Monday, 2012-05-06

Yesterday, we relaxed.  Marilyn Googled easy Mexican pork chops for our celebration of el Cinco de Mayo.  They were delicious, and we tried the Lime Beer-rita that we bought at Sam’s the other day.  It was good also.

On the 3rd, Marilyn was able to get the Yosemite National Park entrance sign on our drive into the park.  Unlike most parks, the sign does not have a pull-off in front of it for picture taking.  I failed to put it on the blog for the 3rd, so, hear it is. 

Today, the 6th, we headed back into the park for the third time to take two short hikes.  The first was to the Lower Yosemite Falls, and the second was to Mirror lake.

We parked the Jeep at the Valley Visitor Center parking lot, and then took the Park Shuttle Bus to Stop 6 so we could walk to the Lower Yosemite Falls.  On our walk in, I took a couple of pictures of this Pacific Dogwood tree flowers.   

It is not a long or steep walk, but it does provide a nice view of the Upper and the Lower Yosemite Falls.  But first here is a picture of the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. 

 

We were warned about the potential Icy walking conditions on the trail to the Lower Yosemite Falls.    Next are pictures of the Lower Yosemite Falls and the whitewater below the falls. 

 

On our way to lunch, we saw this woodpecker.    Once again, we ate lunch at the Valley Lodge Food Court.  We had thought that that woodpecker might be the only wildlife we would see today, but  when we got off the shuttle at the Mirror Lake Stop, we found these three deer.   

 

We walked on to Mirror Lake, which is a wide spot in the creek.  However, you could see mirror images of the cliffs in the lake. 

 

Since today was a rainy-sprinkle day, the clouds tried to obscure the cliffs. 

 

As we drove out of the park in the afternoon, the rain even became hail, but we arrived back at Park Sierra safe and sound. 

Hugs, and type at you later.

2013-05-03

Last night my phone died, but at least Marilyn’s works so we have internet.  Customer Service (I called on Marilyn’s phone) said I needed a new SIM Card.  Tomorrow, we were planning to go to Fresno to Sam’s, so a stop at a Verizon store will not be a problem.  I guess I can do without a Smart Phone for 2 nights.

Today, we drove back up to Yosemite National Park.  We started at about 1700 feet in our RV park, and topped out at 7900 feet at Glacier Point in the park.

After entering Yosemite NP, we turned right to go to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia Trees.  We enjoyed seeing these giant trees again.  Most of them require 2 pictures to get the top and the bottom.   (Note that without my phone I can not get panorama pictures of a tall tree in one picture.    

But, in this park the trails and parking lot are open enough to get full tree pictures.

We walked out the trail towards the Grizzly Giant, one of the oldest trees in the world.  Along the way, we saw the Bachelor and the Three Graces. 

Fire affects all trees, whether they are alive or dead. 

Here is the oldest tree in the grove, the Grizzly Giant.  

This is Marilyn underneath the tree named California Tree. 

We left the big trees, and headed toward Glacier Point, which was at about 7900 feet.  Here we are with Half-Dome behind us.    Note that it is Red Shirt Friday. 

We had a great view of Nevada Falls.

From Glacier Point, we could also see Yosemite Village, as well as Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. 

The rock walls were very interesting. 

Our wildlife for the day was limited to a Ground Squirrel.

But, in addition, to all the great views we got to see some of that left over white lumpy rain since we were at almost 8000 feet. 

Type at you later. 

2013-05-01

We left the Elks Lodge in Visalia, CA on April the 29th, and drove for about 75 miles north to Park of the Sierra’s, the Escapees Co-op RV park in Coarsegold, CA.  It was a nice drive, other than that CA-99 is one of the rougher roads we have had to drive on.  After checking in, and getting the Jeep unhitched, we met Dave Neil driving his golf cart to the club house.  After we were parked on site 421, Brenda Neil came by and invited us to go with them to dinner at 4:30pm to the Chukchansi Casino.  They had coupons for two for ones at the buffet.  We rode with Dave and Brenda, and upon entering the casino, we obtained our gambling cards.  Then we went to pay for the buffet, and instead of charging us $12 for one, they only charged us $1.74.  During our meal, the cashier came by and gave us back our $1.74 making the buffets for the two of us totally free.  What a deal?

Tuesday, the 30th, LuAnn gave us a tour and history of the Park of the Sierra’s.  In the afternoon, we had a nice social hour at our rig with Dave and Brenda.

Today, on May 1st, we drove to Yosemite National Park.  This was our first time in the park, and it really is beautiful.  Our drive in maxed out at about 6,100 feet, and then we drove down to the Yosemite Valley Floor at around 3,000 feet.  The did not have an entrance sign that was convenient for a picture, so we have to settle for a nice view.  I think that is Half Dome in the middle of the picture.

Driving on down to the Yosemite Valley Floor, we came to Bridal Veil Falls.  We did walk up the trail, and I took some pictures, but not one at the end of the trail because the mist was making Marilyn, I and  the camera wet. 

Continuing towards Yosemite Lodge, I took pictures of the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls.  When we go back to the park, I hope to get better pictures of these falls.  In this picture, you get a good view of the Upper Falls, and a little of the Lower Yosemite Falls. 

We ate lunch at the Yosemite Lodge Food Court.  We bought tickets and took the 1pm two hour tour of the Yosemite Valley on a flat-bed trailer with seats towed behind a semi.  Our Ranger tour guide sat facing backwards so we could see her, and she could see us. 

We El Capitan.  The Ranger said that climbers in the park do not even have to have permits or prove their capabilities.  Rescues apparently happen quite often, and she said that if the climber actually had an accident, there was no charge,  However, if the incident was deemed avoidable, or the climber was was not prudent, the charge could be $3,000. 

These two pictures are of the same climbers on El Capitan.  The first is just with my 15x optical zoom, and the second is cropped. 

We saw Sentinel Rock, Cathedral Rock, Half-Dome, and other named ones.  Hard to identify in the pictures the following day. 

Waterfalls on the tour included Upper and Lower Yosemite, Bridle Veil, and Ribbon Falls (not in order). 

We walked to the Valley Visitor Center to see the film about Yosemite and its history.  If you have not seen it, it is well worth your while.

By then, it was after 4pm, so we headed home to Park Sierra.  Upon arrival, we found that a ghost had visited our house – the generator was running.  As far as we know, we do not have automatic start, and it had not been running when we left in the morning.  Plus the house was still locked.  We don’t know.

Type at you later.