US TRIP - Sequoia National Park to Santa Monica

After our hike in Yosemite (I really must go back there and do more!) we drove to a little town called Three Rivers, which was just a little way from the entrance of the Sequoia National Park, and so different in terms of landscape!

"Tunnel View". We stopped for a look on our way out of Yosemite. 

 The nearby Lake Kaweah looked like it had been hit hard by California’s drought, and the water levels were really low. We had a nice night in the very comfortable Comfort Inn, including a welcome swim after dark, as it was pretty hot.

It was an interesting drive up into the park. We went from dry grassland-type terrain, through a more rocky terrain with cactus and other Southern Californian looking plants. Then it became more rocky and forested, with some amazing canyon views and rock formations. As we got higher (and via a VERY windy road!), we stared to see lots of the bigger trees, including some impressive sequoias right alongside the road.

We parked and walked down to the General Sherman tree, which was very impressive!

The General Sherman holds the record for the largest tree in the world by volume. It’s not the tallest, because it was struck by lightning a few years ago so it doesn’t grow any taller but it does keep growing wider.

There are several other trees in the grove that are equally impressive. It's quite humbling when you realise just how small and insignificant you are compared to these trees.

As we were walking back to tour car, in the distance we heard a tree being cut down. It made an amazing BOOM when it hit the ground!

After hanging out among the giants for a while, we started our drive to Los Angeles. It was pretty steady, fast freeway driving (speed limit of 75 (120kms)!), but some nice scenery along the way. I annoyed Oli every few minutes by saying ‘take a picture of that!’

I was a bit worried about driving into LA, but we managed to hit it when all the traffic was going the other way. I found that as long as we went with the flow, we were ok. We found our Air BnB in Santa Monica, and then decided to walk down to the Third Street Promenade, which was brimming with people. There were some cool street entertainers and lots of up-market shops.

We had a nice dinner in an Italian restaurant
 
and then checked out the Santa Monica pier, which was pretty tacky and gaudy!
The rides were all closed for a private function, so we headed back to our accommodation for some much-needed rest.

Here's some more photos from Yosemite and Sequoia parks: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm5T8DAv

US TRIP - Yosemite Valley

US in the U.S. - Travels with Mel and Oli · Post Day 5 - Yosemite Valley Posting as Mel We thought the view where we were staying in El Portal was pretty amazing, but then we drove down into the main part of Yosemite Valley. Wow! Photos and words just can't do it justice. The sheer size and beauty of the granite formations is unlike anything I've ever seen. We were in awe all the way down.

We decided to do one of the shorter walks, as we had to drive further south, so we picked the walk to Vernal Falls. Right from the very beginning it was beautiful!

The walk was listed as 'moderate to strenuous', but it was a pretty steep trail! Climbing 1000 feet (300m) over a 4.8km walk seemed a little more strenuous than moderate! But it was worth it. The scenery along the trail was spectacular!

 And once we saw the falls from the bridge we knew we had to go higher! At first we thought that they'd got the walk description wrong, as it was quite easy, easier  than the first part. But then it got steeper and steeper and there were several sets of steep steps.

I stopped midway up the last set of stairs, but Oliver went up further and took some photos for me.

After the walk

Post settings Labels Published on 10/3/17, 8:07 PM Pacific Standard Time Permalink Location Options

US TRIP - Modesto to Yosemite

We set off from Modesto mid-morning and it was already pretty hot (in the 90s). Luckily it was a pretty easy drive and the air-con worked really well. By this day we had worked out how to use the GPS on the car, so there was no getting lost any more! We christened her 'Jenna', as she had a nice, soothing American voice.

The drive to Yosemite was interesting. The landscape was pretty consistent - dry, brown California grassland (a lot like the land around Canberra actually), until we started the climb up into the hills.

Woods Creek. Creek?!

Then it became green and lovely. Lots of trees, but completely different to the trees in our forests in Australia, which was cool.

 As we entered Yosemite Park (complete with a entrance station with rangers in proper ranger hats!), the scenery became even more amazing! 

Massive mountains and spectacular granite formations were around almost every turn, so we joined everyone else in stopping to take photos. 

We drove up to Tenaya Lake, a spectacular lake surrdounded by mountains, which at 8150 feet (2484 metres) elevation was very cold! 

But we waded in anyway. Crazy people! 

The water was beautifully clear and clean and it was so quiet. 

After that, we drove down into Yosemite Valley to our accommodation, stopping at Olmstead Point to take in the amazing vistas (there was a bit of smoke in the air from all the bushfires, so it wasn't as clear as it might have otherwise been).

It was there we came across our first American wildlife, a little ground squirrel! So cute! At first we thought he was a marmot (uneducated Aussies!), so we called him Sir Jorah Marmot, but then we workd out he was a squirrel...

The drive down to our accommodation was even more spectacular (if that's even possible!). 

We stayed at the Yosemite View Lodge, in a room overlooking the gorgeous Merced River. As we ate our dinner on the back terrace, we were visted by another squirrel, and then a raccoon. Very exciting for us foreigners!

The amazing view from the patio behind our cabin. 

US TRIP - San Francisco to Modesto

Today we picked up the rental car we'll have for the next couple of weeks. We ended up with a mini-van! Eeek! Great on the roads to be seen, but parking is fun!! Driving in the US is much easier than I thought it would be, it's just remembering to stay on the right.

The first thing we did once we got out of San Francisco was drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, finally getting to see it properly!

Of course the fog promptly rolled in once we were across! I'd planned to stop at Vista Point on the other side, but there was a marathon on during the morning, so Vista Point was closed. Oliver did a great job of getting us down to the Fort Baker park area, where we got a good parking spot and a good view of the bridge. 

View from Fort Baker. 

We decided to walk across, but of course we had to climb the hill first! Only half a kilometre, but a huge winding hill! 

First to get onto the bridge! 

But we did it and stopped up on Vista Point, where we met some very friendly bikers from the Bakersfield Iron Hoggz club.

The Bakersfield Iron Hoggz

We then walked across the bridge, about 2km each way and really noisy! Especially with the cars constantly going past. But a beatiful view and worth the walk. 

View to the left (west) - no fog. 

View to the right (east) - fog! 

After that we started towards Muir Woods, but there was way too much traffic, and by the time we found something to eat (at Starbucks of all places!) it was getting late, so we tried to find out way to our hotel in Modesto. 

Between San Francisco and Modesto. Some of the landscape was very alien-like! 

We got turned around a few times, so it took longer than expected, but we found it. We had a pretty amazing dinner at Fuddruckers (which I remembered from my first trip to the U.S in 1990), and then had a Walmart adventure! No weird people, but still a bit of fun. 

Fuddruckers had a 'topppings bar'. Anytopping you can think of!