Yosemite, California: Waterfall Lover’s Nirvana

Yosemite National Park is one of those places almost everyone dreams about seeing. Mary Lynn and I left San Francisco in mid-June and drove to Yosemite. The Sierra Nevada’s had 1.8x times the average snowfall during the winter of 2011. Put that together with a late spring and Yosemite becomes even more amazing than usual.

Within 5 minutes of seeing our first waterfall we had seen at least a dozen more. Lots of smaller waterfalls that normally last only a few weeks were in full force. The amount of water pouring over the falls and into Yosemite Valley staggers belief.

Above is Yosemite Falls. The combined height of the upper falls, the middle cascades and lower falls is 2425 feet, fifth highest waterfall in the world and the tallest in the US. Wow!

 

We had an unbelievable time hiking to the base of several falls, especially Bridal veil Falls pictured above. The sound is deafening and the earth trembles beneath your feet; the spray drenches everything within a few hundred feet, and yet, everyone around you is smiling and laughing like school children at recess. That’s Half Dome peaking out of the background in the upper left of the photo. 

Also pictured in the photo above, Bridalveil Falls is one of the first waterfalls you see as you enter the valley from the west and, after leaping 620 spectacular feet, the water from Bridalveil Falls joins the Merced River which flows through Yosemite Valley.

Above is Sentinel Rock which overlooks Sentinel Falls and the entire valley.

This is Upper Yosemite Falls and if you look closely, just to the left of the waterfall, you can see a helicopter searching for a missing hiker who was last seen at the top of this waterfall. Despite lots of warning from park rangers about staying away from the streams and rivers due to strong currents and slippery conditions, some people insist on seeing how close they can get to the water, especially at the top of waterfalls. 

Several weeks later three young adults waded into a fast flowing stream and, in full view of a number of people, were swept over the falls. Very sad…

Above is another picture of Half Dome in the middle and El Capitan on the left.

Half Dome looks as if someone split the mountain in two with a giant axe, leaving exactly half of a huge mountain behind.

Another part of Yosemite, Mariposa Grove is home to giant sequoias. For a tree that soars several hundred feet into the sky, the root system is fairly shallow.

This sunset photo was taken from an overlook near Hetch Hetchy, another glacial valley that supposedly rivaled Yosemite in beauty although it’s not quite as large. Regardless, a dam was built and it’s now completely filled with water. There is a strong movement to remove the dam and allow Hetch Hetchy to regain it’s former glory.

One last photo of Half Dome. It’s an amazing sight from any angle. It rises straight up from the valley floor and is home to the park’s toughest hike/climb: depending on your route, it’s at least a 15 mile hike round trip where you ascend a total of 4800 vertical feet above the valley floor. The final 400 feet can only be accomplished because cables have been installed. Once you have soaked up the incredible views, you have to descend. Some people claim the descending the cable system is tougher than ascending. 

Needless to say, I enjoyed watching others make the trek from the safety of the valley floor.

See Ya!

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Napa & Sonoma: California’s Premier Grape Growing Regions.

California wines have come a long way. When Robert Mondavi split with his brother and started Robert Mondavi Vineyards  (original huh?) in the mid-60’s, there were only 30-40 vineyards in the Sonoma/Napa Valley region and California wines were seen as distinctly second class.

 

Within ten years, Robert Mondavi wines had won numerous awards, including blind taste test competitions in France. With French judges. Against French wines. There was no looking back. 

Fifty years later there are an estimated 400 vineyards in the Sonoma & Napa valleys. Plus California wines have become better & better; they are increasingly judged ‘best in class’ in world wide competitions.

 

We took the Robert Mondavi winery tour which included a taste of three different wines. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour plus two out of three of us really enjoyed the wine tasting. Mary Lynn, who does not like the taste of wine, was a real trooper. She tasted all three wines and hardly ‘scrunched up her face’. Regardless, Jenna and I enjoyed all three tastings plus we finished MLA’s glasses of wine.

  

Gotta love the ‘factory floor’ of a winery. 

It’s hard to tell however just how large these casks really are….

 

The grounds of the vineyard are beautiful. In fact, most of the vineyards we saw were decorated with lots of flowers, especially roses.

Aging casks stored on the lower level created a stunning vista…

 

Like any good tour you end up in the vineyard’s gift shop… which Jenna really enjoyed.

 

Jenna managed to ‘snag’ a great bottle of wine AND a beautiful hat  -- complements her own beauty.

Very cool 16th century wine press…

Afterwards we went to a restaurant recommended by my brother-in-law Joe. He’s president of a huge wine importer/distributor in Virginia and has toured vineyards all over the world. He recommended we have lunch at a restaurant called Mustards, which is only a mile or two from the Mondavi vineyards. It was incredibly good.

See Ya!

Dale

Technorati Tags: Robert Mondavi Vineyards,Sonoma,Napa,Wine,casks,Jenna,Hat,Mustards,16th Century Wine Press

San Francisco, CA: Beauty Everywhere You Look

Our tour of San Francisco covered a lot of ground. Personally I love these one day tours that use open top buses although they are not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’. You can get on and off all day long at any of the planned stops. It’s a relatively quick and cost effective means of getting your bearings in a new location. After one of these tours we go back and explore the areas that piqued our interest on the tour.

The Golden Gate Bridge never ceases to capture your attention no matter where you are in San Francisco.

San Francisco’s version of Central Park features a Japanese Tea Garden.

  Of course, for all the hippies out there, no visit to San Francisco would be complete without a visit to Haight – Ashbury. That’s a mural of Jimmie Hendrix who owned a house in the Haight…

Fans of the Olsen twins and the TV series “Full House” will recognize the yellow house above and the park across the street, both featured in the opening credits of the show.

Californians insist that everything is ‘bigger & better’ in California. In this case, the California State Capitol dome is 1 foot taller than the US Capitol Dome in Washington, DC. No easy way to measure so I’ll take the guides word for it…

The Stinking Rose Restaurant is famous world-wide, as is their byline: “We season our garlic with food”.

I surprised Mary Lynn and Jenna by driving down the ‘curviest street in the world’ – Lombard Street. It was fun although as the driver you have to really pay attention because the street is both crowded and narrow. You can see everyone gather at the bottom trying to get a shot of all the action.

I took this shot several blocks away and was really pleased to get all of the action plus the three people crossing the street at the top of the hill…

This was the view from the restaurant on Pier 39 where we had lunch. Of course that’s Alcatraz in the background.  If you look closely you can see a few of the hundreds of people who were Kite Surfing on the bay.

Another view from Pier 39. Every where you look, San Francisco is a beautiful.

See Ya!
Dale

 

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San Francisco: Winchester Mystery House in San Jose

For years I travelled to Silicon Valley: Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, San Jose, etc. Often I saw advertisements for the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose yet I never went on the tour. That is, until now. Mary Lynn wanted to see the house and we thought Jenna might enjoy it as well.

No pictures allowed inside so All I can share is the outside views…

Sarah Winchester was the heiress to the Winchester Gun company. Plagued by guilt over the many people who lost their lives by being on the wrong side of a Winchester gun, she consulted psychics and mediums.

She convinced herself she was in danger from ‘the victims’ and one psychic in particular was only too happy to reinforce the danger she was in from the spirits. This psychic convinced her she would be ok as long as her house was under construction.

So she bought an old farm house in San Jose, hired a team of carpenters, and began building. And building. And building some more – over 150 rooms. Stairways that lead nowhere. Multiple doors in a room with only one leading out. She didn’t stop building until she died some 30 years later.

To heighten the appeal (and increase the number of tourists who shell out $35/person) the current owners hint the house might be haunted. It’s not of course. And it’s unfinished. Construction was left just like it was when she died. And oh by the way, none of the furniture, pictures, artwork, etc are original to the house.

Afterwards we drove over to Half Moon Bay. On the ocean side of the foothills it was cool, gray and foggy however Jenna was able to dip her toes in the Pacific Ocean. Another item on her bucket list completed.

  

And of course we had to stop at the Golden Gate overlook on the Marin side to get a few photos.

See Ya!

Technorati Tags: Winchester House,Jenna,Spirits,gun,Half Moon Bay,Pacific Ocean,Golden Gate

San Francisco: Alcatraz and Pier 39

At first we were not going to visit Alcatraz. Then several friends and acquaintances highly recommended the trip. Turns out its one of the top attractions in San Francisco.

The thought of seeing a crumbling concrete structure on a small island in the middle of San Francisco Bay just didn’t seem that appealing however we figured there must be a reason so many people said it was a ‘must see’. Plus I knew there would be some great shots of the San Francisco skyline.

The grounds had a number of gardens, first installed when Alcatraz was an military fort and then later by inmate trustees.

And did you notice how small the cells are??? No wonder men went ‘stir crazy’. Not to mention they could often hear the sounds of women laughing, music, and ‘the good life’ wafting over the waters from nearby San Francisco clubs and bars.

 

Alcatraz prison itself turned out to be pretty interesting, especially the information on the various escape attempts over the years. At least two of the prison escapes resulted in the prisoners never being captured or seen again. The official party line is they are ‘presumed dead’ but you’ll never convince me some of them didn’t make it shore.

 

Especially the threesome that, over a period of months, drilled thru the concrete wall in their cells (see the hole in the picture above), built a raft out of rubber raincoats, and then escaped one foggy night. The raft was later found deflated on a nearby island but authorities claim the men drowned.

I don’t buy it….  In fact MythBusters, one of my favorite shows since they feature the practical application of science to prove/disprove various myths and urban legends, recreated the entire escape, including making a raft with home-made glue and paddling to an island. Result: totally plausible.

We had beautiful weather for our trip over; the San Francisco Bay can get very windy, cold and foggy but our weather was close to perfect.

We saw several boats in the bay getting ready for America’s Cup races but we didn’t see the newer catamaran design being used by Larry Ellison, Oracle’s founder.

We also explored Pier 39: live entertainment, restaurants and shopping galore! The ultimate tourist trap but we had fun.

See Ya!

Technorati Tags: San Francisco,Alcatraz,prison,escapes,raft,Pier 39,live entertainment,tourist trap,America's Cup