Yosemite in the rain

Sorry it has been so long since we last wrote. Time seems to fly by as we try and visit everyone before leaving for Korea. Here is Chelsie eating ramen noodles (a camping staple) in the hotel room. It rained for several days and we finally decided that we, along with our gear, needed to dry out a bit. Yosemite was very wet while we were there, very wet and cloudy. It was a bit of a disappointment, but we would like to try and come again when the weather is better.

About all we could see of El Capitan, in fact we never even saw half dome.

We did get to see a few of the water falls. The upside to all the rain was that they were roaring.

Sequoia National Park

This park was amazing! We both enjoyed learning about these incredible trees. It is hard to capture and comprehend their true size.

The Sequoias grow in groves and are only found in the high Sierra Mountain range in California. They can grow up to 270 feet and reach 40 feet in diameter. Although they are not as tall as the renowned Redwood Trees of northern California, they are larger in overall mass.

They are resilient to the many forces of nature. This is why they can reach the old age of 3000 years. Bark reaches 30 inches in thickness and protects against fires. Their sap contains chemicals which repel insects and decay causing bacteria. It even takes hundreds of years for these fallen patriarchs to return to the earth after they die. The most often cause of their death is toppling.

What a cool van and a cool color. The same as the moss on the trees.

Do you see Chelsie in the lower left hand corner?

They have a shallow root system. This is why they are vulnerable to toppling.

This was our first night in the rain and in bear country. We had to empty out the car and put all the scented items in the bear box, because bears can tear the doors off of cars. Kind of scary, but we made it through the night safe and dry.
We enjoyed the many quotes by the naturalist John Muir. He experienced many of our national parks while they were still untouched.

Death Valley

Officially the worlds "hottest" location, Death Valley holds the record for highest temperatures on earth. During the summer temperatures climb as high as 135 degrees. We were glad to be in warmer country and in January the weather was great, 70-75.

Rocks, rocks, rocks, Jesse loved the rocks and Death Valley had plenty of them.

The Salt Flats in Death Valley.

The Artist Palette. The rock coloration comes from mineral deposits.

Chelsie enjoying her morning coffee.

The Sand Dunes.

We had a great time hiking around on these. Here is Jesse playing in the sand.

What a great photo of a young explorer and his father.