Iowa

The world's worse drivers state.

Yosemite

Rolled into Yosemite about 2:00 pm and went for a ride in the valley. Was about 90 degrees so we went for a dip in the Tuolumne River. Very refreshing. The bottom sparkled with fools gold. After that we took in some of sights. Unfortunately in August the waterfalls are non existent or very low. Bridal Veil falls were beautiful but barely a trickle. The upper and lower falls were nothing but rocks. We also got to see some giant sequoias after a mile walk down a mountain. The walk down wasn't bad....coming up was a struggle. Overall driving in the valley with huge rock faces on both sides was incredible.

After leaving The valley it was getting dark and we stopped to gaze upon the moonless and cloudless sky for a little while. Incredible how many stars there are when there is no light pollution and regular pollution. Then we were off to Lee Vining where I think we have got the last room available in this major metropolis. Was dark when we got there, so was a nice surprise to sip coffee overlooking Mono Lake from the porch of our room.


The Half Dome.




A pretty girl.


Yes I'm a tree hugger (this is a small 500- 600 year old sequoia).


This one was HUGE, but the pics don't really do it justice, since we couldn't get that close to it.



A tree stump cut out by the pioneers.


Angel Veil Falls.


I traded the mini even for this beauty.


Bartender...gimme a beer.

The Weirdest Thing?

This was the weirdest thing. The front half was like a regular greyhound with the seats and all, bt the back half was raised and had 3 levels of windows on one side. The only thing we could figure out was that they were berths or something?

Also...European license plate? Fake? John?




Cools colors though.


This was Crissy and not me!!

It's late....and we are exhausted. More on Yosemite tomorrow morning.

A Whole Lot of Nuthin'

This was by far our most boring day. After leaving our hotel in Lee Vining CA we decided to take an alternate route through Nevada
. Ugh!! Nothing but 7+ hours of scrubby desert.

Yesterday was fun though in Yosemite. More on that later. Too much work for iPhone blogging, plus no pics this way.

Keeping Chrissy fed in Utah!!!

Dave

First day of school and all that REDness.

Red enough for ya?

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

King Beecher & Queen Christina

One of the famous hills in San Fran. There are actually "HILL" signs throughout the city - ya think?!


A view of Alcatraz from Inspiration Point near the Golden Gate.


Crissy Field and a view of the skyline.


Cemetery at Presidio - over thirty thousand fallen soldiers were laid to rest in this thirty-acre cemetery which overlooks San Francisco Bay.


Kodak moment at the Golden Gate on our tour.


Alley in China Town where we got to peek inside a fortune cookie "factory."


Known as "postcard row." The yellow house with the red-bordered steps is the house where Full House TV show was shot.


At Fisherman's Wharf.

King Beecher & Queen Christina - that's how we've been treated since stepping out of the car here at Alger Ranch in Moraga, CA. Dave already mentioned the out of this world dinner we had the first night, but let us not forget the fresh plums and figs we picked for breakfast the next day, right off the trees in the back yard at Alger Ranch! DELICIOUS!

The train cable car rides into San Francisco yesterday were a little stressful for a claustrophobic country bumpkin like me, but still cool. The tour around the city in Mr. Toad's cozy car was amazing - China Town, Little Italy (both the largest anywhere in the USA), Postcard Row, Golden Gate Park (Summer of Love concert site), Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge...... I just had to share a few more pics with ya before we take off today on our own little adventure in the Shiny Motor.

Love to all and more pics soon to come!

San Francisco!!

Lake Tahoe smooching.

Lake Tahoe.

After a short trip around Lake Tahoe and thru Sacramento traffic jams we finally pulled into the Alger Ranch around 6:00pm on Monday

MapQuest 3 hours and 2 minutes my butt!! Took us a lot longer than we expected. But as soon as we got out of the car we had wine and beer and thick, delicious, tender, steaks the size of my head on the grill. I also managed to double my annual alcohol consumption rate in one night. But Heather does pick some goooood red wine.

So after a rough start Tuesday morning Uncle Captain John took us to the train with a detailed list of where to get off and where to go. After getting off the train we took a trolley down to Fishermans wharf where we had a delicious seafood lunch and then aboard Mr Toads Tours for a 3 hour cruise through San Francisco. Was very cool. Pretty much got to see everything in a more intimate setting and the cruise guide was excellant. After the tour we walked to through Little Italy to China Town. Which is very interesting. Almost like you aren't even in the good old USA anymore. Even though we were hungry again, things were closing up and it was getting late for a couple country bumpins like up (about 7:00 pm). So we resisted the fried chicken feet and other mysterious animal products and jumped on the 45, bus crossing out fingers it would actually take us to the train. It did and we returned to Alger Ranch and had a delicious leftover steak and Mushroom dinner. Even though it was warm in Moraga it was pretty darn cold in San Fran. And we definitely did not dress appropriately. So we proceeded to warm our bones in a long soak in the hot tub. That was awesoome.

Today John has a little drive set up for us across the Golden Gate and through mountains and Red Woods. So will be taking off soon for that in a clean and shiny Mini (it was filthy) Courtesy of Uncle John!! Thanks again for being such wonderful host.

Fact of the day: Lafayette is approximately the same population as Ithaca, New York. Thanks Russell!

Reno

Started out at the Salt Lake where we stopped for a bit and waded in the lake. Stopped in Wells for lunch and high stakes gambling (see previous post) then off to Reno where we Turned our $19.25 Profit into $42 Minus $25 out of my pocket. So overall....about $17 ahead. Still winners!!!!





Salt Lake Mini



Downtown Reno.

All is Well

Stopped for lunch in Wells NV for lunch at the 4 Way Casino and Restaurant. On our way to the restaurant I dug 2 quarters out of my pocket and popped them into a 2 quarter max play machine and won $5! So after dinner we took our winnings and split them up 10 quarters each. Kept hitting on those forever too. Finally left with $29.25 in our pockets. After the $18 lunch...$11.25 profit.

Not bad for a 50 cent investment!!

First time I ever walked out of a casino a winner.

Reno tonight and I'm playing until the whole $ 11.25 is gone!!

Pic Catchup - In no particular order...

To our loyal fans: Our last three days in photos, in no particular order. We are hol' up just inside the northern border of Utah, taking a much needed rest in a luxurious hotel room after three cold nights in the campground at Yellowstone. I tried to write a poem for ya'll earlier, but my brain is on overload after so much absolutely beautiful scenery and wildlife. Marge -- I may have beaten your record for the number of times I've said "wow!" so far! ;) Everyone - we are really enjoying your comments, so keep posting them. I would write more, but it's late, the room's warm, and there's a soft bed instead of cold ground waiting!


Grand Teton shot for Uncle Captain America John.


Grand Tetons.


Had a delicious, authentic Mexican lunch at the Sanchez in Jackson Hole, WY.


Upper Falls in Yellowstone.


This elusive creature posed for a picture with me in downtown Jackson Hole.


Got to Old Faithful just in time!




The prettiest hot spring we saw - and that's saying a lot considering how many we visited.



Another beautiful hot spring in Yellowstone.


On the shore of Yellowstone Lake, just a short walk from our campsite. The water is never warmer than 60 degrees or so, is crystal clear, and 430 feet deep in the deepest section.


Just inside Yellowstone - a hot cowboy in a cool mountain stream.




Yellowstone buffalo jam.



More awesome wildlife we saw on the way to the campsite the first night at Yellowstone -- cow elks out for an afternoon stroll.



Custer State Park resident.



Going up Bear Tooth Pass.



The summit. Over 10,000 feet high.

Day 7

On day 5 we left South Dakota and headed out to Yellowstone. First thing I did was wash the car. And it stayed clean for nearly 10 miles. In the interest of time we decided to not take the North East entrance through Bear Toth pass. But at the last minute we changed our minds again and went through Bear Tooth Pass after all. A decision we didn't regret. Absolutely beautiful. The Mini growled all the way up switchbacks and burbled all the way down. She loves to get to play out here for sure. Too bad there are giant critters around here...so we have to keep it down to the speed limit. In the remote areas anyway.

After 4 BEAUTIFUL days and 3 frigid nights of tent camping (20 degrees this morning) in Yellowstone we had a short drive day from Yellowstone to Fremington, Utah where we booked a room in a swanky (for us anyway) Hampton Inn. We deserve it..since it gets so cold up in those mountains at night and our air mattress didn't seem to want to hold enough air for a full nights sleep. Plus it was too cold to stop with the cuddling to put more air in it. Couldn't find a single Walmart in Yellowstone to replace it either.

Cuddling was for warmth purposes only...and maybe to try and get it out of our system before Alger Ranch.

Days were perfect though. In Yellowstone we saw so many Hot springs and Geysers we got sick of seeing them. So many Buffalo it's not funny. Lot's of Cow Elk and one Bull Elk...but it was too late to get a pic of the buck. One Elk walked right through the next campsite while I was enjoying my morning coffee. Many deer and Antelope too. Awesome canyons and waterfalls. It kinda blows your mind. I think we are both on sensory overload.

We also went fishing in Yellowstone...didn't catch a thing. But it was still fun to do. Except you spent more time looking over your shoulder for Bears and Buffalo then quality fishing.

We also had Buffalo burgers over the campfire one night for dinner...yum. The buffalo in the park looked at us differently after that.

There were 2 other American families in Yellowstone..funny how us foreigners find each other. Oh wait...we weren't the foreigners. Sure felt like it though.

Oh man.....what else.

Comments on commets

• Dad...Based on one comment I got I THINK you've been posting to somebody elses blog and not mine. Though I don't know how? Might be a blogspot error.
• Grace, Grace, Grace...video games with all these mountains??!?!?! That's crazy.
• Geocaching...Google it!
• Nice to see we have a pretty good following here.
• Shane...I don't even care about work. Hadn't even thought of it.
• Didn't spend more than 10 minutes at Wall Drug.
• I'm keeping snacks in my pockets at all times for Chrissy, so no more grumpiness.

Our Favorite stuff that cracks us up.

• "WHERE'S THE STUPID GIFT STORE!!!" By an 8 year old kid during the Mt Rushmore Tour.
• "bear in the grass, can't see it." When we first got into Yellowstone, was said in a flat monotone by a Yellowstone Park Ranger as Chrissy rolled down the window to ask him why everybody was stopped. She didn't even get a word out.
• "Can you hear me?" Mentioned earlier...the noisy guy at the hotel pool in SD...to which I replied loudly, "Everybody can hear you!!"
• And my number one favorite thing is: Sitting by the campfire in the evenings enjoying the serenity of Yellowstone, when people remotely lock their car doors and their horn beeps. I love that ...that's my favorite. The many car horn alarms going off is nice too.

Anyway....that's all I'm posting for tonight.

Downloading pictures now. Chrissy is responsible for making a post and posting some pics tonight.

Adios.

Day 4.

I'm sitting here at the Hotel Room Sipping Coffee. I uploaded a few Random pics as you can see. Problem is we've taken so many cool pics and seen so many cool things.....it's all a little overwhelming. We need a little time to go through them I'm afraid.

Anyway...first three days were spent traveling and South Dakota. Started out with miles and miles of beautiful Prairie. Then you get to the south west portion of South Dakota...uh...wow!

Badlands, and Blacks Hills are way too cool. Went to Badlands twice we liked it so much and will post more pics if/when we get a chance to look through them better. Black Hills we went to Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Needles National Park, and Custers State Park (lots of wildlife). Absolutely beautiful. I think we could have spent the whole two weeks here.

Now we are slowly getting ready in Buffalo WY to head to to Yellowstone. We are kinda not looking forward to getting in the car...but really looking forward to Yellowstone.

Random Trip notes:

• Lot's of bugs on I90...or there were. Most are on the windshield of the car right now.
• There is a guy in South Dakota that likes to make sure everyone in the Hotel knows he's in the pool.
• Not many minis out west here. We've seen 8 minis total. Lot's of people ask me about it...lot's of thumbs up and the answer to everyone's question is "about 25 mpg around town and 30 highway (avg 80-85 mph)..but it's pretty fast." and "yes it's very fun to drive".
• We've seen 29 VW bugs. Since we are playing slug bug, and Crissy sees them first I just count the bruises.
• Sturgis is not that cool during non-bike week.
• Chrissy get's cranky when she's hungry.
• Michigan isn't the only place that has giant and delicious portions.
• Buffalo Ribs are awesome.
• Lot's of antelope in SD and WY.
• Geocachers are just as secretive in SD.
• There is a creek named after Crissy in WY. Crazy Woman Creek.
• Clouds on the horizon end up being mountains.
• I'm still a beautiful man.

Badlands Mini.

Indian Dancers and other Indian Culture at Crazy Horse. These brothers were great.

I tamed this mighty Beast.

Badlands Mini. We LOVED the Badlands.

Tried Again.

Thought I'd give the pic upload another try while Chrissy was showering.

And it workS!!!


One of many antelope. Custer State Park.

Freindly Burros.

Giant cows. (Custer State Park)

We bonded and I'm bringing him home in the mini.