California in May

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So into California we journey and the first interesting place we visit, because there are many, is Death Valley. It has such an unusual landscape. In some parts it could remind you of the moon, in others of the desert and in some wonderful spots, an artists palette which is what one area is very aptly called. Here there were greens, blues, pink, yellows, browns and black, an intriguing sight. There are very long straight roads that run through this National Park, they seem to go on forever and when we visited, they were almost empty. In parts you are about 280 feet below sea level, the lowest spot in America. It was a fascinating place and much more attractive than it's name suggests.After a night in a motel in a place called Lone Pine with around 40 bikers from the San Diego chapter (!!) we were on the move again. Lovely airbnb in a town called Sanger in Fresno county (fruit groves everywhere growing oranges, peaches, strawberries, apricots and grapes to name just a few) with a lovely couple who supplied us with some wonderful breakfasts before we went out for the day. From here we visited Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park where the wonderful giant sequoia trees live. Last autumn there were devastating forest fires here but the giants were saved and apparently only really die when they topple over because of shallow roots. Some of them are 3000 years old, can you imagine?? They were super, we loved them. And amazingly we saw a bear munching away in a meadow ignoring all the drivers who had stopped to take photos, us included, it was brilliant. The canyon was a carpet of spring flowers, it looked really pretty even with some scorched trees amongst them. The sheer size of the rock faces make you feel very insignificant, like a little ant. We have felt that way in all the parks we have visited. Their vastness is hard to comprehend until you see it for yourself. Everything is just so big!We were invited to an American church by our airbnb hosts to experience the culture of a community that is 95% Latino. The Sunday we went was Mother's Day in the States. It was very casual, a plus in our book, and extremely friendly. The songs were modern with easy lyrics and there was a band with some very good singers getting everyone singing along. The pastor was from Tonga and had a tattoo and was very enthusiastic and passionate about his church and his congregation. It was refreshingly laid back and we felt very comfortable and welcomed. It was a good experience.Our next port of call was just outside of Yosemite National Park. We had 5 days there to experience the wonder of this amazing and probably most well known of America's national parks. It is famous for its waterfalls and it's bears. To see the waterfalls at their best May is the month to go and we were not disappointed. The water was plentiful and running very fast. So first day, let's climb up a waterfall!! Second day legs not working properly! Third day drive up to Glacier Point where the views are spectacular and only by the 4th day are the legs back to normal and a bike ride around the valley is undertaken. We did a tour with a lovely and very enthusiastic guide of the first and grandest hotel in the valley called the Ahwahnee Hotel (now renamed the Majestic) which was really interesting and decorated by a woman whose surname was Spencer! She had artistically stencilled lots of the walls and ceilings using the Indian influence as it was the Ahwahneechee tribe that used to live in the 'Gaping Mouth' as they used to call their Valley. Originally the name of the hotel was meant as a kind of tribute to the tribe but now the hotel has been sold and a law suit is ongoing concerning it's name! The point has been lost in the paperwork. Yosemite is probably the busiest park we have come across and it has a lot to offer tourists. Apparently it was the park that started the National Park Service across America and then the world! It was beautiful and we were tired out by the end of our stay but thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a great last night with our airbnb hosts sitting out on their deck drinking wine and laughing about the English language differences in the two countries. They had two other guests, one from Mexico and his wife was Russian so it made for a very internationally entertaining evening.


From there we moved onto Sacramento and a house sit that gave us some time to chill out and visit some wonderful old gold mining towns such as Columbia, Sonora and Sutter Creek. The Americans are very good at preserving areas for tourism reasons and they were a lot of fun to walk around and discover that even now,there is still some gold lurking far below in the bedrock. We also spent a day at Lake Tahoe which was beautiful, we found it quite similar to the Italian lakes but with bear signs everywhere! It was a wonderful emerald green colour and very clear, apparently you can easily see 75 feet down and there is enough water in the lake to cover the whole of California with 12 inches of it! Half the lake is in California and the other half is in Nevada and needless to say the Nevada half had a casino or two on the waters edge, not really in keeping with the natural beauty of the lake but there you are, thats the States for you!


After Sacramento we went north to the coast to see the majestic redwood trees that grow in this area. There, we could drive through a tree as well as hug them. We did a 3 mile trek through the undergrowth marvelling at these huge trees tightly packed together, a few rhododendrons poking their way through to try and get some sunlight. We went to a marvellous place called Fern Canyon where some of Jurassic Park was filmed, have to say we could understand why, it did look prehistoric! We stayed at a funny little motel at the end of the Avenue of Giants, it appeared to be still in the 60's but was cosy and clean and we got to speak to the owners. She was American but he was from Norwich and had settled in California 30 years ago. It was nice chatting to them and hearing their bear stories until we got woken up in the night about 2am to lots of rustling and growling sounds right behind our little cabin and wondering if our hire car would survive a bear attack if it wanted the box of cereal we had left on the back seat! Didn't sleep much that night and never did find out what the commotion had been about.The weather has been wonderfully warm from the moment we stepped into this State reaching 96F one week. There is a water shortage here and always the fear of fires but in the car country that this is it won't stop people from cleaning their cars and putting their sprinklers on for their 'yards'. People in the US do recycle a lot but we guess, the same as back home, not everyone does.And so we now have a 10 day stop in Santa Cruz house sitting and trying to avoid the rattle snakes that like to sunbathe in the long grass around the house! To get here we joined the famous Pacific Highway 1 at the beginning in the north and with Indiana Jones driving skills from Dave went around the cliff hugging road and eventually across the Golden Gate Bridge. A wonderful sight in the afternoon sunshine.We intend to drive the rest of this road through June to where it finishes near San Diego. So next blog from somewhere along the Californian coast. Keep your comments and emails coming, we love hearing from you 😊

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Comments

[Linda]

California dreaming
Another great blog both. Love the pics as well. Lovely to talk to you the other day ?