San Fran Cisco

Far too many photos of one red bridge taken, though of course varied angles can make all the difference you know! A very windy day on the bridge. Walked some way across then retreated as it wasn't pleasant!

A visit to "The Rock" that is Alcatraz today. Great audio guide that was narrated by ex-prisoners and guards and we were able to step inside the tiny 9x7ft cells too,  quite eerie. Wandered through Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown.

I like the colourful, slightly varied terraced houses here. Two good meals at Zorba's, just across the road. One, not surprisingly, Greek, the other Italian.

Packing to go home is so much easier!

Morro Bay to Monterey

Some more wild coast with big breakers to marvel at on this journey. Then a great stop at Pietras Blanca's to see an elephant seal "rookery". It was the wrong time of year for the huge males with their equally huge noses, instead lots of juveniles "resting" for a month. They are at sea for 10 months of the year, mostly solitary, so use the time on land to be a bit sociable.

 

This is Point Lobos State Reserve. Dramatic scenery, mixed in with cypress trees, the odd sea otter and more pelicans. Weather turning a bit!

Back to the coast

A busy drive through the motorway conurbation that is LA. Occasionally finding ourselves in the middle (best place to be as it gives you options!) of an 8 lane highway! I was driving rather than navigating-much safer all round! Drove past places that you never think you'll visit like Malibu and Santa Monica.

Staying in a nice place in a huge marina at Oxnard. Good couple of meals here, tonight we ate Brazilian! Got into the spirit of things and had a Brazilian cocktail, then a traditional fish dish cooked in a pot - a moqueca. It was very tasty. Neil surprised me (and anyone else who knows him!) by having the pot for two with me.

We were pretty hungry after having had a great day ferrying to the Channel Islands, about an hour off the coast here, and kayaking for 3 hours along the coast of Santa Cruz, in and out of a few sea caves too. Fun stuff. Apparently these islands have the most sea caves in the world. And I have discovered new places to ache.

 

 Looking down on where we kayaked.

 

 

 A couple of kayakers and the kelp.

  

 Sunset at Morro Bay.

Joshua Tree NP

Not a tree but a yukka! This seems to happen quite a bit with naming things doesn't it! A good day travelling through the park looking at these sometimes strange-shaped plants, as well as some enormous structures of granite. One area which was surrounded by granite hills was used as a corral years ago. Very hidden and safe it was too as we discovered when we lost the trail for a while and couldn't get out! NEVER go into the desert without water Neil! We also saw an area full of "teddy bear" cacti so nicknamed as they look soft and fluffy from a distance, just the opposite when you get closer!

 

Sin City

 

Lights blinking,

A medley of shops,

Shows abounding,

Vagrants' "stories",

Ear plugs obligatory,

Gambling extreme,

A fun place for parties,

Sad to leave?

 

 

This was our hotel, real flamingos in the garden and a couple of pelicans.

 

 

 

The volcano show at one of the hotels.

 

 

 

Some Chihuly glass in the entrance of Bellagios. This chap makes amazing glass pieces, flowers, bowls, massive structures. We saw some big pieces in Seattle too. Nice prices too. Quite fancied a yellow bowl myself (and I never really go for yellow things, but at $35,000 I resisted!)

Death Valley

Which as I learnt isn't a valley at all, as it wasn't caused by a river or glacier, but by uplift!

It got to 106f while we were there which is apparently very average, the record being 156f! I'm not going to say how hot it was!  We went hunting in some dunes for sidewinders but no joy. We did see a couple of coyotes though on different occasions. Had a good early morning walk in mosaic canyon, which was a geologist's dream of an amazing range of different types of rocks, including lots of marble shining out from amongst the limestone and sandstone. It was really striking.

Had two of our best meals here which was a nice surprise as we were pretty much a captive market. I had some delicious pulled pork tacos; lots of them in California/Nevada.

 

 

On the way here we visited Mono Lake. This is the "tufa", calcium carbonate that bubbled up from the lake floor. Funky stuff!

Yosemite NP

We've had four and a half days here and on the Glacier Point drive did a particularly good walk with really amazing views all around. Had to climb up this "dome" to get it but that bit didn't take long and was so worth it. (Even starting to speak American now, must have been here too long!)

Watched some serious climbers ascending El Capitan today. Usually takes them about 3 days to get to the top of the sheer granite face; they sleep in hammocks! The record for "Olympic" climbers is two and a half hours!

Went to a ranger talk....about bears this time! 24 killed on Yosemite's roads so far this year. With education and fines things are improving,  and with fines and lots of reminders to store food in bear-proof containers or to take into your rooms there aren't so many bears visiting camps and cars so not as many having to be killed for developing aggressive behaviour. So things are looking better thank goodness.

 

 

This is the south end of Yosemite where they have more sequoia groves. Got back from a walk just as it started raining and it continued all afternoon. We hibernated in the hotel, emailing and reading.