Lick Observatory Drive

I noticed in our paper "The San Jose Mercury News" yesterday, was an article about great freebie sites to see in the bay area.  Just the previous day, The Hubby and I had completed their #1 choice of adventures to do. Yes, we had driven the 20 ish serpentine miles up the tall Mt Hamilton and through some very beautiful canyons and scenery to the Lick Observatory.

Looking back toward San Jose, we felt like we were way out of the city,

Yet we were just over a hill or two.

 And around some gnarly old oak trees.

Driving a skinny, winding road,

and sharing the road with noisy biker dudes, and intense biking enthusiasts, we thoroughly enjoyed the drive. The observatory was closed, and I don't know if they just use it to view the night sky, but maybe we'll investigate that side of life on another day. For this day we were not concerned with going into the big domes. I also can't imagine driving that road in the dark, although at that point it wouldn't be shared with bikers and scenic observers.

The back side of the mountain is equally winding and beautiful.  (the word windy BTW is confusing to use in this situation, because it was not a breezy, blowing windy day, but rather a turning, twisting, curving, windy road. Can someone tell me if I'm wrong to use windy?)
There are huge pinecones on the sides of the road, more majestic oak trees, fields of flowers, and many small ponds left over from our wet spring rains in the back country canyons.

We stopped in the beautiful downtown area of Livermore at the back side of our adventure, and had a great Greek lunch at Demitri's.

Great way to spend a Saturday morning. I can't believe it took us 17 years to drive that road.