California Dreamin'

Our trip began with a visit to San Francisco. We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge which is actually a rusty-red color. Go figure. It was chilly and foggy and alot of traffic. At the base of the bridge, there is a seashore that you can stroll along and admire the bridge. It was hard to condense 800+ pictures so I hope you enjoy what I picked out.

Golden Gate Park is over 1000 acres and stretches right to the Pacific Ocean. Its birthday is around 1860 and the area was called the "outside lands" because 3/4 of the park was sand dunes. We visited the Japanese Tea Gardens and walked the length.

The Arboretum in Golden Gate Park.

Napa Valley is a vast area with many wine growers. Everything is centered around wine. What do you do if you don't drink? We wanted to go into a winery but it was very expensive so we took in the views instead...

Just a short drive over the Gold Gate Bridge is Muir Woods. It is the home of the Redwood Giants. We ate lunch there of Turkey Chili and cornbread.

We helped ourselves to the delicious ocean views and we drove and yes, dinner at Alexanders. Crab cakes for me.

There is so much to write about, tell about, what we saw, who we met and actually meeting Bigfoot!. I remember how chilly it was when we stepped out of the car to take pictures. We stopped at Humboldt State Park and enjoyed the beauty there.

Lassen National Park is located in north central California and is less known than Yosemite. I have to say this park is just as beautiful with mountains, streams with beautiful trees. It is also a park with all 4 types of volcanos. We did not see all the park, so a trip back will be in order.

This was an unusual part of the park, Bumpass Hell. Think: a small Yellowstone, a thermal area with hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles. What is that you ask? An opening in the earth's crust...

Lassens' Peak.

Cookie Break!
Yosemite National Park.

We decided to take a one way bus ride up to Glacier Point, and hike 8 miles back to Camp Curry. It was a wonderful hike which seemed it would be mostly down hill, but contrare my friend. We both received a wonderful aerobic workout. But at the end, we took the Mist Trail by Nevada Falls then by Vernal Falls, straight down. Because it was a "free" weekend, we were in a "conga" line going down. Not fun when your legs are dead tired and trembling!

Camp Curry exclusive sleeping quarters. We had electricity here!

About 30 miles from the valley off of Tioga Road, is White Wolf Lodge. Don't let the name fool you. These are canvas camping tents also. No electricity, but they gave you candles! The pic you see below is the dining hall. We went to a ranger talk that nite around a fire ring, when suddenly we heard yelling and clanging of garbage can lids.....BEAR BEAR! About 100 feet from us the bear came running by as some people and rangers chased it. I stood frozen, thinking, "what would I do, if the bear came at us in confusion?" Well, it didn't happen, but apparently the rangers were chasing "sasquatch" all night long, out of the area. He did not come back the second night.....whew! We took a hike to Lukens Lake from the camp ground, just lovely with flowers all along the way.

We are visiting a part of Yosemite that is about 9000 feet higher than the valley floor. Tuolumne Meadows is less visited, but just as majestic. A normal hike that we speak of is not quite as normal here. The air is thinner and to me that makes the hike more exhausting.

They came off...

Parsons Memorial Lodge was built in 1915 and is a wonderfully built structure. It was never built for sleeping but for day use only. It sits within Tuolumne Meadows. This area was a favorite of John Muir. I can see why. We had an early dinner in the meadows by the river, and guess who wanted to go swimming....

Our last adventure in the woods was at Tuolumne Meadows, again a canvas cabin. No electricity after 11pm....but we had candles! Actually the tents are quite nice. They had a huge fire ring in the common area near the creek, that people gathered around with their marshmellows and conversed or stared into the roaring cozy fire. After all day of hiking it was nice to get to bed by 9pm! No bears this night.

Tahoeland.

What can I say about Lake Tahoe. Very beautiful. It is the largest freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada. 1600 feet deep and you can see about 70 feet below the surface.

This was a nice hike along the creek to Horsetail Falls near Tahoe. The ranger said it had a number of swimming spots. Mmmm, I tried to get in, but the water had to be 60 degrees, but crystal clear. Jim was brave as usual.

Our last day was in Old Sacramento which is a historical landmark district along the Sacramento River. We went to the Railway Museum. How fun! Alot of history with the railways! We enjoyed every minute of California even though it didn't rain....

Dummy and me!