May's California Adventures

May's California Adventures

From the 17th through the 27th of May we turned our sites westward.  On our way to California, we stopped for a little exploration of the north end of Zion's National Park.

We left American Fork at about 2:00 PM on the 17th after Dave's golf game in Provo, Utah. We drove about three hours to Cedar City, where we spent the night and planned to check out Kolob Canyon before driving on into California the next morning.

We stopped at the visitor's center to get the map and see where we should go.

We were disappointed to learn that a better time to see the beautiful formations and rock colors was in the evening.  We were there at 9:00 in the morning!  The vistas were a little hazy, so the colors were muted, and not crystal clear.  Oh well, that just means that we'll have to return some time in the future (in the evening hours)!

Boating with Sue's brother, Steve Harris

One of the fun things we fit into our California trip was a visit with Steve and his daughter, Kelsey.  As it turned out, Steve was in the process of buying a boat.  He was able to do his "trial" of the boat while we were there -- so we got to go out on the water and enjoyed a couple hours of sea breeze and sun.

The above picture isn't the boat that Steve is buying, but we took the picture when we were out in the ocean.  The picture gives you an idea of where we were and what a beautiful day we enjoyed.

Here's Steve at the wheel -- at almost 57, he's stayed in really good shape.  He's a runner, and takes good care of himself.  He's taken sailing lessons and is planning some new adventures -- like circumnavigating the world!  We were so happy to share the test drive of his new sailboat!  It was a fun morning!  After our boat ride he treated us to a scrumptious sea-food lunch of calamari sandwiches and ceviche there near the dock.  We were given royal treatment.  He's a great brother! 

San Clemente with Marc and Betty Mortensen

From La Jolla, we drove up to San Clemente where we were Marc and Betty's guests for about four days.  The large white building below (top floor overlooking the ocean) is where we stayed.  It was verrrrry nice!  We loved going out on the beach for a stroll.

We had such a good time with the Mortensens!  We became acquainted with them when we lived in Saudi Arabia.  They lived in Riyadh, and we met them when we traveled for our church work there.  We stayed in touch, and even got to see them after they left Arabia and moved to China.  They retired a little before we did, and settled in Layton, Utah -- about an hour north of us.  Now they're in the process of moving to St. George, Utah where the weather is warmer and the altitude is a little lower.   Marc is Dave's good golfing, fly fishing and ATVing buddy!

Marc and Betty have a family interest in this beautiful condo, and have been very generous to invite us along to share  it.  This picture is taken from the balcony, looking out into the ocean.  (Please ignore my messy hair!)  We spent our time relaxing, eating out, going to a couple of movies and playing games.  It was a great time!

Heading North to Sequoia and Yosemite National Forests

Thursday morning, the 24th of May, we said our good-buys to Marc and Betty and headed north.  We made good time AFTER we passed Los Angeles.  It was bumper to bumper there for a long stretch. 

We were able to see almost all of Sequoia National Park on the 24th.  There weren't a ton of people there, and we got in a couple of hikes in through the towering giants of the forest.

Standing next to General Sherman, I look pretty skinny!

 We were enthralled by the beauty of the forest!

As a child, I remembered driving through a standing redwood.  We couldn't find that one -- but we found this one.

The redwoods are magnificent trees against the sky!

Chilly Yosemite Surprise! In the early 2000's we took a trip to Yosemite.  It was the end of May and was a wonderful time of year.  The river was at max capacity and the waterfalls were flowing heavy with runoff.  The spring flowers were still in bloom, but it was pleasantly warm.  There weren't too many people, because school wasn't out yet. These were many of the reasons we decided to visit Yosemite at the end of May this year.

It was May 25th when we entered this wonderful National Park.  This past winter had given the high country of Central California very little rain -- so there wasn't nearly as much water in the river, and the waterfalls were a little skimpy as well.  But the biggest contrast was in the weather!  It was SNOWING on the day we came to Yosemite.

As soon as we entered the park we took the high road, and drove to the upper look-out site, as seen in the pictures above.  It hadn't started to snow yet, but it was windy, and very cold.  As we drove down the mountain into the valley the snow started.

The picture above doesn't do justice to our experience with snow in Yosemite.  We were pretty disappointed that we didn't get to hike much.  It was just too cold, and we didn't pack for low temperatures.  We only had light sweaters.  The forecast was for more snow the following day as well -- so we drove around and enjoyed being with each other in this adventure that didn't turn out quite as we had planned.

When I was nine years old I came to Yosemite to go camping with some friends, and I have fond memories of playing in the river here for hours at a time.  I remember watching the teen age boys doing cannon-balls off the bridge.  It was fun to recall those memories.  Dave on the bridge makes for new memories to enjoy.

A Beautiful Drive Home 

Following Yosemite, we drove north and over the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Highway 4.  It is a very windy but beautiful mountain highway.  The problem this time was that there was a storm that wasn't bad in the central valley near Fresno but in the higher elevations it was quite a blizzard at times!

You can see that things had turned quite green before the snows hit.  It was warm enough that the roads were just wet so it wasn't dangerous or frightening -- in fact, it was very lovely!

 

We overnighted in Carson City, which proved to be a really nice town.  This is one town in Nevada that I might consider living in.  We drove the rest of the way back to American Fork the next day.  It was a  great trip!