Yet another 7am breakfast in our room at Yosemite Lodge Hotel before setting off for Bishop across the mountains. Yosemite Village is at 4,000 ft but we had to cross the mountain pass we had only recently opened at almost 10,000ft. The weather was cloudy this morning for the first time since our arrival and cooler than it had been previously. A tortuos twisty climb up into the hills with the temperature falling all the time with the altitude gained. At the highest point the temperature dropped to 27 degrees farenheit (32 degrees is freezing) and we drove through a light snowfall. The views coming out of the mountains was stunning and we passed the Mamouth Ski resorts as we lost altitude the weather cleared and the sun came and temperature slowly rose. We had a ... read more

Another 7am breakfast and off to drive to Curry Village car park. Curry Village is the tented area, where I think Amy & Graeme stayed and met the bear. Our plan was to walk from here to Mirror Lake. The lake was very low because of the drought in California this year. We were able to walk into the lake on sand bars which would normally have been underwater. It was very green and in a wonderful scenic setting. The highlight was spotting a male Mule Deer on the edge of the lake, whose antlers were just beginning to grow. On our return to Curry Villlage we had a coffee break. As the car parks fill up quite rapidly we decided to walk back to the main Yosemite Village and leave the car in Curry Village. ... read more

Today was an early start, breakfast at 7am, checked out of the Best Western and hit the road at 7-45am. Very cloudy start this morning but still reasonably warm. Uneventful escape (except for sat nav confusion) from San Mateo this morning but then across the bay using the San Mateo bridge and causeway (5 miles long). Then up into the hills and ominous cloud. Dropping down out of the hills onto a plain the sun came out and we were soon into 75 degrees farenheit. Stopped in Livermore at Hetrz rental to extend driver insurance cover for Bob and Dinah. Then onto Oakdale for a coffee stop and refuel of the car at the amazing price of (65pence per litre equivalent) . Then swapping drivers to Bob took off for Yosemite National Park. The temperature slowly ... read more

19thMay 2012 Early start today 7am breakfast at Tad's Cosy Cafe opposite our Hotel Vertigo. Then off by cable car up and down hills to Pier 33 to catch the boat to Alcatraz. We had not booked this trip and had not anticipated the demand for boat tickets, as it was we were lucky enough to get the last 4 tickets available that day. The weather was kind to us as the wind had dropped so the sea was calm and the sun was shining. Alcatraz is now one of the Golden Gate National Parks and a very popular visitor attraction. Although you have to book tickets to get out to the island you can return whenever you want or at least on the next available ferry. We would recommend the Audio tour of the main ... read more

The senior Jayes are at last off on their travels again after a long break. This time we are tackling California and some iconic sites with our friends from the otherside of the world. We have now allarrived in San Francisco a bit dazed and jet lagged but fine after a night in the Ramada Hotel. The journey out was very smooth all the connections worked fine. Started at 07:30 am with lift from home to Sandwell and Dudley station (thanks to Ron Jayes), train to Birmingham International Station, Shuttle train to Birmingham Airport, Coach to London Heathrow terminal 5, Plane direct to San Francisco, arriving 17:00 local time, midnight English time. Vern and Annette Dark met us at the Airport having flown from New Zealand and they arrived in San Francisco 5 minutes before they ... read more