Jun 14, 2017 - Meg just finished her first year of grad school and is working for the summer, at the architecture firm of one of her professors. She found out that she had the week of Fourth of July off, so we decided that we ought to drive out to California and Meg could join us for a camping trip in Lake Tahoe. After our week with Meg we will drive to Southern California to visit Elaine's and Ian. We booked 2 nights at Horsetooth Reservoir SP outside of Fort Collins, CO. It was a 2 day drive there (8.5 hrs each day).
Horsetooth Reservoir
Kev needed to take a swim
Our campsite is a walk from the parking lot, so we cooked a chili dinner in the minivan.
marshmallows on the campfire
pretty sunset
we hiked the Horsetooth Rock Trail
chicken and veggies on the grill tonight
another pretty sunset
another hike today, with a view of the reservoir
snow capped mountains in the distance
It was a 6.5 hour drive to Salt Lake City and we stopped to visit my Merck friend Mary Ann. We had a fun afternoon at the farmer's market
the Great Salt Lake. It was a 10.5 hr drive to Berkeley from Salt Lake City
Wendover Will (a 63 ft statue, that was erected in 1951) greets us as we drive into West Wendover on the Nevada/Utah border
We picked up Meg and headed to South Lake Tahoe (a 3.5 hr drive from Berkeley)
Site 48 at Emerald Bay SP
It was a short walk from our campsite to the lake
It didn't take long for Meg to get in
AND Kev (and I played lifeguard...the water was really cold)
hanging at the campsite
then a walk to a sunset vantage point
snow caps all around us
beautiful spot!
looking out to the main part of Lake Tahoe
Emerald Bay
good spot to relax
Today we drove over to Vikingsholm on Emerald Bay for an architecture tour
It was a 1 mile walk from the parking lot down to Vikingsholm. You can also take a boat from South Lake Tahoe
Emerald Bay was one of the first sites for a summer home on Lake Tahoe. Ben Holiday, a stagecoach magnate built a home here in the late 1860s. The property changed hands multiple times and was bought by Josephine Knight, in 1928, who wanted a summer home built here that would compliment the beautiful surroundings, which reminded her of the fjords in Scandinavia. She commissioned her nephew by marriage, Lennart Palme a Swedish architect, to design Vikingsholm. It is considered one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture outside of the Nordic countries. In the 1950's the 239 acres of Vikingsholm was donated to the state of California and is part of the Emerald Bay State Park.
Fannette Island (the only island in Lake Tahoe)
????
pretty bench
the front of Vikingsholm
another day for swimming
and sunsets
we woke up this morning to Kev yelling that there was a bear coming through our campsite.
Yikes! A little close for comfort, especially when we're camping in a tent! The pics of the bear are very shaky...I wonder why?
another hike along Emerald Bay (and another view of Fannette Island)
a couple of monkeys holding up a large boulder
A bear crossing sign. Emerald Bay is full of bears! When we checked into the SP, we were told that if we left any food outside of our bear box, we could be fined $500
maybe 2 people is 1 too many?
beers and floating
another beautiful sunset
After 4 days at Lake Tahoe, we headed back to San Francisco to drop off Meg and spent a little time sightseeing. We spent an afternoon in San Fran at the SF MOMA.
I love San Francisco!
Beers in the city
The next day we walked through the Berkeley Botanical Gardens
California nutmeg
View of SF from the hill above Berkeley. You can also see the bell tower on campus
Our favorite Donut shop of all time!
Dream Fluff Donuts
I love the palm trees
Berkeley is a beautiful place to walk around
After dropping off Meg in Berkeley we drove 4.5 hours to Sunset Campground in Sequoia National Park for 4 nights
those are some BIG trees
Today we drove to King's Canyon, which is adjacent to Sequoia National Park
Nice hike along the King's river in King's Canyon
Today we hiked to the top of Moro Rock (350 scary steps to the top)
beautiful views on the way up
Sequoia Park Tunnel Tree
The sequoia trees are amazingly big and can be 3000 years old
Giant sequoias grow in a narrow band on the Western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 4000 - 8000 feet. The range is limited to a only a 60 mile band.
a tunnel cut into the fallen tree
Big Stump Trail goes through the meadow that is full of sequoia's that were cut down 100's of years ago
pretty sunset
It was a 5.5 hr drive to Laguna Beach, CA. We had some time to kill before Elaine was finished with work, so we walked along the beach
Only Kevin would think of getting this picture
We went to Newport Beach for a Duffy Boat ride with the Greene's
It was a fun afternoon!
Then darts on Elaine & Ian's deck
And a walk down to the beach
We drove to Crystal Cove for a morning walk
Dinner on Todd & Laurie's deck
Laguna Beach Lawn Bowling Club
I've never seen a bench like this!
Elaine & Ian's deck
Dinner on the deck
Shaw's Cove for a swim
You can see the ocean from Elaine & Ian's living room
last hugs before we leave
The GPS says to turn right after 1212 miles! (1 day and 4 hours!)
