Y is for Yosemite - OK, that's pretty obvious

"Let the fire fall" 

The voice echoed through Yosemite Valley. At Camp Curry, we held our breath.  From the top of Glacier Point, a small stream became a full waterfall of molten embers as it fell to the valley floor. New to the sight or a frequent visitor, it was the highlight of the evening.

Photo credit: http://filforn.blogspot.com/search/label/Yosemite - Be careful on this site. I went to view the picture and an hour later, remembered I was doing a blog post. Meine Wunderkamper labels the blog "objects of curiosity, memory, knowledge and wonder". It is!


The Firefall is just history now. I think that in today's world it would be considered dangerous and those who track those sort of things would be out protesting. For us, in a less confrontational world, it was magical. The Firefall ended in 1968 after a somewhat tenious start in 1872. The Firefall history is well documented on this site and if you are interested in the history, it's all there.

Everyone writes about Yosemite. Today the park is more restrictive than it used to be. The freedom we had to roam is gone. Most of that is due to the park's popularity. Still, we make the trip frequently. No matter how many times you stop at the viewpoint overlooking the valley, it never gets old.

Yosemite is not just about the valley. We generally come in on the Fresno side. From the entrance, a right turn takes you to the Mariposa Grove of Sequioa's. This is my son and grandson starting the tour.

 

My favorite memory is staying at the Wawona hotel. On this trip, we ate at the hotel but did not stay there.

Instead, we pitched a tent in the Wawona campground and made it our base camp. From there, we toured the valley. The road to the valley, all 28 miles, was gravel only. It was being repaved.

 

We left Yosemite from the Tuolumne side. This pictures was taken from Tuolumne Road looking back at the valley from the other side of the park.

 

Two more pictures to share. The kids were small when this was taken next to the Merced River that runs through the valley. We were wearing long sleeve so it must have been spring when the air was still chilly.   

The kids were a little older here. This was taken at the Viewpoint.

Every time we go to Yosemite, it is a new adventure. The fact that it never gets old allows us to enjoy it all over again.

V is for Vacation

We vacation but California is not our only destination. As you can see from the map, we have been to many states and try to add more each year. Next month I am going to add Tennessee and hopefully, Kentucky although my itinerary has me landing in South Carolina so I might claim that too. 

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visited 31 states (62%)
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The United States is full of the most incredible places to visit and each state has its own beauty. I can honestly say in each state we have visited, there are places where I would up and move if I had the chance. In 2007, we packed the truck and camper and drove 3000 miles to Maine. This is Gary with one of the lobsters we pulled out of the Camden Harbor.

 

Our friend has a lobster boat and does tours but he took us out by ourselves. What an incredible trip that was!

While I write about California, I have so many other places to share. For example, Salem, Massachusetts is not my favorite place. We stayed at the Winterhaven campground. However, most of my time was spent at the hospital. I developed some sort of a nasty bug that sidelined us for two days. I also got a parking ticket. They are not kidding with their posted parking time limits.

This picture was taken somewhere between Bois d Arc, Missouri and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Route 66. It is spots like this that make travel interesting. This is a 1912 gas station that the forest is reclaiming.

 

So while I write about California, I want to pay homage to the other states. I could easily write a A to Z on all the states we've visited. California just happens to be where I was born and have lived for 60 years. Ours is a beautiful country with surprises at every turn. I can't wait to find new adventures as we continue our travels.