Last bookend - San Francisco

We started in Chicago, stopped at nine parks (plus Napa Valley) along the way, and now end in San Francisco. The day was spent in the AM in Chinatown (just below our hotel on Nob Hill), and in the PM on Telegraph Hill and down near the wharves - closing, of course at the Ghirardelli Square chocolate factory! Pictures today include scenes from Chinatown, and a view of Alcatraz, out in the bay. We would have loved to have shown the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was unusually warm today for SF, and the bridge created its own fog, enveloping the bridge except for the tips of the bridge support towers. We'll likely "recap" our trip in the next week, but as Bugs Bunny used to say signing off a Looney Tunes cartoon, "That's all folks!"

Wa - wa - wa - WOW! A Grand Finale.

Today we awoke to blue skies, with almost no clouds. We had three destinations - a short walk to Bridalveil Falls to see its stunning drop. We then drove to the Mariposa Grove, a stand of over 200 giant sequoias. The walk was less than two miles, but fairly steep. One of the giant trees was over 96' in circumfrance and 1,800 years old, and another you could walk right through. They are huge. We then drove to Glacier Point - 3,500' above the Valley floor. What views! As we were driving down the mountain from the Point, we were reminded that this is still a wilderness area. Further down the Glacier Point road we had one last chance to see up the Valley, but this time in full daylight. And finally, as we turned into the Valley for the last time to head back to our hotel, we could see the sheer 3,500' vertical face of El Capitan one last time, but this time in the sun. What a privilege it is to have the National Park System. This trip has been long, and we are ready to return home, but we are full of wonder and awe at what we have seen.

Riding high

De De and Pop Pop started the day at our hotel, which is at 2,000 feet elevation. We drove to the Yosemite Valley at 4,000' and took a left turn up Big Oak Flat Road - but it wasn't flat. At the turn to Tioga Road we were at 6,000' high, and we drove across Yosemite to Tuolumne Meadows at 8,600' and on to Tioga Pass at 10,000 feet elevation. The day was cloudy, misty, foggy, or rainy until we hit the pass, when blue skies and white clouds replaced the weather west of the Sierra peaks. From up on top, pictures today include flowers along the roadside ... At Tuolumne Meadows we took a mile long walk (remember, at 8,600' so we were happy to make the grade). Then, east of the pass, we could look out over the Great Basin of Nevada toward the Rockies to the east. As we descended, we could again look up the Valley. Closing out the day, we met our niece, Jessie, and her husband, Chris, for a dinner at the Ahwahnee (I think this is the correct spelling - I know my last attempt was not). All in all a beautiful day, even in the mists and clouds.

Yosemite Valley in the rain, mist and fog

Today De De and Pop Pop walked to the Vernal Falls bridge, and to Mirror Lake - but a totally different day compared to yesterday. Still beautiful, but now with mists and fog, not just sheer granite walls. Each day different, but all interesting. Today's pictures are more streams and trees, because that's where we walked, but the mist and fog had great interest also.

First view of Yosemite

We could not get Internet connection yesterday - so, hopefully, two today. We arrived late in the PM, but had an opportunity for two walks and evening snacks and wine at the Alwanhee, a grand hotel built by the railroaders to entice visitors to Yosemite. Yosemite is a Park as big as Rhode Island, but 90% of the visitors jam into the Valley, a seven mile long canyon of granite, sheer cliffs, waterfalls, and conifers. It is on the one hand, one of the most beautiful spots on earth, and on the other, Disney Wilderness on steroids. If you blow up three of the pictures, you'll see cars and people - very, very small.

A little like Italy - Gelati at 3:30, wine at 5:30

We toured the towns of St. Helena and Calistoga today - both small, quaint downtowns sitting in the middle of a sea of vineyards. We tried to find a spot where we could view the valley's patchwork quilt of various vineyards, but we could not find a suitable vantage point. Pictures include grapes right off our breakfast porch, several fields and one telling us it is just about time to be coming home. After driving around, we stopped in St. Helena for a gelati, and tonight our hotel is hosting a tasting of Grgich wines. Despite the spelling, De De likes this brand.

Wine time!

De De says Pop Pop can have his redwoods as long as she can have her wine in Napa Valley. We drove down the "Avenue of the Giants," a parkway with giant redwoods growing right up to the edge of the roadway, even raising the pavement a few inches where the roots are encroaching on the actual road surface. We arrived at the Harvest Inn in St. Helena, and had time to take a swim, jump in the hot tub, and back and forth a few times, and then shower off in a bathroom that is bigger than our whole room area in several of the National Parks - of course, the price is a bit different also. The Inn is surrounded by eight acres of gardens, and is a lovely place in a very pretty town. After dinner tonight, we remarked that we might look like two blimps if we ate this delicious food too long. Wow! Good wine and good food.

Lots to see

De De and Pop Pop started out the day going to Lady Bird Johnson Grove in the Prairie Creek part of Redwoods. Big trees, but lots more ferns and rhododendrons under the trees and framing the paths. We then took a longer walk with significantly harder elevation changes on a loop past Trillium Falls. This three mile hike was more majestic and beautiful than the Lady Bird trail (but less accessible). Pop Pop's agent got him in two pics today (of course, De De gets the photographic credit). We then travelled to the "Big tree" that is 22' in diameter (over 300' tall and 1,500 years old). It is mind-boggling that a living thing can figure out how to keep on trucking for over a 1,000 years (and some Sequoias live up to 3,000 years). Next, we rode a dirt road 8 miles down to Gold Bluffs along the Pacific coast, and to Fern Canyon. The canyon is very narrow, very tall, and covered with three types of fern everywhere. Don't get caught there in a flash flood, but on a beautiful day (which we had) it is a unique experience. Turning around to go back to our hotel - elk right in front of us - sweet icing on a very special day.

Three different worlds

Today was our most different day. We started at Crater Lake with over two inches of ... SNOW! Why not, it is not yet summer (by two days). Then we travelled to Redwood National Park and took two walks - the first in Stout Grove, and a longer one over the Boy Scout trail. The groves and forest walks are made up of 500 to 1,500 year old living beings - the trees are so majestic and create feelings of privilege, peacefulness, and serenity. The first Redwoods picture is from Stout Grove, the rest from the Boy Scout trail. Notice the scale of people to trees. The final picture is of a downed tree, with ferns and other plants taking over.

Finally, we hit the California Coast and the Pacific Ocean. We started with snow, continued in the rain, and moved on in the fog. BTW, we entered the Park at the Hiouchi Information Center, and saw an extremely informative 12 minute video. We'd recommend it to all who come and have not seen it yet. A small factoid - the giant trees get 1/2 of their annual water from fog, a key reason they are able to grow so tall.