Today we made the long trip to Yosemite. We drove basically along the freeway to LA and then headed north to Bakersfield, Fresno and onto Yosemite.
The drive up through the hills north of Los Angeles was spectacular. The hills are quite bare but you climb up very high into the hills. The temperature dropped by more than 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
We then passed through the San Joaquin valley. This is a huge agricultural area with huge vineyards, orchards and dairy farms. The dairy farms are huge - all cows in open sheds and feedlots but very large numbers.
Lunch was at a rather dodgy looking place called McFarland. We used the GPS to find a park but it was in a rather rough looking town - fortunately near a school so it was relatively safe.
We arrived at North Fork and our accommodation late in the afternoon. North Fork is just like you imagine one of those redneck towns to be - something a bit like the places in Deliverance! It has 7 churches, a pub (which the owner of the house recommended we not go to unless we were after some 'local culture), a Mexican restaurant, an Indian museum and a supermarket. Plenty of US flags on display (including four on the sign going into town). The drive in from Fresno to North Fork is really pretty - lovely wooded hills with wildflowers everywhere. It's a bit like what you used to see in those old Western movies where the cowboy rides around the ranch.
We are staying in a small community about 5km out of town (a bit like Williamson Court to Carisbrook). This area is really beautiful and spectacular. We are in the middle of a forested area that has a snow-fed creek running through it. About 200 metres down the road from the house is a wide open meadow with a small community centre - a red log cabin - in the middle of it. At the end of the meadow is a gorgeous waterfall with stunning views across the hills.
Alastair spoke to one of the locals and they said they get black bears, deer, coyotes, mountain lions and plenty of other wildlife around here. So we are hoping to see some examples tomorrow!
Í’ll post some pics tomorrow - it's getting late and it's been a long couple of days.
Carlene
The drive up through the hills north of Los Angeles was spectacular. The hills are quite bare but you climb up very high into the hills. The temperature dropped by more than 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
We then passed through the San Joaquin valley. This is a huge agricultural area with huge vineyards, orchards and dairy farms. The dairy farms are huge - all cows in open sheds and feedlots but very large numbers.
Lunch was at a rather dodgy looking place called McFarland. We used the GPS to find a park but it was in a rather rough looking town - fortunately near a school so it was relatively safe.
We arrived at North Fork and our accommodation late in the afternoon. North Fork is just like you imagine one of those redneck towns to be - something a bit like the places in Deliverance! It has 7 churches, a pub (which the owner of the house recommended we not go to unless we were after some 'local culture), a Mexican restaurant, an Indian museum and a supermarket. Plenty of US flags on display (including four on the sign going into town). The drive in from Fresno to North Fork is really pretty - lovely wooded hills with wildflowers everywhere. It's a bit like what you used to see in those old Western movies where the cowboy rides around the ranch.
We are staying in a small community about 5km out of town (a bit like Williamson Court to Carisbrook). This area is really beautiful and spectacular. We are in the middle of a forested area that has a snow-fed creek running through it. About 200 metres down the road from the house is a wide open meadow with a small community centre - a red log cabin - in the middle of it. At the end of the meadow is a gorgeous waterfall with stunning views across the hills.
Alastair spoke to one of the locals and they said they get black bears, deer, coyotes, mountain lions and plenty of other wildlife around here. So we are hoping to see some examples tomorrow!
Í’ll post some pics tomorrow - it's getting late and it's been a long couple of days.
Carlene
No comments:
Post a Comment