarah and I then climbed over the guard rail and down the slope, we found the spot and just started shooting. We stayed there for over an hour taking shot after shot. It was quite breathtaking and thrilling. I finally decided we shouldn't push our luck any longer and that we should high tail it out of there. We climbed back up to the road and started walking on the road back to our car. We literally had to walk on the road because there was no place else. We hadn't gotten far when an officer of the law pulled up behind us. I won't say which kind of law enforcement, in order to protect his identity. He was so nice. He gave us a ride back down to our car. As he drove us, he said normally he would give us the spiel about how we are not supposed to be walking up there, but he was too tired.

So we got a ride both ways and we both came away with some awesome shots.
:)

Ever since I first saw someone post this view, I just HAD to have it. I never seem to tire of seeing shots from here. Problem is, this is not exactly an easily accessible location. But, thanks to the excellent support of Lisa and Annie, John and I got an opportunity to visit this place for ourselves and get our own shots. I was worried we wouldn't even get a chance to go here after a WET start to our short SF visit. The rain came down in BUCKETS the day before. We were soaked to the core shooting the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge. There were about 4 dry minutes in the whole day. Everyone around the city was talking about how they'd never seen so much rain. That night there was a big windstorm that blew all kinds of debris onto Hwy 101, including a large part of a tree. The forecast was looking even worse the next day when we were to go here. Just my luck to visit on the wettest weekend of the century.

Lucky for us, the forecast was completely wrong and it cleared in the afternoon on the following day. I think that's because the storm ran out of water after dumping the entire Pacific Ocean into the SF Bay. I'll be spending the next week drying out.

Very minimally processed and no filters used. Cloned out a few stray internal reflections and that's about it. Amazing that it came out the the camera pretty much ready to go!

Thanks Lisa and Annie, you gals are awesome!

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs, facebook, or other media
without my explicit permission.

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