Tractor Pull

We enjoyed going to a tractor pull in Modesto.  We met Vicki and Danny and watched Danny as he won in the modified tractor group.  You can see Danny getting ready to pull.

Guess tractor pulling must have begun years ago when one farmer told another farmer that his tractor could pull more weight than his. 

I really enjoyed seeing all the different tractors.

 

Besides tractors, there were some 4 x 4 pick-ups pulling. 

It was a great evening.

Hetch Hetchy

Hetch Hetcy Reservoir is part of Yosemite National park. Major water supply sources for San Francisco were destroyed during the 1906 earthquake.  So in 1913, Congress passed the Raker Act which allowed the Hetch Hetchy Water project to be built in a National Park.  It took 20 years for the O’Shaghnessy Dam to be built, Phase I was finished in 1923, Phase II, which added 85’ was finished in 1938. 

O’Shaughnessy Dam

The water flows to San Francisco via gravity.  Below you can see the water coming out of an underground pipe.

This squirrel sure was making a lot of noise.

Water was beautiful.

Tioga Pass

Took a drive over Tioga Pass to the small town of Lee Vining.

Lots of people were taking pictures of Siesta Lake

We watched a couple more rock climbers.

Colors on top of the pass were a beauty to behold.

Famous Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park

If you’ve seen many photos of Yosemite, then you’ve seen the photo taken from the Tunnel.  This is the view one sees when entering the park from Hwy 140, returning from Glacier Point, Wynonna, or Pioneer Village.  This turnout also makes a great phone booth for those who use cell phones.

You can see El Capitan and Half Dome.

Yosemite National Park, Glacier point views

One of Gary’s favorite places to go in Yosemite is Glacier Point.  Things sure have changed since our last visit.  We got to see people on top of Half Dome and a couple of rock climbers trying to make their way to the top of Half Dome.

Top of Nevada Falls.  In my younger days, I hiked all the way to the top of Nevada Falls.  Not much water this time of the year.

Vernal Falls.

Yosemite Valley view from Glacier Point.

Dry Upper Yosemite Falls

People on top of Half Dome

Half Dome

Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park

The Sequoia trees in Mariposa Grove are huge!!!!  Gary and I were there years ago and took the 7 mile tram ride.  We were planning on taking the tram ride again but the $25.50 per person charge was a little to steep for us.  So, we walked the first mile of the walking trail to see the trees known as the Bachelor, Grizzly, and the only remaining Tunnel Tree.  Great day.

Large Sequoia that fell many years ago.  Calvary troops used to ride into this section of the grove and line up in front of this tree to have their troop picture made.

This is the Bachelor tree.

Grizzly tree.  It is as tall as a 19 story building and as wide as a 747.  One of its upper limbs is wider than some of the smaller trees.

Tunnel tree.

We enjoyed watching this cute little guy.

Rock Climbers in Yosemite

We took a drive to Glacier Point.  We were able to see people on top of Half Dome and rock climbers making their way to the top of Half Dome.  On the way back to our rig, we stopped at El Capitan and watched some of the rock climbers there.

If you enlarge the picture, you can see the people on top of Half Dome.

There are 2 rock climbers in the bottom right side. 

These climbers were climbing El Capitan.  They had to spend the night before arriving at the top.

Pioneer Village, Yosemite National Park

I have always wanted to visit Pioneer Village in Yosemite.  Gary and I finally did that.  We were the only visitors there.  The employees were busy baking and having meetings so they were not talking about thing in the pioneer days.

 

They were busy baking apple crisps in the kitchen when we visited this Homestead.

This power room also served as a jail.

Their were a lot of buggies and wagons on display.

TT Yosemite Lakes

We are currently staying at the Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes Campground.  We are only 5 miles from the hwy 120 entrance into Yosemite. 

Yosemite

We are camped just about 5 miles from the hwy 120 entrance to Yosemite. Gary and I took a ride to the Valley Floor. Things have sure changed since we last visited Yosemite. We rode the shuttle, visited the Visitor's Center, walked the Miwuk village, had lunch, watched the movie, and bought a couple of books. Oh yes, I did take a few pictures. Yosemite Falls is non existant at this time of the year. Not very many people in the park. We will be going over Tioaga Pass and up to Glacier Point in the next few days.


This is Bridalveil Falls.


Half Dome.


You can see El Capitan on the left. This is the spot I really enjoy visiting.


We watched this coyote try to get across the river.

Camping at Dardanelle Resort

We camped 2 weeks at the Dardanelle Resort. We enjoyed the weather, nice and cool. We climbed the mountain behind us and were able to gather enough firewood to have a fire every night we were there. We met lots of great people. Even got to have dinner with our friends Fred and Ann. Gary caught and released over 150 trout while we were there. We made a trip to Kennedy Meadows and took a drive over Sonora pass. Before we retired, we took our vacation in this area for 15 years.


Gary really doesn't like to have to keep adding wood to the fire. This log, lasted all night long.


First day of fishing.

Kennedy Meadows, Ca

Gary spent his youth camping in and around Kennedy Meadows. We always enjoy walking over the hill to what is known as the second meadow. This was the first time we visited the area in September. I was amazed at how pretty the golden meadow was. Gary enjoyed the fishing, caught so many, he ran out of bait. We enjoyed lunch at the restaurant they have at Kennedy.


First view of the meadow and river coming down the hill.






One of the many fish Gary caught.

Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, Ca

Gary likes to fish the Walker River. To get to his fishing spot, we have to travel Hwy 108 over what is known as Sonora Pass. Sonora Pass is a windy road with 2 26% grades. We have never taken this route during September and were anxious to see what the pass would be like. Gary caught a few fish then we drove into Walker for lunch. Wonderful day.


Looking down on the Walker River.


Sure was a busy bee.


What do you think? Is Gary kissing the fish before he returns it to the river?

Grand canyon

Agua Canyon

Paria View.


Does this look like a dragon to you? Mossy Cave.





Fairyland Canyon

Grand Canyon natural Bridge

Planes of Fame Museum

This museum is located 24 miles south of the Grand Canyon. Price of the museum also includes the car museum. Not many planes or cars, but sure enjoyed the ones that were in the museum. Cost was $5 per adult.


This is the plane used by MacAuther during WWII.


Japanese zero


This was my favorite of all the old cars. Sure was beautiful with all the gold on it.


Hudson pick-up.

Grand Canyon - South Rim

Lots of points to see. We made good use of the shuttle system. We got off at each point and stayed as long as we wanted. We also drove to the points towards the east side of the park. Before we toured the park, we saw the movie about the Grand Canyon at the IMAX theater. We had lunch at McDonalds and picked up a discount ticket for the IMAX. Be sure to see the show.


Condor flying over the canyon.


Gary was really excited about the Grand Canyon. He had always wanted to visit it. We were there a few days after President Obama and found out what chair the president sat in.




Colorado River from the Watchtower.

Grand Canyon - North Rim

Gary and I spent 2 days exploring the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We camped out in the boonies about 34 miles north of the park. This park does not have any shuttle service. You have to drive at least 15 miles to see Cape Royal and Angel's Window. Gary says that he enjoyed the North Rim of the canyon more than the south. There was a fire over by Cape Royal which started in July. Fire was caused by lightening. In some of the pictures, you can see the smoke from the fire.

We were greeted by the buffalo about a mile into the park. A couple were in the road and were in no hurry to get out of the way.




This is Angel's Window. You can see the Colorado River through the window. We walked out to the overlook on top of the window. What a view.


Colorado River.

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Very small National Park but very beautiful. There were only about 4 view points in this park. It has a campground, but the sites are not large enough for us to park in.

Kolab-Zion

When we checked into our campground, the owner told us about Kolab. It is the northwest section of Zion National Park. So, since we had the time, Gary and I drove over to check it out. We were not disappointed with the many views we were treated to.

Zion National Park

We enjoyed our afternoon at Zion National Park. We drove in from the east side of Zion. Beautiful drive. Once we arrived, we got on the shuttle and rode it to the various points. There were lots of people there because it was free to enter that week-end.




This is weeping rock. We stood under it and enjoyed getting dripped on. Helped to cool us off.


The last stop of the shuttle led to the River Walk. It was about a mile or so to where one would have to wade the river to keep on going. Sure was a beautiful walk. We saw a few flowers and even a snake on our walk.

Paunsaugant Wildlife Museum

This is one fantastic museum. It is located on Hwy 12, just past the turn-off for Bryce Canyon. Cost was $8 per adult, but Gary and I believed that it was worth every penny. We spent a lot of time looking at the exhibits, which were numerous.


The exhibits were displayed in scenes with many things to see. Lots had birds in the trees, squirrels, lizards, etc.


Had a great display of birds to see.


This is one section of the Africa Room.


Over 1600 butterflies to be seen in the museum. Lots of bugs also. I know one thing for sure, I do not want to run into a bug in Brazil, they have huge bugs there. There were also bird-eating spiders.

Bryce Canyon National park

Bryce is my favorite of all the parks that we saw this year. I could take a chair and sit at any of the view points and watch the view all day. When the sun hits the Canyon, the colors change. I have included a view from most of the points. I took lots of pictures, so if you want to see more, be sure to click on the links underneath each photo. There were a lot of people in the parks. Most were from Europe. The California car rental business was sure doing great. So was the RV rental business. We did not run into very many Americans in the park. The pictures do not really do justice to the beauty of the park. We spent 10 days camping in the park with Jim and Sherri.


Chipmunks were a hit with the Europeans. They would follow them around trying to get a picture. This one just happened to be sitting on the rocks as we passed by.

Rainbow point


We hiked up to Inspiration point. Beautiful, Beautiful.


This is a view of Sunset point.


Sunrise point.

Red Canyon National park

Red Canyon National Park is located on Utah Scenic Hwy 12. There are hiking trails and lots of places to pull over to take pictures. A small visitor center is located in the park.

Two tunnels were made in order to allow traffic to travel from Zion to Bryce National Parks.