Yosemite

We have a long road ahead of us. The goal is to reach Yosemite today.

Map of the day:

At first it’s only highways between buildings, then the landscape starts to be a little wilder. The pictures show it better, they are in order from SF to the Big Oak Flat entrance of Yosemite.

Near the entrance of Yosemite we decide to go to see Evergreen Lodge, it is only 5 miles from the main road and maybe we will sleep here tonight. The lodges are quite nice, the woods nearby are very quiet, nice place to stay, we will think of it later in the day. We have the chance to see another coyote (but we missed the picture) and some deers.

Then, at around 1PM, we enter Yosemite. After a little more road we have our first view of the Dome:

The road itself is bordered by a river with such clear water. I would like so much to go swimming in it! But we have no towel and the temperature is around 36°F (2°C)…

Yosemite valley is surrounded by some of the biggest falls in the world. We do the popular 1 mile loop to see the Yosemite Fall closer.

Looking at the lodging facilities in the park, it soon appears that we will not sleep here tonight, too expensive compared to what they look like. Garbage and rubbish everywhere between the buildings, really a pity. We will either go back to Evergreen or go forward to Oakhurst, 50 miles to the South.

But we want to enjoy a little more Yosemite before leaving so we go ahead for a walk along the John Muir Trail. Almost 2 hours to go to the observation point (from where we see the cascade), we are tired but happy, it is so beautiful and no one around! However it’s already 4:30PM, the night will be on us soon and we have been told to avoid the bears at night… We never did any descent so fast! Less than 45 minutes!

Back at the car Adie is exhausted! We vote for Oakhurst. So let’s go! However the ambient light is so good that I stop for a last photo…

As we go trough a pass to exit Yosemite valley, we are blessed with a wonderfull sunset!

The 50 miles takes forever, with the night I don’t dare to drive above 25mph as the road is really curvy and I might have bears, deers, etc in every curve, as well as snow. But we make it, at around 8PM we are at Oakhusrt, we soon find a cheap motel (40$ for the room) and a restaurant (not good…).

A day in San Francisco

We wake up at around 8AM, that makes a big sleep night! But we were needing it. Breakfast at the motel, they serve coffee, tea, and some cakes, cereal in the lobby. Their coffee is not good! Beurk!

First stop in the morning: Golden Gate Park. It is huge, but sadly almost everything has an entrance fee…We decide to go to the Japanese Tea Garden. Adie is fond of Japanese culture.

Next stop of the day: Red Muir Wood. We cross the Golden Gate bridge, unfortunately it is still in the morning fog.

It takes us about one hour to get to the Woods but the road is pleasant. However is not really worth going to the other side of the world for such kind of scenaries…

Entrance fee again on the arrival, 10$pp, they never miss an occasion to lighten your purse! We make the walk in the Woods, taking some pictures. The place is beautiful, but far too crowed with tourists… especially big groups, loud, noisy, etc…

We go back to SF, cross the Golden Gate Bridge again, less fog this time.

We drop the car at the motel, and head towards The Mission neighborhood to find a lunch. We end up eating a sandwitch in Mission Park, enjoyins the sun. Walking back to the Castro we then take the tram to go to downtown by Market St. Downtown does not seem very appealling to spend the afternoon so we continue to the docks. There is a nice hangar filled with lots of restaurant and bars. We book a table for 5:45PM in an Asia-Fusion restaurant with a really cool view over the bay.

In the meantime we take another bus to Pier 39 (north of SF, in front of Alcatraz) as there is a navy Submarine from WW2 that can be visited. Pier 39 is really messy, but cool all the same. Bars, restaurants, shops everywhere, on different level. Even sea lions!

We manage to find the submarine and visit it. Amazing! So many wheels, triggers, etc in every tiny little corner.

It is about 4PM when we finish the visit, so we decide to enjoy a cocktail in a bar with a view looking on Alcatraz, the golden bridge, with the sun going down.

Then it’s time to walk back to the Pier 1 for our table. We arrive just in time.

Wonderfull diner & evening!

San Francisco

We wake up early as usual…But before leaving Tahoe City we do a small walk in front of the lake. Everything is snowy this morning, even icy.

Map of the day:

Based on the advice of the motel employee we decide to go have a look at Squaw Valley, which holds the 1960 winter Olympic Games… Hum not much to see. We pursue to Truckee, which is an old town from the gold rush times.

Instead of taking the big highway 80 to Sacramento we decide to stay a little bit more in the country side, and head back to lake Tahoe for a walk to some falls, Cascade Falls… After a 30 minutes walk, following track of fellow walkers we reach the end of the footprints. And horrified we soon notice that we are in the middle of a frozen river…just above the falls… We never were as much relieved as when we reached the solid ground again.

Back on the road, we take the 50 towards Sacramento through the El Dorado Natl forest. El Dorado? Pierre wants to go to see El Dorado, maybe we will find some gold… It looks like they never found any gold in El Dorado… It is only a small town, almost in ruins.

We then go to a small abandonned gold mine, Gold Bug Mine. Unfortunately it is closed to visitors today.

Next, Sacramento. Old Sacramento to be true, it is a small part of the town that has been more or less kept as it was during the gold rush era. After a walk in the streets we take some beers and sliders (that’s a kind of mini burgers…).

7PM. San Fransisco. Adie just booked a motel room from her cellphone, and here we are. Travelodge on Valencia & Market Street.

Soon after we find ourselves in a Cheese&Wine shop in the Castro (gay neigborhood of SF). Quite good cheeses and very decent wine! Time to go to bed!