Natural Bridges

Before we hit 17 Mile drive we went to Santa Cruz. I thought it was cool because there is a big Snowboard/Skateboard Company called Santa Cruz. My buddy Chris had a snowboard once made by them. Santa Cruz is known for the beach. There beach here is huge. When we got there, we followed the coastline up north a bit from the beach to a National Monument called Natural Bridges. On the way we passed the Surfing Museum and there was actually a surfing Competition goin on. Here is a Natural Bridge, you can't see the part were the water actually hollowed out of the rock but it is there.

The California coast is really beautiful. I really enjoy travelling up and down it. I hope to drive along the whole California coast line by the time I am done here. Below is another picture I thought was awsome. It is taken in the same area as the Natural Bridges.

If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you're going to San Francisco
You're gonna meet some gentle people there

Pebble Beach

Between Monterey and Carmel there is a beautiful coastal drive called "17 Mile Drive." It is a state park and we paid $8.50 to get in. It was worth it. As you can see from the picture below, there is a beautifull beach along the entire drive. Littered over the entire beach are these "Pebbles." The water is very clear and the sand makes a weird sound when you walk on it. HAH, Marcus is in the picture checking out the site. I Have only been to the pacific shore two other times in my life. Last year with Michelle in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and off of Torfino on Vancouver Island with my family about 7 years ago. It was good to be back.

This area is famous for golfing. The PGA tours Pebble Beach, And I know my Dad has this place at the top of his list when he gets here. This shot is a great picture of one of the holes on the coast. Dad, bring my clubs !

You should see the homes around this place too. Wow, this is some of the most expensive realestate in the country. I think that this is the best part of the trip that Marcus, Sonia and I took today. We also visited Santa Cruz, and the city of Monterey, Those pictures will be up shortly.

The Rock

Our first stop in San Francisco was Fishermans Wharf. Alcatraz could be seen so clearly from the the Wharf and I began to think about how weird it would be if inmates were still kept there. You can see it in the background. Everyone who is planning to go to San Fran, you gotta book your tickets to Alcatraz 2 weeks ahead. Fisherman's Wharf and pier 39 are both at the north east corner of the city. They are both a huge tourist trap so thats why we ended up there. You get a great view of the bay, and many people launch their sail boats there as you can see.

Since we were at a major sea food area we all grabed a bite. I had a crab sandwich and it was sooo good. Marcus got Clam Chowder in a bread bowl. We plan to come back to this area to take a few boat tours of the bay aswell as take the boat over to Alcatraz. Pier 39 was probably the most impressive. The pier actually had 2 levels with many restaurantes and gift shops on it. There was even a place called "Bubba Gump Shrimp" where there was all you can eat shrimp. This was a pretty fun place to go because it was really busy with a lot going on. Below is a slightly better picture of Alcatraz. Don't worry, I am going to head over there in a few weeks so I will get pictures inside too.

Lombard Street

So this is the famous Lombard Street. It is located downtown San Fran and it really shows the incline that some of these streets have.

It was pretty cool, And I remember playing San Francisco Rush and one of the tracks has this exact location in it and your car flies over top of it. Cool. We also drove down it and that was pretty cool. Good thing our breaks worked.

I can't believe people live on this street. Anyway, In the distance you can see Coit Tower. We actually went over there too but my camera ran out of batteries so I didn't get any pictures from it. The story is, Lillie Hitchcock Coit who was a philanthropist and admirer of the fire fighters at the 1906 earthquake fire left funds to the city to make it more beautiful. Those funds were used to build this tower. The tower's design is reminiscent of a fire hose.

Golden Gate

Hey Guys, I know I said that I wouldn't Blog until after the weekend is done but after I was reading Tony's site: individual.utoronto.ca/iamkobe/ I just had to drop one of my latest pics. Tony currently rates me #1 in the Blog Power Rankings. Thats awsome, Thanks Bro, I love exploring this place and briging my findings to you guys, Don't worry I am going to keep this up as long as I can. This is me at the Golden Gate bridge. Marcus, Natalie, Justin, Anniruddh and I went to San Francisco for the day. We were dead Tired at the end, and for good reason. We saw so much stuff ! Don't worry, those pics are coming.

The Bridge is 4200 feet long and we walked it x2. It was finished in 1937 after over 4 years of construction. The chief Engineer's name is Joseph B. Strauss and sure enough as Prof. Collins said, There is a life size statue of the man at the starting of the bridge on the San Fran side. And He is very short like Collins said too. This site is amazing and it truly is one of the most beautiful examples of bridge design. Don't worry guys, Lots of pictures are on the way.

Pre-Long Weekend

Hey guys, This weekend is a long weekend for Americans. Memorial Day Weekend. Sorry I didn't post anything last night, We went to the Empire Grill and Tap in Palo Alto. Marcus knows all the good Bars with a wide range of Taps. I had a Rogue Hazelnut Brown. It was pretty good, it kinda tasted like chocolate and hazelnut. At the moment me and Marcus plan to go to San Fran today and Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz tomorrow. So I definetly plan to have some wikid pictures up at the end of the weekend So SIT TIGHT.

For now, Peace out and Enjoy the weekend.

Stanford

WOW. That was the most beautiful campus I have ever seen. I would be stupid not to apply. We walked all over the campus and it was amazing. Below is a picture of the curch just behind the main building at Stanford.

The whole area of Palo Alto is really cool. To get into Stanford you enter a large gated entrance and then there is about a mile of Palm trees until you get to the big court infront. We went to the library, residence, other library, we didn't get to see the Engineering Complex but we plan to come back. Apparently there is even a Lake there called Lagunita but I didn't see that either. All the students there drive golf carts or bikes around to their classes and stuff. Exams were still going on so it was still pretty busy there. No wonder this place costs so much to go to.

THIS IS AWSOME

Thanks to everyone leavin messages on my site. I just got back from work today and instead of leaving a new picture and a message, I decided to participate in HAPPY HOUR with all the interns here at the Housing Facility. This is how it works: get your free alcohol, then: good times ensue.

Tonight we are going out to Palo Alto, That is where Stanford is located and aparently they have a bunch of Bars along University Street. I will keep you guys posted and hopfully get a few pics too. Anyway, keep posting so I know you guys came.

oh yah, check out chris joes blog (thanks bro) : http://fuckengsci.blogspot.com/

NASA

There is a huge military base where I live and it includes this NASA research facility. Me and Marcus reached the front gate where there is a massive security gate. HAHA.

We were kind of scared of taking a few pictures and ending up at CAMP X-RAY. Apparently during WWII airships like the Hindenburgh were built and launched from this base. cool.

Silicon Valley

Here is the Valley. Silicon Valley. Google, Oracle, National Semiconductor, Cisco, McAfee, Sun, SGI, Siemens, Lycos ... A Computer Engineers Heaven.

Can't believe I am here guys...

Santana Row

Tonight me and a bunch of interns went to a really ritzy place in San Jose bordering on Santa Clara. I think they check your Credit Limit before you enter !!! Here is a few of us infront of a Hot Rod. The name of the place is Santana Row.

We walked around here and saw all the Ferrari's and Porches. Crazy.

Google

Today was my second day of work, and it was my first FULL day of work. 9:00 to 6:00, wow, thats what I am going to be doing for the next year. Thats definetly a change. My manager is really nice and I think it is going to be a great experience. Today we went out for lunch and a nice Mexican Place. It was really good. On the way we drove right by GOOGLE. Check out the pic:

I thought that was pretty cool because I use Google all the time. Even this blog is hosted by Google. DON'T BE EVIL.

Housing Facility

Here is where I stay. It is so Beautiful. My room backs onto the pool. This place reminds me of a tropical resort. My room is circled in red in the picture below.

We also get a pirated wireless connection here and I can post my blogs. Excuse me while I jump into the pool. Peace out!

New Car

Today Me and Marcus got a new rental car. It is a Hondai Accent. It should get us arround for the next little while. Here it is:

For the next month I will be trying to secure a new car for the rest of the year.

First Day

Today was the first day of work. The people there are really nice. We covered a lot of paper work that deals with our employment. The facilities are really nice, there is a gym available that I hope to use. Me and my colleagues are working in a wide range of departments spanning 2 buildings. I hope that I will be seeing them during my internship.

BBQ

This evening was really exciting. We had a BBQ at the Housing Facility with the current interns. We really bonded well. And I got a good idea of what the my first day would be like. Paulson will be my mentor and he is really nice. I think we will get a long very well.

The funniest part was when some of the old (current) interns threw one of their colleagues into the pool. Halirity defenitly ensued.

My New Home Away from Home

My temporary address for the next month is:
555 West Middlefield Road
Mountain View, CA 94043
USA

My temporary phone number for the next month is:
650 960 9402
You will either get me or Marcus

You can allways email me at:
bryan.rogerson@utoronto.ca

Limousine

HI, When we landed a Limousine took us from the airport to the corporate housing facility in Mountain View. I have never been in a Limo before so it was a great experience. Here is a picture of Me with Natalie and Marcus. Marcus is on the right and he is also my room mate.

The Limo was full of our luggage I am suprised that the shocks didn't bottom out. Aniruddha and Micheal on the other side took the picture. All 5 of us flew in on the airplane. We flew Aircanada and it was pretty comfortable.

Hello California

Hi Everyone !

Today I flew into San Francisco Internation Airport to begin an Internship associated with the University of Toronto.

This is great.

I am going to record all the stuff that I get to see and do on this website. Please leave comments !