the golden gate (and possibly my dad)

This is where I will be for the next couple of days
celebrating my fifteenth wedding anniversary with my Pal....

No, not on a bridge.
But in a hotel room with a view of this bridge, which is much nicer than actually being on the bridge, if you ask me.

I have driven/walked across this bridge many times in my life and I have many photos documenting it because even if you live near this bridge, when you travel across it and under those towers, the sheer beauty and enormity of it is always breath taking.

But I have to say, that the last time I walked across I almost passed out...

First off, heights are not my thing. Adding to this fear is the presence of a suicide hot line number posted on signs along the bridge. Just thinking about people leaping over the rail crushes my heart with such sorrow that I wind up standing on this bridge with tears in my eyes, rather than enjoying the beauty from my perch.

Second, this bridge almost has a micro-climate of its own and it is often windy and cold up there. Sometimes the bridge is completely shrouded in fog. Unless it is an amazingly beautiful, unusually hot summer day here, you have to bundle up. The last time I walked across it, I feared my family would be blown right off it.

And thirdly, the last time I walked across it they had been doing some repair work on the pedestrian path  and there had been a story of a toddler who had fell through the construction cracks. I cannot believe I am even writing about this on my blog because it was a horrific story, but that story scared me enough to pretty much leash my children to me and swear that I would not walk across this bridge with them again until they had turned fifty.

Well now, isn't that pleasant?

Moving on...

So these photos were taken a month ago when we took the kids up north to a coastal state park. We were heading across the Golden Gate and I pretty much crawled onto my dashboard so I could take an unobstructed view out my windshield. It still has a little bit of a "through the windshield" blur to it, but oh well.

In the first picture (the one at the top of the post) you can see the top suspension cables and if you look carefully you can see handrails. Handrails. Without fail, every time my hubby and I drive over the Golden Gate we have to discuss them. Because there are people who actually walk up those cables to do inspections, repairs, and paint. Every single time we look at each other and say...

Who ARE those people?! CRAZY!


They are not me, that's for sure. This is why I will be enjoying the view from my hotel room this weekend. 


Happy weekend.
xoxo


p.s. There are many old pictures of the golden gate bridge being built. I just googled it. Go see for yourself the daring men who risked their lives to build California's pride and glory.

p.p.s. Top picture, bottom right hand corner, the man in the baseball hat, dark sunglasses, looking at the camera....I swear that is my dad. Go look at the last picture from this post and then come back here and tell me that it is indeed my dad. Different color jacket, but still. Dad???