California 2020 (San Francisco, Yosemite)

I spent the winter break of 2020 at my uncle’s house in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Asian man with crate of oranges Asian man with crate of oranges
Earning my stay by helping my uncle harvest oranges from his tree. (Click on any image to view at full resolution.)

Coming from Pittsburgh, the California winter weather was a very welcome change. Our extended family went hiking a couple of times; the scenery was also a welcome change from Pittsburgh. (Pittsburgh is nice enough, but there is obviously no ocean nearby.)

Red grass on hills Rocks in front of water Waves crashing on rocks Rocky cove Mossy trees Grassy hills
Various hiking trips, some with family and some not. (Click on any image to view at full resolution.)

We had some classic “Asian family picnics” with my grandparents, cousins, aunt, and uncle. That is, we colonized a picnic table and covered it with various homemade Chinese foods in repurposed containers for miscellaneous Costco products. I have some pictures but won’t post them out of respect for the privacy of others.

We then went to San Francisco at night to see the Golden Gate bridge:

Sunset over mist in San Francisco Bay Golden Gate Bridge at dusk Golden Gate Bridge at night
The San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge at various times and exposures during twilight. (Click on any image to view at full resolution.)

On another trip, we went to Yosemite National Park, one of the most beautiful places in the country. Due to some combination of COVID, the off-season, and its being a weekday, there were very few other people there at the time, even at the most popular spots in Yosemite Valley. My uncle and I managed to hike up to Inspiration Point in time to catch the sun setting on the majestic El Capitán.

Waterfall down rock face Walterfall in front of valley Reflecting pond in front of granite cliffs Valley with granite cliffs and pine trees Sun setting on granite cliff Wooden chapel in forest
It’s honestly way too easy to fill up a gallery with stunning vacation photos of Yosemite…I need to stop somewhere. (Click on any image to view at full resolution.)

A fun story about the chapel in the above gallery: my uncle was married there some years ago, since Yosemite is probably his favorite place in the world. I was the ring boy at the ceremony!

Asian man on right-angled tree trunk Asian man in front of pool and rocks Asian man in front of valley with trees
I had some pictures taken of me. Guess which one my grandma said I should include on my “online dating profile!” (No, I don’t have an online dating profile…) You can also try to guess which picture ended up on my Valentine’s card when I was a TA for 15-150.1 (Click on any image to view at full resolution.)

We also made a day trip to San Francisco.

Concrete church Winding road overlooking city Ornate columns against sky
Pictures taken in San Francisco. (Click on any image to view at full resolution.)

  1. In the CMU CS department, there’s a tradition of making Valentine’s Day cards with pictures of TAs and slightly naughty CS-related puns on them.↩︎