Shoreline in Mountain View For a Day.

-



Buildings of companies like Yahoo, Canon, Juniper Network, Motorola, Rambus, NASA Ames Research Center, e.t.c were the sightings that awaited me when I took the light rail to Mountain View in California. I wanted to go to Mountain View to visit the Shoreline Park and Trail. However, on getting there, I realized that Mountain View is a  distinct extension of the Silicon Valley. What do I mean by this? I mean that many of the high-tech companies were right in Mountain View, and very close to the Shoreline Trail. 

Companies like Microsoft:




23andMe (a genetic testing company for health, disease and ancestry):



and Google:


Also right in Mountain View is the Computer History Museum, a museum aimed at preserving the history of the information age. I saw the oldest computer I'll probably ever see when I walked in to ask for directions to the Shoreline Park and Trail.


Anyways.....

Like I mentioned prior, the main reason I wanted to go to Mountain View was to see the hills in ShoreLine and to hike on the trail. On getting to the park, I realized one thing. It was vast!




There are very specific fauna like owls and other birds I couldn't quite place at the Park and they must be protected too, as you can see from the barrier created to keep the birds  away from wandering hikers....like me...;)



It was a chilly day (in California? yeah, I know). It was fun to walk on the trails, it was also long and tiresome. I eventually stopped taking pictures and focused on walking. I walked a major part of the trail connecting Stevens Creek Trail to the San Francisco Bay Trail. There's not much to write about walking on a trail, so enjoy the next series of pictures describing my walk till I got to the edge of the San Francisco Bay Trail.








And this for me was the end of my walk. I simply walked ahead towards the buildings in the far right in the picture above and walked out of the Park. I was glad I went to the Park as I learned a lot, not only about my endurance level (or lack thereof), but also about ecosystems and land management. Did you know the Park used to be a dumping site? 



I'm really terrible at taking pictures of myself. haha :)










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Porto Novo, Republic of Benin

-
Image
There are no two places more divergent in architecture and economy than the cities of Porto Novo and Cotonou of the Republic of Benin. While I was in Nigeria in May, I went to the Republic of Benin. Why? Because it is so close geographically. It is bordered by Nigeria to the east and a trip from the heart of Lagos into the Seme Border will take you just about two hours by car. Also, my dad wanted to visit a few of his friends so I tagged along for the free ride, free food and ...well, free everything. When we got to the border, I wanted to take pictures but as is typical of many African states, there were fierce looking border patrol people in khaki-like uniforms, that I dared not act the tourist. Truth be told, the best bet in a place like that was to act as inconspicuous as possible and in a grey and black dress with cream-colored cropped cardigan, I blended quite well into the dusty air and grey clouds. Although the border is notoriously known for "unofficial transports&q
Read more

Magodo Estate in Nigeria (Nigeria Houses)

-
Image
Let me warn you right now, this here is me showing you too many pictures of and gushing about Nigerian Houses. Yeah, I know, of all things to gush about. By the way, if I ever retire and choose to go back to Nigeria, I hope to reside in one of these lovely buildings in Magodo. I have been out of Nigeria for so long that one of the things that caught my interest when I went back were the houses, especially Magodo Estate, a prestigious estate in Lagos state, Nigeria. Aren't these just lovely houses? I tell you, Nigerians don't build houses, they build mini mansions (when they can afford it). As long as you have the money to buy a plot of land (or a few acres), you are at liberty to build on it as you want. In the shape, size, and color that you want.  An Art Shop in Magodo In Nigeria, for the most part, people typically buy lands, rather than houses, and so, when thy build houses, it tends to reflect the taste of the owner. So no two houses a
Read more

My last trip of the year 2013!

-
Image
So happy, I met  (and exceeded) my travel goals for the year 2013. I set the goal for 2 international trips and 5 local (within the U.S) trips. I went on several small trips within the country:  New York New Jersey Miami, Florida San Antonio, Texas Houston, Texas And of course, awesome day trips in Rhode Island and Boston. Because, the best fun is always right where you live, the one where you never bother bringing a camera but end up having the most adventurous and fun time. My international trips consisted of Mexico, Jamaica and now....drum roll.... Nigeria. So glad I went on these trips, I met awesome friends in Mexico and went with friends to Jamaica and now hoping to meet with friends and family again in Nigeria. To celebrate Christmas and ring in the New Year. Now that I know it is doable, to travel and work and do other things in between, I am planning my 2014 with traveling in mind. To help me with my travel inspirations, I read several
Read more