Road Trip

I have just returned from a road trip around California seeing some very beautiful scenery and old buildings associated with the California gold rush.

Part of our route was determined by the location of friends we wanted to see along the way. 

This is a shopping mall we passed as we drove through Los Angeles. It reminds me of something you'd see in Las Vegas.

After visiting friends our next stop was...

We saw many changes of landscape during our trip. This flat farm land soon gave way to mountains.

And trees. Lots and lots of trees. 

There are a lot of deer in this area but you have to concentrate to spot them among all the trees. This curious youngster co-operated so I could get this picture.

The scene at some of the vista points was hazy because of a wildfire burning across the way.

We could see a lot of waterfalls from our vantage point.

We didn't see any but there are bears in them there hills so all the rubbish bins have to be bear proof.

There are dramatic views around every corner (and since the roads are very winding, there are lots of corners).

The wildfire causing all the haze.

A view from Glacier Point down to Yosemite Village. The GPS says it is only 1.8 mile away from here but that is as the crow flies. By road it was 30 miles away.

Half dome which people can hike to and climb (not by me).

Did I mention there were lots of trees?

Down in the valley was this beautiful lake and view of another lovely waterfall.

It was time for a hike.

Sorry about the out of focus picture but these blue jays don't stay still for long enough to get a good picture.

After a very steep hike we arrived at Vernal Falls.

It was time to move on. The section most visitors see of Yosemite is a relatively small area in the south-west of the National Park. Since there are few roads through the Park, we headed to Tioga Road which runs east to west.

We traveled east eventually rising to almost 10,000 feet at Tioga Pass.