Blogs from Yosemite National Park, California, United States, North America - page 43

With tears gleaming in our eyes we packed our bags (why wouldn't everything fit! I swear our bags have shrunk!) and farewelled the Green Tortoise in San Francisco and its lovely bagels. We very strongly recommend it as a great place to meet people and doss down in San Francisco....always something going on and 3 free dinners a week can't be bad. However, our time had come, the road was calling, and we hopped on a bus for Emeryville. And a train to Merced. And a bus to Midpines. And you don't want to know about the hill we had to walk up in the pitch black after the second bus broke down. Well, ok so technically the bus was promptly replaced but there was a very big hill after that. Fortunately, a hearty dinner awaited ... read more

Motorhome News from North America 5 California - it’s cold and it’s damp! 25th February - 6th March 2006 Salton Sea, Mecca, Joshua Tree National Park, Twentynine Palms, Palm Springs, San Bernardino Mountains, Rim of the World, Kern, Pixley, Sequoia National Park - and the Snowy Mountains! The morning brought white pelicans to the still waters of Salton Sea, shallow and serene at its northerly end where we camped overnight. Fresh water flows into the lake from the Alamo and the New Rivers, but Salton is below sea level and there is no outlet to the sea. The rivers help to irrigate the flat plains where palm trees flourish alongside California vines, orange and lemon trees, artichokes and other things under plastic - so they learned something from Spain! The farms hereabouts are clearly prosperous, but ... read more

Got up, checked out, then discovered that the hostel computer was stuck on 'free-vend' so we abused the free internet access and updated this rather interesting and witty travel blog until 2pm. The drive to San Francisco started out on a long and windy country road through some beautiful scenery of lakes and valleys but the constant swaying of the car made Louisa feel sickly, I felt a bit queasy too! Along the way we nearly got lost in Modesdo but eventually made it to San Francisco just in time for rush hour, nice. We drove over the bridge into downtown which was a bit of a nightmare of cars, trams, hills, and flashing lights, all confusing in the dark. We decided to stay out of the centre of town at the Fort Mason Hostelling International ... read more

We spent most of the day driving the final leg to Yosemite National Park and to our home for the night, the Yosemite Bug rustic mountain lodge. We had our own room in a little hut which unforunately had a freezing cold shared bathroom. The day was drawing to a close so we decided to have a quick wander round the scenic area of the hostel with the help of our guide, the hostel's dog! Having lost the dog after about a minute, we wandered alone through the trees and up the stream to a small pool ideal for bathing, but not in winter! It was getting dark so we headed back to the hostel (the dog was back there already!). That night we cracked open Louisa's birthday wine a day early and shared it with ... read more

With a few days spare before being required at our first performance in Las Vegas we thought we'd go on a road trip!! We hired a Jeep Cherokee and took on the Great American Highway Network. With Cookie behind the wheel and me (navigator extraordinaire) behind the map nothing could stop us bar the dire predictions of 10 feet of snow and mud slides from Cookie's San Fran mates. (Apparently, and this is news to me (?!?) Americans are partial to the use of the hyperbole and the closest we came to any sleet was the icy machines at a few of the "gas stations" along the way. Yosemite is considered by all Americans as a remarkable natural wonder. It's proximity to a few major cities (Fan Fran for example) makes it the most visited national ... read more