Mountain Laurel

Mountain Laurel is in bloom at the Ranch. We have a lot of it out back, very nice in late May - early June. If you click on the slide show at the upper right of the blog screen it will open the albums and you can check out more pictures.

If you're not into that, click here instead.

New Mountain Laurel Plant

Cruisin' With The Top down

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I'll bet y'all miss me...

We are at Fox and Hound, which used to be Damon's - where Lindsay used to work!


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Tour Map - California 2011

Here's the map of the entire route:

No more Carroll Spam!

Heading home today. The blitz of Spam-like posts and cross-posts is over!

Friends and family will be undoubtedly relieved, although most have probably blocked, de-friended and un-followed me by now.

You can find links to our Yosemite pictures here. Links to Lake Tahoe here. Giant Redwoods here.

I will now devote my efforts to editing previous posts to provide additional colorful commentary, and to Photoshop my pictures so I look skinnier.

Ciao!

.

Home Stretch

House of Beef, Oakdale CA

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Yosemite

Woke up at the Charlotte Hotel in Groveland, CA. Groveland is about 35 miles West of Yosemite. Perfect weather for sightseeing.










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Groveland Jail

We stayed at the Charlotte Hotel in Groveland, CA. This is a quaint town, the gateway to Yosemite.
They have an old jail house from back in the 1800's. It's not much bigger than an outhouse, but it could apparently hold drunks, two of which still seem to be there. 









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Robinson's Ferry

The pictures below were taken with my iPOD. Find better Tahoe pictures here.

Lake Tahoe near Incline Village

Robinson's Ferry in Gold Country. Lots of prospectors crossed here, including Mark Twain.

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The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Rawhide Road

We rode on Route 49 in California, on the way from Jackson to an unknown hotel within striking distance of Yosemite.

South of Angel's Camp, across the Robinson's Ferry bridge, the road takes a strange convulsive path just before Jamestown. I didn't know where I was, just following the GPS. At the request of the GPS, I turned from 49 onto something called Co Rd E5, which we learned was also known as Rawhide Road.

T was immediately intrigued. The properties along the road had a unique Western look. Several of the properties were (no doubt still are) for sale. I saw a wonderful old windmill, with flat metal blades, squared off at the ends.

South of Angel's Camp, North of Rawhide Road

Check it out for yourself here. I recommend the street view!

Hyatt Regency Tahoe

This place is pretty grand!

This is the entrance. A valet parked our car.

A big fireplace. Gas.

We're on the 10th floor. The outdoor pools are heated. It's 37 degrees out and people are swimming.

This is the view from our 10th Floor room.

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Near Death Experience

T claims I nearly got us both killed crossing a mountain on I80, about 30 miles West of Donner Lake. Close to where the Donner Party spent the winter of 1846-1847.

I was trying to configure a GPS device with my right hand while driving with my left. Being ambidextrous, sort of, I am uniquely skilled at this kind of thing. There are laws against distracted driving, of course, but these do not anticipate people with my skill level.

Anyway, while I was configuring, on a high mountain pass I drove smack into a snow squall. The snow was horizontal.Visibility was zero. Soon dime-sized hail started banging down, ricocheting all over and making a lively racket. Snow and ice was accumulating on the windshield faster than the wipers could sweep it away.

I continued bravely, driving with one hand and fiddling with the GPS with the other. I am proud to have such motor skills at my age, and a good GPS signal is always useful.

Imagine, for example, how much easier it would have been for the Donner Party if they had had a GPS. I was thinking, too, that if we got stranded it would be handy if the rescue squad had our exact coordinates. In case they needed to call one of those ambulance helicopters, or a St. Bernard.

I looked over at T, expecting her to acknowledge my resourcefulness and dexterity. I was surprised to find her glaring at me. She glared the whole way over the top of the mountain and down the other side, right into Donner Pass.

You know, where the Donner Party spent the winter of 1846-1847. Long before satellites were orbiting the earth.

Later she told me that I should not have put our lives in danger like that! Can you imagine?! She said that if I had wrecked, and we both survived, she would have killed me!

I have a wealth of male logic at my disposal, so I used some of it:

I pointed out that, since we were surrounded by steep cliffs with thousand foot drop-offs, if we had crashed there wouldn't have been any survivors for her to kill. And since the visibility was nearly zero anyway, it didn't matter if I wasn't looking at the road every second.

I went on in this vein for a while, but it didn't work. She was mad at me all night and didn't smile till the next morning when she saw the view of Lake Tahoe from our hotel window.

I still think that we needed that GPS signal. The Donner Party survivors, after all, only made it through the winter of 1846-1847 by being resourceful.

The GPS did lead us straight to the hotel, which had a restaurant. One which the less resourceful members of the Donner Party would have appreciated.

I had tenderloin.

The view that prevented T from killing me

Redwoods to Tahoe

We drove (rather, T drive) on Rt 36 across northern California, a road that twists and turns through the mountains.

Very scenic. We crossed the Van Duzen River and the Little Larabee Creek.

Went through the town of Dinsmore which did not take long.





We crossed Butte Creek and the South Fork of the Van Duzen River.

We crossed (or at least drove by) Mad River. I know it's a river; not sure if it's also a town. Also don't know what role (if any) the river had in the life of the Mad River Canoe Company.









Other places: Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Trinity River, Lower Rattlesnake River, Stuart Gap, Rat Trap Gap, and Platina.

We burst back into civilization at the town of Red Bluff, CA. We stopped for lunch and to get our bearings, then headed to Tahoe via I5 and I80. Straight roads meant I was back in the driver's seat.

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Ferndale, CA

Victorian Inn. High ceilings, lots of stairs. I'm wearing my San Francisco Sweatshirt, with a zipper and hood.

The sun just came out.

T & I are walking down Main Street, which is done up like an old Western Town. When T goes into a shop I sit on one of the benches if there's one close by.

So far I've been lucky picking up free Wi-Fi so I haven't gotten too bored yet.





















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Pacific

T insisted on driving through the tree. We had a rental car, so why not?

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Mendocino Bean-o

Directly Across From the Hotel

Hasn't Changed Much Since 1878

View Down the Street, Westward

This was stuck on the front.

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Richardson Grove SP

Visiting tomorrow - Redwoods!

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Mendocino Hotel

Staying in Mendocino, CA -- an 1870-ish hotel, very quaint, with a view of the Pacific Ocean out the front door.
This is one of the fancy rooms with private indoor plumbing.

Fort Ross, Pacific Coast Highway

I'm not sure where we were. I'll have to look it up.

Ok, found it. Read more here.

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Guerneville, CA

Stopped in Guerneville for lunch. Gateway to the coast highway, plus Pizza. The crust of the pizza was burnt, making it the worst pizza we had on the entire trip.

I ate all of my slices, since I am inclined to eat anything.

T scraped the cheese and pepperoni, leaving the burnt crust for the birds and random dumpster divers.

Pizza: Not Good

Downtown Guerneville

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Today, Pacific Coast Highway

This Space Intentionally Left Blank For Pictures Later

BTW, today is our 13th wedding anniversary!

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Back on BART

I downloaded a BART app onto my iPOD.

It was real handy. I could tell exactly which train we just missed.

We took the BART Train from Oakland to downtown SF

It was a little confusing, but T figured it out.

Cable Car Return Trip

I cowered inside the car on the wooden bench while T hung off the back. The conductor wouldn't let me out at first. I think he was afraid the extra weight in the back of the car would cause the front wheels to lift off the track. 

The Huddled Masses wait for the next car

T on the back of the cable car.

I got kicked off the back due to weight restrictions.

Inside a cable car.

T didn't miss me at all -- she's enjoying the view!

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Cable Cars

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Steve the tourist

The people on Fishermans Wharf were quite envious of my hat.

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Oh No!

Inside a Candy Store

Barrels of Taffy

Bumper Stickers