Currently in Coarsegold CA (Low 42 Partly Sunny and Windy High 69)
We drove to Yosemite yesterday and had a great time. Bob has quite a few photos to go through so that blog posting will be later. Today we will catch up on our recent stay near Parker Arizona and in the dead zone.
There is a neat program at Lake Havasu that builds replica lighthouses and places them around the lake. To date there are 2 dozen lighthouses with the number growing. We took a boat tour to see Copper Canyon that included seeing about 13 lighthouses. You board the boat near the London Bridge, showing here from the boat.
The first two you see as you leave the channel and enter the lake are the East and West Quoddy Head Lighthouses. The West Quoddy Head Lighthouse is in Lubec Maine.
While the East Quoddy Head Lighthouse, or better known as the Campobello Island Lighthouse is in Canada and is the only international replica lighthouse to date. Pete from American Traveler blog has provided a lot of information on this lighthouse in his blog. We plan to visit both of these lighthouses some day.
Here are the rest of the lighthouses that we saw on our cruise. How many can you identify?
A couple of cute stories. First it is said that this palm tree planted by a local resident at this point inspired the replica lighthouse program.
Second, when the miners that were working the area many years ago left they turned their burros free. Occasionally you can see a wild burro while cruising the lake which we were lucky enough to see a few. This is the best photo. Rumors are that you can see coyote, sheep, bobcats, but we were not lucky enough to see any of those.
The cruise also takes you to Copper Canyon. We know of at least four cruises you can take; a lighthouse tour, a canyon tour, a combined lighthouse/canyon tour which we took. There is also a cruise that takes you to the casino but it only passes by the first two lighthouses.
Here is Copper Canyon. The green colored water is due to the copper in the area oxidizing in the water.
It was a great day except for it being too hot. About the last few minutes we were just hoping the cruise ended soon.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Coarsegold CA (Low 46 Mostly Sunny High 72)
We have to say Yosemite is now one of our favorite National Parks. The diversity of the park is what probably sets it apart. Although we didn't visit the giant sequoia groves since we just visited Sequoia National Park we could have, add to the giant trees you have a canyon feel with the valley which we did see. In the valley you have waterfalls, rivers along the roadside, granite cliff formations of Half Dome and El Capitan; this park has it all.
The park is pretty as you approach the valley.
Here we are at an overlook with Half Dome in the distance.
A great view with Half Dome and Bridalveil Falls in the distance.
One of the best shots of Bridalveil Falls is surprisingly from the parking lot.
Here is El Capitan.
Upper Yosemite Falls.
Lower Yosemite Falls.
Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls together.
Half Dome.
Just getting to the famous places is awesome scenery.
And a river runs through it
Yosemite National Park is amazing. Today we plan to continue seeing the park, driving the Glacier Point Road which just recently opened to look down on the valley from above.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Coarsegold CA (Low 46 Sun and some Clouds High 71)
We did make it to Yosemite yesterday but Bob has almost 200 photos to go through so that blog will have to wait. In the mean time we can catch up on blog entries while we were unable to post due to the dead zones. This is from our stay in Parker Arizona.
Ever since we can remember we have talked about visiting London Bridge in Lake Havasu City and we finally did. Here is a very brief summary of how "the" London Bridge got to the desert in Arizona. In the early 60s Lake Havasu City was founded by the owner of McCulloch Motors as a city for his newly relocated manufacturing plant. Mr. McCulloch decided that the city needed more than his plant so they tried to figure out a big drawing point. At the time the London Bridge built in the early 1800s was losing to the increased traffic demands of 1960s London and was going to be tore down. He paid $2.4M for it, dissamembled it numbering the blocks for reassembly, shipped it to the desert, and reassembled it. They built the bridge first and then dug the channel that it now spans. The visitor center has a neat film with more of the story. Truly a remarkable story. And truly a neat bridge.
Although truth be told it was just the façade, or exterior, of the bridge that was moved, not the entire bridge. A modern bridge rests behind the façade. Here are more photos. You enter through a wrought iron fence and gate brought over from London.
Inside the gate a phone booth, statue and fountain also brought from London.
More photos of the bridge.
For the bird lovers here are swallows nests on the side of the bridge.
It was a neat day, and great to cross off yet another item from our bucket list.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Coarsegold CA (Low 42 Sunny but Cool High 68)
Yesterday was a rainy cloudy day so we did not go to Yosemite. We did a day of going to the Post Office, lunch, manicure/pedicures, grocery shopping, etc. Lunch was at Gold Mine Pizza in Coarsegold which has excellent pizza and calzones. This allow us to catch up on blog entries from our time in the internet dead zones, this time continuing our adventures while in Parker Arizona.
It is a rite of passage for visitors to this area to make a trip to the Desert Bar, an oasis way out in the desert on a primitive road. Run by solar the place is only open Saturday and Sunday from Noon-6p from October-April. Known for its location, food and live bands. Here is the road in:
The Desert Bar from a distance.
A really neat place.
Random observations:
Primitive roads and one ton dually trucks don't go well together :-(
Food was really good, but maybe a little salty and expensive. Here is Bob waiting for our food.
Here is our food.
Live band was really good and we could tell it was a big draw as the lot was fuller than when we got there and vehicles in were constant on our way out.
Only downside was it was all outside and they allowed smoking, there must be a BobnJo's Law that smokers, especially cigar smokers, always seem to sit near nonsmokers. We were upstairs and no cigar smoker, went downstairs to order and there was a cigar smoker there so got the food and went back up. You guessed wasn't 5 minutes and a cigar smoker was right by us :-(
What got our attention the most had to be this horseshoe art:
One of the solar panels for their power.
This was an adventure to be sure, probably a once in a lifetime adventure.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Coarsegold CA (Low 42 Mostly Cloudy With Showers High 62)
We left Visalia yesterday and headed to the Park of the Sierras, an Escapee SKP Park near Coarsegold California. It was approximately 75 miles, here is the route we took.
This is a great park with our Cameo parked in a nice pull thru.
Looking down the road from our site.
Even with all the trees we still are getting a nice satellite signal. I called and requested one and they knew just where to place us to point the dish between the trees. Much better than some other parks where I swear the people in the office have never set foot in their own park much less in an RV.
It was an adventure getting to the pull thru and was sure glad for the guide ahead of us in a golf cart. We had to get real far right to avoid a tree one time and a strange angle to approach the pull thru. Not something we would have wanted to do without help.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
