Short note.................



Born again cyclist in Vancouver



Bald Eagle

Mr Grizzly

Well it's Saturday the 21st July and we are flying back to the UK on Monday!!! That's it, it's just about over aside from a day in downtown Seattle tomorrow. This means I will have to finish my ramblings from home when we get back.

I've yet to drone on about Howard Hughes, Portland, Mount St Helens, Amtrak to Vancouver, Vancouver, Bob Bear, Whistler, more mozzies, Salt Spring Island, Victoria Island, killer whale watching, the bus back to Seattle 'coz the train was derailed and sunny Seattle. All this to come and more silly pictures to go with it.

So, god willing and all that we are back in Blighty for little over a week then we are sloping off to Corfu as we have seen what the UK weather has been doing. I will finish this off just in case there is any of you few followers left.

Speak again soon................................................

 

USA WEEK 6 – Lassen Volcanic Park to Klamath Falls

Bonfire night by the tent

Crater Lake again

Bit of snow about

Crater Lake

Guard and passenger

Our first bald eagle

Meal with a view

Rocky Point

Splendid Oarsman

Moving the rock - it's spoiling the view!!

Mount Shasta

Lassen Peak

Bumpass Hell Trail - Closed

Monday 25th June – Steady drive up Interstate 5 to Reading where I was calling it at Budget to see if they had extended the contract. The drive up was steady through the Sacramento Valley. The only excitement on the way was a gas station with no gas or power because some fool had dug through the power lines and some other fool in front nicely threw a huge stone chip at our windscreen resulting in a huge chip and crack.


The epic Budget saga was to it’s usual drama, this time the office I called at could not access our files because the system was down AAAAHHHHHHH!!! She nicely told me I would have to call them in Seattle. I explained the auto voice not understanding my accent which raised a smile so she give me a direct line number to a real talking person in Seattle. To finish the saga, I managed to get through to Seattle and yes all wa confirmed and in order – hooray!!

On with the journey to Mount Lassen via Safeway to stock up on goods, ale and food as shops are in short supply at this high altitude destination. By the way, Mrs D is now an official club card member of Safeway USA and now we get all the savings and discounts, what fun. All stocked up we were on our way and it was one long big climb. A 50 mile climb actually. Reading is at sea level almost and Mount Lassen is at 12000ft. The campsite is at 8000ft so could be cool nights, no more 90 degree Californian nights.

The snow covered peak of Lassen got nearer and nearer. In actual fact because the Sacramento valley is so low you can see Lassen Peak from almost 100 miles away on the west side. We arrived at the camp site late afternoon. Nice big pitch again, surrounded by more damn trees.

Every site we have had has had a fire ring for a camp fire. Something the Americans love and light every night even when it is 90dgs. Anyway, Mrs D is now the champion, chumper or rigger (whatever your term) at foraging for firewood. Never mind the hunter gatherer males, we can be driving along and she will spot good firewood at 50 yards. We had to make extra space in the back of the car for all the excess wood we collected along the way.

Camp all set up, dinner done it was firewood time. Fire cracking and Dan Deer wandered through the site and yes we are in Bob Bear country again. Back to bear proof food and cosmetic storage along with Bob proof trash and recycling bins. The elusive ‘Bob’ is a bit of a nuisance on the quiet. Enough said for one day.

Tuesday 26th June – Up early due to the fact it WAS a very cold night and the toilet rush was on!! The bad news was that due to the cold over night, our old faithful water bag froze and both sides split – what a bummer!! Once the sun was up it warmed up quickly but the nights here were going to be nippy, good job I packed my old Damarts!!

After breakfast we headed on up around the park stopping off at a couple of viewpoints along the way. The first was Hot Rock which was a huge 3 ton boulder thrown 5 miles from the summit explosion and was found still hell hot some weeks after. A quick lesson here so you know what I’m droning on about. In 1915 Mount Lassen erupted and rumbled right through the year on and off until into 1916 when it mega erupted. This blew large parts of the mountain and the resulting rock/lava field down valleys up 20 miles away. It just so happened that some photographer just happened to be up there when it blew and managed to catch it all on film and survive the destruction.

The second point we stopped was ‘devastation point’ an obvious name I think with views up to the summit via the destroyed valley which has recovered in some areas but bears no resemblance to it’s former beauty. As we got higher and near the ‘trail head’ for Lassen Peak the snow on the roadside was 2ft deep in places. The trail to the top is steep, windy, crosses snow fields and closed at .9 of a mile from the top so we went up. It was super and so were the views along the way.

After this we had lunch then drove on some more to see Bumpass Hell a geothermal area with hot pools and bubbling mud stuff. Sadly this trail was closed as it was under 4 feet of snow.

We then headed back down to camp but stopped on the way back to get some more firewood kindly spotted by eagles eyes herself!!

Big fire and grub was enjoyed at the end of an excellent day.

Wednesday 27th June – Not quite as cold last night and a walk from the site today. It was a lovely walk up through fire damaged forest then volcano damaged land to a lake called Craggy Lake. It was a steady climb up and steep going back but nice to walk from the tent. On the way back Mrs D got into chumping mode and I went to get the car to fill it with her findings. Back mid afternoon for a couple of hours sun before showers and a huge fire whilst listening to neighbours playing Johnny Cash music in huge RV (recreational vehicle, a campervan to us folks.) Cracking day out Gromit!!

Thursday 28th June – Moving on again today and sadly leaving California which has been a super experience. Today we are back into Oregon at Klamath Falls (where there are no falls) but a huge lake. This area of wetland is the home to many migrating and nesting birds including the famous American icon the bald eagle.

The journey was excellent passing mount Shasta another 14000ft snow capped volcano and other smaller ones along the way. The whole area we are driving back up through is known as the cascade mountain range and it has both active and dormant volcanoes all the way from British Columbia in Canada down into California. It has been quite a spectacular drive so far.

We arrived at Rocky Point Resort late afternoon. Quite a small site by comparison to some but nevertheless very nice and we had a prime lakeside spot. Facilities were excellent and the owner very friendly and helpful. After a brisk walk up the road we got back to tent armed with half a forest as and had the usual campfire dinner.

Friday 29th June – Away from Bob bear territory we are now in mozzi country – well what do you expect if you camp next to a lake in wetlands!! Persistent little blighters too. Today we hired a canoe and took to the waters of the lake. Now, it wasn’t a vast open lake as you imagine more like a lake covered in reed beds with water ways running through them. Our host told us there was a steady little 4 mile circuit down the shore and back up through the reeds and that we may see bald eagle nests, beaver lodges and an abundance of birds.

We set off and very pleasant it was too, that was until we realised we had missed the right turn and had gone 4 miles down the shore following the wrong trail. This realisation did not occur until after lunch when we seemed to be heading further away from the shore. Now imagine your on a reed bed six feet tall, in a canoe which you can’t stand up in to see where you are and the signs for the route are seven inches square if you are lucky and they are not hanging upside down. Before I go on we had a lovely quiet lunch sat in our canoe somewhere on Klamath lake. Also, we did see bald eagles nesting, beaver lodges but no beavers and plenty of birds.

After lunch we followed the trail and all did not seem well, especially when I announced to Mrs D we were turning round as I felt we were heading the wrong way. I was not popular but we persevered and did find the right turn and paddled our way back to the site. So what was supposed to be a three and a half hour trip was nearer five and we had done nearer ten miles than four and were both wrecked with arms like some body builder.

The day was saved with a meal out in the evening overlooking the lake. The food, drink and setting was superb and we soon saw the funny side of the days antics, however we were not hiring another canoe tomorrow.

Saturday 30th June – Early start for our big day out at Crater Lake. It was a super sunny day and a lovely run up there, sadly the gas was running a bit low and and the towns we went through (on the only time you need any) did not have any gas. After driving up through the Annie Creek Gorge we arrived at the state park village of Mazama where they had gas, good news.

Education time again folks so pay attention please. The crater which is now Crater Lake was formed from what used to be Mount Mazama. 7700 years ago a massive volcanic eruption left a deep hole where the mountain peak once stood. What is now Crater Lake was once the belly of an active Volcano. Crater Lake is 6 miles wide one way and 4.5 miles across the other, not quite round. It is 1943 feet deep at deepest point and holds 4.9 trillion gallons of water. The tallest point on the rim is 1978 feet above the lake, end of education wake up please.

Once at the lake rim we stopped off at the visitor centre and got our first view of the lake. It was stunning. No doubt the pictures I took will not do it its full justice. We then set off to do the tour round the rim to find that we could only get half way round due to the winter snow on the road. Apparently there was 6 feet of snow on the east rim road. This soon became believable as we drove through snow cleared roads where the snow walls were higher than the car!! We had a bit of a stroll at the end of the drive before heading back down to rocky point. What a superb place and a lovely drive back too. In the evening we got chatting to our camping neighbours who were from San Fran and kindly gave us some logs as head chumper was off duty today and firewood was dwindling. Lovely people, they actually offered us their boat to stay on in Whistler, Canada after only an hour of conversation!! Anyway a splendid evening was had after an excellent day.

Sunday 1st July – Time to move on from Klamath and head further north nearer Portland and Washington State. It was a good run without incident and we arrived at Champoeg State Park mid afternoon. Now, how to describe this site……primarily an RV site with an afterthought camp ground. Very small pitches and on top of your neighbours. Hey, we are entitled to complain after all the spacious pitches we’ve had. Anyway, camp was set up, the camp fire was rubbish and we managed to have a reasonable evening.

USA – Week 5 – Millerton Lake to Sacramento.

Another BIG tree

The famous No 3

What a feast



 


 




Leaping frogs

View along the way

Local shop

Apprentice mechanics

Millerton Lake

Monday 18th June – With nowhere planned to stay for the next couple of days we set off ‘looking for a site en route.’. We ended up following signs to a camp on yet another lake!! This time it was Millerton Lake, nowhere near anywhere but an idylic setting and very quiet with good facilities. As it was still hell hot we plunged ourselves into the lake, it was superb. Now to date we have to endure or look out for Bob Bear, Sam Squirrel, Charlie Chipmunk and Col Cockroach to name a few, now we have to watch out for Ron Rattlesnake – whatever next!!!! A super quiet evening was had by this beautiful lake with no near neighbours to be seen. Thankfully no rattlesnakes were seen or heard either!


Tuesday 19th June – We like it here so much we decided to do another night to fill the gap between here and Tuttletown (just like saying the name.) With a day to kill we decided to head down to Kings Canyon to see some more trees and maybe a canyon. It is also Budget day again and we need to call them to extend our car contract to 5th July. Off we go towards the canyon. A lovely drive en route with a slight detour into an unsceduled town because we were yacking on and both missed the turn. Oh well, twas a nice town.

We arrived at Kings late morning and 1st job was the car phone call, yet another farce ensued….. At first phone the card wouldn’t work, at the second phone we got through but it was an automated service. Don’t you just love it, the system could not understand my accent as I yelled the answers into the phone. I was just about to destroy the phone into oblivion when the computervoice decided to put me through to a real person to see if they could tell what I was saying. After hanging on for about two and a half weeks I spoke to a real bod who could only just hear so I had to shout again and share my booking with half of the car park at Kings Canyon. The upshot was the contract was extended to the desired date and I had lost the will to live!!

After the battle with Budget we drove down to a grove of giant sequioas where the 3rd largest tree in the world ‘General Grant’ was. Yep, it was one hell of a big tree and so were most of the others around it was quite a splendid trail. After here we headed for yet another lake where we could have our picnic lunch. We found the lake but no picnic site so we had to haul ass back the 15 miles to another one. By this time it was mid afternoon and we were treed out and brassed off (Budgets fault) so we headed back to our lake side camp. Another swim in the warm waters before the usual evening rituals of a shower, glass of pop and some food.

Wednesday 20th June – Moving on day to the famous Tuttletown. What is it famous for, well I’ll tell you. Not only Tuttletown but the whole area hangs onto Mark Twain who was here once many moons ago and wrote some book called “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” (apologies to Mark Twain fans here.) More on frogs later. We had a lovely drive round the outskirts of Yosemite through the stunning scenery and gorges of the area before arriving at Tuttletown Recreational Area late afternoon. Nice pitch overlooking another lake but no Bob Bears but still the old rattlesnake warnings. All we saw this time was Dan Deer wandering around at dusk thankfully.

Nice big park but not enough toilets tho’. Also we had to don hiking boots to go and seek out the water tap. Nevertheless, the weather was great and we had a nice spot. Must do a piece on toilets/restrooms/bathrooms sometime soon.

Thursday 21st June – One of the problems we have been been having is a milk problem. Now because it has been so hot in sunny California we have been trying to get milk in the mornings for our breakfast and my tea as we have had a few that have turned into damn good lumpy cheese. We have a cool bag which we have tried filling with bottles of cold water, did work sometimes but not once we got over 100 dgs.

Anyway I digress, I had to go out and get some milk and it was 2 miles just to get off the campsite and to the main road. Anyway fuelled up with breakfast we headed out to downtown Senora which has a famous main street that has been used for a few movies. We did manage to get hooked up to the local free wifi hotspot in town so we caught up with the world and made a few bookings for the next few nights.

We then had a wander round town looking for another post office which we found and was open this time but we didn’t have the post!! Quite a splendid looking old street with shops selling things like tobacco, liquor, bate, guns and ammo. Like you would expect in any old town high street. With a boot full of huge cigars, a couple of shotguns and a shed load of ammo we headed up to Safeway to get some serious food shopping for dinner. (We did actually pay for it we didn’t hold up the store, only joking about the ammo!!)

We got back to the site early and got our BBQ fired up and had some pop to wash it down – super…..

Friday 22nd June – Another fine and sunny day and yippee wer’e off to see some more trees. We went to Big Trees State Park, where there were more sequoias and redwoods all on the rather large size but not quite as big as the ones seen at other groves. After another tree fix we headed back down the valley to Angels Camp where Mark Twain allegedly was staying when he wrote his famous short story mentioned earlier about jumping frogs. Now, this whole area has Mak Twain post and signs dotted all over the place including the hut in which he actually stayed when he was here. However, Angels Camp steals the show on Mark Twaining by actually building the whole town around jumping frogs. There’s one every ten feet on some building somewhere and they even host an annual frog jumping contest. That’s only half of it, the winners of this amphibious olympics get their name, the frogs name and the lenth of the jump carved into a stone which becomes a paving stone on the towns main street. A bit like Hollywoods walk (or hop) of fame. The winning jump currently stands at about 14 feet!! It’s actually the combined length of two hops, I had to ask in the visitor centre as I don’t know many frogs that can jump 14 feet, not sure there’s many that can do 7!! After such excitement we headed back for the usuals. The evenings highlight was spotting an ospreys nest atop a telegraph pole with two young sat in there. Very entertaining, I’m sure they would have appreciated a couple of frogs………….

Saturday 23rd June – It’s 3rd time lucky with the post office this morning and yes it was a success, the mail is finally on its way after a 600 mile drive round California!! Now off down to Jamestown, another famous movie town for different reasons. Here in Jamestown is a small steam locomotive line called Steamtown 1897. On this line runs a superb little engine called the No 3 which is in fact hollywood super star status. It is the most filmed train in Hollywood and the list of both TV and movie appearances is endless. It starred in the Virginian, Back to the future 3, High Noon, the Unforgiven and even the Marx brothers Way Out West to name but a few. We of course had a run up and down the line on the train in a super old western carriage. We then had a guided tour of the site which included the famous roundhouse where all the exhibits are kept.

From here we headed up to Columbia State Park which is a kind of western style Beamish museum with all the attractions of the time. It was very good with saloons, jail, shops, blacksmith and of course stage coach rides. It was a very well done attraction and so much so we headed back in the evening to see some live music and dancing but sadly that didn’t start ‘til much later and when we arived we sat through the auctioning of blueberry pies etc so decided to get back to base.

Sunday 24th June – It’s goodbye to Tuttletown and all it’s attractions today as we head off to Sacramento for a night in a motel before heading up to the high altitude wilderness of Lassen Volcanic Park.

The drive to Sacramento went well as it wasn’t too far so we were there early afternoon. We were on the hunt for stove fuel again so we ended up at the Home Depot an American type BnQ but 4 times bigger, as you would expect. Armed with fuel we headed back to the motel where there was a pool so we swam then we TV’d and got an internet fix. All this done it was a good break from putting the tent up and a good nights sleep on the outskirts of Californias state capital.

USA – Week 4 – Yosemite to Lake Isabella.




Giant Sequoia & small D

 



Lake Isabella



Whiskey flat trail

 



  

Vegas

Vegas

A higher lake

  



El Capitan

A mirror lake





Yosemite Valley

  

Yosemite Valley

Monday 11th June - Our last day in this natural history wonderland and no sign of Bob Bear yet…..On that subject the warden told us that black bears are very intelligent and have a sense of smell 15 times stronger than a bloodhound. With this obvious intelligence I propose to design a sign similar to the ones used by white van man in the UK but it will read ‘no food left in this vehicle overnight.’ Should do the trick and stop all this Bob Bear food and cosmetic storage nonesense…..dream on. I have actually seen a video of Bob Bear ripping off the passenger door of a car to get to the grub!!! Sorry, I digress, back to the days events. We went to tunnel view for an alleged better shot of El Capitan, which we did and walked a trail from there to Inspiration Point. The trail was steep, hot, sweaty and I was not inspired when we got to it!! There were more inspiring views on the way up to the point. Anyway, on the way down there was a family with a herd of kids doing the trail. The kids were walking in front as kids do, generally fitter and slimmer than their parents. All of a sudden there was a right to do, parents hollering for the kids “come back, come back quick there’s a bear!!” Well wow we thought ace, we’re gonna see Bob Bear after all but there was so much screaming and shouting going on that Bob siddled off the trail and headed back into the undergrowth. We did manage to see him heading away from us down the trail. Fantastic but could have been a whole lot better without the oscar nominated performance of the muppet family…. Needless to say by the time you get your camera out the big lad had cleared off. What a super treat never the less.


After this episode we drove up to Glacier Point which is an elevated position above the Yosemite Valley. What a place and what superb views. We could see the waterfalls walk we had done the day before, all the famous ‘domes’ and the Yosemite Falls. It was well worth the drive up as the vistas were the best we’d ever seen!! After the excitement of the day we drove back down to the yosemite valley for the last time and had a beer and cooked dinner by the river. What a wonderful, unforgettable place.

Tuesday 12th June – Up and off early today as we have a long drive to the other extreme from natural history to the man made excesses of Las Vegas. Vegas was not on the schedule and lets face it it’s 300 miles in the wrong direction. We love it having been before and we were enjoying the great weather after our damp and dismal start. The weather in Yosemite was in the mid 90’s every day and it is expected to be at least 100dgs in Vegas. We drove out of Yosemite via the Tioga Pass which climbs to 9500 feet and goes through some stunning scenery. The journey once we were over the Sierra Mountain range was pretty desert like all the way down to Vegas past Death Valley. The temperature outside was 105 and it was not good in the car so we had to get the air con fired up!!

We arrived in Vegas 5ish and were booked into a motel just off the strip for two nights, opposite the MGM Grand (hows that for name dropping.) We ate locally and had a stroll down the strip to see the hotel sights which just seem to get better and bigger. Finally a good nights sleep in a room we didn’t have to erect before we could sleep in it – super……

Wednesday 13th June – After another laundry morning, bit of internet stuff (booking the next few nights accommodation and catching up wth the world) we had a walk out into the heat and had some lunch and a look round the MGM Grand. In the afternoon we had a swim in the motel pool then headed out onto the strip a bit earlier via the monorail system this time. We headed to the end of the strip and the tallest hotel the Stratosphere. A giant sized hotel with a theme park and restaurant etc built on the very top of it. It was quite a site to see but the area it was in was a bit dodgy so we hurried back to the monorail and back up to the centre of the strip. We wandered some more, had a beer and sat and people watched, did a bit of shopping then got back in just after midnight. The slots in the casinos now take plastic, how quick is that to run up a big bill!!!!

The strip is a fascinating place, an area of vulgar excess in every sense of the word but at the same time there is something about it that makes it and gives it that attraction that it has. A super couple of days, thoroughly enjoyed it and were clean and recharged for some more camping at Lake Isabella.

Thursday 14th June – Today we are ‘leavin Las Vegas’ via H&M so Mrs D can get some retail therapy before we head to the sticks for a few nights. Armed with a bag full of goodies and a smile she returned. In actual fact H&M was not too good and the bargains were found in the Old Navy store. Enough of this, off we go again. Heading in the wrong direction again, as according to our plans we should be heading north by now and we are in fact heading south west towards Los Angeles!! A lovely steady drive through desert lands and we lunched at ‘the Mad Greek!’ An American chain with all the Greek goodies like gyros and souvlaki but as you can imagine the portions are three times bigger but no where near as tasty.

We are on the lookout for a Walmart as our inflatable camp bed has developed a huge lump in the middle as the 2 sides separate. Most inconvenient as it was like sleeping on a hill and I ended up pushing Mrs D out of bed or falling out myself. Anyway, we found a Walmart and a new bed so all was well!!

We arrived at Lake Isabella late afternoon and it was a lovely setting overlooking the lake. The trouble was it was 105 degrees and not good for sleeping or storing food. We also had ground squirrels and chipmunks to contend with so we couldn’t leave anything out. It was midweek so the site was quiet. It was a popular fishing and water sports lake with many camps dotted around its shores.

Friday 15th June – We drove to the visitor centre in town and got bit of info. It was then back to the site for a lazy day at the camp. We had a walk along the lakeside and late afternoon moved pitch a bit further from the road as the traffic noise is not good. It was also a windy night previously so that didn’t help either. While we are on the moaning front, we also had cockroaches charging about all over the last pitch and the showers are cold and not been cleaned for a while – end of rant. New pitch has less roaches but didn’t change the shower temperature. An earlier dinner and drinks before an early night.

Saturday 16th June – Down to post office 1st job, closed – good start. We then drove up valley to check out another campsite at Kernville. Twas too expensive and too busy for us so it looked like another night with bugs and squirrels. Anyway, moving on we had a coffee in Kernville which was a very twee touristy place with a real saloon. After coffee we headed out to a trail head called the whiskey flat trail. Described as a riverside trail heading up stream 14 miles but obviously you walk as far as you want. Point 1, as said before when it says flat here it isn’t. Point 2, as for a riverside walk well it was if you had a pair of binos with you!! We walked a couple of miles upstream but it was over 100dgs and not much shade so we had to turn round and find the river to cool off. Called in for some grub at shops on way back before dinner at the tent.

Sunday 17th June – Today we are heading up north to look at some more trees. Ahh, not just any old trees but giant sequioas. A hundred of them apparently as it’s the trail of a 100 giants. Education time again chaps…..Sequioas are actually redwood trees. The inland broad bottom type are the sequioas and the tall coastal types are the redwoods. One is taller – the coastal and the other is wider generally the inland ones. Now having seen pictures and video of these giants, it doesn’t really prepare for just how big they really are and wow are they big!! Pictures don’t really do them justice you have to see them. We walked round the grove in awe at these huge trees some of them over a 1000 years old. There’s something about walking amongst trees, it’s almost a calming, relaxing feeling. Can’t really explain so I’ll give up. Anyway we got round the grove and were wondering why these giants need fire to breed (that’s what it said on the sheet but didn’t tell you why.) Will find out and report back later, if you’re still awake. After a picnic we headed back down the Kern river gorge which was stunning. We managed to find a quiet spot by the river for an hour before we got to Kern and had an entertaining hour in the local saloon. Back at the camp we had a chat with the camp hosts who spend their time travelling around different state parks every year looking after the site for the summer and ‘holidaying in the winter.’ very nice. After such an exciting day we headed back to the tent, tired, weary but pleased with the day.

USA – Week 3 - San Francisco to Yosemite.

Yosemite Falls

Bob Bear Grub Store

The stars of pier 39

Famous bends on Lombard Street

Cell Block

Locked up!!




 

California Street Cable Car

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

The Bridge

Downtown skyline

Monday 4/6 – An early start down into the city to sort out the Budget car mess. We managed to get there OK despite accidentally walking through one of the most seedy areas of town. The staff were very good and half sorted us out but we now have to ring Budget on the 19th June to renew our contract, yet another farce. We then had a coffee in Starbucks, cup size, coffee type, milk shade, sugar type, water temparature etc – so much choice you’ve lost the will to live by the time you get it!! Then the train back to the digs in order to check out andhead across town to our 4 night digs up the Mission Road. Clean tidy but not as handy as the first we stayed. However, we got the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) into town for the evening. BART is a kind of underground that runs above ground too. Very quick, economical and comfy way of getting about.


We seemed to walk miles, down to the harbour building, around the business district, up to California Street where they hang on the cable cars we were goosed. We eventually found a bar – like you do – and sat and had a couple of drinks and some food. Very nice but the tipping lark is so complicated you end up tipping everyone who goes by just to make sure you haven’t missed anyone!! We then headed back to the digs via the good old BART.

Tuesday 5/6 – BART to town again, the a tram to Pier 39. Listen up – Pier 39 is the 2nd most visited place in California after Disneyworld!! What a joke it’s like Blackpool with sunshine set in a strange place full of weird accents (sounds familiar actually.) Well we weren’t impressed, it was full of tacky shops with same old sh**t* in every other shop. All the usual suspect food chains including the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Can’t imagine it in August!! I’m sure lots of people love it as it’s obviously popular but it wasn’t for us miserable old gits….The best thing about it was the seals which live there undisturbed and unknowingly entertaining the crowds with their antics.

We managed to get a tram out of the place back to the pier we we wandered some more through the streets and saw the shoe shine guys, lots of trams and other modes of trqnsport. The thing that hit us the most is the homeless problem there. We were both shocked at how many people were living on the streets and how widespread it was. Apparently the city throws lots of money at it building shelters etc but the problem seems to get worse not better. Very difficult to understand. I guess there is a lot more to it than the small snippet we read, it was very sad. We BARTed ut of town back to the Mission Inn. We stopped off for Burritos on the way back, very nice.

Wednesday 6/6 – Now today is Alcatraz day, we booked our trip back in May in the UK. We BARTed into town, tried to use our city tour bus ticket to get across town but failled so we had to get a tram to the Alcatraz ferry pier. Very well organised, very well done and a fantastic day out. The prison is as it was. Looks overbearing and not like somewhere you want to be for a long time. Apparently it was the only Californian prison with hot showers. Why I hear you ask, it was so the inmates didn’t get used to cold water and try to get out for a swim across the bay to freedom. It was an audio tour read by former guards and covered all the things you wanted to see. Al Capone, the Birdman, the attempted escapes and its subsequent closure. An excellent tour if you ever manage to get out there.

We then had to get the bus back to town because some fool had cut a power cable and the trams were off. After a bit more wandering we found a 50’s style diner where we ate and drank before BARTing back home.

Thursday 7/6 – Today is our hop on hop off bus tour off the city. Well we did the city tour on open top us and hopped off and on all over the place. We saw Pier 39 again – no escaping the place. We then hopped off at Lombard Street – the steep windy one in the movies. We then walked to Coits tower for an elevated view over the city. We then hopped on the bus to be dumped off again at Pier 39, aahhh!!!! We had to get a tram and a train back to base for the last night. We were lucky with the weather in San Fran as the famous fog often rolls in. We didn’t see any ‘til today and when we got back to our digs we couldn’t see anything!! Other weather news, the Oregon coast, beautiful as it is was cool, cloudy and damp in the main. Tomorrow we are heading inland where temps are set to climb.

Friday 8/6 – Drive to Yosemite today, super drive arriving at our campsite in Crane Falt – which was far from flat around 4.30ish. Our campsite was at 6000 feet so it was cool nights surrounded by more trees. We were camped 17 miles from the famous Yosemite Valley which I was looking forward to seeing tomorrow. We are now in Bear country so we have to lock all our food and cosmetics and pretty much anything that has a scent in a huge steel bear proof box. We had to sign to say we would and the fines as well as the bear problems for non-compliance were huge. We were also in mountain lion country and more info and rules. The main advice that caught my eye was that if we were attacked by a mountain lion we had to fight backl!! Just call me Tarzan!! After a quick scout round for Bob Bear and Leo Lion we finished the night with a wee dram of malt and a camp fire – we know how to live!!

Saturday 9/6 – After a good nights sleep with no wildlife activity to report we headed down to the valley. A mega WOW day, El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, Centinnel Dome. The list goes on and on. The park offers a free shuttle service around the various sights and to the trail heads (walk starts to you and me.) We sat and watched some guys climbing on El Capitans vertical face. A local guide was telling us that they take from two to five days to make the climb and the record stands at just over 2 hours and this is free climbing!! They actually sleep on the face, how does that work?? After so much jaw dropping we headed back up to base for some more grub n camp fires. The facilities were a bit grim on this site with no showers and only cold water. However you have to take what you can here because they are booking now for October camping!! We should have been booking for sites here back in January as they fill so quickly. No sign of Bob Bear or his lion associates again.

Sunday 11/6 – Today was our ‘big walk day’ in Yosemite. We were heading up to Nevade Falls via Vernal Falls. It was a superb walk with a steep climb and rewarding views of the area throughout. We stopped for lunch at a superb vista to find our butties contaminated with stove fuel and uneatable. Even Bob Bear wouldn’t have them! We struggled on after coffee and biscuits, awfully filling you know and finished the walk hungry and weary. We showered in the valley facilities, got a few beers and headed back to camp for some food and another fire. What a place, a very close second to what our favourite New Zealand has to offer on the scenery front.