1. George C. Page Museum and the La Brea tar pits. Highlights:

• Testing the "gooeyness" of the tar by trying to withdraw a bar submerged in it
• Seeing a reconsruction of the woman whose bones were the only human ones yet found in the tar pits (researchers believe she was killed by an act of violence). This reconstruction was set up so that the image of the woman would disappear leaving only her skeleton, then reappear again.
• Seeing the tar still bubbling up through the ground and getting some of it on our fingers and shoes.

3. As we pitched our tent for the night,

Pitching camp for what would be a long cold night

a woman who was on vacation from Norway and her one year old daughter visited us. The little girl wanted to touch, pull, hug, and kiss Eric. He was bothered by the attention though he never told her to stop nor pushed her away.

4. Before settling down for the night, we took a quick trip to the park to see the Giant Sequoias. They were impressive in the dusk and we were excited about seeing them the next day.

5. We didn't have sleeping bags, only one blanket that was as heavy as a spider web. That night we shivered while trying to sleep even though we were wearing lots of clothes, coats, gloves, and hats. It was so cold Curt's watch stopped (the battery failed).

1. We woke early for we were too cold to sleep. Eric fared the best of us since he generally is warmer than Missy and Curt and he slept between them.

2. We visited the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in the southern part of Yosemite. These trees are the most massive living things on earth. One of the first trees you see on entering the grove is the Fallen Monarch. (The most impressive trees all have names). The Fallen Monarch is so large a troop of U.S. Calvary officers and their horses once posed on it for a picture. Neither words nor pictures can capture the splendor of these trees or the way they filled us with awe. Memorable experiences as we hiked through the Grove:

Curt and Eric on a stagecoach trail
thru the California Tunnel Tree

• A busload of Japanese tourists trashing the place. They ignored signs about climbing on the trees and climbed over fences to stand near the trees.

  Missy and Eric in the clothesping tree

  The roots of these trees are not deep but they fan out over 150 feet. Climbing over fences to get close to them can damage their roots.
• The Grizzly Giant. The largest tree in Mariposa Grove and, at 2,700 years, one of the oldest Sequoias. One of its branches alone is nearly seven feet in diameter.
• Walking through the California Tunnel Tree. The tunnel through it was cut in 1895 for stagecoaches to drive through.
• The Faithful Couple; two large trees fused at the base but separate about 40 feet up.
• The Clothespin Tree; another one we walked through. This hole was made by ligthning.
• Wawona Tunnel Tree. The tunnel was cut in 1881 and the tree eventually collapsed because of the hole and a record snowpack in 1969. In between, millions of visitors passed through the tunnel.
• The Telescope Tree. This standing, growing tree is hollowed out as a result of a lightning strike! You can stand in it, look up through it and see the sky. The hollow portion is large enough to fit a car. This tree illustrates the hardiness of the species. Giant Sequoias are resistant to fire, disease, insects, and decay. They only die when they fall.

Eric amazed inside the telescope tree	The view that amazed him

3. The hike through Mariposa Grove was not an easy one as we ascended 1000 feet in just a few miles. Eric sometimes used walking sticks when he was exploring on his own. Missy and Curt took turns carrying him in arms or on shoulders the rest of the time. (We did not bring a backpack or a stroller on the trip). We hiked sometimes while Eric was nursing. We wondered what people thought when they saw Missy carrying Eric (they probably couldn't tell he was nursing) as well as a camera bag and waistpack (which were actually helping to support Eric's weight) while Curt carried only a camera bag.

4. We finished the hike around noon and then headed for Yosemite Valley, 30 miles away. From the west, you enter the valley through a tunnel and you immediately come upon a spectacular view of steep granite walls, huge granite domes, and high waterfalls. It's easy to see why Abraham Lincoln took time during the Civil War to set Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley aside as a protected state reserve, the first state park.

5. Our first mission in the Valley was renting sleeping bags for the night. We got these and our campsite. (People were waiting in lines for campsites. We almost didn't get reservations when we called one month in advance.)

6. Once we were settled in, we turned our attention to seeing Yosemite Valley. Everywhere you go and look the view is breathtaking. The park service makes it easy to get

Eric and Curt on the banks of Mirror Lake

around the valley by running a free shuttle bus service throughout the day. We took the shuttle to the eastern end of the valley and from there hiked to Mirror Lake. We spent a long time on this two mile hike because Eric liked exploring the area. The view at the lake was incredible as the cloud covered, granite mountains were reflected in the still water.

7. The skies were overcast that evening and we were tired from a lack of sleep. We turned in early for the night. The sleeping bags worked great except Missy and Eric couldn't both fit in one with the zipper up. Missy still got a little cold.

Approaching awe inspiring Yosemite Falls

1. Our first stop was Yosemite Falls. Holey moley! Upper Yosemite Falls drops 1,430 feet in one staggering fall, a height equal to nine Niagras. Lower Yosemite Falls drops another 320 feet. Adding the cascades in between, the total drop is 2,425 feet—nearly half a mile. Glorious! From the shuttle stop, it was a short hike to the base of the Falls. We then explored the nearby woods with Eric leading the way. (We later saw warnings about letting small children walk on their own; they are supposedly potential prey for mountain lions. The warnings also said there has never been a lion attack in Yosemite.)

2. We had sought to make a rather strenous hike to the top of the Lower Falls. However, shortly after we started the hike, we abandoned it as we decided it would take too long and cost us our other plans for the day.

3. In order to see as many of the wonders of Yosemite Valley as we could in a day, we used our car to drive to many of the vista points then take short walks from them. In this way we saw:

• El Capitan
• Bridalveil Falls
• Ribbon Falls (a waterfall that free falls for 1612 feet)
• Yosemite Falls (from a distance)
• Half Dome; nearly one mile high, we had seen this earlier on our hike to Mirror Lake
• The Three Brothers
• Cathedral Rock and Spires
• Sentinel Rock and Sentinel Falls
• The Merced River which traces the path taken by the glaciers that cut the valley
• The 110 year old chapel
• During our trips to the vistas, it started to rain and hail (which meant using the car to see sights was a wise decision)
• We drove to Glacier Point to get a view of the valley from on high. As we made the ascent, it got colder and the rain turned to snow. By the time we reached Glacier Point, visibility was low and all we could see was white (snow, fog, and rain).
• On our way back to the Valley, we stopped near Bridalveil Falls and hiked to it.
• As we left the Falls, we saw a coyote on the road stopping traffic. People were feeding the coyote despite the hundreds of signs saying not to feed the animals as that would contribute to their being unable to forage for themselves.

A view of El Capitan

4. We shopped in the gift shop/grocery store and dined on peanut butter banana sandwiches in our car as darkness fell, obscuring Yosemite Falls from our view. (The moon wasn't bright and the sky wasn't clear. If they were, it is sometimes possible to see moonlight rainbows.)

Tuesday May 17 -- Yosemite, San Francisco

1. It was a beautiful morning as we started the strenuous hike to the top of Vernal Falls. The steep, rocky climb meant we had to carry Eric all the way. As we got close to the top, we were sprayed with mist from the Falls (we were prepared for that) and saw two rainbows. Others seeing us carrying Eric told us we were inspiring. (Eric was also inspiring us telling us, "Up! Up!") At the top, Eric nursed and saw a half dozen Steller Jays. (Those bluejays were all over the Valley). (Follow this link to see photos taken during our hike.)

Yosemite is so beautiful
it's hard to drink it all in

2. By the time we got back to our campsite around noon, the skies were overcast and it started to drizzle. We quickly packed our tent (a coyote walked through our campsite as we were loading the car) and decided to skip a return trip to Glacier Point figuring we would have no better luck then we did the previous day. Another wise choice. Less than half an hour out of the Valley on our way to San Francisco, it started to rain and snow.

3. Three hours later we were in San Francisco under clear skies.

4. We crossed over the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge on our way into the city (that's the two level bridge that partly collapsed during the World Series earthquake a few years ago).

5. Our first stop was Chinatown where we found a wonderful vegetarian restaurant. The waitresses fawned over Eric.

6. Missy drove us down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. As we and other tourists were gawking at the street, some people raced down the curvy road, tires screeching all the way. Send in the clowns, don't bother they're here.

7. From the top of Lombard Street we could see Alcatraz Island. We also saw the cable cars loaded with people and decided we would forego riding on them.

8. We drove to San Jose to the Pitt house. Dan and Claudia and their children Miriam (4) and Julian (2) hosted us for five nights and four days. (Dan was actually in Japan until Saturday).

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