Paws and Friends

Remember these...? Well, we've added a few in our recent travels.... Picacho Peak was January. On the 2013 row we have added 10 pins, but upon close inspection one will note that several are from the same location....we just liked them! These 4 are all of from Yosemite National Park. We like benchmarks...and we have one each of El Capitan, 7569', and Half Dome, 8842'. The coordinates for each is also listed on these pins. To the right of these are two more pins from Yosemite, which are representative of the park, one with the year, and we liked them! Good enough reason, don't you think?! On the bottom row, at the left, you'll see the yellow pin, "Bear Crossing"--also from Yosemite...another one we liked! We traveled up to Redding where we  biked and walked across the Sundial Bridge and visited the Turtle Bay Exploration Park. These three pins reflect our time in Redding, CA. We finally stayed at Seven Feathers RV Reso...

We enjoyed our time visiting Yosemite, but we did have some concerns about our RV Park, and the inconsistencies in the information found on the  Good Sam Directory  on line and the reality we experienced. Roads and sites are tight. Getting in was not a problem for us for the Camp Host was there and recommended our site and helped us get into it by going through another site. What would happen if there were more rigs in these sites? Sierra Meadows RV Park  is managed by the Sierra Meadows Country Club, and our thought is that the Country Club and 18 hole golf course takes precedent over the park.  The Camp Host is doing a super job, and he is the reason we stayed, and will return, ONLY if he and his wife are there. The laundry and restrooms are older, but very clean, thanks to the good work of the camp host. Good Sam indicates there are big rig sites. Not so, unless sites are not occupied to facilitate movement.  Good roads? No, roads are crumb...

We stayed near the south entrance, CA Hwy 41, as it was close to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias (and easy access for us coming from the south!), and visiting this grove was on our list, especially after visiting the Redwoods a couple of years ago.  The Redwood is taller than the Giant Sequoia, but the Giant Sequoia is the 3rd longest-lived tree species with the oldest known specimen to have been 3,266 years old in the Converse Basin Grove of Giant Sequoia National Monument. Now the oldest tree, the bristlecone pine, we knew about as several years ago we visited the Great Basin National Park (although it wasn't a National Park at that time) with Lindy's parents, both of whom grew up near that location--in Ely, Nevada. Lindy's mom did the guiding services. Isn't it interesting how connections appear over time? We were the first and only car in the parking lot...! We left the dogs in the car, as it was cool (no sun shining yet!). The Grizzly Giant (isn't that a...

River along 140, West Entrance to the Park Monday, April 22, we were up early and on the road for a biking expedition in Yosemite Valley. We drove up to Mariposa, CA, then took CA 140 into Yosemite, thus avoiding the many curves on CA 41 from Oakhurst. The road is good! It is a little longer (65 miles compared to 53) but the time is about the same. There is a slide on 140 just outside the park entrance (hence signs limiting vehicles to under 45'). Signs indicate up to a 15 minute wait. We experienced a much shorter wait. This is a beautiful drive into the Valley, along the river! Mirror Lake, before the sun hit it! You might recall that the week of April 22 - 26 was free entrance to National Parks. But Monday, about 8 AM, we had the entire A parking lot to ourselves! We unloaded the bikes and put all the pieces on, and Paws and One Friend at Mirror Lake Sun just beginning to top the mountain on Mirror Lake were off! We tackled Mirror Lake first--and were ve...

Sunday morning early, April 21, we beat the crowds and visited The Pioneer Yosemite History Center (a place of pioneers who profoundly influenced the birth and growth of the national park idea), near the Wawona Information Center (and Hotel) just up from the South Entrance on CA 41. The scenery of Yosemite is world-renowned. But what about the stories of individuals that have both changed and been changed by Yosemite. At this center, the National Park Service commemorates the efforts of people, the events they experienced, and the issues they faced during the establishment of this great park. The historic structures we found here came from different eras of Yosemite history and different locations throughout Yosemite. They were moved to Wawona in the 1950s and 1960s. What follows are different chapters in the Yosemite story. Hopefully, Yosemite history will come to life as you "travel" back in time to an era of horse-drawn wagons, covered bridges, and log cabins......