August 23, 2011

August 23, 2011

Even though the weather is wonderful, staying at Yosemite Valley is getting to be too much of a hassle for us; so we head out this morning. We take the southwest gate this time and stop at the Mariposa Grove. In 1864 Abraham Lincoln took time out from the Civil War to protect this stand of Sequoia trees (along with Yosemite Valley).

Since Yosemite gets so much traffic, seeing the Sequoias is time-consuming. When we get to the Mariposa turnoff, we find the parking lot is full so we have to park at the gate and board a shuttle into the grove. The entrance has a few Sequoias. To see the big ones we have to hike more than an hour uphill. Aimee and I are thankful we are no longer at 8000 feet. The upper grove is nicer but we both much prefer Sequoia National Park. It is has bigger trees and fewer visitors.

Afterwards we descend almost to sea level into the San Joaquin valley, America’s garden. At one point we drive a solid fifteen minutes through nothing but Pistachio trees. There had to be millions of trees. Somebody eats a lot of nuts. Later we pass by tomato fields and grape vineyards. All this food is making us hungry so we stop at a roadside stand and buy a bag of pistachios and oranges for $5.

So far in our California travels we have seen nothing but barren deserts, high mountains and vast farmlands. You wouldn’t guess California is the most populated state. We spend the night in the town of Los Banos. Who would name their town “The Toilets”???