Saturday 09/25/10 Sequoia NP to Lone Pine CA hostel

Out of Tulare early to drive to Sequoia NP. A chance to see the BIG trees. Oh boy. Well, we missed the planned turnoff but drove to Sequoia via the backroads in Tulare and wow what an agricultural center. Mile after mile of vineyards, orange groves, lemon groves, pomegranate groves in addition to the not so exotic apples and peaches and cherries. It was amazing to see the scale of irrigation required for such big commercial farms. No wonder they are alway fighting with LA for water rights.

Arrived in Sequoia and took photos of what else but big trees. Photos to follow here once I'm home.

Drove from Sequoia to Lone Pine CA hostel (the Mt. Whitney portal hostel I think is its full name) through Bakersfield CA , about a 3.5 hour drive on the interstate.
I have to put in a plug for the interagency visitor center in Lone Pine. We thought we might be too late to get our permit for the climb and called them and they have a night box they agreed to put it in if we were not there before 6 PM.
Hostel is clean and very convenient on main street in Lone Pine and you can see Mt. Whitney from the balcony. Only got about 4 hours of sleep after going out to eat in a very quaint Western themed cafe , ate light had 5 chicken wings, Archie had salad and Guiness.
One really cool thing about the hostel is that you can see Mt. Whitney from the balcony of the hotel. Very cool. Another very cool thing is that their coffee is good enough for me to drink black which is a rarity indeed.
Only a few hours before we must be up and head for the trailhead.

Sept 24 2010-Beatty NV to Tulare CA via Death Valley NP

got out of Beatty pretty early Friday morning and first checked out Rhyolite ghost town 4 miles West of Beatty and on the way to our ultimate destination of Death Valley . Photos will follow once I am home will add them here. We both love ghost towns and old cemeteries so we have photos of both.

Then on to Death Valley. WOW beautiful drive. We drove out to Badwater Basin the lowest point in North America and the second lowest in the world ( only the Dead Sea is lower). Parked and walked out into it . We also checked out the Devil's Golf Course (more photos) and saw the neatest thing there like a spring coming up through the ground which is covered in salt of all kinds. Did the scenic Artist Drive through a canyon then drove on through into California on way to Tulare. Death Valley was incredibly miserably hot in the bottom of that valley, eyow doen't matter its a dry heat 110 is hot anywhere. Note to self my GOD gas is high in CA and it is SUPER HIGH in this national park over $4.30 a gallon thank God we didn't need to buy any for the Jeep Compass Archie has rented for this trip.

We drove across the Southern part of the Sierra Nevadas on way to Tulare. Talk about a spectacular drive. Lots of switchbacks though, high altitude driving but roads are all clear.

Today miracle of miracles the hotel reservation worked out , tomorrow we will drive over to Sequoia take a few photos then head to Lone Pine.

San Fransisco, Alcatraz et al.

fog on the day we drove over the Golden Gate bridge though

Archie at the bridge

me at the bridge

we had not ever eaten at a Hard Rock so decided to

tunnel from the military days of the prison

prison viewed from the ferry

San Fran viewed from the Rock

prison recreation yard

old military morgue

The lighthouse you can see the city behind it.

Our ferry captain

The bay bridge as viewed from the ferry we lucked up and had no fog on the day we went to "the rock"

sign on the admin building

ASFA's Convention of Delegates was in San Jose, CA this year. Archie and I went. I'd never been to CA, we both work in a prison ( I'm a teacher he's the accounting manager ) so of course we went to see Alcatraz (also drove through the up and down streets of San Fransisco and across the Golden Gate bridge before we flew back. Alcatraz was originally a military prison , the tunnel photo is from the old part of it. American Indians briefly occupied the island in 1970-1971 after it was closed, and the spray painted signs still attest to that. It is administered to by the National Park Service, you ride a ferry over and get to wear a headset with neat tour information and walk around to your heart's content. The view of the bay and the city is beautiful but I could not help but think what a horrible, cold, detached place to confine people. The day we drove over the Golden Gate bridge was really foggy but got a couple of good photos. Free to drive North over it and $6.00 to return to the city on it. Saw my first redwood trees, wow are they big, and managed to get a photo of a Western gull at Alcatraz. Unfortunately it was a traumatic weekend, I knew I had a biopsy coming up the Tuesday after it ( I had a "hot" mammogram) and on the Sunday of ACoD I got a phone call from my son that my father had died. My last couple of months have been kind of full of traumatic events so I have really kept to myself about most everything. Thanks to all who were kind during this time though, you will never know just how much it meant to me.