US trip: Yosemite

From Napa, we drove the 330km to our next stop... Yosemite.

Al and I at Yosemite

 On the way we stopped at the town of Mariposa to re-fuel the car and ourselves given it was dinner time. Our meal at the quaint diner we found in the town was massive... I had eaten enough half-way through the unexpected entree that came standard with every meal! After dinner, we continued to our accommodation, Highland House, which wasn't too much further a drive. This place was incredible, really comfortable and one of our favourites of the entire trip. The location, the owner, the room, and the breakfast were all top notch.

Highland House, Mariposa... amazing accommodation!

In the morning we headed to Yosemite National Park. We stopped along the drive to take photos of the amazing scenery... and then we got to the park itself and the amazing scenery we had seen on the way suddenly looked rather average.

Entering Yosemite National Park

To quote Al, a blind person could take photos in Yosemite and still get amazing pictures. The sights were breathtaking, and I think we spent most of the day saying "wow... woah.... oh wow". At the first chance we had, we parked the car and did a short hike to Bridalveil Falls...

Bridalveil Falls

And then we did the walk to Mirror Lake... although as there wasn't much water in the lake due to the time of the year, I had to get creative with my photography!

Mirror Lake, Yosemite

We managed to get some pictures in of El Capitan, drive around exploring the park, then see all the torch lights dotted up El Capitan once the sun went down and the rock-climbers had settled in on the wall for the night. Al had told me about it but I have to say, I was still surprised to see so many lights up the side of El Capitan—particularly given we had only spotted a couple of climbers during the day.

A rock-climber making their way up the side of El Capitan

Thankfully we had allowed ourselves some time the following day to head back into Yosemite before moving on to our next destination. We drove out to Glacier Point to begin with...

Half Dome, Yosemite, viewed from Glacier Point

And then parked the car to do the Sentinel Dome walk. This walk around 1.5 km each way, with a reasonably steep climb to get to the top of the dome itself. But it was well worth the effort!

Al, with Sentinel Dome behind him

El Capitan viewed from the top of Sentinel Dome, Yosemite

We stopped at Tunnel View on the way back from Sentinel Dome, which proved to be a great 'summary' spot for our time at Yosemite. From this spot you can see El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls, and in the background Half Dome. Yet another 'wow' moment for us.

Tunnel View, Yosemite

To get to our next overnight accommodation spot, we headed out of the park via Tioga Pass. We were really lucky that the Pass was open—a month later and it would have been closed for the winter. Soon after taking the turn-off for the pass you reach Toloumne Grove—home to Giant Sequoia's (Sequoiadendron gigenteum), the worlds most massive trees and sadly endangered. With Al's love for trees, of course this was a must-stop for us.

Al and I in the cut-away in a remaining stump of a Giant Sequoia otherwise destroyed by fire

We continued on our drive through Tioga Pass and continued to muse over the sheer beauty that this earth offers us. As the sun started to set, the changing colours amplified the majestic sights.

Driving through Tioga Pass, Yosemite

View of Yosemite from Tioga Pass at sunset, with Half Dome in the background

We stayed at a motel in a small town called Bishop that evening, and enjoyed a delicious (albeit huge!) burrito at a small Mexican diner. The next day would see the drive to Vegas...

More on the trip next time x

US trip: San Francisco to Napa Valley

After a quick breakfast, we said goodbye to Glenn and acquainted ourselves with the rental car that would be getting us to the other side of the United States. First stop: San Francisco. Although—we were rather time poor. A tour bus would be the best solution.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and soon after found a popular tourist spot... and somehow we scored a parking spot. After a few photos we picked a bus company and the exploring began! I have to say, these hop-on/hop-off tourist buses are such a great way to see a city—and with good audio, you find out so much information. We hopped off to see the Painted Ladies and Alamo Square—it was so surreal seeing them in real life after seeing this picturesque row of Victorian townhouses on so many sitcoms!

Painted Ladies, San Francisco

In San Francisco we learnt the value of picking a tour bus company that goes past frequently... After being unable to figure out when or where to get the next bus from, we ended up doing a lot of walking. We had hoped to get on one of the famous San Fran cables cars but the queues were just ridiculously long so we kept walking. Finally we found our bus, so jumped on board and stayed put until we got back to the car.

Alcatraz (viewed from the bus), San Francisco

Our destination for the evening was Napa Valley. We weren't sure what to expect as some major fires had swept through the region only the week before, creating enough devastation to hit our news headlines back in Australia. The outskirts were charred and you could still see pockets of smoke, however thankfully the area we had booked into was fine.

There were thankful signs for the first responders to the Napa fires everywhere

Our accommodation—Napa Farmhouse Inn

We had dinner at the Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch and I couldn't recommend it enough. The service was fantastic and the food amazing—so fresh, with so much flavour, and good local wine. It was a nice romantic evening with my man, and a great introduction to the region.

Castello di Amarosa, Napa Valley

The next day we drove from our accommodation in St Helena to past Calistoga to see the area. On the way back we stopped at a couple of wineries—Castello di Amarosa and Salvestrin Winery.

Taking in the scenery at Castello di Amarosa

Both wineries offered were very different, much more personable experiences to wine tasting in Australia. However they were also much more expensive! I'm not sure our wallets would have allowed us to visit many more places even if time had permitted as we were looking around around $20–30 per person or more just to do a tasting.

For the experience alone though, I'm so glad we did stop at the two wineries we did. Napa was another beautiful region to stop at and explore, even for a day.

More on the trip next time x

US trip: the beginning

In my last couple of posts I've briefly mentioned an overseas trip... well, we've now been back for almost two weeks so I thought I better write about it before I forget all the details!

Monterey, California, from Point Lobos State Reserve

After our Spain trip last year, Al and I started thinking about where we wanted to visit next, and the US was in both of our sights. So earlier this year we started the dreaming... and planning... and booking. A dream for Al (and I quickly started to share it) was to see a major freeride/mountain bike event—Red Bull Rampage—so our holiday planning was centred around that. Only issue was that other than knowing it would be in October, it took checking the Red Bull website daily to find the actual dates. And then knowing the dates didn't guarantee tickets! That took an early morning alarm (4am!) and quick internet skills to secure. More about the actual event in a later post though!

Point Lobos State Reserve

With our agenda locked in, and a number of exciting events to look forward along the way, we arrived in the US early on Thursday 19 October. The plan: drive across the United States in three weeks. Yep, we know—we're crazy.

After lengthy delays trying to get out of LAX, we ended up changing our connecting flight to San Francisco to a flight to nearby San Jose. Our first two nights would be spent with Al's childhood mate Glenn—an excellent host and guide while we were in that part of the country.

Al and Glenn, Point Lobos State Reserve 

After a good night's rest, Glenn took us for a drive to Monterey and Big Sur. The scenery was absolutely incredible and our camera's got a good working out. Monterey is the home of the Monterey Pine, or Pinus Radiata as Al informed us. Apparently this is the most common pine for building and construction... well, I think that's what we were being told (I was mainly just nodding during my lesson on trees)!!

Pinus Radiata, aka Monterey Pine (aka, trees... tall trees)

After a drive down to Big Sur, and quite a few more photos, we headed back to Monterey for margaritas and some amazing Mexican food.

Big Sur, California

I'd tell you more about the drive back to Glenn's place but I'm pretty sure I was asleep in the back seat of the car for most of it.

More on the trip next time x

Snow-much fun

The week after Sofia's birthday we heading to the snow fields. We booked in accommodation earlier in the year, and as it turned out we couldn't have picked a better weekend!

We were there for three days, and two of those were perfect weather. I organised a lesson for myself and the kids on the second day we were there, although unfortunately that ended up being the coldest day. Poor Sofia just got too cold and didn't want to continue after around 20 minutes. But the next day, with the sun out, she was all smiles again.

I wasn't sure how Alex would go with the ski lesson but was pleasantly surprised. He kept with it, and was so proud to see how well he did and so happy watching him enjoying it so much! The only way to get him into the car at the end of the day was to promise him another go the next day...

Alex and I on the chairlift... he was so excited!

But then the next day we didn't have another day up our sleeves to promise him... so he miserably climbed into the car to head back home. I think we'll have to take him back next year!

I first tried skiing a couple of years before Alex was born—and only for a couple of hours! So this was pretty much my first decent attempt at the sport. Between my lesson and some patience from Al who also gave me some one-on-one lessons, by the end of the three days I was feeling pretty good about my new-found skills... albeit rather tired and with very sore muscles!

We're not sure if we'll manage to get to the slopes again before the last of snow disappears as we're now are in saving-mode for our upcoming overseas trip... more about that soon!

Until next time x

My Princess Sofia

I can't believe how much time has past since I last posted! Al and I are going overseas soon, so between usual routines with kids and work, I've been researching and preparing for that. However, I do have something I haven't yet shared with you...

My baby girl turned 4 last month... Four! Can you believe it? I barely can. And all she wanted was a Princess Sofia (from Disney's Sofia the First) dress. As I couldn't find one in the shops, I decided that I'd attempt to make one and make it an extra-special birthday gift.

Using a picture from the internet, I decided to simply modify the Butterick dress pattern that I used in April, as this was a really easy pattern to follow and I knew it would fit Sofia. I added some simple cap sleeves, added some length and a white under-layer to the skirt (which I finished off with some purple ribbon, scalloped the edges of the upper-skirt, added some applique and embellishments... and ta-da! I'm pretty happy with the final result. And so was Sofia, which of course is the main thing!

Sofia had a party with her little friends from child-care the week before her actual birthday. Ahead of that I made up some simple shoulder bags to be used as party-bags... They took an afternoon to cut the fabric, and then once I got going at the sewing machine I got all 10 little bags done in an evening.

The girls were all so excited when they got their little bags at the party! And Sofia placed each one over her friends' heads as though she was awarding them with a prize... ah, she's a funny little thing.

Until next time x

Nap mat for Alex

What I thought would be a weekend project turned out to take three weekends... plus another two weeks to photograph and blog about!

I can't remember when I bought the Curiosities & Mischief book (by Nancy Halvorsen) but I do remember it was the 'nap mats' that convinced me to buy it. Something between a quilt and a sleeping bag, but either way a cosy and useful project to make for the kids.

After being inspired by a sample pack of Cinderberry Stitches 'Greatest Adventure' fabric range, I decided this would be perfect for a nap mat for Alex. So after my full fabric order arrived I couldn't wait to get started...

As I said above... Three weekends later and it was finally done! It wasn't so much that it was time consuming but rather my time was constantly consumed by other things! The instructions in the book were relatively easy to follow, I just needed to convert from 'yards' to 'meters' when ordering the fabric. I chose to hand stitch the binding down so this slowed things down too.

I'm so happy with the final product though! And Alex seems thrilled with it. Sofia is eager to get hers—I've bought the fabric, just need to get started.

Until next time x