This morning, I was quite peeved to discover that we missed Vasquez Rock Park. Cue the anguished cry of "NOOooooOOOO!!!" That's right, Star Trek fans - Stephen and I won't be re-enacting those iconic moments of Captain Kirk versus the Gorn. (I was really looking forward to building that rock cannon and blasting Stephen with it.) :'-(
But - sadly - here we are, on the little part of the map labelled "Fresno", and there's Vasquez Rock Park, just outside that part of the map labelled "Los Angeles", and there's a big wide space in between. If only I had a transporter. Sigh. Guess that's another one that goes on the do-over list for next time.
We drove into Yosemite National Park this morning. It's just over an hour away - starts out through some pretty, rolling countryside, and then turns into the zig-zag express once you start getting nearer to the park. All of those car ads where you see the car veering back and forth along a ribbon of road? Those could all be filmed here.
Before the park gates are even in sight, there's a long line of vehicles crawling forward. This could be a bad sign. But, slowly but surely, we finally reach the park gates, show them our pass, and we're through! I'm sure it's all good now.
Stephen suggests we take the Glacier Pass road first - it's a long, winding drive upward through the forests. There are signs warning about smoke and/or firefighters on the road, but we figure if there were a giant forest fire ripping through the park, they probably wouldn't let us be driving on the road. There are a few smoky sections, though - mmm, smells like campfire. (Not like camps on fire and screaming people, but like happy campfire.)
It's a relatively long drive, but the view from Glacier Pass is spectacular. We can see Half-Dome (which we are not climbing on this trip - someday, we'll come for you Half-Dome, but not today), upper and lower falls nearby, and way way down there is the valley road and the park below. we walk around, take some photos and enjoy the views for a while.
It's all downhill from here (literally and figuratively). It's actually kind of a fun drive - I'm using the engine braking, which means constant shifting - zoom zoom zoom! Back down to the main park road, and we're driving into the park valley. Through the tunnel, and - all of a sudden, there's park staff directing traffic. No stopping at this viewpoint - the parking lot is full. Um, okay. So we have to park on the shoulder and walk back a short distance. Another beautiful view.
Next stop, Bridalveil Falls. A park employee lets in a few vehicles, counts them off, then ropes off the area. Parking lot full. Shoulders on both sides of the road are almost full too. I have to knock a small Mexican family into the river to be able to find a parking spot (What can I say? They shouldn't have been standing there). Now we've got a halfway serious hike back to the parking lot. There are hordes of people here - most of them slow-moving. Hey, there are the falls - they're almost pretty - except for the crowds of people milling around.
There are 2,000 people jockeying for position here. The only one I notice (only because she's a great immovable object in my way) is a chubby little girl who is huffing and puffing and has decided she'll go no further, in spite of the fact that her mom is standing behind her and shoving - "there are people trying to get around; you have to keep going." No idea whether she got to the viewpoint or not - we eventually managed to squeeze around her.
Stephen and I take the "backcountry" way back to our car, since we're way out on the road and not in the parking lot anyway. It probably does end up being shorter, since we don't have to dodge slow-moving pedestrians, but there is a stream in the way, so we end up having to walk across a fallen tree trunk. We manage that without falling in, whoo hoo!
Back at the car. Let's get out of this zoo. Drive on... to the next zoo. Even the trailhead parking lots are full. And then we're suddenly in a long long traffic jam, heading for Yosemite Village. It's crazy. Two lanes of traffic, hardly moving at all. At this point, we realize that this is just like being stuck in L.A. traffic, except with better scenery. This bites. You suck, Yosemite!
Okay, we're officially grumpy now. We give up on the visitor centre, give up on seeing anything in the valley, and we slowly wind our way through traffic, trying to find our way out of the park. Not so easy. It took a long time to wind our way in; takes a long time to wind our way back out.
Sidenote: I predict that Yosemite NP will eventually implement a car ban, just like Zion NP did, and the only traffic allowed through the valley will be shuttle buses. Cause it's seriously whackadoodle right now.
Anyway we're very slowly heading out of the park and back to Fresno; maybe we can get back in time to catch the last tour of the Forestiere Underground Gardens. It'll be close - last tour is at 4 p.m., and our GPS is predicting we'll be back at 3:45 p.m. Barring any traffic jams, of course. Fingers crossed!
It's a long winding drive back, shifting up and down as we negotiate the downhill curves. I want to speed, but there are too many people in the way.
And California drivers don't seem to understand passing lanes. In other states, the road sign typically says 'Keep Right Except to Pass.' Most people seem to comprehend that. But, in California, the sign says 'Slower Drivers Keep Right.' California drivers read that and think, "Oh, I'm not going slow," and they stay parked in the fast lane.
We pass them on the left or the right; whatever works. And we actually make it to the Forestiere Underground Gardens just in time for their last tour. Whew! Perhaps we can salvage the day yet. We're almost the only two people on the last tour; at the last minute, a couple from Key West, FL shows up. (We told them we want to drive out there someday.) Still, it's a pretty small tour group, which is nice.
I'm going to use Wikipedia's description of the gardens for you. They are: "an unusual manmade creation built by Baldasare Forestiere, an immigrant from Sicily, over a period of 40 years from 1906 to until his death in 1946. The gardens, while subterranean, have many skylights and catchbasins for water. There is a wide variety of hybrids and grafted trees, and the underground temperature helps guard against frost."
It's a very cool place (literally!). Fresno is pretty hot, but the underground rooms are much cooler. The guy dug them all out by hand, over many many years - the tour guide said that originally there was a giant underground labyrinth of up to 100 rooms. Now, they have only 5 acres left, of which only 2 acres are open for tours. Unfortunately, a lot of it was filled in and paved over by the freeway.
But, way back when, Baldasare dug out a warren of rooms, with skylights so that he could grow citrus trees in the cooler temperatures underground. There are still lots of plants below, growing oranges and grapes, kumquats and lemons, and a whole bunch of other fruits.
The guy was an eccentric, no question, and he took his vision to extremes - but it really is kind of brilliant, too. There are all kinds of catch-basins for the rain, and windows and tunnels for airflow. It's not deep underground - maybe 8-10 feet at most spots; I think the tour guide said the lowest point was about 25 feet underground - and so it's really quite bright in most places. It just looks like you're looking out onto a brick courtyard. And, considering there was no A/C back in those days - I think I'd join him underground where it's cooler.
Well, now we're hungry. It's off to KFC, where we confuse the staff by asking if we get gravy with our fries. No, you don't. I am sad. Because we made them laugh, they give me free gravy. Yay! (Yeah, I know - we're eating a lot of crappy food. What can you do? It's a road trip!)
Tomorrow morning, we're heading out to King's Canyon/Sequoia National Parks, where we hope to have better luck than we had at Yosemite. Go home, vacationing Californians! Wherever you live, I'm sure it's a long drive. You should really go now.
But - sadly - here we are, on the little part of the map labelled "Fresno", and there's Vasquez Rock Park, just outside that part of the map labelled "Los Angeles", and there's a big wide space in between. If only I had a transporter. Sigh. Guess that's another one that goes on the do-over list for next time.
We drove into Yosemite National Park this morning. It's just over an hour away - starts out through some pretty, rolling countryside, and then turns into the zig-zag express once you start getting nearer to the park. All of those car ads where you see the car veering back and forth along a ribbon of road? Those could all be filmed here.
Before the park gates are even in sight, there's a long line of vehicles crawling forward. This could be a bad sign. But, slowly but surely, we finally reach the park gates, show them our pass, and we're through! I'm sure it's all good now.
Stephen suggests we take the Glacier Pass road first - it's a long, winding drive upward through the forests. There are signs warning about smoke and/or firefighters on the road, but we figure if there were a giant forest fire ripping through the park, they probably wouldn't let us be driving on the road. There are a few smoky sections, though - mmm, smells like campfire. (Not like camps on fire and screaming people, but like happy campfire.)
It's all downhill from here (literally and figuratively). It's actually kind of a fun drive - I'm using the engine braking, which means constant shifting - zoom zoom zoom! Back down to the main park road, and we're driving into the park valley. Through the tunnel, and - all of a sudden, there's park staff directing traffic. No stopping at this viewpoint - the parking lot is full. Um, okay. So we have to park on the shoulder and walk back a short distance. Another beautiful view.
Next stop, Bridalveil Falls. A park employee lets in a few vehicles, counts them off, then ropes off the area. Parking lot full. Shoulders on both sides of the road are almost full too. I have to knock a small Mexican family into the river to be able to find a parking spot (What can I say? They shouldn't have been standing there). Now we've got a halfway serious hike back to the parking lot. There are hordes of people here - most of them slow-moving. Hey, there are the falls - they're almost pretty - except for the crowds of people milling around.
There are 2,000 people jockeying for position here. The only one I notice (only because she's a great immovable object in my way) is a chubby little girl who is huffing and puffing and has decided she'll go no further, in spite of the fact that her mom is standing behind her and shoving - "there are people trying to get around; you have to keep going." No idea whether she got to the viewpoint or not - we eventually managed to squeeze around her.
Stephen and I take the "backcountry" way back to our car, since we're way out on the road and not in the parking lot anyway. It probably does end up being shorter, since we don't have to dodge slow-moving pedestrians, but there is a stream in the way, so we end up having to walk across a fallen tree trunk. We manage that without falling in, whoo hoo!
 |
| The official weekend view of Yosemite. |
Okay, we're officially grumpy now. We give up on the visitor centre, give up on seeing anything in the valley, and we slowly wind our way through traffic, trying to find our way out of the park. Not so easy. It took a long time to wind our way in; takes a long time to wind our way back out.
Sidenote: I predict that Yosemite NP will eventually implement a car ban, just like Zion NP did, and the only traffic allowed through the valley will be shuttle buses. Cause it's seriously whackadoodle right now.
Anyway we're very slowly heading out of the park and back to Fresno; maybe we can get back in time to catch the last tour of the Forestiere Underground Gardens. It'll be close - last tour is at 4 p.m., and our GPS is predicting we'll be back at 3:45 p.m. Barring any traffic jams, of course. Fingers crossed!
It's a long winding drive back, shifting up and down as we negotiate the downhill curves. I want to speed, but there are too many people in the way.
And California drivers don't seem to understand passing lanes. In other states, the road sign typically says 'Keep Right Except to Pass.' Most people seem to comprehend that. But, in California, the sign says 'Slower Drivers Keep Right.' California drivers read that and think, "Oh, I'm not going slow," and they stay parked in the fast lane.
We pass them on the left or the right; whatever works. And we actually make it to the Forestiere Underground Gardens just in time for their last tour. Whew! Perhaps we can salvage the day yet. We're almost the only two people on the last tour; at the last minute, a couple from Key West, FL shows up. (We told them we want to drive out there someday.) Still, it's a pretty small tour group, which is nice.
It's a very cool place (literally!). Fresno is pretty hot, but the underground rooms are much cooler. The guy dug them all out by hand, over many many years - the tour guide said that originally there was a giant underground labyrinth of up to 100 rooms. Now, they have only 5 acres left, of which only 2 acres are open for tours. Unfortunately, a lot of it was filled in and paved over by the freeway.
But, way back when, Baldasare dug out a warren of rooms, with skylights so that he could grow citrus trees in the cooler temperatures underground. There are still lots of plants below, growing oranges and grapes, kumquats and lemons, and a whole bunch of other fruits.
The guy was an eccentric, no question, and he took his vision to extremes - but it really is kind of brilliant, too. There are all kinds of catch-basins for the rain, and windows and tunnels for airflow. It's not deep underground - maybe 8-10 feet at most spots; I think the tour guide said the lowest point was about 25 feet underground - and so it's really quite bright in most places. It just looks like you're looking out onto a brick courtyard. And, considering there was no A/C back in those days - I think I'd join him underground where it's cooler.
Well, now we're hungry. It's off to KFC, where we confuse the staff by asking if we get gravy with our fries. No, you don't. I am sad. Because we made them laugh, they give me free gravy. Yay! (Yeah, I know - we're eating a lot of crappy food. What can you do? It's a road trip!)
Tomorrow morning, we're heading out to King's Canyon/Sequoia National Parks, where we hope to have better luck than we had at Yosemite. Go home, vacationing Californians! Wherever you live, I'm sure it's a long drive. You should really go now.
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