Sequoia National Park on 9/20/2011

We made it to Sequoia RV Resort in Three Rivers, Ca. A very nice campground, but we are paying the highest price for a camping spot so far on our trip. It is only 6 miles from the entrance to Sequoia National Park so they are able to charge the higher prices.

The Sequoia National Park is very large. It is having the only road into the park widened and you must get to the repair area at the beginning of the hour or you will end up waiting. It is a big repair and will not be finished until 2013. They have been at it for years and even work 24/7.

Since it takes so long to get from one place to another you have to plan your day. There is a free shuttle that takes you to most places in the park. It is the way to go. We decided to climb Moro Rock, a large granite dome that gives you some fascinating views of the park. It is only a ¼ hike but up over 300 steps. It is a 300 elevation gain in that short quarter mile so it is a “Free Stress Test”. The hike to the top is not hard after climbing the 600 plus steps to Vernal Fall in Yosemite. Moro Rock is worth the short hike and is a must when in the park.

After lunch it was time to see the General Sherman Tree. The largest tree on earth! The tree is 275 feet tall, whose trunk weighs an estimated 1,385 tons and whose circumference at the ground is nearly 103 feet. It is one large Sequoia!!

This is were we got very close to a black bear. The bear was sleeping just off the hiking trail when he decided to wake up and start walking toward the hiking trail. Everyone was scrambling to get out of the bears way. But the bear wasn't interested in any of us as he just went along the trail and didn't look twice at all the people taking his picture. The bear really looked cute and you almost want to reach out and touch him. But we didn't see anyone try that:) They are so cool to watch and you can tell they are used to all the attention.

Groveland 9/18/2011

We had a great time seeing Yosemite National Park. It was our last day in the Yosemite area and we decided to visit the town of Groveland, an old gold rush town. The have a jail that was built in 1895 and a saloon in 1892. We had lunch at the Iron Door Saloon the oldest operating saloon in California. It reminded me of Froggy's on Main Street in Daytona Beach. They even had dollar bills stuck to the ceiling. Groveland is a small town with not much to do, but it does have some history.

Monday took us to on a very curvy road to Three Rivers. We had to go back out on Hwy 120, which has lots of curves and steep grades over to Hwy 49 which has steeper grades and more curves than Hwy 120. This area of California has made the duramax and allison to earn their keep:) There is a lot of farm land, with corn fields, almonds, pistachios, oranges and other fruits and vegetables. This area of California produces a lot of crops consumed in the US.

Second Day at Yosemite. What a great DAY!! 9/17/2011

Our second day took us on a drive to Glacier Point. This is a 33 mile drive to the most fantastic views of Half Dome, El Capitan and the valley of Yosemite. Once you get to Glacier Point and see the views you know you are glad you did this drive. We really enjoyed this area and had fun looking for mountain climbers on Half Dome. We could see several climbers on top of Half Dome and wish we were 30 years younger and could attempt that climb. You make the climb by using cables to get yourself to the top and you must have no fear of heights:) Half Dome and El Capitan are two mountains that climbers have been doing for years. They are now seeing how fast they can get to the top without any ropes etc.. You can read more about the climbs in the May 20011 issue of National Geographic. Visiting Glacier Point is a must when going to Yosemite.

We took a easy mile hike to Mirror Lake to finish off our visit to Yosemite. It is really not a lake but a small stream:( but still a nice place to see. It very relaxing and you can even put your feet in the water. Ah nice cold water!!

Half Dome

Mirror Lake

More pictures of Vernal Fall!

more steps!

WE made IT!!

Going to Yosemite

The drive from Pleasanton takes your through farm country. They grow peaches, apples, almonds, corn and other crops. This area supplies a lot of food to the rest of the country especially almonds, Blue Diamond. We had a very challenging drive over to Groveland, CA on HWY 120. The duramax had to really work as this highway has some of the steepest inclines that we had run into. The town of Groveland has a population of 1500 and has the Iron Door Saloon, the oldest, started in 1852, continuously operated saloon in California.

The biggest attraction to this area is Yosemite National Park. The park is very large and takes a lot of travel time just to get to certain areas. We had two great days in the park and enjoyed every minute. We visited the park on Friday and Saturday and were very surprised at the number of people visiting the park. All the lodging within the park was taken and all the campgrounds were full. To say there were a lot of people is an understatement The drive starts with a stop at Bridalveil Falls. It is a short hike with a great view of this beautiful fall. Waterfalls are always something I must see and that took us to our next hike. Vernal Fall can been seen from the footbridge but I always want to get closer and talked Suzanne to continue on to the top of the fall. To get to the top you must go up a very steep area which includes 600 steps. This is a very hard climb and going up the steps was difficult. Suzanne almost stopped several times but became determined to make it. She does not like heights and the steps seemed to go on for ever. The spray from the fall also wets the steps and makes them even harder to overcome. This again was a FREE Stress Test!! This is also the fall where 3 campers died this summer. They got to close to the fall and slipped on the rocks. We can see how that if you don't stay within the designated areas this could happen. The view from this fall is spectacular!! The effort to get to the top is worth the time and pain:) The sure power of the water going over the fall is amazing and to hear it hit the bottom is really cool. We did not see many people our age or older doing this hike. So we felt pretty good about ourselves for doing this hike. If you ever get a chance to visit Yosemite make sure you do this hike.

The parking is at a premium so taking the free shuttles is the way to get from place to place. I will give you a tip on parking, when getting to the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center instead of going to the main area, to the right, got to the stop sign and go left. There is a big parking lot right by the store.

Bridalveil Fall

El Capitan

Vernal Fall and we must get to the top:)

steps

not there yet!

Going to the Golden Gate Bridge on 9/13/2011

Well it was a 2 hour trip on the San Francisco transit system to get to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was an experience to make all the connections, but WE did it!! After getting there, guess what?  the fog blocked the top of and some of the Golden Gate Bridge. We never did see the top of the bridge, but we still had a great time. There were a lot of tourists visitng and we decide to walk the entire bridge. It was a nice long walk and was a neat experience even though the fog was blocking the top of the bridge. At least you could see the water and most of the shoreline. We saw a seal and several porpoises on our walk. Another neat thing was watching a helicopter fly under the bridge. It was a nice place to visit, but would have been better on a clear day. Still overall a great day!!

Visiting a Vineyard!!

We took a day off from going to San Francisco and stayed close to the campground. We decided to visit a vineyard and doing a little tasting of wine. The drive out to the vineyards took us to a neat town Livermore. We had a nice lunch sitting outside and it reminded us of Germany with all the people enjoying the outdoor restaurants. We found a nice vineyard, Comcannon that had some great wines to taste. For $5 you could taste 10 different wines if you wanted, which we thought was very reasonable. It was a fun experience and something you must do if you visit California. After this great afternoon we decided we needed to visiit Dave's favorite place, The Cheesecake Factory. The Godiva Cheesecake was fantastic!!!

they cost $1600 each