To Yosemite and beyond!

Our drive to Yosemite was pretty unevenful and not all that interesting it has to said, until we climbed into the hills and shortly arrived in the small town of Mariposa, a pretty little place whcih still resembled the old town it was in the late 1800s with one main street and lots of old style buildings housing modern shops.  We quickly established from a visit to the tourist information centre that this would be the last time we would see any kind of real shopping facilites for some time so we picked up a few essentials and headed for the hills, so to speak.  Actually we soon found ourselves in the bottom of a valley on a road which followed the curves of a river which at the time was flowing gently, but the humungous boulders dotted along the river bed told us that there were times when there was a great deal more water flowing.

When we reached our hotel, the Yosemite View Lodge, we checked into our river view room, opened the curtain and patio door to step out onto the balony and there is was, the river running right in front of the room.  And for a river which was not flowing at its peak, it was LOUD!   Very soothing actually and we soon learned it was very pleansant to just sit on the balcony with a cold drink and watch the water meander its way through the large rocks and watch the dragon-flies fltting all around.  


As we were already on the edge of the middle of nowhere, dining options were limited so we ate at the hotel restaurant and were given a table on  the patio.  Not long after we sat down, we were joined by a family of racoons who were apparently regular visitors at dinner time, sniffing out any scraps that had been dropped.  Fortunately they were timid enough that they kept a decent distance, it wasn't as if they were scavenging!  But a nice opportunity to see racoons close up as it was the first time for me.

Lookimg at what we wanted to see in the park itself, we decided to get the longest of the routes out of the way on day one, the one which would take us over the Tioga pass and out of the park on the eastern side.  Winding roads with hairpin bends, a speed limit of only 25 mph in some places and no edge to prevent a drop of several hundred feet in some cases meant for a challenging drive so at that point I was fairly glad I hadn't yet been 'allowed' to drive!  But I was still hanging on for dear life on the occasions when we were on the outside of a bend going uphill and the cars coming the other way were clearly freewheeling at much more than the recommended speed limit!  And frequently we found ourselves the leaders of a convoy ahead of those who didn't seem to be bothered by the Red Bear Dead Bear signs marking the sight where black bears had recently been run over.  Luckily there were plenty of viewing points so it was very easy to go a short way, pull over to let the others pass and to take in the stunning scenery.

By the time we came out of the eastern gate of Yosemite and drove a short way to the town of Lee Vining it was lunch time so we stopped at 'Bodie Mike's BBQ' which looked popular, always a good sign.  We discovered thet Bodie is a Ghost Town, a town which during the gold rush was one of the largest and richest towns in California, but which fell into decline in the early 1900s and was deserted by its inhabitants.  It is now a state park and remains in a state of 'arrested decay' for people to go and have a look at a place which has not been touched since its remaining population abandoned it.  We couldn't resist going to have a look so after lunch, took the 45 minute drive up the highway and on a gravel track to see the spectacle.   Truly amazing to see the old buildings, some of which were as old as the town itslef, to see the general store with all its good remaining, just rather dusty, and the mining buildings and equipment.  A lucky find on the outskirts of the main attraction.



 

The second day in the park took us up to the Glacier View, another winding road but shorter this time, but with the mos spectacular veiw at the top. 

The Yosemite Valley with Yosemite Village and camp grounds was pretty but heaving with tourists and cars parked while people took the shuttle busses to some of the closer sights and viewing points.  The only downside to that was that we wanted to stop for a late lunch but could find nowhere to park, so ended up in the village store for a rather unintering sandwich and went on our way but did manage to find a picnic spot by the river to eat our sarnies, then headed out of the park to make use of the laundromat at the hotel before heading on the last leg of our journey to San Diego.






On the way out of the park using the South Entrace, we stopped to look at Mariposa Grove, a forest of giant sequoias, beautiful enormous trees which stretched up to the sky, amazing!

Then for the long drive to Wasco, a small agricultural town with a Best Western which was to be our stop over and to break up the journey to San Diego but deserves a mention for being the nicest and friendliest place of all!  And great New York Pizza at Cataldos!  So if you're ever in the area...


We broke up the last long drive of the holiday with lunch in Newport Beach what appeard to be the most lively restaurant on the beach called Mutt Lynch's.  On departing the beach we ignored Garmin's instructions and took a drive south along the main strip of Balboa island admiring the lovely large houses only a stones throw from the beach.  Garmin really didn't like it, mainly as Balboa Island is a peninsular and we were heading to the tip of it, but when we finally did as we were told, she took us to the Balboa Island car ferry, (when I say car ferry, I mean only 3 cars at a time!) a real treat and a short cut to Balboa island and then over the bridge to the mainland.  


It was gone 4 o'clock when we arrived at the Catamaran Resort in San Diego, we checked in and had help with our bags to our room on the first floor of a 2 storey garden view room, only to find that the room wasn't ready.  The bell-man was really quite cross about it, we were pretty relaxed but when we got back to reception they were very apologetic and gave us a different room, on the 8th floor of the Tower.  At least there was an elevator this time I thought!  As we approached the room, the bell-man said 'You'll be pleased that just happened, it was probably a good thing for you, wait til you see the view you have now'.   I was gob smacked.  A beautiful view over the bay.  I would have been happy looking at the koy carp in the pond, but this view was gorgeous.

After allthe driving we had a quiet couple of days in San Diego where we were actually happy to leave the car in the car park.  We walked the beach, saw dolphins, watched humming birds and made the most of the sunshine.  The highlight was meeting my former Nokia colleague Desiree and her husband Ron for dinner on our last night at a wonderful restaurant on the beach.  I had only met Desiree once before at an HR meeting in Finland but we had been on conference calls together on many occasions and had remained connected through Facebook.  It was great to see them and the food was great and it was the perfect way to end our holiday in California.