The Giants game

One of our readers asked for proof that we attended a baseball game together.   Here you go.

Jan gets photo credit for the first two.   Third is Jan and Deb.   Last one is mine. 

Time to go home

Another memorable vacation draws to a close.   Moving through SFO this morning is much easier and faster than Albany.  

Farewell Yosemite

This is our last night in Yosemite West.  We thank Holly and Jeff for being gracious hosts.  No bears tried breaking and entering while we were here.  They left Jan a nifty bottle of wine.  We got to use a washer and drier tonight which always makes returning home easier.

Our touring day was spent in an open-air tram run by the park service and one of their contractors.  It's a diesel hybrid!  We toured the valley making stops along the way.  The picture of El Capitain and the image of the Merced River with Galcier Point in the background are from that tour.

We dined out tonight.  It's only the second time we ate dinner outside of our rooms in the two weeks.  The Ahwahnee was built with large windows looking out at El Capitain and other parts of the valley.  If I had to pick between the Ritz Carlton and the Ahwahnee I would go with the Ritz but only by very slim margin.

After dinner back up to Yosemite West with a quick stop at the Tunnel View overlook for a picture of Half Dome at Sunset.  The last image is from the road in "our neighborhood" with the red glow of sunset settled over Yosemite, a fitting way to say goodbye.

Tomorrow we head to San Francisco and a baseball game.

Thursday morning in Yosemite

The only way for homeowners / landlords to get internet access here is by satellite.  Residential access to that service is maxed out.  Our hosts waited two years for a slot to open up before they could get access.

No need to become terribly technical, but residential use of the satellite data is also capped.  That all sounds inconvenient until you consider for a moment that you are getting access to the internet in the middle of the wilderness.

Smokey the bear (a fictional character who has not visited this condo unit) would be proud of the Airattack crew that worked quickly to control a fire near Yosemite Falls this week.  The park service practices fire management.  Fire, is good for the ecosystem.  Over time a large amount of what Rangers call "duff" builds up on the floor.  Too much and you get unconrollable fires like in Northern California.

Periodically, the park service will permit fires to burn under scrutiny, especially if the fire is caused by a lightning strike.  However, when a fire is caused by careless smoking, that usually requires intervention.  One of the images below shows the helicopter crew dumping water onto a fire that burned for a few days.  You won't see smoke because they were dousing hot spots.  We watched it burn for a few days before the fire accomplished what needs to happen.

A brown bear was feeding up trail during our hike on Wednesday.  I didn't see it but other hikers did.  Of course one of them took her tablet and tried to get close enough for a selfie with the bear.

So here is my advice this morning.  Treat these parks with respect.  Leave only footprints.  Take only pictures.  Smoking is bad for you in the first place, but if you smoke, don't do it on a hiking trail and certainly don't toss your butts into the trees.  And when you "take only pictures" please remember the animals in the parks are not part of a petting zoo.  They are wild animals.  They do not pose for pictures.

We plan a leisurely day with a nice dinner this evening at the Ahwahnee.

We hiked down from Glacier Point

I'm cutting down the size of my posts because the satellite portal restricts data to so many gigabytes per month.  It's like a phone plan, but more restrictive.

We hiked today.  A long hike.  From the top of Glacier Point to the floor of Yosemite Valley.  We are sore but in good spirits.

Here's some pictures that are self explanatory with one foot note.  The trail was 4.6 miles.  But you have to hike to get to the trail head and after you finish you have to hike to get to the shuttle bus.

Wawona and the Serenity Suite

One end of the park where we didn’t spend much time is Wawona.  It is near the condo.  Yosemite is an old Park.   Depending on how you count it is at least a century old.   The way things were is not how they are now.   For example there is a golf course in this part of the park.

It stays as a reminder of the past.

Nearby is a grove of lodgepole pines.   You know them better as telephone polls.

Nestled close by is an assortment of wild flowers.

It is also the section of the park where the early pioneers are remembered.

One of the wagons carried oil to the ponds and park service Rangers would spill it into the water to kill mosquitoes. 

Before the park service the Army kept watch over the park.   Once it became a civilian responsibility this was the first office for the park superintendent. 

Back to the condo for a blog tour.   Exterior and interior. 

We are the downstairs unit.   Upstairs is two bedrooms.

Granite counter tops.   Very nice finishes. 

Kitchen leads to an open area with a king bed and living room sharing the space.   That leads out to the infamous bear porch.

Yosemite - Day 1

We bid goodbye to Lake Tahoe this morning, journeying through Nevada to get to Yosemite.  Before driving away we stopped for one last look.

The water in Lake Tahoe is very clear.  You can see the bottom near the shore.  According to the Nevada Parks Commission there are many places in the lake you can see 75 feet down.  Unfortunately, according to the same trail guide, the lake is not expected to remain that clear forever.  They site a number of man made problems which they hope will be reversed.  That's disappointing.

Then we moved onto Yosemite coming in through Tioga Pass.  That part of the park isn't always open.  Even in drought years there is plenty of snow in the pass.  Often times the pass opens in July.  It depends on the snow pack.

Tioga pass is up about 9,000 feet and the beauty of the landscape is awe inspiring.

Those are two different bodies of water and the contrast is striking.  The rocks are different colors.  The water is recreating friendly in both, but chilly.

Opposite the bottom picture is a very steep cliff in the same smooth, white rock.  See if you can spot something on the cliff.

We saw people on that same rock the last time we visited too.

Not an easy climb!

We made our way from Tioga Pass down to the canyon floor, Yosemite Valley, which take some time.  We are staying in a condo in West Yosemite.  The land is privately owned even though it/'s inside the park.  We arrived late so no pictures of that with tonight's post.  Instead, I'll leave you with a look at the valley.  It's sometimes called the tunnel shot.

It's one of the more famous views of the valley.  More tomorrow.

The Fantastiks

Crossed the state line into Nevada where the Arts Council performs plays during the summer.   Usually Shakespeare but tonight a musical.   Staging a play on the shore can be a challenge,  especially if a storm is threatening.   It went well.   The cast performed well and they were entertaining.

Lake Tahoe - Day 2

Our plans were to take it easy on Sunday and we did do that.  The property management company gave us some lift tickets so we could get up mountain and walk around.  According to people who come here often, summer traffic is about 15% of what winter is.  It's pretty laid back.

This is a massive property development project.  From the Ritz Carlton, to the Northstar Condos, to the retail shops and the other recreation facilities this is huge.  I'm sorry Albany.  I didn't mean to turn the blog into an automobile commercial.

This is just a piece of the village.  The condo we are staying in is within walking distance.  The buildings in the village are all constructed as multi-use.  Upstairs is housing.  Downstairs is retail.  In the center of the picture is a roller skating rink which becomes an ice skating rink during the winter.

The chair lifts carry hikers and mountain bikers up mountain this time of year.  I suppose we hiked but it was leisurely.  We looked around.

The first picture in this group is from the chair lift looking back across the valley.  The second is at the head wall to a trail.  Spring flowers flourish this time of year.

There are lots of weddings during the summer season.  Unlike ski places in the east there are huge ski lodges at the top of the mountains.  They were setting up for receptions.  This floral arrangement was in a wooden barrel outside one of them.

I played with the shutter speeds on these frames so I can use them in class to demonstrate the different outcomes when you do that.  Yes, the bikers move fast.  No, they do not disappear when the ride.  That's just an effect.  However, at mid station we saw a young couple get on their bikes and head down as we jumped onto the chair lift.  They were down and in the restrooms as our chair ride got to the station.

And what does it look like during the winter?  Like that, except Jan would be wise to get out of the way of the snow movers.  Snow cover has not been deep the past five years.  Ordinarily the weather takes care of all of their needs, but the resort relied on their snow making devices.  Not surprisingly, those are not in this picture.

Tomorrow, we head over to Yosemite.  We will enter through Tioga Pass, which is always beautiful.  It will be spring time there as well.  After spending several days in Yosemite we will head back to San Francisco to meet up with Tim and Debbie.  We began the trip with them so it's fitting we end it with them.  Our plan is to take in a San Francisco Giant baseball game.  The Giants are playing the Mets rivals, the Washington Nationals.  It will be easy to route for the Giants.

Lake Tahoe

You read about the California drought?   This is a boat dock on Lake Tahoe.

In looking around the lake most of the docks are in concrete pilings and they cannot be moved.  Instead, if you look off in the distance on the right, you can see boats anchored off shore.  People use rubber rafts to get out to their motor boats.

We are staying the the Northstar resort.  It's a ski village.  Like Stratton Mountain, but on a much larger scale.  The road system inside the village is extensive.  It has it's own fire department and transit system.  

Jan Pricelined a studio condo so we have a good rate.  I imagine this place is mobbed during the winter.  Everything is geared towards skiing although they certainly do a brisk business renting the units out to people who want to spend a summer vacation near Lake Tahoe.

Our original dinner plan wasn't going to work.  The restaurant is at least 45 minutes from where we are one way.  With traffic it could be more.  Instead, I selected a place inside the Ritz Carlton which is right next door.  

The hotel is settled into the ski mountain.  There are chair lifts all around it and some of the trails end in back of the hotel.

Last night we were treated to a live episode of Law and Order.  This night we got a wedding based reality show.  There were two weddings out back.

Both weddings took place outdoors.  In the distance, behind the pavilion, you can see an outdoor fireplace.  The people sitting under that covering are enjoying drinks or dinner.  The wedding in progress was small and is behind them.

Dinner was spectacular.  It will be hard to top the food served here.  In honor of the Santacrose family we took pictures of our meal.

We started with a grilled peach and radicchio salad.   It was accented with some sort of sheep's milk cheese and we forgot the name.  It was yummy!!!

Jan had salmon with heirloom tomatoes and green beans.  The piece on top is salmon skin.  It's a garnish.

 My meal is a pork chop with shaved fennel and apple slices served over a bed of Swiss chard and  black eyed peas.  Our entrees were delicious.  Below are two views of a dessert we shared.  It's cherries served with chocolate sorbet, pistachio flakes, crumbled chocolate bits and the back side is some sort of dark chocolate dusted with cocoa.

We were tempted to return there for brunch tomorrow, but we think once is enough for our wallet.  Dinner on Sunday will be simple fare.  We are seeing a play so we'll be dinning close to the theater.