Tag: California

Yosemite and housekeeping

We arrived Sunday at Yosemite Pines RV Resort in Groveland, just off Highway 120 near the west entrance to Yosemite. It is ok. Definitely nothing to write home about, but adequate for visiting Yosemite. We had a nice Happy Hour with the other RV Forum rally attendees. Monday was my first time at Yosemite, and all I can say is “Wow!” It is truly spectacular. Since the winter was so wet, the waterfalls are roaring. Even more than the waterfalls, I just loved the valley itself – green, broad, a river rolling with whitewater, and surrounded by granite cliffs. Here are some of the obligatory photos.

We actually didn’t stay too long or do any walking. A light mist turned to a dreary cold rain, and we did not have adequate gear. We visited the park headquarters, had lunch in the lodge bar, and took the shuttle bus round trip through the stops. Back in camp we warmed up and dried off, then some of us went to the oldest saloon in California, the Iron Door. Fun local place, and they had a good local dark beer.

Tuesday we did housekeeping chores. After a week or so on the road we needed to do laundry. We also went to the little local museum in Groveland (quite nice) and had lunch at a local bakery. Happy Hour again with the rally folks, then off to the Iron Door saloon again for a beer and onion rings. I also did some sewing on a quilt for Quilts for Kids. It was a fairly productive day for just getting some things done.

Sonoma county excitement

After our fun trip to San Francisco we mostly relaxed on Friday. We did visit a couple of wineries (Rodney Strong and Kendall-Jackson). Rodney Strong was nice, but K-J was nothing to write home about. We just tried them to see how big wineries compared to smaller ones. Friday night was absolutely nuts at the campground. I have never seen so many children, most of them having a good time. Every site was filled including the numerous cabins, and the overflow parking was overflowing. We went for dinner with friends to Nick’s, a restaurant on Nick’s Cove southwest 20 minutes from Petaluma. It was a wonderful experience with good food, lovely wine, and good conversation.

It was still crazy at the campground on Saturday, but we got up fairly early to do some sightseeing. We first visited the Armstrong Redwoods, a spot recommended by friends. The weather was windy and damp discouraging walks. We did get to see redwoods though! There is no way I can take a picture that shows how big they are, but here are a couple of attempts.

We also went to the coast to drive part of highway 1. This is a road we could never do with the trailer since it is narrow and windy. We stopped at a number of beaches until we found real excitement at Duncan’s Cove (part of Sonoma State Beach). A pickup had driven over the edge of the cliff and fallen/rolled about 100′ to the shore. By the time we got there, the scene was fully in hand with multiple EMTs, sheriffs, park patrol, and two helicopters. One ended up lifting the injured driver out and the other did the airlift to the hospital. I was amazed the driver was alive, but the local paper said he was expected to survive. Lots of cool pictures watching the experts stabilize and then transport the driver to the cliff top.

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Petaluma KOA and San Francisco

We arrived at the Petaluma KOA yesterday evening at 5:30. It was a beautiful drive from Nevada, but I rediscovered how painful driving in California traffic is! The KOA is very nice with lots of trees, level pull-through sites, and it is remarkably quiet. I can’t believe how big the roses are; there are individual blooms as big as my outstretched hand. In general the place is nicely landscaped with lots of flowers in addition to the trees. The sites are quite spacious for a private campground too. It is expensive for us, though not unreasonable for a popular vacation area like this ($55 for Sunday through Thursday, $75 for Friday and Saturday for a water and electric site). We got a discount with our KOA card, and Saturday night was a special fee which made it less expensive. We also used some of our KOA points to reduce the cost.

Today we took a tour to San Francisco. There were 14 of us, a driver, and the tour guide. The guide was informative and the stops nice. We did all the standard stuff – Golden Gate Bridge, Presidio, cable car, Fisherman’s wharf, Golden Gate Park, Fort Point Historic Site, and Chinatown plus just driving some of the wonderful neighborhoods. They picked us up at 9:00 and we got back to the campground just after 6:00. This was worth every penny so we didn’t have to drive (and park) the truck in town. Here are some of the pictures.

Overlooking the city and the bay from the 9th floor of the De Young museum
Mandatory cable car photo
My husband on the cable car
Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Point National Historic Site

We were very lucky in the weather. It was cool and windy, but no fog or rain. I really like San Francisco, but it is still a big city with traffic, congestion, and no parking. I wish I could stay for a week sometime but I doubt it will ever happen. We just like open spaces too much. I always feel closed in when I am in a city. I guess I am just a western girl at heart.

Tomorrow is a wine country tour (driving ourselves), and dinner with an old high school friend.