June 2010 Vacation Cont'd: Jacksonville to Yosemite

Now that I have finally updated you on the rest of last year's mainland summer vacation, it's time to start wrapping it up with our trip to Yosemite.  Like me, I'm sure you've seen pictures or video of Yosemite on TV, online, in your friends' vacation photos, etc., but I'm telling you right now, unless you've been there, you have no idea how spectacular it is!

We drove from Jacksonville, OR back to Sacramento, CA, and on the way, we decided to stop through Yosemite--might as well, right? It was a little bit out of the way, but not nearly as out of way as it would be once we got back to Hawaii!  We had a nice view along the way.  Nothing special, nothing special, then, ooh!  Something pretty is coming into view!

Well, hello, Pretty! 

After our scenic drive past Mt. Shasta, we continued on the eastern route, which would take us through Carson City, NV.  Along the way, we went through Lassen Volcanic National Park. I'm sure if we'd had time to stay there and explore it a little bit, we would have loved it, but it was sort of a half-assed decision to go there, and we ended up just staying there the night, camping with 53 of our closest friends, you know, exactly the type of camping I don't like, and by the time we got back on the road the next day, we were both just...grumbly.  We were wondering if maybe we'd made a mistake, tacking on this extra portion of the trip.

At some point, something shifted, and by the time we came around to Honey Lake, we were in a better mood.  This is a dry lake, something I'd never seen before, and it was surprisingly pretty.  It's hard to describe, and it's one of those things that doesn't show up all that well in pictures, but the whole thing had a soft, pretty feel to it that was completely different from everything else we'd been seeing.

A little ways past the lake, dust devils started kicking up like crazy in front of the mountains. 

A little further on, and we were starting to see some interesting cloud action and hints of more mountains on the horizon.  

And, we didn't realize it at the time, but we were getting our first glimpses of Yosemite

A little further on, we'd passed through Stanislaus National Forest (OMG, longest URL ever!), and after a few more bends in the road, the mountains were getting closer and now we had a beautiful view of Mono (rhymes with "oh no") Lake as well.  Mono Lake is a saline lake (roughly three times as salty as the ocean), and, among other things, it is home to about eight hundred bazillion alkali flies.  When I first heard about this, it sounded disgusting, but now that I've read a little bit about them, I have to admit, I'm kind of intrigued.   

For some much more stunning photography that probably was not shot out of a rental car window, please check out the two short promotional films that have been put together to promote this beautiful area. 

We knew that Yosemite would probably be amazing, but we had no idea that our drive there would be so spectacular.  Every place that we drove through had a beauty all its own.  If you're thinking about a road trip, you could do worse than this. 

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Tomorrow:  Yosemite!

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

I love the redwoods.  I explained why when I wrote about our August, 2008, visit.  I won't go into all of it again, but I will say that I am continually amazed when I am in their presence.  Like anything else, I suppose if you live in a coastal redwood area, you might grow accustomed to the grandeur that surrounds you, but for me, I never stop saying, "Look at THAT tree!"  "Ohmygosh!  Look at THAT one!"  "Look at how tall THAT one is!"  "Wow, that tree is HUGE!"  The fact that they all start out like this is even more amazing. (Yes, this picture is as close-up as it appears to be.)

I won't bore you with the nearly 400 pictures from our June, 2010, trip to Humboldt Redwoods State Park (map here), most of them of trees, but here are a few highlights. Hubby on the bridge below for scale.

This four-sided fireplace stands in the California Federation of Women's Clubs Grove, and is one of the many things to see along the Avenue of the Giants.

Here's some information about its designer, Julia Morgan (click to enlarge):

Scale is always hard to capture in pictures, but the fireplace is huge, as is this picnic table that is situated next to it. 

For scale, here is a normal-sized picnic table.

 I thought it was funny that in the middle of the giant picnic table, surrounded by giant trees, was this little oasis of teeny tiny plants.

Just down the road from our camp, was the Cuneo Creek Horse Group Camp.  We hiked over there from our Hamilton Barn camp one day.  We picnicked and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and chatted with the camp host.  I didn't know there were such things as camp hosts, but this seems like a great way to see some beautiful places at a minimal cost.

One of the last hikes that we did was up to Look Prairie.  There is, as the name suggests a large prairie area, which is a nice contrast to all the forest.  

Along the trail, we found these crazy-looking little sombrero flowers.  I have no idea what they are, but I would be remiss if I didn't include them here, seeing as how Hubby spent a good 10 minutes trying to get a good shot of one for me.   

Although there were a lot of burned areas, some of which weren't too pretty, overall this was a beautiful hike, and the charred remains managed to highlight the beauty of what remained.

We hiked all around the Humboldt Redwoods State Park area, checking out all the shorter little loop trails and groves along with some of the longer trails, like the Bull Creek Trail North and South (loop) which took us across the Eel River.  That water was cold, but boy did it feel good to stick our feet in it about half-way through the trail!

I can't recommend this area highly enough.  If you've never seen the coastal redwoods, put it on your list of things to do.  If camping's not your thing, that's OK; you can easily tour the redwoods by car.  Driving through is still impressive, but do stop along the way to walk among the giants.  

 

Where do People from Hawaii go to Vacation?

I get asked this question on a fairly regular basis, and the answer, mostly, is Vegas.  We, however, are not Vegas people.  We tried that a few years ago with fairly disastrous results and have no real desire to head back there any time soon.  (Also, I just realized I am nothing if not consistent.  If you don't believe me, go read the opening sentences of the post I just linked to.)  So, where do WE go to vacation?  Well, last year, we did a west-coast trip that involved a paragliding clinic, a paragliding competition where we met some of the nicest people ever, and camping in the redwoods.  I've already told you about the first two, and I figured it's finally time to tell you about the third.

If you're like me, your idea of camping is being able to drive somewhere remote where you can set up a tent and be alone in nature. Although state and national parks offer great access to some of the most beautiful places in the country, camping in these places tends to be in designated areas only; and while the conveniences of a campground are great--I like running water, indoor toilets, fire pits, firewood, and bear boxes--the 53 campers who are crammed into the campground with you--RVs, generators, radios, screaming kids and all--are not.  If I wanted all that, I'd stay home and drink a beer in my driveway.

On the other hand, if you're like me, camping does NOT include hiking into a remote campsite where you'd better have everything you need with you because civilization is a three-day hike away.  Well, have I got the perfect solution for you!  Environmental camps are the perfect blend between car-camping convenience and remote getaway isolation.  The trade-off?  There are a limited number of spots.  I don't know how many of these exist throughout the country or if this is just a California thing, but in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, where we camped, there are five.  Not five campgrounds, but five campsites, located in the Hamilton Barn and Baxter camps.  You park your car in a parking area and then you have to hike your gear in to your campsite, which is anywhere from 50 to 200 yards away.  There is a pit toilet, and no running water, but hot showers are available at the nearby Albee Creek campground.

We were in the Hamilton Barn camp, and we picked the campsite that was closest to the parking area (and the pit toilet)--still remote, but not as far to carry everything.  We had the entire place to ourselves for a couple days and then other people moved into the other campsites.  The downside to being closest to the parking area is that you get to see everyone coming and going to and from their campsites, but overall, we were still pretty secluded.  Unfortunately, I only seem to have two pictures of our campsite, but this at least gives you an idea.  The big tree on the right in the first picture is the big tree on the left in the second picture.

We also had a picnic table, fire pit, and bear box, so you can see we had plenty of room.  I can't prove to you that we had a picnic table, but I did take this picture on one of our benches.

We also had a stream nearby, so in the morning, Hubby would get up and go purify some water for us so we would have water for coffee, hiking, and brushing our teeth.

So, that's where we lived for a week in the redwoods!  Remember:  Environmental camps are the way to go!      

Non-surfin' Turtles at Laniakea Beach

This is one of my favorite places to bring visitors.  The turltes come up and lounge on the beach, and it's always fun to see somebody discover that not all of those "rocks" on the beach are actually rocks!

Mahalo (thank you) to the Malama na Honu (Protect the Turtles) volunteers who are always on hand to educate the public and help keep our beautiful turtles safe while they rest on the beach.  Many of the turtles are tagged and identified.  I didn't get everyone's name today, but I do remember seeing signs up for Olivia-Dawn (Hawaiian name: Ipo, Tag L-04) and Wooley-Bully (Hawaiian name: Lopeka O Holokai, Tag L-07).  

Surfin' Turtle at Electric Beach

You have no idea how many pictures I have of waves without turtles in them, but, finally, I got this!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-May 2011

Happy May, everybody!  It's the 15th of the month, and you know what that means--Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, is showing off garden blooms from all around the world.  Stop by to see what else is blooming or to share your blooms.

Today, making its first GBBD appearance is my canna, Cannas Picasso.  It had a hard time getting started; every time it would poke its little head up above the ground, the snails or slugs would come along and mow it right down, but we finally managed to get it past that phase, and big enough to bloom.  Yay!

Putting on a pretty constant show on my back porch is my Blue Daze, Evolvus glomeratus.

This red ginger will soon be making an appearance in its own Progression Obsession post.  I've been documenting its unfurling since about the middle of April. 

Still blooming like crazy are my white spider lilies, Crinum asiaticum

Even though it's gotten floppy and fallen over into its neighboring pot after all the recent rain, I still love my rose, (Mardi Gras (Jacfrain)) and I'm glad it lasted just long enough for Bloom Day.    

In that same pot, my sweet alyssum is gaining ground again after a harsh pruning last month. 

 My bouganvillea usually doesn't have a lot going on, but, again, thanks to the heavy rains, it is full of color right now.

My plumeria continues to put out one or two flowers a day. 

My poor plumbago never gets any attention here because it is always in bloom--it's like the good kid who never gets any attention because he's *always* good, but I thought it deserved some love today.  

I think these snapdragons are getting darker with age, but I like the deeper burgundy tones that are setting in after the lighter pink has "faded". 

I always try to plant zinnias, and they always do well for a few weeks and that's about it, so this might be the only appearance this one is going to make here.   

Next to my zinnia (see them in the picture above?) are my little lobelia, which, despite what the guy at Home Depot tried to tell me, are not Johnny Jump-ups. 

Another constant bloomer, my Golden Shrimp Plant, Pachystachys lutea

This Hardy Ice Plant, Delosperma, is another new addition that I hope will last longer than one GBBD. 

Same goes for this Gazania.   

And, finally, the lizard population always seems to be blooming  in my yard.