Blogs from California, United States, North America - page 1033

October 24, 2006, Tuesday. Our first full day at Yosemite, began at the Visitor’s Center, where we got info on hikes, tours, and saw a neat video---The Spirit of Yosemite. The famous naturalist, John Muir, was instrumental in getting Abe Lincoln to preserve some of this scenic wilderness and keep it for all people to see and enjoy. Later, he will convenience Franklin that more area is needed to preserve the ecosystem, and it becomes a National Park. Back on our bikes, we stopped at the trail to the lower Yosemite Falls, quite dry at this time of year, but a pleasant walk among the Ponderosa Pines. The time to see rushing water is spring. After lunch at the Yosemite Lodge, we left on a tram-ride through Yosemite, narrated by a Ranger; neat way to get ... read more

. As we have been traveling south the temperatures have been getting warmer, and thankfully we haven’t seen any more snow! But today we are expecting temperatures to start getting hot! Especially as it was yet another blue sky day not a cloud to be seen - something we might be looking for at our next destination… Death Valley National Park… Statistics Starting Destination: Bakersfield, California Ending Destination: Panamint Springs, California Ending Destination GPS: N: 36° 20.461’ W: 117° 28.137’ Elev: 1943’ Miles Driven: 245.1 Distance Driven “Off-Road”: 20 miles Medical Warning: You have been traveling in an area known to have Plague; if you get sick within a couple of days of traveling in this area, seek medical attention Heading East img=http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/7835/webwindgenra1... read more

DAY 2 So after trying to chase down my friends Mark and Michelle I ended up in Alcatraz...they'd sold out but the guy said ah what the hell I'll let you..another stroke of luck for the Kambanopoulos Kid...hope this lasts out till Vegas...been spending money like water...Met a couple of guys from Wakefield and Sabrina a model from London on the ferry to Alcatraz, the guys from Yorkshire I'm pretty sure should have been inside 'The Rock' rather than visitng it..Sabrina reminded me of Grace Jones ...the audio tour there detailing escape attempts and moiders was pretty good was pretty realistic kept looking over my shoulder everytime the whistle went...reminded me of Papillon...Devil's Island as well as looking scarily like Shawshank prison..."Machine Gun" Kelly, Al "Scarface" Capone.. they all spent time here..Scarface that reminds me..there's a ... read more

I caught my flight from D.C to San Fran, i had to get up at 4am though as the flight was set to leave at 6.30am, managed to bag myself extra leg room again, and the seat next to me was empty so it was a good flight. Arrived half an hour earlier than expected and manage to catch the bus into San Fran for a mere $1.50... considering the airport was 14 miles away i think thats a bargain. Arrived at the hostel and was put into a 4 bed dorm with nobody in it, had a few hours sleep then ventured out for some pizza and a beer before heading back to the hostel for more sleep. Woke the next morning to find a quiet Belgian guy and a weird German dude in the ... read more

Finally I get to see the famous fog that San Fran is known for. Yes my sister mentioned she heard the fog horn blaring all night. But once the fog had rolled away we were able to see the bay, the suspension bridges and Alcatraz. It was exactly as I remembered it 6 months ago when I first flew in here on route to Vancouver. So we hopped on the bikes and rode up and around the golden gate park, admiring the gardens and architecture We found some New Zealand gardens, yep those trees and plants look and sound very familiar! I found an HSBC to withdraw some money, however it was in Chinatown and was a Chinese run bank. Very different the Chinese culture, I was welcomed by a lady at the entrance and shown ... read more