Friday 28 October San Francisco & Sacramento

On Friday morning Paul rang two Nikonian friends in Sacramento - Anthony Manansala and David Good. Anthony and David both work in the architectural design section of Caltrans, and Paul was eager to meet them and have a look at their work. So while Sue stayed in San Francisco and checked out China Town and the various shops, Paul caught the train north to Sacramento.

Anthony and David met Paul at the station, gave him a guided tour of the city, and bought a very nice Chinese lunch. Sacramento is a small but pretty city, with lots of trees in every street. The residential areas are very pleasant indeed, though Dave & Anthony explained that property prices have risen considerably in the past few years. We went to look at some excellent photography on show in a local camera shop, and met the proprietor of the black & white laboratory which recently hosted a show of Dave & Anthony's work.

On then to Caltrans, where we saw some of the projects currently under way. Caltrans is different from MRWA in that the great majority of their design work is done in-house. Anthony is one of thirty or so architects and David is a lead structural detailer. They work on everything from bridge aesthetics to maintenance depots to utilitarian roadside structures.

Time was getting on, so David drove Paul back to the station for the train ride back to San Francisco. It was really good to meet these dedicated Nikonians, have a talk about all manner of things, and see their work.

Back in San Francisco, Sue had spent most of the day exploring the city and checking out the shops. When Paul got back, we walked down to the Westfield shopping centre to look at some of the shops and also what are claimed to be the world's only curved escalators. We had dinner at Lori's Diner (very nice 1950s feel and music). We each had a nice healthy salad - followed with apple pie and ice cream.