Bob and Carmen's trip to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe

Many of you are aware that when viewing a blog the most recent posting is the first one you see in the blog.  Therefore, you will see this page before you view any of the other pages.  To see the blog pages in the correct order, simply go to the left side of the blog page and look at the "Blog Archive".  Here you should see all of the postings in order, from the newest on top to the oldest on the bottom.  Start at the bottom (Yosemite Mariposa Grove) and work you way to the top.

Thanks for looking at our travel blog.  If you are interested in looking at our other travel blogs visit:

http://bobcarmen.blogspot.com/ our first major trip in the motor home after Carmen and I both retired.  It is a trip across the country (USA) from Maine to Florida via Montana and California.  It is also our first attempt at doing a blog of our travels.

http://bobandcarmengowalkabout.blogspot.com/ is a blog which recounts our trip to New Zealand, Australia and Fiji.  Not everyone is a Lord of the Rings fan, but while in New Zealand, we traveled through many areas where filming of the movie took place.

http://eis-irisheyes-scottishbrogue.blogspot.com/ relates our trip blog to England, Ireland and Scotland (hence the EIS).

http://bobandcarmengowest-usnationalparks.blogspot.com/  the blog of our trip to the National Parks in the Western USA. 

And, http://bobandcarmendowesterncanada.blogspot.com/ which recaps our trip to Western Canada and cruise along the inside passage of Canada and Alaska.

Lake Cruise

This morning the sky was bright, clear and blue, so we are heading out to a cruise across Lake Tahoe.  There are a couple of different cruises on the lake and we chose to do the paddlewheel boat named the MS Dixie II.

As we begin our trip aboard the boat and leave Zephyr Cove this is the view the houses around the cove have.  You can also rent boats and water scooters.

Carmen as we are crossing the lake.  It is such a gorgeous day.  You can see Heavenly ski area just over Carmen's shoulder.

This is our destination.  Just below the "U" between the mountains is Emerald Cove.  We drove by this area when we were on the Lake Drive.  We'll see more of this when we get closer.

I couldn't get over how blue the water was, so I had to take a picture of it.  So here is my picture of water.

Here is the entrance to Emerald Cove.  A boat is just entering the channel which you can see by looking straight down from the mountain peak.  You can also see the road on the mountain in the back by the horizontal slash.  Clearly visible is the avalanche area from years ago.  Back when the avalanche happened, the clean up took over a year.

As we circled Emerald Cove, from near the shore at the opposite end from the entrance, I was able to get a picture of the island and the cove.  Just behind us when I took this picture is an old castle called "Vikingsholm".  It is now part of the State of California Park System.

On the island was a Tea House when Vikingsholm was in use.  They would take a boat to the island and follow a path up to the building.

Heading back to the cove where we started.  You can see the tunnels that are at Cave Rock. 

Back at the cove where we started, I am able to get a picture of Carmen in front of the name plate. 

After returning to the room, while we were packing to leave the next day, I was finally able to get a decent picture of the Steller's jay that has been flying around.

Lake Tahoe Shore Drive

Today our plan is to do the drive around Lake Tahoe, so I checked the weather - yes by going outside. 

There is still some smoke in the North West end of the Lake.  But, it looks like it is dissipating, so we decided to head out and see what we see.

Driving around the lake we stopped at the Emerald Bay overlook.  This is a fantastic view.  The island is the only island in Lake Tahoe.

We continued around the lake and were fortunate that the smoke broke up and was gone by the time we reached the north end.  Driving up the road to a high overlook, we are able to see the lake in its entirety.  The picture above is a composite of several pictures stitched together so you can see the lake from east to west.

The west side of the lake along the road we are driving.  There are so many fantastic views along the lake that Carmen and I could post many pictures.

On our drive south, we stopped at one of the overlooks that are around the lake.  Walking down to the water, we noticed these rocks in the water.  It is interesting that these are the only rocks of this type that we have seen.  Still, it's interesting that you can see the different water lines on the rock faces.

I did not expect to see any lizards on this trip, but there it was just lying around in the sun.  And for those of you who know me I just have to take pictures of lizards.

I took this picture of Carmen on the rocks while one of a number of kayaks decided to go by.

A field along the Nevada side of the lake.  This is the area in which the fictional Ponderosa ranch was located and run by the Cartwright family.  You remember them: Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe.

After we finished driving around the lake, we returned to our room to change for dinner.  We parked in Harrah's parking lot and came out to the street.  They have a commemorative bronze statue of Pony Express riders.  This is a trail and centennial marker erected in 1961.

For dinner we decided to try the buffet at Harrah's which is on the 14th floor of the resort.  This is the view of the lake from the 14th floor of the resort in the late afternoon.

Looking south towards the gondola.

Sunset from our room looking north.

From pier at the place we were staying, the sunset looking west over the mountains.

Reno

Today when I checked the weather, by stepping outside, besides being cool, I could see smoke was still lingering around the lake.  So we decided that today would be a good day to go to Reno and not do the lake shore drive.

As I was looking out across the lake I noticed a hot air balloon and thought it strange that it would be up when there was so much smoke.  Then I noticed the barge just below and to the right of the balloon.  This must be its landing zone.  Notice that you cannot see the other side of the lake because of the smoke.

On our way to Reno we had to travel through these tunnels which is where Cave Rock is, or was.  I think I read something about the cave was damaged when the tunnels were blasted.

Ah, Reno.  We didn't have to drive all around to find the sign, because the GPS brought us right to it.  We are heading down North Virginia Street in case anyone was wondering.  It crossed the street next to Harrah's Resort and Casino.  And yes, we stopped in and did some gambling and had lunch at the El Dorado buffet - very good.

As we were leaving and driving down the street from Harrah's and El Dorado, we are looking at the Silver Legacy and Circus Circus.

On our way back we noticed smoke in the valleys leading down from the mountains between Lake Tahoe and Reno.

Smoke across the road leading back to Stateline and Lake Tahoe.

It was a little smoky in town, so we had supper and stayed in for the night.

Lake Tahoe

We tailored our trip from Yosemite to Lake Tahoe to match the road we traveled over 10 years ago.  Back then we stopped at the oldest saloon in California (the Iron Door Saloon established in 1852 on CA 120 out of Yosemite) for dinner and by the time we left, it was dark and difficult to see many of the old towns we passed.  This time we are stopping for lunch.

We sat in the saloon part and not the restaurant sitting area of the Iron Door Saloon.  We wanted the full effect.  This is what the ceiling looks like in the bar area.  Notice the dollar bills tacked to the ceiling.  We didn't ask what the dollar bills meant, sorry forgot when the waitress came back.  Notice the disco ball!  You got to love a place like this.  When we left the Iron Door Saloon, we could smell smoke from one of the fires that were in the area and it was a little smoky driving.

Continuing our drive to Lake Tahoe (along CA 49), we passed through Sonora, where Mark Twain got his inspiration for the material in "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".  Just out of town we saw these two old trucks just waiting for someone to fix them up.

The countryside has either been mountainous or grassy fields.  This is a typical view of some of the fields (this one with trees) that we saw on our ride along CA 49. 

Shortly after we turned onto CA 50 heading east to Lake Tahoe, we came to where the smoke from the King Fire lay over the road.  It was not to thick, mostly like a medium fog, but you smell the burnt wood from the fire.

There were a number of fire apparatus along the road.  Here several trucks were waiting.

We arrived in Lake Tahoe and found the place we were staying for the week.  After checking in we just ate supper, got some groceries, unpacked we just went to bed.  The next morning, this was our view, looking West, from the patio outside of our room. 

After breakfast, we saw this sea plane land and take off in the waters in from of where we were staying.

We decided this first morning, since it was clear, to go up the gondola to the top of Heavenly Mountain.  Part of the way up, there is an observation platform with a full view of the lake and surrounding area.  Here is Carmen in front of one of the gondolas as it comes up to the platform stop.

Looking towards the South-West end of Lake Tahoe, you can begin to see smoke from the King Fire. 

We continued up the mountain and walked over to the ski lift and took the 6-seat chair up to the top of the ski mountain.  Here you can ski to either the California or the Nevada side of Heavenly Ski Mountain.  In the picture, you can see the Nevada portion of Lake Tahoe and to the right side of the picture, not clearly visible, is Carson City, Nevada's Capital.

We are riding down the mountain on the ski chair lift.  On the left you can see the building for our trip down the mountain in the gondola.  Just above it and a little to the right is the end of the zip-line ride down from the top of the mountain.

A view of our ride down the mountain from inside the gondola.  You can see the towns of Lake Tahoe (California) and Stateline (Nevada).  You can see the line in the woods, to the right of the gondola line, this is the State Line.  The tall buildings to the right of the State Line are the casinos. 

We watched the smoke build while we were on top of Heavenly Mountain.  When we returned to our room, we were surprised how fast the smoke came through the pass.  After this picture the smoke continued to cross the lake like a thick fog, eventually crossing all the way to the Nevada side of the lake to engulf the casinos and towns.

Yosemite Valley Drive

For our trip along the Yosemite Valley, we entered by the West entrance on CA140.  After passing the entrance gate we had to pass through this rock formation.  It is hard to tell how much of the rocks were chiseled out for the road, but it was still cool to drive through.

One of our first stops, after entering the valley floor, was a meadow, between the one-way in and the one-way out of the valley.  This is a great view of El Capitan, towering 3,000 feet above the valley floor.  We looked, but did not see any climbers.

We stopped at Cathedral Beach on Ribbon Creek for a break and lunch, we took the time to capture this view of El Capitan.

A short hike along a trail brought us to the swinging bridge and this view.   Looking out over the creek with Yosemite Point peak in the background.  If you look at the top of the peak, there is a small "V" notch, just to the left of the tall trees.  If there was water in Yosemite Creek, we would see the upper Yosemite Falls.

Another view of Yosemite Point and Castle Cliffs.  You can see the staining from the water when the falls have water.  Just below and to the left of the upper falls base, you will see a black area, this is where the Lower Yosemite Falls is located.

From another meadow, we had a clear view of Half Dome on the right and North Dome on the left of the valley.

More grandeur from one of the bridges that crosses the creek.  This is looking West towards the entrance to Yosemite NP.

Looking East along Indian Canyon Creek, we had a great view of Half Dome.  At this point we are near the end of the drive into the valley.  It would have been really nice if the leaves were changing color, but we are here a little too early for color changes.

On our way out of the park, from a valley meadow, we have another great view of Half-Dome.  As we move further away, the immense size of the dome is apparent.  By the way, climbing Half-Dome requires a permit and only so many are given each day.

As we head West to leave the park, we stopped at a view point and noticed the nice fencing they had all around the park. 

And finally, our last view of El Capitan as we head out of the park.  Sun coming from the West, blue skies, and hardly a cloud in the sky, can't get much better than that.