YOSEMITE IN SUMMER

I have always said that God certainly knew what He was doing when He put me in the 20th century. If I had been born 150 years earlier, my family would still be living in Boston! There is no way that I would have ventured out west across the plains & mountains for a new life. No effing way! A tent cabin with nearby flush toilets is more than enough roughing it for me.

But that being said, I love the outdoors with its magnificent scenery & majesty. Towering mountains, gorgeous waterfalls & gigantic trees can still take my breath away. However, I much prefer going back to a warm hotel room free of bugs & critters, a soft bed to snuggle into & a hot bath to soak off the sweat & grime of the day. One of my favorite quotes is, “My idea of camping is a Holiday Inn in the forest”. Amen!



Tunnel View & its iconic panorama of the valley. With the low clouds I tried my hand at an Ansel Adams type black & white photo. Ansel's reputation is safe. :-)

A few days ago Lou & I made another trek to Yosemite – his favorite place on earth. He was planning to attempt Half Dome again but didn't get a permit in the lottery so we changed the tent cabin reservation to just one night. We left on Tuesday & explored the sights of Yosemite Valley once again, spent the night in Curry Village then headed to Tuolumne Meadows. Following my trip report & photos I need to hop on my soap box regarding the hoards of people & their behavior in Yosemite Valley.

Half Dome is the star of the show in my opinion. This is my favorite view from Sentinel Bridge with the Merced River in the foreground.

Another view of Half Dome from Yosemite Valley. We have been to the park in all four seasons & my favorite is autumn - much smaller crowds & gorgeous fall color.

Upper Yosemite Falls is always a popular site.



Home Sweet Home!

 

Lou loading up the bear locker with our food & toiletries.

After breakfast on Wednesday morning we drove the 50 miles or so to the less crowded part of Yosemite National Park. I dropped Lou off along Tioga Road to do the 9 mile round trip hike to North Dome. It was described as “moderate” but I learned long ago that “moderate” means way too freaking hard in hiker language. I opted instead for a couple of nice leisurely hikes around Tenaya Lake & Tuolumne Meadows – and an ice cream cone at the Tuolumne Grill.

Tuolumne Meadows with the Tuolumne River flowing through it.

I turned 180 degrees from the above photo to take this one.

Tuolumne River & Meadows with Cathedral Rock in the background.

The west end of Tenaya Lake near Tuolumne Meadows.

Another view of the shoreline of Tenaya Lake

We had set a predetermined time to meet back at the North Dome trailhead. Having finished my hikes I drove back almost an hour early looking forward to sitting under a tree with my Kindle & my new little mini-laptop to write this story. BUT I arrived to find Lou standing in the parking area huffing & puffing. He had walked up the final hill literally a minute before I arrived. Talk about great timing!

I quickly learned that he & several other hikers had encountered two bears just off the trail! Yikes! Fortunately the bears were heading away from the trail & were unconcerned with the humans. But ever the photographer, Lou pulled out his camera & caught a few pictures of the lumbering wildlife. He posted a 1-1/2 minute video on YouTube: Click here for video

Here is Lou's best photo of one of the bears he encountered.

Now, for my two cents worth regarding summer in Yosemite Valley. The crowds are so big that it feels like being back in the city except for the amazing scenery all around – there are lines to eat, shower, get a beer, use the bathroom, etc. While most people were friendly & courteous, unfortunately, it seems that a portion of the vacationers are oblivious to the splendors of Yosemite & really don't seem to want to be there.

We were lucky enough to be walking by the porch at Camp Curry when a couple left a table with two rocking chairs so we grabbed them. There were only about 20 chairs so the odds of getting a couple were low. As we sat & people watched for awhile, I was disappointed. Babies were crying (& being ignored), children were screaming & adults were yelling at each other or the kids. Not exactly a quiet, peaceful, communing-with-nature experience.

Lou had gone back to get his camera while I guarded our rockers. A few feet away a little girl, maybe 6 or 7, fell down & started crying. An older man literally snarled at her to stop crying because it was her fault – he was angry, cruel & venomous with his language as the poor girl continued to cry & rub her arm. I was taken aback & appalled but didn't know what to do. It was verbal abuse but not physical. A few minutes later I was somewhat relieved to see the little girl, still sniffling, holding the hand of a woman & eating an ice cream cone. I hoped that she had an advocate against that awful man.

Later that night, waiting in line at the crowded bathroom, a woman & teenage girl brought a handicapped teenage boy into the women's showers. He was ambulatory but nonverbal & I figured he was autistic. The boy put his hands in front of his face & started to shake them. In full view of everyone the woman slapped his hands hard & yelled, “Stop that!”.

They took him into one of the showers & shortly I heard two more loud slaps followed by the boy making grunting sounds. Again, I was horrified & a few of us waiting in line exchanged shocked looks. But what do you do in that situation? Intervening will likely just make it worse for the child since the adult will surely blame them for causing the disturbance. And, unfortunately, in our society striking a child is something that is considered okay.

It upset me that out in one of what is God's most incredible creations, people (another of His creations) could so easily mistreat & disrespect the smallest & disabled of His creations. How do we get through to these people?

TWELVE YEARS.....AND COUNTING

Twelve years ago today I knocked on Lou's front door for our first meeting – and the rest, as they say, is history.

This morning I came downstairs to find a dozen red roses on the table! One for each year! My sweetie does a great job of remembering special occasions & making sure they are properly celebrated.

It has been quite a ride! When I met Lou I had been to about half the states in the U.S. I had never been to Europe or Africa or South America. Now, I've been to all 50 states, traveled to Europe 3 times, Egypt once & made a stop in Columbia on a cruise ship.

This fall I will set foot in Asia for the first time AND see the Acropolis in Greece along with Ephesus in Turkey. I have dreamed of seeing the Parthenon, literally since high school. A few years later after learning of the ruins in Ephesus, and the book of Ephesians in The Bible, that destination became a close second to Athens. It is still hard to wrap my brain around the fact that I will visit them both in less than four months! Woo Hoo!

One of my dreams has always been (& still is) to travel the world. If I had to rank different aspects of my relationship with Lou, I'd say at the top of the list is our shared love of travel.

Can't wait to see what the next twelve years bring!

A CHURCH, A DAM & A THEATER

For those of you old enough to remember – no, that is not the answer to one of the old Tonight Show host Johnny Carson’s Carnac the Magnificent questions. They are three things Lou found for us to visit today in Redding (about 170 miles north of Sacramento) – the Pilgrim Church (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright), a tour of Shasta Dam & the Cascade Theater (a restored art deco gem).

He had emailed the church secretary at Pilgrim Congregational Church who said she would be glad to let us in for a look around. Frank Lloyd Wright designs are easy to spot & this one was no different. Unfortunately, they are a little difficult to photograph sometimes since he makes things blend in with their surroundings.

The exterior of the Pilgrim Church. I just love blue sky & puffy clouds - guess God wanted to provide an amazing background!

The chairs faced each other in the interior of the church. The pastor must stand on the rug in the center to deliver his sermon since there was no traditional pulpit.

This was one of our more scenic picnic lunch spots. We’ve had many gorgeous settings but this one overlooking Lake Shasta was just stunning!

This literally was the view of Lake Shasta from our picnic table.

Our next destination was a tour of Shasta Dam. We learned that Shasta Dam is the second largest dam in the U.S. after Grand Coulee Dam. I’ve driven and/or walked over several dams including Hoover Dam (fourth largest) & Glen Canyon Dam (third largest) but this was my first tour of the inner workings of a dam. It was an interesting perspective to see it from the bottom looking up – & a little spooky, I might add, knowing that all that water was contained by just a concrete wall!

Of course, they totally overdid the "Are you here for the dam tour?" or "We offer the best dam tour" comments. Ha, ha!

Shasta Dam from the visitor center. The left tower is where we met to take the elevator down for our guided tour - security is really tight since tours resumed a few years after 9 - 11.

The view of the Sacramento River from the top of Shasta Dam.

Looking the other direction from the top of the dam we were able to catch a glimpse of snow capped Mount Shasta.

Looking up at the dam the size is deceiving. Each of those openings is about 8 feet across.

Even though the Cascade Theater was closed the woman in the box office called the manager who let us in the lobby to take some photos. A rehearsal was taking place so we weren’t allowed in the actual theater. But I guess the manager must have liked us because he told us to go on in & check it out anyway.

Downtown Redding's Cascade Theater which puts on over 90 shows per year.

The ornate art deco lobby of the Cascade Theater.

All in all, it was another great day. Lou thinks we are eventually going to run out of places to see for our day trips – with all the things he manages to find on the internet, I don’t think so. At least not any time soon!