We headed to Yosemite stopping off for lunch in yet another small nondescript town….that clearly felt it should be Swedish 🇸🇪. Piped Swedish music down the main street (think Heidi rather than Abba) and Swedish flags around the place 🤷. Having survived that we arrived in Yosemite valley.

Having lost track of the days it turns out it was Saturday, and the place was absolutely packed. Not ideal for us so we decided to stay the night, and after a beautiful hike in the early ish morning we packed our bags for a quieter spot outside the valley. Before we left we visited a few “must sees”. One was the best viewing point for the El Capitan mountain that Alex Honnald, the world famous free climber 🧗, had virtually raced up a few years ago. Conclusion – it is huge and he is mad 🙂. Another was a point high above the valley called Glacier point. It was busy, ish, but amazing views and also the site of an original hotel about 140 years ago. What a place to have stayed!!

The following day we were able to ride on an original logging train which has been restored, and learn about the logging that took place 100 years ago (😡). We sat on the giant trunks (of fallen trees) that have been shaped like a bench and set longways on a railway car frame. We also managed to hike through a Sequoia Grove and surrounding forest in relative peace, and learnt all about the native trees other than the Sequoias.

After we finished in Yosemite we headed to San Francisco. We are staying a little away from Fisherman’s Wharf, where we stayed on our Honeymoon, but right in the heart of the city. Today we explored the Golden Gate bridge, John Muir Woods, Twin Peaks area and Palace of Fine Arts.

John Muir is a very famous Scotsman who spent many years in central California. He was the one who explored and subsequently fought to protect the area, with Teddy Roosevelt, and it turns out he is equally famous in San Francisco! Here there are forests of (Giant) Costal Redwoods that he also explored and made sure were protected. These are the tallest trees in the world and are as spectacular as the Giant Sequoias.

The Palace of Fine Arts is in fact a lake with surrounding Greek and Roman style architecture. Copies of parts of the Pantheon and Forum in Rome, and the Parthenon in Athens (as far as we can tell). It was originally a set of fake buildings made for an exposition in the early 1900s, but was subsequently re-built, to the same plans, using concrete and stone. There is a lot of mature planting and wildlife around it, making it a little oasis right in the middle of the city.

We will continue our explorations tonight and tomorrow, visiting Alcatraz tomorrow morning.