Dad with me in San Francisco and Golden Gate Bridge Cruise

On February 20 of 1993, we went to the Atlanta Airport to pick up Dad... He had flown solo, without my Mom, from Amsterdam/The Netherlands.

On Sunday, right after Mass, when serving a cup of coffee in our veranda, I sat on Dad's lap...

Handing him a belated Birthday Gift (for January 4th) + Father's Day gift in the form of a ticket to fly with me on February 27, via Detroit to San Francisco, as I had to do some training for Campbell Soup at the Pescadero farm in Santa Cruz. 

Dad cried, and that's something; considering that he never has been a person, able to show his emotions!

Only at our final visit he showed TRUE JOY when we walked into the door!

That did both of us so good and with his passing shortly afterward, we had peace of mind.

There are 3 hours in time difference and with our stop-over in Detroit, we had to get up at 5:00 AM for driving to the Atlanta Airport, park the car and then check in for our 9:50 flight to Detroit.

Arriving finally in San Francisco around 14:00.

Here I stopped with my Dollar rental car from the San Francisco Airport, driving to our Holiday Inn, North Point.

Dad was so in awe with this masterpiece of the Golden Gate Bridge!

The weather was pleasant and Dad even needed his sunglasses...

One has to be in awe by the view of those HUMONGOUS cables!

It as so worth it for driving the 101 north and then turning back, so Dad could SEE all this...

Next day, on February 28, I got us a ticket for the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE SAN FRANCISCO BAY CRUISE. 

For Dad, I got the German language narration, that made him very happy!

Now we're going under the majestic Golden Gate Bridge by boat...

Looking at the Golden Gate Bridge from below...

Dad loved listening to all the German spoken information!

What a sight that bridge as we leave it behind...

California is a rugged State and has lots of interesting views.

Alcatraz Island is coming in sight... with the famous Alcatraz prison.

Nearing Alcatraz Island

That Alcatraz prison is quite a dreary sight...

The Alcatraz Island is 22 acres or 9 hectare and is 1.5 mile or 2.01 km offshore.

Dad at the San Francisco Wharf, he was so grateful as he hugged my shoulders as he cried again...

Letting me know that this gift was well received!

Once more, Dad had gotten emotional when I told him that this would be as close as he could possibly get to his younger brother in Broken Hill, NSW-Australia... a brother who's Birthday it was that day!

Dad never dared to go visit him, flying from The Netherlands.

Sure, if I had gone with him; he would have!

We walked to Saints Peter and Paul Church and attended 'half' a Mass, in Italian, since we had no time schedule...

Post card photograph above by Willow Schneider and Carl Bondinell

Then we walked through the city of San Francisco to Union Square and Powell Street and back by Cable Car to the Fisherman's Wharf.

That was a special experience for my Dad, to ride the real San Francisco Cable Car...

View from our Holiday Inn over the Fisherman's Wharf with the Marriott hotel across from us...

Stay tuned for next section.

Related link:

Pieter J.C. Vedder was the BEST TEACHER in Bridging the Gap between Research and Grower | Pieter's photo from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge...

From Santa Cruz to San Francisco for the Weekend | previous post by me with cable car picture and about our trip to Alcatraz Island

Pieter's Music Booklet from WWII Era

Music Teacher Wim  Gesthuizen, painstakingly hand–copied each lesson for Pieter to practice...

Music booklet

Titles listed and to the right you see the name: Th. van Megen, a skipper on the River Rhine. He smuggled the Soberano accordion into the country for Pieter... 

The price for that instrument was six pounds of coffee that Pieter's Mom had stashed away!

Don't forget, this was during WWII there was absolutely no coffee available, it became valuable like gold for Germans.

An den schönen blauen Donau – Johann Strauss

On the beautiful Danube – Johann Strauss

Pieter seen above practicing from this music booklet during WWII on his Hohner, gifted from his Uncle, before he got his new Soberano...

This Hohner that Pieter is holding in his hands, was a diatonic accordion, namely a Viennese model 2–rower with 21 buttons and 8 bass. These models were used from the 1910s to the 1930s.

Later when Pieter joined the military, he also played an Es-trumpet and Trombone with their small military band they marched in front with the International Four Days Marches in Nijmegen.

This is what Pieter knew and studied and also what he played for his serenade: 1948 Gevaphone Record with Young Pieter Playing his Accordion for Brother in Uniform | you can listen to it via link from previous post...

modern mushroom growing 2020 harvesting in University Textbooks together with Mushroom Cultivator

 Yep, our book 'modern mushroom growing 2020 harvesting' is showing up in University Textbooks!

Along with The Mushroom Cultivator by Paul Stamets and J. Chilton, the one we mention on page 33 in our book!

Under our chapter; HISTORY OF MUSHROOM GROWING on page 33 we do refer to The Mushroom Cultivator A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home by Paul Stamets and J.S. Chilton.

Also Paul Stamets and J.S. Chilton acknowledged P.J.C. Vedder for his tutelage and contribution to practical mushroom cultivation as an editorial review

In general, our books (all 3 formats) rank rather high like here above:

#158 in Crop Science (Kindle Store)

#395 in Crop Science (Books)

#587 in Education Problem Solving

It is far better to purchase our newest book from 2020 instead of the 1999 print of Cultivo Moderno del Champiñon (Spanish Edition) by P. J. C. Vedder for ONLY US $ 768.57 and it is GONE/SOLD...

All 3 formats are available at 40,000+ booksellers WORLDWIDE as Print on Demand

Also available at Universities (hence the university textbook) and Libraries

That saves ENORMOUS on shipping costs for each country!

Related link:

modern mushroom growing 2020 harvesting | post about our book

The Three Most Important Items for Mushroom Production 'Compost, Compost, Compost!' | editorial written by Campbell colleague upon Pieter's resignation and departure to Italy...