Yosemite Day 1

Picked up granddaughters Megan & Katie at Sacramento airport and

drove to Yosemite. California highway 240 leads to the park from

Fresno area - in one place rises 4000 feet in 8 miles around switchbacks with no guardrails and lots of free drop. White knuckles - but made it OK - now feel like I can drive the rig almost anywhere.

Yosemite is unlike anything we've seen to this point. In the Sierra Nevadas, the mountains are solid granite with sheer cliffs and many with tops rounded by the glaciers.

We drove to the valley floor and boarded this trolley for a tour narrated by a park ranger.

These shots were all taken from that tour.

Just breathtaking scenery everywhere you look.

After the tour, stopped at the trailhead for lower Yosemite Falls and walked about a mile in to the base of the falls.




On our way in, Megan yelled "there's a bear !!" Sure enough, the one below walked right across the path in front of us. I was reminded that you don't have to run faster than the bear, just faster than the slowest in your party. No need - he didn't want to have anything to do with us.

Seattle to Yosemite

After many busy days, some without wi-fi or cell phone service, I'm at it again.

After Seattle, we started down the west coast on Interstate 5. First stop was in Portland, where we explored the Columbia River gorge.

The picture on the left is the Bonneville Dam, which supplies much of the hydropower for the Northwest. Fish, including some very large trout, swim upriver past the dam for breeding through fish ladders that can be viewed from inside the dam. The photo on the right is typical of the scenery. We also saw several picturesque waterfalls on the south side of the river.

Spent the next day with Calvin & Gail Steck, Calvary people who have recently moved to Oregon.

We're at lunch on the right - the left

picture is of Mount Washington in the

Cascade Mountains, which start in

Washington and run into northern

California

Next traveled to Crater Lake area in Southern Oregon. The lake was formed in the remnants of a volcano, and is the deepest lake in the United States. We took a trolley ride around the rim, narrated

by a park ranger, who explained the geology and talked about the wildlife and native american legends and myths connected with the area. Truly breathtaking scenery.

Also visited the Oregon coast. The totem pole is in Reedsport, a fishing and lumber town north of Coos Bay. The dunes on the right run for many miles along the coast. These kids were snowboarding and sliding on the sand.

This boat took us across Shasta Lake in California, south of Mount Shasta, which dominates the skyline for some 40 - 50 miles. Still in the Cascades, Shasta Lake is a beautiful area with much boating activity. On the lake's north shore, Lake Shasta Caverns is a maze of limestone caves with formations to rival any that we've seen to date.

From there, we drove to Sacramento to pick up granddaughters Megan and Katie for a trip to Yosemite Park.

Seattle - Days 3 & 4

Went whale watching with Barb, Gene and Dakota on this boat. Beautiful day, and the scenery on the Juan DeFuca straits was glorious. Saw over a dozen orca whales, several that braoched by jumping fully out of the water. Coudn't get in synch with them with the camera, so no pictures.

On the last day, went with Barb and Dakota to Olympic National Park and again marveled at the old growth evergreen forests.

These pines are 6 feet in diameter and have to be 80 - 90 feet high.

Saw this elk with his mate on the way out of the park.

Said goodbye to sister Barb - on our way south.

Seattle - Days 1 & 2

Arrived in Seattle 7/30 and met sister Barb and her grandson, Dakota at the RV park. Went to a beach on the sound and dinner.

Next day we all went downtown, first to Pike's Market, an amazing indoor/outdoor market where the shops sell everything you ever wanted.

This band was among the street musicians in the market.

From there, we walked downtown Seattle, and ended up at the Space Needle. A large parade was forming for a celebration they call "Seafair" We had a great time watching the fire companies, horse troops, and floats getting ready. Rode the elevator to the top of the Space Needle - great view of the city.

Next day, Barb's husband Gene joined us and started at the waterfront. These ships are the crab and fishing fleet that is immortalized on "The Deadliest Catch"

We also toured a Native American Center (no pictures allowed), and ended up at Aiki Beach, where Barb lived for a while.

Mount Rainier

We've done a lot of traveling since the last post. From Glacier Park stopped at Butte and St. Regis, Montana and Moses Lake, Washington and Yakima, Washington to see Mount Rainier National Park. The scenery through the Rockies was always breathtaking, especially around Coeur d'Alene Idaho. Eastern Washington was much more arid than we expected, with very little vegetation on the mountains. Temperatures were in the 90's most days.

The Yakima valley is a center for fruit orchards and vineyards, as well as a good place to base our side trip.

Our first stop after entering the park was at the Grove of the Patriarchs, a large stand of old growth evergreen trees - western cedar, lodgepole pine, spruce, and Douglas fir - some as old as 1,000 years.

These two pictures show trees that had fallen, and gives an idea of the size. These are the root areas of he trees

First view of Mount Rainier on the road leading in.

These views are typical of the area. Each turn in the road brought another scene begging to be photographed.