July 4 Weekend in Northern California

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Last weekend, my friend Tom and I went "wilderness camping" in the Stanislaus National Forest, which spans about 900,000 acres and is situated between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite.

The weather was in the 90's (F.), so we were able to sleep "a la belle etoile" (in the open air without a tent), as the French say. What an experience for the "city girl" that I am! I've never seen so many stars. It was also fun cooking our steaks on Tom's Coleman stove and hearing the crickets. Luckily, we weren't visited by any bears or mountain lions--just by a few mosquitoes and ants.

On Monday evening, July 4, a friend of Tom's took us for a ride on San Francisco Bay in his speedboat. It was really fun seeing Tiburon, Angel Island and Sausalito from the water. And the fireworks over Sausalito and (in the distance) San Francisco were spectacular. I hope you enjoy the photos. (N.B. There are 14 photos, so go to subsequent pages if you don't see them all at first.)

If you haven't read it yet, you might also enjoy a piece I wrote on Nostalgia on my other blog at http://wp.me/pFMni-3i. Starting with my impressions of Woody Allen's latest film,I reminisce about Paris, New Haven and Millbrook, NY in the Sixties.

And I'd also like to announce the recent publication (by Summertime Publications) of my e-book "WWII Voices: American GI's and the French Women Who Married Them". It is available at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

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Photos

Tuolomne River in Stanislaus National Forest
The water is VERY high and fast-running this year.

more rapids
It's real "white water" -- too difficult for rafting where we were.

Rainbow Pools
where kids were jumping from the cliffs

Cherry Lake
view driving down

Lake Eleanor
It's in Yosemite. We hiked into the park to see it.

July 4 boat ride on SF Bay
Bob, HK and Tom

more fireworks in Sausalito
My digital camera had a hard time capturing how beautiful it was being out there on the water watching the sky!

Comments

[Arthur L. Duell, M.D.]

4 July travel blog
Hillary, thank you for sharing your adventures with Reine and I. The pictures are just great. I share with you the refreshing experience of sleeping beneath the stars because I did that a lot when I was a boy on the western Kansas plains. Can't do that in Marseille because of the city lights. Continue to enjoy the beauties of "natural" USA.

[Betty Blum]

hello from Chicago
Hilary, So glad to her from you and happy to learn that you are enjoying yourself. What are your plans for the rest of the year? Going to explore some lovely exotic place?? Keep in touch. Best, Betty

[EJ]

Great Pix
Great pix. I'm glad you had fun. Can't believe you went camping! :-) Hope to see you soon.