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Pinnacles NP

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Hello one last time from California! We went to a lesser known park called Pinnacles. It was very interesting and beautiful.   The forecast called for high temperatures so we had a plan for the day: get to the trail early and get off the trail quickly! The trail was full of boulders. Talus caves are formed when boulders fall down and are wedged in between other rocks.  The namesake Pinnacles were rocks from a volcanic eruption 23 million years ago that landed sticking up. The geology in this area is unlike anything on earth. Ironically, the other half of the formation is about 200 miles away - it was carried there when there was a big shift in the San Andreas Fault. The earth did not move under our feet, for that we are thankful.  First things that come to mind when I think about California are traffic,  congestion and people.  The part of California we explored was no traffic, little congestion and some people but the roads were wild, curves, switchbacks, ...
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Sequoia and King's Canyon NP

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Hello! Time to say a few words about Sequoia and King's Canyon NP. These two connected parks are huge. The driving is challenging - crazy curvy roads. To get to the main Visitor Center in Sequoia from our place 6 miles outside the NP boundary took about an hour. To get to King's Canyon Visitor Center was an hour and 20 minutes and then to get to the far side of the canyon another hour. Crazy! We learned a lot about the giant Sequoia trees. They need fire, moist soil and sunshine.  For 100 years the idea of how to protect the Sequoia groves was fire suppression. During that time there were no new Sequoia growing. They wondered why that was and finally figured out that the Sequoia groves need fire. The trees resist the fire due to their thick bark and high tannins that do not burn easily. As an added defense they eject thousands of seeds which fall on the fertile ash in a field cleared of underbrush. This enables the seeds to take root and grow without having to compete with all ...
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Yosemite

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At Yosemite we learned a few things: 1. An 8 mile hike is too long! 2. Sheri's hiking boots are probably 1/2 size too small. 3. Yosemite is gorgeous! El Capitan (and his wife) LOL Lower Yosemite Falls Along the eight mile hike Upper Yosemite Falls Steller Jay Half Dome Lupine View of a Nevada Falls from Glacier Point Road Nevada Falls, Vernal Falls and Half Dome Half Dome Y'all - we saw a bear!!! Mirror Lake Vernal Falls  Mariposa Grove - some Sequoia Trees We had a great time!  Question of the day: how many of you, dear readers, have visited a National Park (ever in your lifetime)? Reply to the email and name your favorite if you like. Wishing you the very best day! Sheri and Carsten 
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Napa Valley

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To celebrate Carsten's 60th birthday we all (Carsten, Sheri, Marieke, Alex, Jamie and Austin) travelled to Napa to check out the wine. Flights to San Francisco were easy and we met up with A+J who flew in from Detroit. Slow drive to Napa through the SF traffic. Thursday morning we got up super early for a hot air balloon ride over the valley.  This was actually a Christmas present for the kids. It was gorgeous! We were in the air 1 hour and five minutes, travelled 5 miles and achieved +6400ft altitude. We saw the sun rise over the mountains and flew over the mist coming in from San Francisco Bay. We were back to the house by 8:00. Good start to the day! First winery - Trefethen. Very pretty gardens and grounds. Nice wines. A Dry Riesling was a nice surprise.  Next up - Tres Sabores. This was a very small 100% organic winery. This was a lovely working farm. They grew lavender, pomegranate, etc and had bees, owls and goats. In between our appointments we are cooking, eating and ...
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