Blogs from Fresno, California, United States, North America

What a glorious day in the giant valley. We drove for three hours up into the mountains with thick snow beside the roads to the National Park of Yosemite. the $20 entrance fee was well worth it to see the huge waterfalls, sheer granite mountains and ancient trees. This place must rank as one of the most stunning landscapes on earth. We took loads of photos and will upload some soon. We decided today that we would pick the best photo from each of the kids and they would get a $1 each - given the fact that no one can really take a bad picture of Yosemite!!!... read more

On to Fresno today. Another hot ride but we started early as usually and didn't have as many miles to cover. The landscape changed from desert to mountains to farmland. Saw a lot of grape, olive, almond, pistachio, peach, and orange orchards on the way. Stopped at a Denny's (of course) for breakfast before the heat started again. Arrived at the La Quinta around 11:30 am, hot and sweaty already. Unloaded our belonging and showered again. It reached 107 degrees today! Found a nice Mex restaurant and walked to it to eat an early dinner. We were there for happy hour so had a few beer, a margharita and a mojito. Boy, those mojitos are REALLY good! Tomorrow will be on to San Francisco and them Olema on the coast. Looking forward to those much cooler ... read more

These past few days have been really fun. Mom and I spent four days with my uncle, aunt, and two cousins in Escondido. Our family is so kind and hilarious! We ate at this restaurant, La Farfalla, which serves gluten-free food that is really tasty! I had hummus with veggies that was very healthy and delicious! Thursday night we had burritos with some of my cousins’ friends. They were yummy! The tortillas kept on breaking , but the burrito fillings were very tasty. Thursday night was fun, everyone was playing a game and/or just talking. Mom and I both loved being with family. We both had a great time! I can’t wait to see them again, hopefully soon! Yesterday we visited with our very close family friends, Art and Carol, in Laguna Beach. We ate marvelous ... read more

30th June, 2009. Travel to Fresno, California. What a day, got away at 8.30am, temperature was 77F, first climb was back over the Sierra Mountains, height of 7500 feet, not bad from 6300, but then we went down on Carson City side, a drop of 2500 ft and steep, a few back roads and we were back on the main highway to Yosemite National Park. Passed many lakes, quite green area and plenty of stock in the paddocks. Through Mono, a small town where fuel is gold, a gallon of 87 was $3.69.9 US, highest we have seen. Then off to Yosemite, down the road was a sign, "Road not fit for trailers, steep and winding" - ignore that we can go anywhere. Anywhere was straight up in first gear from 5000 ft to 9850ft over ... read more