On our way back to the airport in San Francisco we enjoyed more views of the central valley, and one last hurrah in the tiny town of Gilroy—the garlic capital of the world. Roasted garlic, garlic fries, and garlic burgers oh my.
Yosemite was definitely beautiful, but I think for me Kings Canyon surpassed it. Less traveled and certainly more rural, the drive into Kings Canyon is stunning and precarious. It's also a road to nowhere, literally to "Trail's End", and which point all travelers must turn around and head back over the same treacherous thirteen miles they drove on their way in; Thirteen mile that took over an hour to traverse the first time and will certainly take equally long on the way back, if not more so since now the trip is mostly on the outer lane, the one that seems to be only inches from a catastrophic drop.
It's an amazing and completely worthwhile trip.
On this final day for the parks we saw General Grant and General Sherman (the two biggest trees ever), we drove into and out of the stunning Kings Canyon, and straight through Sequoia in a setting fall sun.
We also saw a bear. A real, honest-to-goodness, big black bear.
He was beautiful.
The trees...they're big.
Kings Canyon: the pictures don't do it justice.
That's our road way down there...
...and way down there, too...
...and that's our road again, hanging precariously off the side of that mountain...
Sequoias are surprisingly spongy on the outside
I have no photographic evidence, but imagine a bear here...
On Tuesday we hopped in the rental van and headed over the Coastals, through the valley, and into the Sierra Nevadas.
Our drive through the central valley was a serious eye opener. When you stop watering a field here it simply goes feral. Stop watering an orchard there and it goes bone dry dead. We saw both live and dead orchards on our drive, and a dammed lake at all-time low levels. I'd seen pictures of California's disappearing lakes and exposed bridges, but seeing it in person was far more heartbreaking.
Like San Francisco, Yosemite has long been on my bucket list. We arrived in the evening on the first day (after taking a side trip to a lunch spot that the Garmin was adamantly sure was located in thin air on the drop-off side of the winding mountain road), and enjoyed the stunning view from Glacier Point. Our one full day in the park we spent driving the valley floor and taking a couple of short hikes (walk really) to what were, of course, dry waterfalls.
We saw the many faces of Half Dome. We enjoyd drinks at the Ahwahnee and a picnic lunch in a valley floor meadow. With the waterfalls so low we climbed across boulders and into the stream beds. We may not have had time to hike, but the sights were certainly pleasing.
No bears, though.
One final day in San Francisco, spent mostly asea, and it was finally bright, sunny, AND clear. We took the ferry, with beautiful views of the bridge and city, first to Angel Island, where we took a tram tour, then to Alcatraz, where we took a self guided audio tour. Back on land we headed to Golden Gate Park to meet with friends who moved to San Fran a year ago.
I have always wanted to visit San Francisco, but the impetus for this trip was my cousin's wedding.
On day 3 we spent the better part of our day taking in the traditional San Fran sights: the cable cars, China Town, and Fishermans Warf. After that, we spent the night partying with family, celebrating a marriage. Weddings are possibly my favorite event. Calvin was a regular dancing machine.
We spent day 4 saying goodbye to family, and revisiting some favorite San Francisco haunts (those being the cable car because...Calvin).
You have to really suck it in when passing the opposing cable car...
Hurray for indie book stores
clams and chowder and mussels oh my
dashing
siblings
Tuesday, September 30, 2014