American Diary part 13 Yosemite & Sacremento

June 7th Left Reno and headed into California and Yosemite Park. On the way we stopped at MONO Lake. Another geo thermal salty lake with wierd 'Tufas' or mineral towers rising from the water. There is an abundance of life here and a moonlike scenery - no trees, volcanic rocks, mountains in the distance. We walked the lakeside then around the crater of a volcano which erupted only 650 years ago and is still active. A fascinating place. Leaving the heat of the Great Basin we climbed the TIOGA pass up to 10,000 ft and into another snow storm entering the park. The Sierra Nevada is the backbone of California and Yosemite sits within the Sierras. A granite park with massive cliffs eroded by glaciers leaving a wide valley with steep and impossibly sheer sides which climbers love and a bunch of activities for anyone wanting to get outdoors. We camped just oustide the park on a steep site - bears here too. With just one day here we had to choose what to do. I declined the Upper falls walk which is not only 6 hours of steep walking, but is a sheer precipice of gravel. Instead, I perused the visitor centre, museums, posted a package home to lighten my bag, then walked to the lower falls with Nicole. It's so scenic and everywhere is a photo. The highlights are El Capitan - a sheer granite cliff, and Half Dome. The river Merced flows through the valley and so Nicole and I hired an inflatable raft and meandered down stream taking in the scenery and paddling. A very pleasant day... and no bears. Not much wild life at all really. The snow was light this past winter so the waterfalls and lakes were very dry, but the scenery was still incredible. I visited the Ansell Adams gallery and bought some postcards to frame at home. We are spending more time here next week on the next leg of the trip. June 8th Leaving the park, we drove down and down with the scenery changing rapidly from pine forest to peach coloured sun dried hills dotted with dark green trees. Mediterranean climate of the Western Sierras. Almost immediately it felt like a different climate. Very hispanic, ranches, sweeping hills, hot sun. For lunch we stopped at the state capital - Sacremento. This Old town is a restored trading post with wooden sidewalks, an old railstation, museum and touristt shops along the River which once provided a lifeline to this land locked city. Going solo I wandered the shops and tired of crappy ham sandwiches I chose a smart riverside restaurant for a caesar salad and ice water overlooking the bridge and felt a bit civilised. It was a moment of self indulgence (cheesecake pudding for afters). Back at the van we motored on to reach our overnight camp just outside San Francisco at a place called Petaluma. This is home to suntrek so Dan had friends to talk to. I did more laundry, then swam in the excellent pool and hot tub. For most of the trip we'vce used KOA sites to camp and they have all been great. After supper at a local Mexican place we said our farewells before bedtime. The group changes in San Francisco, our next stop.