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