Old Retired Guy Blog

Oct 21 - Nov 1, 2006

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South to Yosemite & San Francisco (Page 1/6)

[October 21-22] We headed south on I-5 and, except for a side trip to Jacksonville (kind of nice, but I'm not sure I'd go there again) we headed to our first destination on this trip, Ashland, OR.  In case you haven't already heard, this is the home of a renowned Shakespeare Festival.  Don't let that scare you.  This is a very nice town, even if you don't like Shakespeare and don't want to go to a play.  The fall colors were marvelous and the weather was great.  We enjoyed a tour of the outdoor Elizabethan theater, wandered around the town, and saw a play (Sorry, Will, it wasn't one of yours.  We saw "Bus Stop.")

[October 23] We got back onto I-5 and continued our route south into California, eventually arriving at our rented cottage in Mariposa.  It's a great place called Doe's Cottage -- I'd definitely recommend it.  Kathy's brother Jim planned to meet us there and the timing could hardly have been better; he showed up about 5 minutes after we arrived.

[October 24] Today was the first of three incredible days that we reserved to enjoy the wonders of Yosemite National Park.  The weather continued to be great -- it must have been sunny and 80 degrees.  The drive into the park was slowed a bit due to a massive landslide that blocked Highway 140, which is the direct route in from Mariposa.  To provide access to the park the highway department had to build a bridge across the Merced River west of the slide, then construct a road bed along the other side of the river past the slide area and finally, build another bridge back to Highway 140 on the east side of the landslide.  They may have to leave it that way rather than try to restore the original highway. 

After entering the park our first goal was to drive up to Glacier Point.  Kathy and I spent 5 weeks in Yosemite Valley in the winter of 1974.  At that time, except for the road to the Badger Pass Ski Area, the high country was not accessible due to snow, so we had never been to Glacier Point before.  I'm sure glad we got there on this trip.  I am definitely adjectivally challenged when it comes to describing this place and photos can't do it justice so log off right now and drive up there, you won't regret it.  The views of the valley from this location have to be the some of the most spectacular on earth.  We spent a couple hours there and, of course, I took way too many photos trying to capture that which cannot be captured.

When we finally left, Kathy and I drove back down to the Valley while Jim hiked down via the Four Mile Trail that runs from Glacier Point to the Valley.  We met him at one of the stores and enjoyed a cold beer to finish up the day in the park before driving back to Mariposa.

South to Yosemite & San Francisco
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