California Coast

I didn't think there was any coastal area in California which wasn't overrun with people.  However, Drake and I managed to find an area.  First, we had to change our plans on the fly - nothing unusual for us in doing that.  We'd planned to leave Yosemite and drive 200 miles to Sequoia National Park and stay there a few days.  Personally, I love the 'big trees'.  If you haven't been to a grove of giant redwoods or sequoias, you can't imagine the pure oxygen rush you get along with the awe over the majesty of these trees.  So.....  When we discovered the weather was going to be horrible - blowing snow, below freezing weather, etc., even though I was disappointed, we started thinking about finding somewhere else to go. 

I first thought Death Valley National Park - a place I've wanted to see.  However even in mid April the temps are too fierce.  I turned west remembering the big rock in Morro Bay, and I also started thinking about the Hearst Castle.  We discovered Morro Bay as the final hurrah to our Big Sur trip of a few years ago.  The rock intrigued me.  In addition to Morro Bay, there was Los Osos which we hadn't seen.  Both are small coastal communities outside of San Luis Obispo. 

This rock is MASSIVE and sits offshore in the ocean.  It turns out to be what's left of an extinct volcano, and it's one of nine in a chain.  They were blowing their tops 20 million years ago.  Once you know this, you can spot the other eight.  They are all on land, and are covered with a thin layer of top soil.   Bright green grass grows on them in the spring, and they have identical shapes to the Morro Bay rock. 

Even better, the coastline is beautiful and in the same vein as the Big Sur area.  

There's even a chain of small California State parks which are filled with coast line hugging hikes.  Here I am on the kind of hike I like - easy with great scenery.  

And it wouldn't be a hike without flowers.  In Montero de Oro State Park, the bright yellow poppies (the 'Oro' in the name) were just starting to bloom.  Some years they cover the worn down hills.

When you faced away from the ocean, here was the 'view'.  There were also hiking trails all over these hills up and down the coast.  You just have to be on the lookout for rattlers and those pesky ticks.  

By contrast, the Yosemite accommodations were barely adequate, and the food at Yosemite was completely lackluster, and for me downright poisonous.  On the California coast we stayed at a coastal bed/breakfast two room suite right across the street from a chef run small restaurant.  All his food was absolutely delish. It was a delightful couple of days, and a place we are contemplating going back to for a longer stay.   If you want to see more pictures, well I have them.  Just click on the link.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/u1BSco0jTxU7aZ3T2  

Yosemite Valley

Back to my travelogue ways in this entry.  We planned an excursion for our 47th to the iconic American National Park:  Yosemite.  I have to say right up front we were both disappointed.  Perhaps, the food poisoning I received as a lagnaippe from the swank INSIDE THE PARK meal has colored my perceptions.  Drake found the commercialization to have compromised the ultimate beauty of the park. 

First, let me say the waterfalls are spectacular.  As usual with our luck, we saw them at premiere peak.  In Yosemite, mother nature controls the flow of the falls, so the only time they are all gushing over the cliff tops is late spring and very early summer.  It didn't hurt our chances there was a big rain event two days before we arrived adding to the snow melt.  Here's Yosemite Falls which dries up by August.

Yosemite Falls with 'ice' on the sides

We stayed inside Yosemite Valley which is where Ansel Adams took most of his iconic pictures in the 20th century, and Albert Bierstadt painted in the 19th century.   John Muir, the California naturalist is the one who befriended Teddy Roosevelt, lured him to California and took him by horseback into the valley.  Roosevelt was so swept away with the beauty he set aside the land as America's first national park.  

I can only imagine what it must have looked like.  Now, the valley floor is a web of paved paths, paved short hiking trails to the base of any accessible water fall, hotel rooms, motel rooms, 'improved' camping sites, RV parking sites, and ribbons of roads to reach it all.  This park has been 'loved to death' by the public.  

On the positive side, the valley would be a great vacation if you have elementary school age children.  The bike paths which wind around everywhere are relatively flat, and children would love riding on them.  The hikes are doable by short legs.  And, to be fair, there's thousands of acres of wilderness to which the hardy (young adults) can backpack.  This place is also a rock climbing paradise.  

Just be sure to bring your own food.  Part of our disgruntled attitude was the lack of a single decent meal the entire time we were there.  I really did get food poisoning which ruined an entire day of the trip for both of us.   However, even before that, the $40 breakfast was a bad combination of airline food/fast food.  I've had a better free breakfast at the lowliest Best Western.  The hamburger was on par with one from a minor league ballpark.   Drake resorted to eating the ham salad I brought with us from home for breakfast one day.   

I did discover each of the five entrances into the park offer different sights and hikes, so if you are planning a visit and it's NOT waterfall season, skip the Yosemite Valley and choose somewhere else inside the park to visit.  It will be much less crowded, and this entire area of California is gorgeous.  

Of course, I took lots of pictures.  I also decided to channel Ansel Adams and took several black and white shots.  Click on the link to see both the B/W and the color shots of Yosemite Valley.  (Oh, and we did see several vintage cars leaving the valley as we were arriving, so we just missed a rally of early 20th century cars.)  

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HzT1JIEAHwyYwcuP2