Sunday, August 03, 2008

Back From the Sierras

We are back from a wonderful trip to Yosemite and then the Twin Lakes area near Bridgeport, California.

Below, the drive into the Yosemite Valley:


It was an eventful trip, which included most of the Yosemite Valley losing electric power due to a fire. For the last 24 hours or so of our stay the restaurants and stores in Curry Village were running on generator power, while the rest of us were in the dark. Fortunately we had our camping gear and so had plenty of lanterns and flashlights!

Click to enlarge:


We hiked to Vernal and Lower Yosemite Falls and explored the Mariposa Grove of Giant Redwoods. We also checked out the beautiful Ahwahnee Hotel. More to come on those experiences later in the week.

Below, El Capitan:


After two full days at Yosemite we moved on to our regular camping spot outside Bridgeport, California.

Fishing on Robinson Creek was nonexistent, possibly because of a sad mudslide just a couple weeks ago, which completely wiped out the hatchery near Independence. There is a closer hatchery in the Mammoth area, but we were told a year or two ago that the fish stocking the Twin Lakes and Robinson Creek area come from Independence. So no Rainbow Trout for dinner this year!

Below, the early morning moon in the sky above Yosemite's Camp Curry:


Midway through our camping week we took a day trip to Reno, Nevada, in order to fly our oldest daughter home for summer internship obligations. Reno is roughly two hours north of Bridgeport via the 395. It was enjoyable seeing a little more of the country, including Carson City, which is along the way.

While we were in Reno we toured the National Automobile Museum, which was worth the drive.

Robinson Creek:


While in Reno, we learned about the earthquake which had hit Southern California. Fortunately when our daughter arrived home the worst damage she discovered was toppled stacks of CDs. A couple fragile items had tipped over or fallen but happily didn't break!

A friend comes to visit our campsite:


I have several posts planned for the next few days, in which I'll share some more photos of our travels, as well as review the Yosemite experience.

Last week was a busy news week -- thanks to the C. Crane Radio my husband got me a few years ago, I get great reception in the mountains and don't miss a word of Rush (grin) -- and I'll probably be posting a roundup or two of some of the articles which caught my eye while reading the papers up north.

The Yosemite Fire creates a layer of haze over Lower Twin Lake:


As a side note, our camping week is the one time of year I actually pay to read the New York Times, and that week is definitely enough! The bias drips from the pages.

Did you know McCain injected race into the campaign by responding to Obama saying people will try to scare voters because he's black? That's how the NYT framed the issue. Did you know Obama is "a man of few rhetorical stumbles"? That was given as fact in a news article on Page One. (The Times writers and editors need to read here and here, just for starters...) And did you know Friday's Republican House revolt over oil policy didn't make yesterday's front page?

Our trip was exciting to the end -- on our drive home we bought a puppy! My husband had been impressed with a pet store he stopped in last summer, particularly as the prices are far less expensive up north in a more rural area, and we decided it was time to give our dog Chance, who we rescued and adopted last summer, a little brother.

Like Chance, the puppy is a Chihuahua-Dachsund mix. No name yet! So far Chance seems to be taking to the little guy. Chance came to us already housebroken so we are having a new experience dealing with a puppy. It will be a busy week adding a second dog to the mix, but it was a nice way to come home.

Monday Update: Here's a closeup of the puppy. Thanks to all for the name suggestions in the comments. (The latest my children have come up with is Zorro.) Keep 'em coming!


Related Posts: Mariposa Grove, Vernal Fall, The Ahwahnee Hotel, and Yosemite Falls.

15 Comments:

Blogger J.C. Loophole said...

Glad to see you back and love the pictures. Looking forward to seeing more!

6:19 AM  
Blogger Mrs. Happy Housewife said...

Maybe the new guy should be "Purpose" since Chance was by chance and this guy was on purpose. ;)

7:54 AM  
Blogger Laura said...

Love that idea, Mrs. HH! :) I'll throw it in the ring. (Hope your knee and hot water heater are both better soon!!)

Thanks, J.C.! You did some great blogging while I was gone, I plan to link in the next day or two...

Laura

8:15 AM  
Blogger Irene said...

Good to have you back. When news of the fire up in Yosemite broke I thought about you folks and wondered if you were affected. I have great memories of two separate one week trips to Yosemite in the 70's. So sorry to hear about the devastation that mud slide caused. Looking forward to more tales and pictures. By chance, can you post a photo of the dogs?

9:04 AM  
Blogger Carrie said...

If you ever need someone to carry luggage on your trips out there, let me know! ;0)

9:27 AM  
Blogger Laura said...

I'll try, Irene! Thanks for asking. Chance absolutely hates cameras, even if the flash is off, and it's difficult to get good pictures of him. (For a while I had him fooled with a cell phone camera, but he's figured that out now too!) I wonder sometimes if it's related to his unknown past, or just his personal quirk (grin). I managed to get a fairly good closeup of the puppy Sunday.

I'll keep that in mind, Carrie! :) I hope you'll enjoy my post on the Auto Museum. I was thrilled to see the "Flying Wombat" from THE YOUNG IN HEART and will be sharing more about that sometime this week. (If you haven't seen that one yet, I think you'd probably like it! It helped turn me into a fan of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) Now that I'm home again I'm looking forward to catching LETTY LYNTON soon, I've been savoring the anticipation.

Best wishes,
Laura

9:35 AM  
Blogger Missy said...

Welcome home Laura, et al. Great pics and looking forward to more! Glad to hear you weren't in danger from the fire and that the house wasn't hurt in the earthquake!

I think you should name the puppy Lucky. It's similar in meaning and since Chance is named for a John Wayne character, if I remember correctly, then how about a Fred Astaire character! Fred played John "Lucky" Garnett in SWING TIME. Plus, puppy is lucky to have a good home!

Missy http://missyisms.typepad.com

1:28 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

That's another good idea, Missy! (And thank you for the compliment included in the name suggestion!)

One of my clients suggested Blackjack, as he's black, but although I think it's kind of cute, that might give the dogs' combined names a *bit* too much of a gambling connotation (grin). Lucky is a good idea. One of the 101 DALMATIANS was Lucky, too.

One of the kids is rooting for Indy (after Indiana Jones, of course), and I kind of like Henry (Indy's real name). But it's really wide open right now -- we were scouring John Wayne's movie characters yesterday to see if there were more ideas there -- and will not be decided until later in the week. Oldest son is still camping in the Sierras, assisting his grandmother and her friend with their equipment -- a great excuse for him to remain longer in his favorite place. We promised not to name the puppy until he got home. (The dog was a complete -- though welcome -- shock to our oldest daughter; her reaction was priceless!)

Son called today and he finally caught a fish and ate it. :)

Best wishes,
Laura

1:58 PM  
Blogger J.C. Loophole said...

If you're thinking John Wayne names for the dog, how about "Hondo": neat, John Wayne-ish and with a touch of irony.

4:20 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Thanks for another good idea, J.C. :)

A new contender today is Zorro, since he has a "mask" across his eyes. (I already nixed Bandit!)

Laura

5:49 PM  
Blogger Ms.Daisy said...

Welcome back, Laura, you were missed! Great pictures - can't wait to see more...sorry, though, I don't have a suggeston for a name for puppy!:-)


~Jean

7:47 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Thank you, Jean! I can't say how nice it is to receive such a warm welcome back today. :)

Best wishes,
Laura

10:09 PM  
Blogger Terri said...

Glad you're home and with a sweet new puppy to love on too! Good for you!

5:47 AM  
Blogger Dana said...

Well hey there! Glad your vacation was all you hoped it would be. And oh please, lets hear some of your takes on specific NYT articles...we all need a good laugh. :)

6:12 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Thanks so much, Terri and Dana! Nice to be back in touch! :)

Best wishes,
Laura

7:37 AM  

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