First Day in Yosemite

Hi Blog.  Today is Thursday, October 24th and our first full day in Oakhurst, California - the gateway to Yosemite National Park.  We started our day getting Eddie and George out to explore the campground.  Our campground is right long the Fresno River.  We are across the river from two schools - Oak Creek Intermediate School and Oakhurst Elementary School.  After school, you can hear the sounds of kids at play.  Here are some of the cool rock formations in the river.

After breakfast, we drove into Yosemite National Park.  Our first stop was the Wawona Visitor Center at the south entrance.  The Pioneer Yosemite History Center is located next door.  To preserve historic structures in the park, they were relocated to Wawona.  Each building represents a different chapter in the development of Yosemite.  This covered bridge was built in 1857.  All Yosemite-bound traffic crossed this bridge.

We took a self-guided tour among the various buildings.  There were example of a homestead cabin, artist cabin, blacksmith shop, calvary office, ranger patrol cabin, bakery and a Wells Fargo Office, which still had the original furnishings.

After leaving Wawona, we wound our way up and up until we entered the Wawona Tunnel.  Here is the view that greeted us as we at the Tunnel View pullout.  The big guy on the left is El Capitan.  Half Dome is in the distance toward the right.

Here is Great White in the shadow of the Cathedral Rocks.

We soon found ourselves on the valley floor following the Merced River toward the Vistor's Center.  We made it just in time to catch the fall color.

We stopped at the Visitor's Center and watched a short movie on the spirit of Yosemite.  We also picked up lots of maps, hiking guides and information on camping in the valley.  We have reservations to camp Sunday night and Monday night, so we will be back to explore some of the hiking trails in the valley.

It was getting late and we had a long drive home, but we had time to catch late afternoon light on the valley floor:

Here is one more look at the valley wrapped in fall color.

Just before we entered the tunnel on the way back, we stopped to take a sunset photo of Yosemite Valley.

We stopped again just after the tunnel to bid a good night to El Capitan and Half Dome.

We are looking forward to spending more time in the valley.  Until then, we'll explore the Oakhurst area and see what there is to see.

Eddie and George Wake Up In the High Sierras!

Touring Historic Sonoma

Today was our last day to roam out and about in the San Francisco Bay Area.  We decided we'd like to explore downtown Sonoma, especially the historic buildings.  We weren't disappointed!

We parked the truck and started walking, looking for a place for lunch.  What do we stumble on right away but a great Belgian beer bar!  Here's Kathy standing proudly in front of her discovery:

The tavern had a great selection of beers - particularly Belgian style beers.  We, however, selected a local winter ale:  Anderson Valley Brewing's "Winter Solstice," which was very fruity and complex.  We tried a scrumptious pumpkin soup and then each had a salad to round it out.

The restaurant grows hop vines decoratively around its biergarten, although the tavern doesn't brew its own beer.  Kathy couldn't resist plucking a hop flower from the vine, crushing it, and smelling those wonderful aromatic oils:

Time to get historic.  Sonoma State Historic Park consists of several historic buildings located in downtown Sonoma.  One of the most famous is the Mission San Francisco de Solano, which was the northernmost of the Spanish missions built along El Camino Real, or the King's (or Royal) Highway.  It was constructed in 1823.  Eventually, it was secularized in 1834 but served as the parish church of Sonoma until 1881.  Eventually purchased for restoration in 1903, it became part of the California State Park system in 1926.  Here is how it looks today:

Chris Jorgensen, a brilliant Norwegian artist who married the heir to the Ghirardelli chocolate fortune, embarked on a celebrated project to paint all of the missions of California.  In 1903 and 1904, he and his wife travelled throughout California, camping near each mission, and painted them as they were then.  Some were mere ruins but the mission in Sonoma still stood.  Here is Jorgensen's painting of it.  The church itself, on the left in the painting, was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.

What is left of the mission still has a chapel, which has been beautifully restored.  Here is a photo of the chapel:

Across from the street is the Blue Wing Inn, reputedly the first hotel built north of San Francisco in California, was constructed in 1836 and hosted many famous characters if the mid-1800's including Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, General Philip Sheridan, and others.  Today it has been preserved, but is presently closed for a complete restoration of the interior:

The highlight of our trip was the residence of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, one of the most interesting and formative figures in early California history.  Born in Monterrey, California in 1807, he was serving as the secretary to the Spanish Governor of California when Mexico won its independence.  He went on to become Mexico's Commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco, then became Mexico's senior military officer for Northern California.  He formed alliances with local Native American tribes and worked to limit Russia's influence in California during the Colonial Period.  In 1846, he was arrested at his Sonoma home by John Fremont's irregulars at the commencement of California's Bear Flag Revolt.  He was released from custody when he agreed to remain neutral in California's battle for independence from Mexico.  He eventually sided with the United States and accepted U.S. control after the defeat of Mexico in the Mexican War.  He went on to become very influential in California state politics.  In his honor, the first state capital of California was located in the City of Vallejo, where we are staying.  It subsequently moved to nearby Benicia, named for his wife, before moving permanently to Sacramento.

General Vallejo and his wife Benicia established their lifelong home in Sonoma, on a 500-acre estate he named "Lachryma Montis" (Latin for "tears of the mountain"), to reflect the name the local Native American tribe of Suysin gave the place ("Chiucuyem") for the spring of clear water that arises on the property.  On the property, he established one of the first vineyards and wineries in California, but his wine estate was wiped out in the phylloxera (American root louse) epidemic of 1873.

Here is a photo of the main residence, which was built in an eastern Gothic-American-Victorian style, prefabricated in the East and shipped to California around Cape Horn:

General Vallejo and his wife had 16 children.  A granddaughter sold the property to the State of California in 1933 and it was established and preserved as a state historic park.

The spring on the property still flows, and fills a small pond behind the house, located in a beautiful, landscaped setting.  Here is Kathy admiring the pond:

If you'd like more information about the home, including more photos, try this page of the website titled, "A Virtual Tour of the California Missions."

Connie and Karen Experience the Tolay Fall Festival

Hi Blog.  As you know, we are staying in Vallejo, CA east of San Francisco.  This Saturday, our friends, Karen and Connie, arrived in Duncans Mills, CA, about 65 miles north and west of us.  We wanted to see them before we left for Yosemite on Wednesday.  We discovered Karen and Connie at the Escapees Rally in April 2012.  That was just after we sold the house and hit the open road.  As full-time RVers, they've been an inspiration to us.  We've kept in touch via emails and Facebook.  After a year and a half, we were finally in the same state and only 65 miles apart!  We learned there was a fall festival in Sonoma County about halfway between us.  We agreed to meet on Sunday at the Tolay Lake Regional Park.

Tolay Lake Regional Park is located between the Petaluma River and the Sonoma Valley. This unique 1,769-acre property contains farm and grasslands, ridges, a seasonal freshwater lake, ponds, wetlands, and many other natural resources. It provides habitat for several species of special status, including the burrowing owl, California red-legged frog, northwestern pond turtle, golden eagle, white tailed kite, horned lark, northern harrier, and the tricolor blackbird.  It is one of 50 different parks run by the Sonoma County Park Service.  I didn't know that counties had their own park service.  Apparently, California has a number of National Parks, State Parks, County Parks and City Parks, each administered by its own park service.

Here are Connie and Karen as they arrive at the festival.

The Tolay Fall Festival is more than just pumpkin patch.  It is a seasonal celebration  connecting visitors with the beauty and history of this special park. Fall Festival activities and displays are low-key, hands-on and educational by design.  Doesn't that just sound so California!  Check out all the things there were to do:

• Explore the “Nighttime Creatures Barn” with its exhibits of native and exotic snakes, birds of prey, tide pool animals, and taxidermied wildlife.
• Venture into the “Creepy Crawly Room,” where tarantulas and scorpions glow under black lights.
• Take a hayride to a pumpkin patch in the park’s back 40 and find the perfect Halloween pumpkin.
• Visit a replica of a Native American village and try farm activities like wool carding and candle dipping.
• Enter the World-Record Pumpkin-Seed Spitting Contest for a chance to win an exclusive title and a year of bragging rights. See the 2012 results (190 kB.)
• Join experts in archery, fly fishing and astronomy for hands-on demonstrations.
• Participate in gunnysack races, find your way through a straw maze, and pet barnyard animals.
• Enjoy food and desserts from local vendors or bring a picnic to enjoy at the park.

Karen had been complaining that, with all the snow and cold temperatures, she hadn't experienced much sun recently, so we walked over to the astronomy tent for a quick peek at the sun.  They had two different types of telescopes you could look through.  One let you see the spots on the sun.  The other let you see the different solar storms and solar flares.  The volunteers were from the Robert Ferguson Observatory at Sugarloaf Ridge Park.  Each month during the new moon the observatory opens its doors to give visitors the opportunity to explore the wonders of the sun and the night skies.

After exploring our galaxy, we went back into time to discover some early technological breakthroughs.  Here, one of the volunteers demonstrates an automated saw.

This bad boy (actually it's a girl - note the pink toe nails) is an elephant foot tamper.  We should have taken a video because you can't really get it just by looking at this photo.  But this puppy is really, really heavy and jumps up and down tapping the earth under its elephant foot.  Found an example on You Tube - check this out - Jumping Jack Tamper.

A county Fall Festival would not be complete without a potato sack race.  The young gentleman in the foreground was leading, but leaped right out of his sack and crashed in front of his sister.  His sister also didn't finish the race - not because he took her out, but because she was too busy laughing at him to finish herself.  Such is youth.

After watching the races, it was time to get crafty.  First up was the wool shed.  Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of Karen carding her wool or spinning it on the spindle.  However, if you look carefully at the photo below, you can see her new wool bracelet.

Next we made corn husk dollies.

All this craftiness builds up a powerful hunger.  We walked over to the food court.  Decisions, decisions, decisions - burritos, BBQ or all things turkey.  Dave opted for the cajun turkey sausage, Karen and Connie both ordered the turkey bacon BLT and Kathy went for the BBQ pulled pork.  We shared a slice of Mom's Homemade Sweet Potato Pie.  Now that our bellies were full, it was time to take the hayride out to the pumpkin patch.

The park was all decked out in its fall finest.

After bumping down the old farm road, we arrived at pumpkin nirvana!

Here all the little pumpkins congregated in hopes of getting adopted.  It is really difficult to decide because each one is cuter than the next.  Well, maybe not cuter, but you get the idea.  After a few laps around the patch, we picked our favorites and headed back to the fair grounds.

After safely tucking our new additions in our respective trucks, we enjoyed a couple of root beer floats courtesy of the Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department.  Next - time to explore the “Nighttime Creatures Barn” with its exhibits of native and exotic snakes, birds of prey, tide pool animals, and taxidermied wildlife.  Yes, we even ventured into the “Creepy Crawly Room,” where tarantulas and scorpions glow under black lights.  However, the most fun was chatting withe the volunteer snake wranglers.

Before long, it was time to wish Karen and Connie safe travels.  We are already making plans to see each other in Ventura and Temecula.  Look out Southern California, here we come!

Benicia State Recreation Area

Benicia State Recreation Area is about five miles from our campground, located on the north shore of Southampton Bay, beyond which the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers pass through Carquinez Strait and into San Pablo Bay, before emptying into the San Francisco Bay.  The recreation area includes the Southampton Bay Wetland Natural Preserve and includes hiking trails along the headland, westward toward the Caequinez (I-80) Bridge connecting Vallejo with Richmond and Berkeley to the south.

It's a short hike up a well-maintained gravel trail from the parking lot to the height of land over the water.  Here's a view looking back at the parking and picnic area:

From the first part of the hill, we could see miles to the east and south:

Here's a photo of us with part of the town of Benicia in the background across the water:

Southeast of us and across the water lay distant mountains in the direction of Stockton and Yosemite --

-- while, to the west we could see the Carquinez Bridge and the Bay beyond:

We passed up a chance to hike down to water's edge, but we could see fishermen and families enjoying themselves on the rocky and sandy shore, while sailboats and fishing boats plied the deeper waters:

A variety of grass like plume grass was plentiful around the shoreline, and it grew so high we could take photos upward at its tufts:

Kathy couldn't resist the soft brushy texture of these wildflowers - but beware the spiny parts!

At the far western end of the trail, a large grove of old Eucalyptus trees were growing and threw welcome shade on us.  It being later in the autumn, their fragrant seed pods have long ago dried out, and we got very little of that pungent eucalyptus smell that David remembers from his college days in the Bay area:

We met a number of hikers, trail runners, trail bikers, dog walkers, fishermen, families with strollers or toddlers, and the like, but nearly as many people as we would have expected on a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon.  We mainly had the trail to ourselves, and we enjoyed the sounds of the wind and the birds, some glimpses of heron and muskrat, and views of distant boats.  The walk lasted most of the afternoon, and by the time we returned home, we felt refreshed and exercised at the same time.

We topped the day off with a little pomegranate lemonade (spiked, in Kathy's case, with tequila, and in David's case, with dark rum) and a dinner consisting of chewy pumpkin bread and a wonderful soup of lentils, split peas, carrots, pasta, chicken and sun dried tomatoes.

Tomorrow we meet up with some RV buddies at the Tolay Fall Festival!

San Francisco Redux

Hi Blog! On Thursday, October 17th, we took another ferry ride to San Francisco.  This time we planned it as an overnight trip.  Last Friday, when we took the ferry, it was dark (7:00 a.m.) and very misty and foggy.  We didn't get very many photos from that voyage.  This time, we had bright blue skies and warm temperatures.

The Vallejo Ferry Terminal is located on the Napa River just across from the old Mare Island Naval Shipyard.  While the Navy base was closed in 1996, the island is undergoing a transformation.  Many of the old navy buildings are being preserved and turned into an historic museum, while other parts of the island are being developed for businesses and residences. The old docks are full of life again.

The ferry leaves the Napa River and then crosses the San Pablo Bay before heading into San Francisco Bay.  It takes about an hour, but on a day like today you can't help but sit back and enjoy the ride.

We soon pass the East Brother Island Lighthouse located on East Brother Island near the tip of Point San Pablo in Richmond, California.  It marks the entrance to San Pablo Bay from San Francisco Bay.
The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. After several years of neglect, a non-profit group, East Brother Light Station, Inc., was formed in 1979 to restore the landmark. Government grants, private donations, and volunteer labor restored the structures on the island, which are now used for the bed-and-breakfast.  For a few hundred bucks, you too could stay in a lighthouse.  We'll have to put that on the list for the next time we are in the area.

Just before we go under the Route 580 Bridge and into San Francisco Bay, we can see Mount Tamalpais (or Mt. Tam as the locals refer to it).  Mount Tamalpais is the highest peak in the Marin Hills, which are part of the Northern California Coast Ranges. The elevation at the East Peak, its highest point, is 2,574 feet. The West Peak, the mountain's second highest peak, where a radar dome currently stands, is at about 2,563 feet.

Here we get a nice view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

As we get closer to the city, we can begin to see the wharfs along the waterfront with Coit Tower looming over the tourist mecca.

Since we already covered a number of tourist attractions on our last visit, we decided this trip would be about finding a couple museums to spend time in.  We wanted to get a little more information on the history of San Francisco, including the big earthquake.  As we walked uptown, we ran straight into a "police emergency."  Of course, no one in the crowd knew what was happening, so we heard everything from accident, fire, bomb threat, movie shoot, presidential visit, alien invasion, etc.  Did I mention that these lookie-loos were all eating Sabra hummus and pretzels.  Sabra just happen to be in the area giving out free samples.  You gotta love this city.  We ended up walking several blocks out of the way to get around all the closed streets.  [Ed. Note:  Heard on the news this morning it was a suspicious backpack.  No bomb.  False alarm.]

We finally made it to the San Francisco History Museum.  The museum has over a dozen rooms, each dedicated to a different aspect of San Francisco.  We started with the Gold Rush, then learned about the Barbary Coast.  We found the Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915 to be fascinating.

The exhibit on the earthquake was not as comprehensive as we hoped it would be, but we did learn an interesting fact about the recovery.  Over 5,000 wooden shacks were built to house survivors.  Walls of the "cottages" were redwood, the floors were made of fir, and the shingles were cedar. Stoves cost extra, and toilets were communal facilities that were built in the parks. Shack tenants paid $2 per month toward the final $50 cost of the structure. When the refugee camps closed in 1907, 5,343 of the shacks were moved to private lots by horse and wagon. Some residents who were unable to afford moving costs disassembled their homes and carried them away in pieces.  Only 32 of those cottages are known to still exist today.  The Western Neighborhoods Project maintains a website that provides much more information on the history and current status of the refugee shacks.

We could go on and on about the history of San Francisco, but then you wouldn't have anything to discover when you come to visit.  So, we'll leave you with a few of our favorite rooms.  Kathy really liked all the old radios on display.

Dave spent a little extra time in the Hippy Room reliving one of his college experiences.

All that time travel builds up a powerful hunger.  What better way to satisfy said hunger than with a trip to our favorite bun shop.  Last time we were here, we had baked buns.  This time, we wanted the steamed ones.  However, the young woman who waited on us last time was not in the shop.  In her place was her 70-something year old mother who spoke no English or Mandarin.  So, with a little pointing and counting in Chinese, we managed to almost get what we wanted.  The chicken buns were great with a little savory sage spice.  The red bean paste was sweet, but not too sweet.  However, we ended up with BBQ pork and not the pork and veggie.  They were still pretty tasty.  This bun shop came highly recommended by one of Katie's Asian friends, and that was good enough for us.  The buns were fabulous and we recommend it.  Just walk a couple of blocks uphill on Powell from the intersection of Powell and Union.  Look for the blue awning that reads, "Here You Can Eat the Best Dim Sum."  It's worth the walk!

After lunch, we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf to discover the Musee Mechanique, one of the world’s largest privately owned collections of mechanically operated musical instruments and antique arcade machines.  The museum has more than 300 items, ranging from orchestrions, coin operated pianos, antique slot machines, and animations. Most of the machines have been upgraded to accept quarters.  We happily wandered up and down the aisles playing antique baseball and basketball games, as well as enjoying some of the animated games, such as the mechanical puppet show.  We took turns looking at some of the original coin operated picture machines - car races, train crashed, three-D photos from the great earthquake.

After racing through our stack of quarters, we ventured outside to hang with some of the tourists who congregate along the piers.

We also stopped to watch some street performers.  Before long, it was time to head back to our hotel (which we got on PriceLine), and get ready for dinner.

Tonight we set our sights on a little live jazz.  We did some Googling and found Cafe Claude.  The Mad and Eddie Duran Trio was to play from 7:30 to 10:30.  We checked online and scored 7:30 reservations. The restaurant was hidden down an alley.  It was tiny and a jazz trio was stuck in a corner by the bar - not exactly what we were hoping for.  We had hoped for a true jazz club like Blues Alley in Georgetown, or Iridium in Manhattan, or some of the jazz clubs in New Orleas, but we made the best of it.  As it turned out, the trio was really good.  David bought a CD from them.  They played some classic jazz and some bossa nova.  The problem was that the clientele was ignoring them and talking so loud that we couldn't hear the music very well.  After we ate, we finished our drinks at the bar so we could enjoy the music.

Besides offering good jazz, Cafe Claude serves French cuisine.  We both started with French onion soup.  Kathy had duck confit and Dave enjoyed coq au vin.  Instead of dessert, we shared a cheese plate and had the absolutely best Camembert cheese EVER!  Kathy later learned that it was a Chantilly Camembert.  She found some more at a cheese shop at the Ferry Building and we had a chance to enjoy more of it after we returned from San Francisco.

We wrapped up our jazz night around 10:00.  The fifteen minute walk back to the hotel from the restaurant was pleasant and we enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the city after having spent so many months in mountain valleys and the high desert.  We fell into bed and knew nothing.

After sleeping in a bit and enjoying a hearty breakfast, we headed back to the Port of San Francisco to take our ferry back to Vallejo.  This morning we could see the fog rolling in from the ocean.  Here Alcatraz is about to be swallowed up in the mist.

As the ferry turned to head up the Bay, we watched the city slowly disappear behind our wake, with a lone sailboat to witness the scene:

Looking to the west, we could just about see the top of the Golden Gate Bridge peeking out of the fog.

By the time we reached the San Rafael Bridge, we had passed through the fog.  The sun was warm and the breeze pleasant.  After docking, we found Great White and headed back to the RV.

We spent the rest of the day catching up on emails and playing with the cats.  Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I am sure it will be an adventure.