Geriatric Pilgrims

7 - 8 April 2010 We had intended to drive down the coast into San Francisco but some miss navigation didn’t leave us time, so we took the freeway over the Golden Gate Bridge ( it was strange to see it again after a three and a half week absence), then through the Golden Gate Park and some city suburbs to the airport. All this was photographed by Wendy through the windscreen. Our overnight flight was tiring but we were met at Heathrow by Richard and Joy and on the drive back home we had a pleasant lunch at the Red Lion pub in Cropredy, a delightful village just outside Banbury. We arrived home mid afternoon for a reunion with the family. This was another excellent trip for us and once again we were made very ... read more

5 April 2010 We had a wonderful day in returning fine weather ambling along 100 miles of the North Californian Pacific Coast along Highway 1 which hugs the shoreline most of the way. The views were enhanced by rough sea conditions. Our fist stop was at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens which displays rhododendrons and many other plants on a 47 acre site running down to the sea. Strangely enough we had been listening to Edmund de Rothschild’s autobiography whilst driving on this trip. Besides being a banker he was also a rhododendron expert and we spotted a couple of plants that he had developed. We next visited Mendocino, a small town sited on a headland jutting out into the sea. It is composed almost entirely of attractive Victorian New England style buildings. A bit further down ... read more

3 April 2010 Our fears of the previous night were unfounded and in the morning the snow had stopped, the wind dropped and the road conditions were O.K. We had intended to ride up the Squaw Valley cable car but the weather was still mainly cloudy and it being Easter Saturday cars were queuing to get into the resort, so we didn’t bother. As we were preparing to move off we had a pleasant surprise. We thought it was Sunday but whilst checking the calendar discovered it was indeed Saturday which meant we had an extra day before we fly home. Consequently we have time to drive further north than we had anticipated which will enable us to see the large coastal redwood trees. Therefore after a full day’s travelling across the width of California through ... read more

1 April 2010 Our day in Yosemite started sunny but as time went on clouds rolled in and when we got back to the hotel it had started raining. We first drove up to Tunnel Point which gives the classic Yosemite view but we didn’t like all the coach parties there so we continued upwards on a two hour walk to Inspiration Point. We were the first party up there since the snow of the previous day so we were walking through 6” of fresh powder for a lot of the way. The walk was very enjoyable with magnificent views most of the time. Our next stop was at Yosemite Falls at 2,445 feet, the fifth highest in the world. We finished the day by walking around Mirror Lake which is right underneath Half Dome, the ... read more

30 March 2010 We started the day by taking a swim in the hotel’s open air pool fed by local hot springs. Our first diversion was a walk along a boardwalk beside one of the few streams in Death Valley, called Salt Creek. It contains small Pup Fish which are only found in this one location and have learnt to live in the harsh environment. Then followed a 300 mile drive out of the valley and west across the southern edge of a range of mountains called the Sierra Nevada and northwards to a town called Exeter where we are staying the night. After having spent 10 days in a desert environment it was nice to enter an agricultural area with vineyards and groves of orange trees. ... read more