“Home” for a Week- Post and Photo Essay

“Home” for a Week

Thank you for reading this week’s “home” for a week post and photo essay. On Sunday Maxx and Catalina went away for a week. We stayed on, house-sitting and pet-sitting, our “home” this week.

One of thousands of flowers in the conservatory.

But first, on Saturday, we all went to Golden Gate Park. It was cloudy, and windy, and chilly. That did not stop the weekend parties in the park, or the throngs of visitors. There were flowers growing everywhere, even though we didn’t get into either the botanical gardens or the Japanese Tea Garden.

A six-piece jazz band, busking in the park.

 

Catalina and Susan at the water lily pond.

 

It could be the orchid conservatory!

 

We did get into the Conservatory of Flowers, though, a greenhouse full of beautiful, healthy, tropical plants. I may have gotten carried away with the camera, my little Olympus point-and-shoot. There was so much to photograph in there!

It could be the carnivorous plant conservatory!

 

Sunday, we went to the airport, dropping off our hosts in the process. See you next week!

Monday, Memorial Day, we laid low, and considered the sacrifices others have made so all of us can enjoy our lives today.

The Pinnacles.

Tuesday Susan and I went to Pinnacles National Park, a two-hour plus drive. It was hot when we took our first hike. It got hotter as we walked. There was little shade and the sun was blazing. We got to a point where we said, “This is dumb,” and turned around. The temperature was in the 90s!

She doesn’t look like she’s sweating to death!

We did see a California condor, never thought I would, and a coyote, too. But it was a long way to go to walk three miles. One hike was all we attempted.

More Pinnacles. With a moon.

We headed west and drove along the coastal highway for 30 or 40 miles, much less frightening than either further north or further south. Or maybe I’m just getting used to roads barely clinging onto mountainsides? The temperature dropped from the 90s to the 50s in less than 100 miles.

The dogs with Maxx on an earlier trip.

After leaving the dogs home alone all day Tuesday, I for one felt a little guilty. So Wednesday we took them to Rodeo Beach, a dog-friendly beach, so they could do some running. I brought cameras, thinking I’d get some pictures. HA! The dogs took 100 percent of my attention, leaving exactly none for any other activities. We ran them in the sand in the waves for a couple hours, though, exactly what we wanted to do. Get them some exercise and get them tired out, because that’s what they like. We all had fun!

Getting to the beach in the Marin Headlands. 18%!!!

 

In the BART station at Embarcadero.

Thursday, we braved the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to go to San Francisco. We got off at the wrong stop and then went the wrong way, seeing many people who were, shall we say, very street-savvy. We turned around before total immersion, and started asking directions to Chinatown. Those obtained, off we went.

If only we’d wanted to go somewhere else…

I love Chinatown! I like the buildings, the Chinese characters I wish I could read, the people shopping in the markets, they crazy things you see for sale. I like listening to the people speaking Chinese. I like the street art, and all the flags and lanterns. It’s all quite exotic, and if you get uncomfortable, English-speaking land is just a few blocks away. I like that we ended up in a place called the Spicy Shrimp for a bowl of noodle soup and a plate of chow fun. Yum yum!

The flags and the lanterns!

 

The street art!

We wandered down to the waterfront, over a mile from Fisherman’s Wharf. There were no sea lions. I guess they all work for tourist tips at the wharf. Then we wandered back to BART, and rode back to Castro Valley.

A view of the Transamerica building.

 

A different view of the Transamerica building.

BART is clean, and compared to what I’ve seen of rapid transit in Boston and New York, lightly used. The trains were on time, and fast. We couldn’t tell if this was the nature of the beast, or COVID related. When you consider the crowds of cars on the roads around here, I’m sure we’ll use it again next time we go to San Francisco.

The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

 

Show off your pride!

Friday Susan painted and I wrote for my Global Outdoors travelogue. And we’re again lying low this weekend. So thank you for reading this week’s “home” for a week post!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or take a trip!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.

Yosemite Park and Muir Woods- A Photo Essay

Yosemite Park and Muir Woods

Thank you for reading this week’s post on Yosemite Park and Muir Woods! I’m glad you’re here!

Now, let me send you somewhere else. This reporter has been writing a travelogue for a website called Global Outdoors. The most recent one they have posted is at this URL- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com/news/2021/5/24/traveling-america-by-van-on-the-road . But the posts go back to planning the trip and building out the van, if you are that interested. The content is quite different than what you see here. If you’re bored at work, please check it out!

Arches on the California coast.

Over the weekend we drove up to Sebastipol to visit Brian and Laura Jaye, long-time friends of Maxx. Maxx took us all out to CA 1 to see the sea. I can hardly believe they put a road on the side of those cliffs. It is terrifying to anyone who fears falling. The scenery is fantastic, though!

Maxx, Catalina, Carlo, and Betty.

 

General store, Elk, CA.

 

The flowers along the coast are gorgeous. These are California poppies.

Monday, Susan and I drove from Castro Valley to Yosemite National Park. Once we got clear of the major highways, the drive was beautiful- rolling hills turning into mountains, sparsely travelled four lane highway turning into narrow, winding mountain road.

El Capitan and Half Dome.

We reached the park entrance around noon. At least fifty cars were in line ahead of us.

Susan and John in Tuolumne Grove.

Clearing the entrance gate, we entered the park and drove to the Tuolumne Grove parking lot. I wanted to drive up Tioga Road, but it was closed. We parked, and hiked down into one of only 25 groves of giant sequoias left on the planet. They are so amazing!

A tunnel was carved through this dead tree trunk.

We hadn’t gotten our bearings yet, but after the walk Susan wanted to see El Capitan. We headed towards Yosemite Valley, stopping at overlooks along the way. When we got down onto the valley floor, the road looked like a parking lot. A long line of vehicles were parked on the road, which was temporarily closed for construction We joined the line, and sat down to wait.

After 20 minutes or so, the line started to move. It was slow movement, but it was movement. Hooray!

Our first view of El Capitan was stunning. People climb that cliff?!?!? We managed to snatch a parking spot, and did what tourists do- we snapped photos. That chunk of rock, while amazingly huge and imposing, wasn’t doing much at that moment, so we got back in the car, got back into the traffic, and creeped along- right into a controlled burn.

Didn’t come to see this!

The smoke quickly affected my breathing. You couldn’t see the mountains any more. We turned around as quickly as we could and got out of there.

Smoke filled Yosemite Valley.

Entrance into the park Tuesday morning was easy- no wait! The valley was completely filled with smoke, so after a 45-minute wait due to road construction (I photographed Mercer River while waiting), we drove up onto the Glacier Point road (on another terrifying mountain road) and drove all the way to the Glacier Point overlook.

Mercer River. Methinks there might be many trout here.

 

Mercer River, view 2. Note the cars parked on the road, left side.

 

Susan at Glacier Point. The view? AMAZING.

In the meantime, the wind had come up and blown most of the smoke out of the valley. The views from Glacier Point were incredible. We stopped at a couple other overlooks, then hiked up Sentinel Dome.

Sentinel Dome.

This walk was very tough for me. We were at such high elevation, I just couldn’t get enough air. Slow, slow, slow going, but finally I got up there.

Susan and John, somewhere in Yosemite.

The view, of 360 degrees, was dizzying. I hardly took any pictures- no way could they begin to convey the experience. The struggle up there was so worth it!

A view of the Half Dome.

We sat on the dome for over an hour. Some mental arithmetic told me that if we left right now, we’d be back to Castro Valley around sunset. We hiked back (it’s so much easier going down!) and hit the road. My phone took us through the backest roads (is backest a word?) imaginable, but got us to the interstate. We got to Maxx’s about 1930 hours after an amazing couple of days.

A redwood tree. Yes, they are very big, too.

Thursday, we hit a much closer target, Muir Woods National Monument, home of coastal redwood trees. Redwoods lack the bulk of giant sequoias, but they go straight up, seemingly forever. And it’s not like they’re small!

Redwood sorrel carpets the ground in places.

 

Susan admires some trees…

We took a leisurely hike of two miles or so, then went to Fish., in Sausalito, for lunch. Squid Caesar salad and squid over linguini, it was so good!

Lunch!

Then, it was off to Marin Headlands for views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Pacific Ocean. Great stuff! Beautiful spot, and fantastic (if breezy) weather!

The Golden Gate Bridge, icon of San Francisco.

The plan for Saturday is to visit San Francisco. Should be an interesting day!

Thank you for reading this week’s post on Yosemite Park and Muir Woods!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or take a trip!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.