Yosemite National Park

Leaving the Bay area, we drove straight east across California to Yosemite and the Sierra Nevadas. This was somewhat unfortunate timing in our trip - Yosemite is in the middle of containing the Rim Fire, a wildfire that has more or less shut down the northwestern area of the park. After passing through the Central Valley (where there are almond trees everywhere), we had to detour because of the fire. Highway 120, which leads through Yosemite to the famous Tioga Pass, was closed on the west side of the park.

The smoky road up the Sierra Nevadas near Yosemite

We had to drive about 40 miles north to take the Sonora Pass across the mountains, then drive south and back into the park from the east over Tioga Pass. Sonora Pass was much slower and windier than Tioga, but despite the extra time and miles, we made it to Yosemite.

Tioga Pass winding along the mountainside

Due to the fire, we could not access the western part of the park - including the famous Yosemite Valley and Half Dome. We camped in the Tuolumne Meadows area, a high valley on the east side.

That afternoon, we hiked up Lembert's Dome. Despite Half Dome being the most-famed dome hike, domes are all over the park, formed by smooth, polishing glacial action on one side and rough, eroding glacial action on the other. I was amazed by the hike - it was so neat to walk along these huge rock structures way up in the air. Everything about it - the formation, rock types, geology - was so neat! It's a surreal feeling to be on top of one. The hike was tough, too: we were hiking up from 9,000 ft to almost 10,000 ft, which made it distinctly harder to breathe or have any endurance at all.

For scale, look for the people on the rock in the center of the picture!

The fire affected us here, too. It was easy to make out the outlines of mountains and forests along the skyline, but the view was predominantly one of smoke. We would learn later that the mornings were clear as could be, but smoke would generally start filling the Tuolumne Meadows valley around 2 or 3 PM.

The smoky view

The next morning, we got a late start due to the cold: the temperature was around 35 F both mornings we were there. We set out on the Glen Aulin trail, which winds along a river through the valley. It was a spectacular trail and one of the best hikes we have done on the trip!

The trail through the meadows crossed some beautiful views as well as huge granite slabs. The meadows were golden and dry; the forest was piney, sandy, and dry. The neat part was again admiring the granite outcroppings - the trail and riverbed would change seemingly arbitrarily from sandy forest to pure granite and back.

The High Sierra forest

Lembert Dome (the previous day's hike) from afar

Tuolumne Meadows

Trail crossing a granite slab

Near the end of the trail, the river became steep, and the trail opened up to views of the surrounding mountains. This remote stream was breathtaking, almost like it was out of a movie.

Just from this limited and hazy visit to Yosemite, I really liked it - it ranks with Glacier as one of the top national parks I've seen so far. The beauty here was unreal, and I want to visit again to see the famed valley when the fires calm down.

From here, we packed up and left around 6:30 AM the day after hiking Glen Aulin: next stop, Vegas!

San Francisco, CA

The journey through Napa Valley brought us into the Bay area for the weekend. Early on Saturday, we got up and headed to the Golden Gate Rec area north of the Golden Gate bridge. Here, we walked around for a while in the early morning, listening to the Pacific Ocean and watching the seals lounge on the shore.

Looking to Point Bonita - the mouth of the bay

We crossed the famous bridge into San Francisco.

We visited many of the popular places along the water in the city - including Fisherman's Wharf, the original Ghirardelli, and several markets and piers. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday with no fog - the beaches were packed, and droves of bicyclists and runners were out everywhere. In addition, there were dozens of sailboats out on the bay - possibly gathering for a race. It was a very "San-Fran" kind of day there.

Looking up one of the ridiculously sloped streets

We left and went to the Mission District to meet one of Jenna's friends who lives in the area for lunch. The area had an odd feel; it is a traditionally poorer-looking Hispanic neighborhood that is transitioning into a trendy, young/hipster place. We walked through Clarion Alley, which is permanently covered in ever-changing graffiti.

A friend I met through work the past two summers at NASA had agreed to let us stay the weekend at his house - an old, very "Californian" home a few blocks from Stanford that was quite a neat place, surrounded by lemon-lime trees, olive trees, and two gigantic palm trees. It was a treat to stay there; Silicon Valley is home to ubiquitous great food, coffee shops, and nice neighborhoods (I saw no less than 6 Teslas just walking around.)

We took some downtime on Sunday to catch up on writing and explore the area for a while. We walked through Stanford, a pretty, sandy-brick campus that is also very much California-style. I liked seeing it since it was a break from the norm: 95% of college campuses seem to use more or less the same brick architecture.

Palm Drive - the entrance to Stanford

The central quad

With laundry, grocery shopping, and errands done, we were ready to leave early Monday morning on the way to Yosemite National Park!

Down the Pacific Coast

We left Seattle and began our journey south - one that will take us all the way to San Diego before turning east. We followed US-101 along the coast, and just as I would have guessed, the coast was beautiful. It's unique in the variety you can see; the coast changes quickly from beaches to rocky cliffs and back the entire way.

The California coast...

...and the Pacific Ocean!

We stopped in Oregon to hike on Cape Lookout, which juts straight into the Pacific. Here the forest was really cool - it was piney, dense, lush, and damp: a distinct Northwest feel.

Cape Lookout trail

The Oregon coast from Cape Lookout

We also visited the Tillamook Cheese factory. The tour was lackluster, but they were generous in handing out free samples!

In northern California, we camped in part of the Redwood National Park and drove through one of the old-growth Redwood forests. The forest is very quiet and peaceful, and the trees are bigger than I could have imagined - it took seeing them in person to really understand their size.

The "Big Tree" - 21 feet in diameter

Further down the coast, we also drove on portions of Highway 1, the Shoreline Highway. This was even windier than 101, but worth it - often the road cut into the cliffs that run right along the ocean.

Just before reaching San Francisco, we detoured from the coast to drive through Sonoma and Napa counties. They weren't the sprawling grape fields I was expecting; the valleys are actually pretty small. There's a lot of winery activity everywhere; it seems these two places are just the center of attention. Regardless, it was very pretty there - wineries from tiny to huge bordered the roads on both sides.

The typical view through Napa Valley

We also passed some very old and very famous wineries along the way.

The drive through Napa brought us straight down into the Bay Area for the weekend - more on that to come!

Seattle, WA: The Turn Home

On Monday night, we met Jenna's parents in Seattle. They were there on their own trip and had lived there in the past, so it was really fortunate to have them show us around. We ate at a small place on the water called Ivar's on Monday evening before heading back to the hotel. Jenna took the pull-out couch and I took the floor, but I was excited: even that was more restful than the weekend at the Gorge we were just returning from.

We started the next day by swinging by the original Starbucks and visiting the Pike Place Market. The market is huge and interesting; it spans an entire street and has multiple floors. There are all kinds of specialty vendors along the main stretch including everything from pasta and olive oil to dried berries.

A strange part of the market is the gum wall, which is neat, but somewhat disgusting. It's not anything more than it sounds - an alley that is covered in gum.

Between walking and driving around town, I noticed that Seattle was in the middle of a significant shift in architecture. More than anywhere else, there were dozens of modern, boxy, green-roofed, stainless-steel accented apartments and condos in the city, with more under construction all over the place.

Later in the day, we met Drew and Maddie one last time before Jenna and I would leave them for good the next day. We went up the Space Needle, which was good but less impressive after having been up the Empire State Building.

We also visited the new Chihuly glass museum next to the Space Needle. Chihuly is a glass artist with work around the world, but several pieces were collected and placed in the museum. His unique way of creating glass shapes made the place sort of eerie and odd, considering his pieces look strange and monster-ish at some times. However, it was very interesting - it's not often I find myself in an art museum.

After our final goodbyes with Drew and Maddie, we met Jenna's parents again for dinner. We went to a seafood place near Pike Place that was aptly named "Cutter's." It was a really nice evening, so Mt. Rainier was visible off in the distance throughout the city.

Mt. Rainier hiding next to the clouds

It was a neat place to visit - after Tuesday evening, we got organized for Wednesday morning, when Jenna and I would depart down US 101 through Oregon and California to the Bay Area. It was a pretty significant milestone: after traveling so long "up and over," we were finally heading "down and back," transitioning from a journey outward to a journey back home!

Post DMB: A Stop in Rodeo City

On our way back to Seattle from The Gorge, the four of us had one more stop together: the Labor Day closing round of the Ellensburg Rodeo. We more or less stumbled into this experience on recommendation from Jenna's parents and bought tickets since it was timed perfectly with the end of the Dave Matthews concert.

Ellensburg is really centered around this rodeo, a Labor Day annual event since the 1920s. The small town thrives on this event every year, and world-ranked cowboys come to compete for tens of thousands in prize money in several events.

The local Safeway's soda display

It was a complete cultural turn-around from the Dave Matthews concert, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. We got to see a variety of events, including horse- and bull-riding, steer roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and a strange (unofficial) event in which teams try to restrain and milk wild cows. The beginning of the rodeo was an extensive parade of pageantry, including countless people on horses riding around and numerous tributes to farmers and the USA. The invocation was preceded with a 5-minute diatribe about how despite what Mr. Obama and the media say, Jesus was watching over the rodeo, and praying to him was the right and legal thing to do.

The rodeo arena

The entire experience was great, and it was neat that the rodeo is part of the Kittitas County Fair, so we were able to eat there and see the diverse collection of 4-H animals being shown. Overall, it was a great stop on our way back to Seattle and such an interesting contrast to where we had come from.

The Gorge Amphitheather - and Dave Matthews!

The Gorge Amphitheater is a huge outdoor concert venue nestled along the Columbia River in the very middle of Washington state. The venue is unique and striking. Given our shared affinity for Dave Matthews, his love for playing at the Gorge, and the perfect timing, it was too good to pass up - Drew, Maddie, Jenna and I spent Labor Day weekend camping there and heard DMB play three shows.

Panoramic view of The Gorge before the Friday concert

The camping area: a sea of tents

We took some time to plan our meals and packing, learning lessons from Yellowstone. We made grocery store runs, stocked up on supplies, and packed the van to the ceiling: our camping pass would only allow one car in, so we all piled in the van. It was effectively loaded to the brim when we left on Thursday evening.

I have found along the way that for many places, I don't even have time to think about what to expect before we show up somewhere. And that was certainly the case here: this concert weekend is an all-in weekend for some people, and we had no idea what to expect. We thought we were prepared but realized quickly that others were veterans: people brought trailers, RVs, huge patio covers, tables, grills, kites, and even slip-n-slides. It was an event, an adventure, and a spectacle. Many people decorated their belongings accordingly:

Honeymoon with DMB (...?)

The days were long and hot; many people played football or frisbee, or just walked around. Standard attire for most was a bathing suit: anything more was optional. We passed time by cooking, doing crosswords, and especially by reading: I finished both Michael Pollan's Cooked and Cheryl Strayed's Wild that weekend. Saturday was both VT and UVA's first football games, and Drew streamed both games on his iPhone. For this, we devised a MacGyver-ed shade-tarp and power-strip-charging experiment that worked out.

There were other "this would only happen at the Gorge" experiments as well, including Drew and Maddie's fairly successful attempt at making solar nachos.

The concerts were incredible - I ate up every minute of them. Though the openers were average, Dave Matthews played three totally different, good shows. Friday night was a slightly sub-par warm up kind of show. Saturday night was a really great slower, mellow, very improvisational show (including encore, they played from 8:30 until almost midnight.) Sunday night was an upbeat, diverse, great closing show. It was truly a treat to hear those guys play so much.

Though I loved the music, the camping there was an atmosphere pretty different from our generally law-abiding, peaceful, early-to-bed and early-to-rise camping life. The experience of this kind of music festival was a great one to have, but one that was exhausting given the context of the trip (and because our neighbors were particularly unruly.) I don't know how many more music festivals I'll go to in the future - but I'm glad I checked it off my list!