Vacaville, CA 6/1 - 6/4/09

We left Yosemite and went to Vacaville, CA. While there I caught up on the blog posting, groomed Nicky, and we spent a day touring the Napa Valley wine country.

One of the many outdoor patios for wine tasting.

One of the wineries in the Napa Valley

This winery was Dutch and the view surrounding the property was breath-taking. The building below is a picture of the Greystone Culinary Institute of America. Inside we found a kitchen shop unlike anything I've ever seen. There wasn't anything they didn't have. It had kitchen tools I've never seen before.

The campground we stayed in was called Vineyard RV Park. It is Enjoy America participating. It was a very nice clean park. While there our front air conditioner went out and we had to call a service man. The unit needed to be replaced so we ordered one. The RV repair man said once it came in he could put it in over at the storage unit where we would be storing it during our visit with our daughter. So , God is good, the timing was perfect.

While at the campground Nicky made a new friend. Her name is Bella and she is the cutest chocolate labrodoodle I've ever seen. She only weighs about 35 pounds.

We left Vacaville and store our camper in Vallejo,CA only about 45 min. away from Karen's.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 5/25-6/1/09

This is Nicky's 4th National Park so he now qualifies to be a Junior Ranger!!

Just before leaving for Yosemite we gave Rick and Jan a call and as luck would have it they too were heading for Yosemite with their son, Kevin, and girlfriend Jody. We got together on Sunday and had a lovely dinner with them. It was so good to be able to catch up with them. They had to leave on Monday so the time was way too short but I'm sure glad we got to see them.

The day we drove up to Glacier Point we ran into some hail before we reached the top. By the time we got there it was all clear again. The view from up there denies description. There simply are no words to describe it. A camera cannot capture it either but one must try!!

The many falls are breath-taking. We hit everything perfectly because the falls were really full from the snow melt and all the wild flowers were in bloom.

You have to admit, this just looks surreal. Enlarge the picture so you can see the details.

This picture was taken in Yosemite Valley. While there we took the paths to both Bridalveil falls and Yosemite falls. There are so many trails we would have loved to have taken but time limited us. We would like to come back in the future and spend about three weeks in the park walking a different trail each day.Yosemite falls are the tallest falls in North America.

Just another beautiful sight along one of the trails we walked.

This is the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir completed in 1938. It is part of the Yosemite National Park. Today the 117-billion gallon reservoir supplies pristine drinking waster to 2.4 million Bay Area residents and industrial users. It also supplies hydro-electric power generated by two plants downstream. The reservoir is 8 miles long and the largest single body o water in Yosemite.

We took a 5 mile hike that followed the perimeter of the reservoir out to Wapama Falls and this is one of the scenes from that hike. It was a beautiful hike and since it was hot the fact that you got drenched by the spray from the falls did not matter ---as a matter of fact, it felt good.

This is O'Shaughnessy Dam at the Hetch Hetchy reservoir.

These beautiful blue flowers were everywhere. What a beautiful framework they add to any picture.

Driving to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir we passed this beautiful meadow and just had to stop. The field is covered in wild flowers and the whole setting is just so picturesque. Great place for a picnic!!!!

For my birthday we drove over to Groveland, a small town nearby and spent the morning. Had a nice iced Mocha at a coffee shop and then we visited some shoppes. The picture above is of the oldest saloon in California.

Play the video below and you will get some idea of what the view was like at Glacier Point. While in the park we did get to see a bear and also viewed those crazy cliff climbers on El Capitan, a mere 7,569 feet up.

The day before we left we were driving out of the campground to go on a hike and who did I spot walking down the road but Sally Michalski. Later we ran into she and Stan at Hetch Hetchy. That night we stopped by their campsite and spent some time catching up with one another. They will be heading out of Seattle on August second for a crusie to Alaska. We look forward to seeing them again in Florida if we don't run into them again before.

San Benito / Morgan Hill, CA

We went to dinner at a place called the Hole (booze and food) located in Tres Pinos not far from the park. It looks like an old western saloon. Some of the bar stools are covered in cow hide. It's a really neat place. It has a dining room and a front outside patio also. There are places in the front of the restaurant to tie your horse.

This is what the country looks like around the park. We have a real understanding now of where our lettuce and vegetables come from. If California loses it's water we'll all starve.

You said I could drive next!!!!

This is the beautiful Olympic size pool at Morgan Hill. It was a great pool to swim laps in and not crowded at all--practically had the pool to ourselves during the week.

Ar Morgan Hill there are a lot of wineries. This one was particularly beautiful because they planted wild flowers between each of the rows of grapes.

We took a day and drove over to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Carmel by the Sea. We just loved Carmel. The picture above is one taken just driving through the neighborhood by the sea. All the homes were very unique and the landscaping gorgeous. As you can imagine the downtown area was just charming.

I think I've found my dream house!!!!! Isn't this just awesome????

This flower is called the Pride of Madeira. There are many different colors and they are all blooming right now. A flower imported from the coast in Portugal.

This is La Dulce Vita restaurant in Carmel. We had some really great pizza there for lunch.
On the way home we stopped at a place called Giznick Farms. They grew all kinds of berries and had a pie and deli shop on the premises. We had pie there that was to die for.

You can click on the pictures on the collage above to enlarge the individual pictures. The coast line is very picturesque. Dogs are permitted off leash on the beach and Nicky wanted to go in the worst way but we couldn't let him because he had pulled a muscle earlier in the week and we were afraid he would re injure it.

While at Morgan Hill we did get some pickle ball time in which was a lot of fun.

Love to all our friends and family. May you all have a lovely Memorial Day. Till next post be good to one another and live each day as if it's your last.

Hearst Castle/ Sequoia National Park 5/07-5/10/09

The above are pictures taken at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA. We were actually on our way to Sequoia when we realized we had not done the castle yet. Since is was not far out of our way we stopped and took the tour that day. Boy, am I glad we did. I knew it was spectacular but you don't realize how spectacular until you see it. Such wealth and lavishness is beyond a normal person's imagination. The San Simeon area is just delightful and the kind of place I'd like to return to and just spend a week or two touring around the various settings. Check out the video on the pool below. That's the kind of pool I'd like to see in the Thousand Trail parks!!!! OH! did I forget to mention this is just the outside pool. The pool in the picture above is part of the indoor pool.



The two pictures below were taken from the top of Moro Rock which you can walk up. It is very high and since I'm not particularly fond of heights it was a real accomplishment for me to get to the top and take these pictures.

This picture was taken at one of the many groves of Sequoia trees. These trees are thicker trunked than the Redwoods. The trunk does not taper at the top it resembles a giant club in shape.

This is called Tunnel log and you can drive right through it.

Below is the video I shot from the top of Moro Rock. You will see it was well worth the trip up.



We could not have picked a better time to be here. All the wild flowers are in bloom. There is color all over the hills.

The rivers are all running full due to snow melt. We stayed at a private campground just 3 miles outside the park entrance. It is called Three Rivers Hideaway. The place was very active with white water rafters this time of year.

This is David and Sandra Miller from Exeter, CA. We were having breakfast at a really nice restaurant across the street from the campground and met them there. Their home is just down the road from Three Rivers the town we were in. We got to talking and found out David is a pastor and looking to start a new church in Exeter. We put him on the phone with our pastor, Vern Bosserman, who will be a great mentor for David since he has already been through the church planting process. Please keep these fine folks in your prayers that God will bless their ministry.

Rancho Oso/ Santa Barbara, CA 4/27-5/7/09

Howdy Pardners, we are at Rancho Oso and enjoying every minute. This could just be my favorite Thousands Trails campground yet. The view from our camper is beautiful and the amenities are lovely. The stone adult lodge is very picturesque. We love the availability of hiking trails with in the park and at nearby National park facilities. There are 2 pools-- one is heated and one is not. The setting for the pools is just so charming and peaceful. My only regret is we had so little time to spend there. We were on the go the whole time.

These are the horses from the stables right in the campground and that is the incredible view we wake up to each morning. There are also long horn steers, some pigs and a variety of other farm animals over at the stables. I love having the animals around. Is that a surprise to anyone who knows me???

This picture was taken on one of our many hikes and when you enlarge it you will see the campground nestled at the bottom of the hills.

One of our main entertainments here was hiking the many beautiful trails in the area. Nicky loved the many hiking outings we had and needless to say he slept very well at night.

This is a picture of the Bradbury dam which we pass on our way to Santa Ynez. The entire drive over to Santa Ynez to pick up our general delivery mail is just beautiful.

One of the many sights on our way over to pick up mail in Santa Ynez.

The pasture land surrounding our campground was something Lee fell in love with. What a place to have a ranch.

This is a scene taken from our hike into Redrock trail head. So many beautiful swimming holes along the trail. It was hot while we were there running on average about 10 degrees above normal.

The day we took this hike it was about 96-98 degrees and the humidity was about 3% . We took about a 6-7 mile hike. It would weave back and forth across the river and was very rocky at times. Even though we hydrated often both Nicky and I had a slight case of sun stroke. We were glad to get back to camp and cool off. This picture is of Gibraltar dam taken at the top of our hike.

As you can see the wild flowers were in bloom everywhere. We would come across hills dotted with splashes of yellow, blue, purple, and red flowers. I have enough pictures of wild flowers to put together a really nice screen saver.

We spent a day touring around Santa Barbara. We walked the downtown area as pictured above and we went over to the coastal areas as pictured below. There was a lovely patio restaurant over looking the coast where we stopped for lunch. On the way home we spent time driving through some of the beautiful neighborhoods. Awestruck by the beautiful homes perched up on the hills over looking the mountains on one side and ocean on the other. After we arrived home that same day we heard a announcement on TV that a brush fire had started in the foothills. At that time it was just a small brush fire. By the next morning it was 196 acre and then the following morning it was just totally out of control from the sun downer winds over night. A lot of the beautiful homes we had just viewed a couple days before were now burnt to the ground. Please keep these people in your prayers and pray that the weather will become more conducive to containing the fire.

This is simply a picture capturing the surrounding terrain. The flowers in the fore front were everywhere.

We can plant all the flowers we want but what God and nature do all by themselves is something to behold in these hills.
If you visit Rancho Oso be sure to spend some time in the charming town of Santa Ynez even if you don't have to pick up mail at the post office. The town is very picturesque and there are several good restaurants. Lee and I went over to the town twice just to sit and have coffee at the nice coffee house there and use their wi fi.

The only down side of the campground was that our Verizon air card did not work there. So we did most Internet work at the coffee shop. AT&T works fine there so phone was not a problem. As I said at the beginning, this was one of my favorite spots and our 10 days there flew by.

Adios pardners --Look forward to chatting again with you soon. Love Judy, Lee and Nicky