Florida, February 19/20, 2012

It was a very early morning. Our plane left Portland at 6:20 AM, so we needed to be at the airport by about 5 or earlier since we were checking a bag. And the taxi we had ordered was late. But we had no trouble getting there in plenty of time, even with a fairly long line through security.

The first leg was all the way across the country to Atlanta, a fairly smooth flight. But were a few minutes early and it therefore took a while to get to the gate. Then it was, of course, most of the way across the Atlanta airport, a big one, to our next gate. We did have plenty of time for the flight to Tampa. Only an hour and a half and again, uneventful.

We picked up our rental car and drove to Orlando, a little over an hour's drive, and checked into our hotel at a Hilton Grand Vacations Resort. It's a comfortable room.

This morning, Monday, we were up early to go to a time share presentation at another Hilton nearby. We were able to get out without buying anything, but it did get us the room where we are staying at a very reasonable price.

Heading back to our hotel, we stopped at Downtown Disney to wander around. Nothing was open when we arrived, but did open and get busy while we were there. We may go back later in the week for dinner. When we returned to our hotel, we took our reading material and went to one of the pools to sit in the sun or shade for a while.

Shakers

From our resort we drove in to Orlando to the College Park neighborhood and had lunch at Shakers American Cafe, an interesting local neighborhood cafe with a collection of salt & pepper shakers all around the room. And the food was good, too.

' nough said

Instead of trying to wander downtown Orlando, we decided to drive out to Mount Dora, a quaint small town a bit west-northwest of Orlando. (The AAA TourBook came in handy!) At the C of C they told us they were high enough to claim the title "Mount." But they didn't know how high that had to be. The town is about 185' above sea level.

Cormorant on a post

After walking around town, and finding a frozen Key Lime Pie on a Stick, and talking to the proprietor of a wine shop who knew a fair bit about Oregon wines and had been there, we drove to a park on Lake Dora. There is a boardwalk at and near the edge of the lake over the swampy area along the edge of the lake, with typical vegetation. We saw cormorants on posts, and maybe the back of an alligator near the shore.

A Florida Turtle

We followed the boardwalk as far as it went through the swampy area, passing several people fishing in the shallow water. Our wildlife sightings included a turtle, a couple of snakes, and a great blue heron. The turtle looked like ones we had seen in the Everglades. And the herons are fairly common. The pictured snake is pretty obvious, but the other one we saw was more hidden, and brown colored. At least we did see some native fauna and flora.

Just sunning himself

Great Blue Heron

After this adventure, we headed to a restaurant we had seen on the way in to town for dinner. Jeremiah's was another good local establishment with a very eclectic menu. We both had Gulf Shrimp.

After dinner it was back to the resort/hotel. All in all, a good interesting day in Central Florida.

Oregon, 1 & 2 July 2011

Today was the last full day on this trip, and our 44th Anniversary. So we planned a relaxing day of wine tasting, and dinner at the Village Green resort. We had a very nice suite, with breakfast included. So after a leisurely breakfast, we headed out for a day of wine tasting.

We started with one in town almost across from the hotel. We had mapped out a few, all within a fairly short distance of Cottage Grove. Most we had not been to before.

Lunch at King Estate

We timed our stop at King Estate to have lunch, where we sat on the deck overlooking the vineyards. They do a good job of both the wines and the meals. Yes, we had more than a glass of wine!

King Estate vineyards

We stopped at a couple more wineries after lunch before heading back to Cottage Grove for dinner and the evening. Dinner was included in our package at the resort, including a bottle of good house wine from Chateau Loraine, one of the wineries we visited. Not a bad deal at all.  

Saturday morning is was time to head home. After a leisurely breakfast, we packed and headed home. It was a wonderful ten days of reunion, Yosemite, Crater Lake, and anniversary celebration.

Crater Lake & Umpqua River, 30 June 2011

Mt Shasta from Southern Oregon

We left fairly early (for being on vacation) since we planned many stops on the route to Cottage Grove. We headed north along Klamath Lake and then turned west toward Crater Lake. We had a last view of Mt Shasta from the north.

About then, we could also see the remains of Mt Mazama, which holds Crater Lake. From that perspective one cannot really tell the geology, but can see peaks which are on the rim of the lake.

typical sign along rim

As we entered the park and drove up toward the rim of the lake, the snow became deeper and more consistently covering the ground. At the rim, there were still drifts and snowbanks as much as 10 or 12 feet high. (We didn't measure them, but are estimating.) Only the road to the south rim and around the west side to the north entrance were open. All else is still buried in snow. 

The water of Crater Lake is an incredible blue. The day was clear, and the sky and water contrasted beautifully with the snow. We had not been here to Crater Lake for a long time (like Yosemite) and very much enjoyed visiting this wonderful place. And it was very interesting to see it in almost winter conditions. We took advantage of all the views we could along the south and west rims.

West Rim and Wizard Island

Phantom Ship along East Rim

Wizard Island and East Rim

Dear crossing snow field near Crater Lake Lodge

It was hard to leave this place, too. Seeing it with all the snow, contrasting the white and intense blue, made it even more magical.  

Mt Thielson

We drove through the Pumice Desert to the North Entrance. Leaving the Park, we headed toward Diamond Lake and the Umpqua River. We didn't drive down to Diamond Lake, but stopped at a park area at the base of Mt Thielson.

Then we continued on Hiway 138 along the North Umpqua River to find several waterfalls on the river and tributary creeks. Dick's brother, Terry, had first told us about many of these falls. It is a beautiful collection of falls and cascades. We stopped at several along the way. (I hope a got them all labeled correctly.)

Whitehorse Falls

Clearwater Falls

Watson Falls

Little Falls with Steelhead jumping (right center)

Toketee Falls

After we came out of the mountains and reached the freeway (back on I-5), we headed north to Cottage Grove. We will stay there at the Village Green the next two nights.

California - Oregon, 29 June 2011

Last night's drive back to Jamestown was an experience we don't need to repeat. It started raining lightly as we finished dinner, but became a fairly violent storm as we were driving. Very heavy rain, wind, thunder & lightening. Karen started the drive, and Dick took over part way back. We made it OK.

When we left this morning, it was still cloudy and storming looking, but no more rain. We headed through the California gold country back toward Sacramento to catch I-5 north toward Oregon. It turned out to be a pretty nice drive. Heading north on I-5 took us back over our route south as far as Weed. Mt Shasta was clouded in and not visible. In fact, only the bottom 2/3 of Black Butte right next to the highway was visible. We could see some of Castle Crags as we passed near Dunsmuir. At Weed we turned off I-5 onto US 97 north to Klamath Falls.

We stayed the night in Klamath Falls and ate dinner at a Sizzler next to the hotel. Hadn't been in one of them for a long time. Tomorrow it's up to Crater Lake and the falls along the Umpqua River.

Yosemite, 28 June 2011

This morning we left Jamestown a bit earlier, and without having breakfast. Our goal was breakfast at The Ahwahnee. Since we can't afford to stay there, a meal will have to do. It was all very good.

Mt Watkins at Mirror Lake

Next on the itinerary was Mirror Lake. Last time we were there there was no lake left, only a filling-in meadow. With the high water this year, the lake is back, but flowing, so the reflections are not smooth. But they were very interesting.

Running Bear

A bear showed up near Mirror Lake. We watched it till it ran away. In the area were also many lupine, beautifully in bloom

Relaxing on the porch

At the old entrance for old times' sake

From Mirror Lake we headed to the base of Yosemite Falls by way of Camp Curry (now Curry Village). It was time for a Midday glass of wine with spectacular views. 

Yosemite Falls

We had never seen so much water in Yosemite Falls. In the Upper Fall the iconic bounce near the top was missing for all the water coming over the cliff. Walking up to the base of the lower falls got us very wet.

Bridal Veil Fall

Bridal Viel Fall was the next stop. Here, too, there was so much water one got very wet getting near the base. This time the wind did provide some of the iconic spray.

Ribbon Fall

Across the valley, Ribbon Fall was now in sun. It was a real treat to see this waterfall in full water, a rare occurrence.

Hetch Hetchy with Mt Gibson

We now said farewell to Yosemite Valley and headed to a much less populated part of the park, Hetch Hetchy. It is a second, though smaller, Yosemite Valley which was dammed and flooded for a reservoir for the city of San Francisco. It still provides some spectacular scenery.

Wapama Falls

Tueeulala Falls

We hiked across the dam and up the valley a ways. Dick went further than Karen, and for longer than she expected. But it was hard not to keep going for the spectacular views up the valley. He went as far as the trail junction into the high country and down the valley, but not as far as the two big waterfalls on the north side of the valley.

Dinner at Evergreen Resort

Since it was now toward evening, we very reluctantly said Goodbye to Yosemite, and headed out back toward Jamestown. We stopped at Evergreen Resort just outside the Park for dinner. It would be an interesting place to stay some time. Of course, that made it late enough we drove back to Jamestown in the dark. But it was a wonderful finish to a glorious visit to one of our favorite places.

Yosemite, 27 June 2011

Breakfast was at a local restaurant in Jamestown, one that was obviously frequented by many locals. And it was good. After breakfast we headed to Yosemite, about an hour and three-quarters away.

Upon our first view into the Valley we could see Half Dome and El Capitan. It was like seeing old friends. The first falls we came to were the cascades on Tamarack and Cascade Creeks. It was our first hint of how much water was in the Valley and the falls.

As we drove into the Valley it was confirmed just how much water there was. Bridalveil Fall was still mostly in shadow except for the very top, and seemed to have so much water there was not much of the spray it is known for. Across the Valley was Ribbon Falls running full. It is the tallest single drop in the park, but usually dry by late June or early July. It was fuller than we had ever seen it.

Upper Yosemite Fall reflected

Our next stop was at Swinging Bridge picnic area, with great views of upper Yosemite Fall. The high water provided some wonderful reflections. This was a perfect spot for a picnic lunch.

After lunch we headed to Curry Village to catch the shuttle up to Happy Isles. If we didn't have a lot of time for hiking, we at least had to go as far as the bridge and rock views of Vernal Fall. The trees have grown, and we had to go farther up the trail to get a full view of the fall. But we found "the rock" for the best views. Dick went a bit farther up the Mist Trail to the beginning of the mist for a closer view. This is still one of our favorite spots, and most people pass the rock without realizing the great view.

Vernal Fall from "The Rock"

Illilouette Fall

On the way up to this point, we also had views of Illilouette Fall up the side canyon. It, too, often does not show in late summer or low water years.

Half Dome from Yosemite Village

From there we headed over to the Village. Dick wanted to find the spot he had taken a picture with his mother's camera many years ago, and try to recreate it. The Ponderosa Pine is still there to frame Half Dome over the meadow.

Climbers on El Capitan

Tunnel View

Nevada Fall from Washburn Point

Half Dome from Glacier Point

On our way to the next destination, Glacier Point, we noticed people looking at El Capitan, When we stopped, we saw several people scaling the cliff. One person said she saw 11. We only saw 5. On the way out of the Valley we stopped at Valley View and the Wawona Tunnel. Those are wonderful viewpoints. Just before we got to Glacier Point we stopped at Washburn Point. From that vantage there are great views of Vernal and Nevada Falls and the High Sierra, with Half Dome prominently in the foreground. It's a short trip from there to Glacier Point for more of the same views, plus down into the Valley.

On the way back down into the Valley we once again stopped at the Tunnel View to
watch possible color changes on Half Dome from the setting sun. It never turned bright colors, but it was interesting to watch the color change as the sun set.

The trip back to the motel in Jamestown was uneventful, including no stop for dinner. We did stop one place, but they only took cash and we
didn't have enough left. So supper was nuts, bars, and candy. Remember, this sort of trip is an adventure! :)

Sunset on Half Dome from Tunnel View

Southern Oregon & Northern California, 25-26 June 2011

Saturday was the main day of the CCC reunion. After breakfast at St John's Lutheran Church, we met in the church for Morning Chapel. It included the Healy Willan Te Deum, a favorite from the Oakland days.

Following Chapel, Rod Gehrke gave a mini recital. Yes, the kid can still play very well! (Not that he's much of a kid any more.)

Class groups then met. Our HS class of '62 had been assigned its own room, but a different room for the college '64 year with a couple of other years. So we combined them. It made for a large group, but was great to hear everyone's story. We also shared news of other class and school mates not there.

The afternoon began with a Chorister rehearsal, just like in college (Prof Gehrke always said on tour they fed you a big meal and then expected you to sing a concert, so get used to the pattern.) The director was the musician from St John's. We quickly learned about six pieces, most of which we had sung before in Choristers.

Following the rehearsal, an alumnus gave a talk about his experience going to a Mt Everest Base Camp. It sounded interesting, but he advised against doing it.

The Alumni Choristers at the Banquet

We gathered at the Hyatt Hotel for a banquet. The meal was good, and the bar was open. The program was reminiscences of the history of CCC. A little long, but interesting. The Choristers then sang three of the pieces we had rehearsed. It was overall a very good evening.

Sunday morning we all went to Trinity Lutheran Church for a service. The alumni choir sang. It was a bit long, but a very good worship experience. After church there was a reception for some final sharing with friends and classmates before heading out.

We headed east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains for a three-night stay in Jamestown, which will be a base camp for us to revisit Yosemite after too long an absence.  On the way here, we stopped in Murphys to try a couple of wineries on friends' recommendations. We found a couple quite good ones. We stayed there for dinner at a bistro, which was very good.

We are now settled in for the night, ready to head to Yosemity Valley in the morning!