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| Idiot! |
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| We got to over 6000 ft and there was snow on the ground and in the trees |
First real argument took place in Yosemite (there had to be a recording of one or else you'd think this was Disneyland)... My senses were overwhelmed. I don't like heights. Everything is so BIG! It's beautiful. BUT the ditzy driver is shouting take a picture of this and that and that. When you can't actually open your eyes to look out of the window because you are so SCARED that is a difficult operation. Yes, I know... what a wimp, but believe me I've never seen anything on that scale before. Nature is so definitely In Charge!
Apparently, snow melt has been particularly spectacular this year and the waterfalls were crashing and thundering and and generally making themselves heard above everything else, Even above the coverage of the Royal Wedding on the radio... which is all encompassing... America just loves it! Why they don't appreciate their own royalty I don't know... Charlie Sheen, take a bow.
El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, lower and upper, horsetail falls, loads of other falls, Half Dome didn't show it's face.. too many falls and El Capitan's to mention. Most interesting to me is that we went to the Ahwanwee Hotel where, allegedly, Lucille Ball and Doris Day kept the residents up all night singing and banging away on the piano very loudly! Now that sounds like my kinda night!
The pictures do not do it justice! See Ansel Adams... It's incredible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Yosemite_area#Artists.2C_photographers.2C_and_the_first_tourists
We thought we might stop somewhere before LA (Bakersfield) but it seemed like a real cop out so we drove on to Santa Monica because the road just led us there... I can't begin to explain the traffic, but the road system is amazing and everything keeps moving at around 70 mph. Even if you don't know the roads, you just keep on going and the signs are exceptionally explantory (unlike in the UK) - they say things like for four exists you will be able to get to Hicksville (or wherever). That's what I call helpful!
We arrived in Santa Monica thinking there's no way we'll get a room tonight but the Hotel California had our names on it and there was a parking space ($20 a night thanks very much!) so in we popped.
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| Now that's a heater (I think!) |
Not a restaurant to revisit but a great atmosphere afterwards outside on the pier where hundreds of people are waiting for the sunset to take photographs and there's a wedding shoot - instead of a church garden/graveyard, the bride throws off her dress and plunges into the sea and the bridesmaids divest themselves of their garments to frolick around the bride like water nymphs (ohhh definite flight of fancy there!)...
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| Bride in white, bridesmaids in red... parents have wedding dress in giant sized bag |
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| Bridesmaids in red |
wow so much to see...haha bout you getting dizzy we went up to one tree hill on sunday and i was just saying how you would hate the drive up (very on the edge)...xxxx
ReplyDeleteworth waiting for guys...loved yosemite pics....i could not have opened my eyes to do it!
ReplyDeleteit all looks lovely....i like the sunset shots.....how strange for u to av seen snow and sunshine in the same day! but i suppose that is what america is all about....diverse changes and everything big..........you have certainly seen alot of it xx
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention Jackson on the way through to Santa Monica and the Native American village which didn't have any native Americans anywhere to be seen. More like white, middle class Womens Institute types wearing a few beads.
ReplyDeleteWe've got loads of pics of Yosemite (as you can imagine) but it would bore everybody to death if I put them all on FB. I'll put a few anyway. Claire - perhaps you can't post beause you're not signed in. Sometimes I've tried to post and it won't let me until I sign into Google (or whatever it is you joined with). xx
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