We woke up on the last day of our holiday a little unhappy to be leaving and dreading the task of our final pack. We got it over and done with as fast as possible and decided to take a last drive up to Sanoma (wine country).

We just drove North for an hour over the Golden Gate Bridge and got as far as Sanoma in time for lunch. I wise we’d had a little more time for a trip a bit further to Napa Valley but time was short and we had a plane to catch. Anyway, it gives us somewhere left to visit for next time. We got a pizza in Sanoma before heading back down to San Francisco and the airport.

And that was it…the end of our Californian road trip

*sob sob*

We made our way back up to San Francisco via Mountain View (so I could see Google HQ!) and our hotel for this stay was on Lombard St just a few minutes walk from the squiggly bit.

We spent the morning in Golden Gate Park and the Japenese Tea Garden where we sat in the garden drinking green tea – all very civilised! We then spent an hour or so wandering round Golden Gate park.

After the park we headed back to the hotel, got changed and headed along the water via the Maritime National Park into North Beach. We’d booked the Stinking Rose garlic restaurant for dinner and took an elongated route through North Beach to get to it stopping in at the San Francisco Brewing Company for one of their brewed beers before dinner.

The Stinking Rose is a fantastic restaurant inside and we were lucky enough to get one of the secluded tables at the back so it was a nice romantic place for one of our final meals in San Fran. I love garlic and so when we were recommended the starter it was an instant yes – it’s called ‘GARLIC SOAKING IN A HOT TUB’ and to quote their website:

Garlic cloves, oven-roasted in extra virgin olive oil & butter with a hint of anchovy. a wonderful treat for spreading on our house-baked focaccia bread. served at your table in an iron skillet.

It sounds disgusting but believe me it’s wonderful however, probably wasn’t too wise having it the day before we got on a plane back to Glasgow…

After the meal we decided we were smelling too much of garlic so we took a long walk back to the hotel again along Lombard St which let me get a few photo’s of the city at night.

We’d been swaying between going whale watching and just getting on the road and up to San Francisco. In the end we decided that whale watching was worth doing whether we saw one or not.

We headed off down to the pier to buy tickets and hire binoculars.The boat was a decent size and surprisingly I never ended up sea sick (although I have heard it can get quite rough at times). We’d been heading out for about 30 mins when we were told that there was a report of an killer whale nearby so off the captain took us in that direction. When we got closer we got our first glimpse of a killer whale!

Now, that would have been what I called a successful trip in itself but the whales started coming up closer to the boat so we were getting better and better views. After watching for a while there was another report of other killer whales and some humpbacks so off we went again to see if we could spot them.  Before long we saw more killer whales and no less than THREE humpbacks! It was amazing. The humpbacks must have thought our boat was a play thing as once or twice our boat was hit from below by one of them.

There was a point where I noticed everyone jumping back, to my mind this gave me a clear space for a picture so I moved towards the edge and promptly started snapping away. The humpback surface…I got good photo’s and only then did I discover why everyone had stood back…he breathed out and spurted loads of foul smelling stuff all over me and my camera!

The B&B we stayed in gave a massive, home cooked breakfast each morning so we had a leisurely but big breakfast before heading out into the Monterey sunshine.

Our main activity for the day was Monterey Aquarium right on Monterey Bay. The aquarium is absolutely massive and is the most extensive, well stocked aquarium I have been in. Below is one of the viewing tanks with sea kelp reaching 28 feet tall! The picture below only shows a portion of it but the people give in an idea of scale.

When we were at the Aquarium there was also a Great White Shark in one of the tanks so we spent quite some time watching it. Apparently they keep it for a few weeks then let it back into the ocean.

There’s also a fantastic jellyfish display and a great penguin pen. I love penguins so I probably made the Fiance stay there for ever so slightly longer than was necessary but they’re just so cute! Ditto for the sea otters…there are binoculars along the viewing platform so you get really good views of the sea otters playing.

I’m not a huge fan of birds but the bird section was really good and the people working in there are really knowledgeable. We ended up talking to one guy who had emigrated from the UK 20-odd years previously and he was really eager to show us around and tell us about the local area. He also told me what the birds were we’d been seeing all through our trip: turkey vultures.

After the extended stay with the penguins the Fiance got his own back when we visited the touching pools. He loves anything to do with sea life so I spent quite a while watching him playing and holding all the animals! Aww bless!

We spent a good four hours at the aquarium and could easily have spent a lot more but we wanted to see round Monterey too. It’s a shame we couldn’t stay longer though as there was just so much to see.

After the Aquarium we headed along Cannery Row and took a walk round the area, viewed the sea lions again and had a bite to eat at the other end of Cannery Row from the Aquarium. The rest of the day was a lazy amble around Monterey and a cheeky wee afternoon beer.

For dinner we took the advice of the B&B owners and headed down to another fish restaurant called the Sea Harvest. It was brilliant. You walk in and there is a big fish counter with every type of fish imaginable and further round if the restaurant area. It’s a no frills restaurant with plastic table clothed tables but don’t let that put you off. I had (for just six tiny pounds) a HUGE dish of scallops with rice. Normally (well, in Scotland) when you order scallops you’re lucky to get over four but not at the Sea Harvest, I had about 15 massive ones on the plate – I was in heaven!

The Fiance and I aren’t ones for big nights out as we like our daytimes to be hangover free but we decided that while we were in Monteray we’d make use of some of the bars. The first (and only) one we went to was Sly Mcfly’s on Cannery Row. Turns out we’d got there in time for the live jazz night. We got talking to a guy who started telling us about living in Monterey which was really good to hear and added ot the atmosphere. Eventually his friends turned up and when the music started they all started doing ‘West Coast Swing’ which was fascinating to watch. Very energetic dancing style and one I’m quite keen to learn at home – looked a lot more fun than any other dancing I’ve seen!

We woke up early in Morro Bay and before continuing on our road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway we decided to take one last walk down to Morro Rock and watch the sea otters.

We stopped about an hour up Route 1 at Hearst Castle. Hearst Castle is the most extravgant building I have seen. It has two pools (both in the pics below) the second of which has gold plated tiles and walkway! You approach the Castle (via a shuttle bus) along a long winding road which used to have zoo animals on it and has it’s own airport! At one point they had a Polar Bear in the Zoo and I dread to think of how the poor wee thing coped in the hot Californian hills.

The Castle itself was incredibly impressive to walk around and the guide was knowledgable and funny. I would have liked to have done it at my own pace but it was only guided tours when we did it (I think it may be different now). Apparantly Hearst Castle was used almost like a holiday home for all of William Randolph Hearst’s guests (many of whom were movie stars). I found it amusing that he didn’t like unmarried couples sharing rooms when he had his mistress in an adjoining room to his!

Hearst Castle is worth stopping for. I wasn’t keen to begin with as I wanted to get on with the driving and stop at some beaches but I am so glad we stopped. It took a fair few hours to walk round but it’s time well spent as you learn so much about the Castle and the surrounding area.

After leaving Hearst Castle we carried on a few miles up the road before pulling over to Piedras Blancas’ beach where we could view Elephant Seals. They looked like massive planks of driftwood on the beach and it was actually quite hard to identify them until they moved. In fact, there was one that I was convinced was dead until we eventually saw him flipping sand over his body.

Once I’d had my fill of watching the Elephant Seals we got back on the road and soon began to see the scenery we’d associated with the Pacific Coast Highway.

We stopepd for lunch in possibly the best picnic stop in the World; overlooking the cliffs of Route 1, in the boiling heat with views for miles. Who would ever eat indoors on Rout one with views liek the one below?

We also decided to stop at McWay Falls on the way up to Monterey. McWay Falls is an 80ft waterfall in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, close enough to the Ocean to be called a TideFal. Once parked you take a short walk under Route 1 to reach a viewing point for the Falls.It;s a beautiful little spot and if you drive past here you’re missing out!

We stopped once more along the Big Sur at Pfeiffer Beachwhich was a little difficult to find (the turn off snaked away behind us) and it was a miel or two down a winding small road to the beach. It was quite busy when we arrived, probably because everyone was there for the sunset but looked like it would be the perfect place to spent a few hours in the sun.

Unfortunately for us our time was limited and we had to get up to Monterey quickly so we drove the last hour up to our Bed and Breakfast (the Jabberwock Inn) where we met up with my cousin again and we all went out for dinner in Monterey.

We started today slowly still in the relaxing stupor that we started yesterday when we arrived in Visalia!  We had breakfast in bed, I finally finished my book and we headed down to the jacuzzi (we did also exert ourselves with four lengths in the pool!)

Eventually we set off for Morro Bay stopping half way to have a wander and arrived in Morro Bay in the afternoon. We were staying at the El Morrow Masterpiece Motel which I will also review on here at some point but suffice to say, it was a perfect location for two days in Morro Bay.

As soon as we were settled in we took a wander down to Morro Rock in the daylight where you can walk round to the rock an a nice big walkway (off the road). We spent ages watching the Brown Pelicans, a Heron, Ground Squirrels and also….SEA OTTERS! It was really brilliant seeing the sea otters (having never seen them before) and we spent ages watching them ducking and diving – I loved that! We took a wander along the front and spent a while watching the sealins that had made it their home.

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. As we love seafood we’d booked a restaurant we’d found when Googling at home called The Galley. On the way there we stopped for half an hour to watch the sunset and take some photo’s of Morro Rock in the sunset (below).

The food in The Galley was lovely. I decided to try Taco’s for the first time and so Red Snapper Taco’s it was! Yum! After the meal we took a long (rather wine-fuelled, giggly) walk back to the Motel.

The drive to Visalia was a complete contrast to the height of Yosemite. We passed over dry plains that seemed to stretch forever and the heat was immense with heat hazes on the road almost the whole way.

We didn’t stop on the drive over to Visalia other than to take a few photo’s and swap drivers, we fancied getting to the hotel and carrying on with the chilling out we had done yesterday.

As I said before the heat was like nothing else so once at the hotel I immediately got into my costume and headed down to the pool and outdoor jacuzzi. Sitting out there was a fantastic break from all the driving we’d been doing. Really out intentions of exploring Visalia went out of the window at this point…we ate at the hotel and treated ourselves to a room service breakfast so we could get the optimum amount of relaxing in!

Visalia was a good palce to stop between Yosemite and Morro Bay if you have a night to spend relaxing. The Marriott we were in was fantastic and offered the perfect place to do nothing for a few hours and I recommend it if you’re doing the same journey.

I woke up a little sad on day eight of our road trip; I knew it was our last few hours in Yosemite and Wawona and much as I was excited about the rest of the trip I could also happily have moved into this hotel!

Yesterday we had booked a horse riding trek round the Wawoma Meadow so off we set to pick up our trusty steeds and get on a horse for the first time since I fell off one going over a jump as a kid!

To get to Wawona Stables it’s a 2 minute walk from the hotel and over to the Pioneer Trail. We watched a 10 minute safety video then got set to get moving with the trek.

Right from the off I doubted my horses desire to go out. He (Horatio was his name) was for want of a better phrase: a grumpy bugger. He refused to move from the water tray and seemed to want to do the complete opposite of everyone elses!

Every five minutes Horatio would stop on the trial to munch on some grass, have a pee and generally mess about. No amount of trying to move or direct him was having any effect and I started to just give in and let him guide me which admittedly did become an issue when we had to cross the golf course..!

The trek itself was amazing though, the scenery was fantastic and the weather was lovely and warm. It was also a really good mix of straightforward trails round the meadow and rocky climbs into the forest. The trek lasted 2 hours and really was worth doing, it’s inspired me to do it when I get home again.

All too soon it was time to hand back Horatio and make our way to Visalia for the night.

The Fiance had to really prise me away from Wawona, if I’d had a pair of handcuffs in my bag I’d still be attached to the perfectly painted white fence! Still, eventually (with promises of returning) he encouraged me into the car where I sobbed a farewell to Yosemite and set off to Visalia.

Bye Bye. Missing you already.

We’d decided to stop in Visalia rather then pushing ourselves to Morro Bay as we though it would be good to  take our time and enjoy the changing landscape form Yosemite.

]]> http://www.ihearttravel.co.uk/california-road-trip-day-eight-horseriding-in-yosemite-and-visalia/feed/ 0 36.3302269 -119.2920609 http://www.ihearttravel.co.uk/usa-road-trip-day-seven-yosemite/ http://www.ihearttravel.co.uk/usa-road-trip-day-seven-yosemite/#comments Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:14:24 +0000 admin http://www.ihearttravel.co.uk/?p=410

Normally I write these blogs on my return from holiday and using my holiday diary as reference. This one will be a direct copy of my diary entry for that day as I feel the opening paragrah says as clearly as possible what it’s like to stay at the Wawoma Hotel…

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Well, I am currently sitting in Wawoma listening to the piano and drinking an amazing cocktail (Creme de cocao, Chambord, Baileys and milk).

We have just been to the Sat BBQ on the lawn; hundreds of people all eating as much as they could stuff in in the tranquility of the surroundings of Wawoma.

So, this mornig? We got up early and headed over to Mariposa Grove to see the giant Sequoia trees. They were massive (everything is in Yosemite). There were treese you could drive through and ones you could see through from bottom to top. I got some ace pictures of us in the trees.

We thought the walk was a 15 minute stroll but 5 miles and 3 hours later we got back to the car! We hadn’t planned it and we took no water so at the car my fingers and toes were like sausages until I got some water inside me! Idiots, why didn’t we plan it better?

Back at the hotel we walked over to Pioneer Trail and booked horseriding for tomorrow – something I was determined to get Stuart to do!

The rest of the day was spent on the lawn with locally brewed beer, books and chat. It was a fantastic way to spend the day after the amount of driving that we have done over the holiday.

The rest of today?

Well, being in Wawoma I don’t think there’s anything else for it…wine on the deck and a relaxing evening. Maybe we’ll even be awake after 9pm?

Today I woke up incredibly early and eager to get out but as the Fiance did the majority of the driving yesterday I thought it was only fair to let him sleep for a little longer. I sat outside writing up my travel diary (that I always do on holidays) and eating a breakfast of red bananas in the company of California Ground Squirrels! I have to say, that as far breakfast go this was one of the best. I was sitting outside the lodge looking up at massive (and I mean MASSIVE) glacier rock. Most of the time I simply sat looking up at them thinking ‘wow’…well, when I wasn’t avidly taking photo’s that’s what I did.

By the time the other half had finally woken up I had planned the day (that’s what he get’s for sleeping in!) First off was a walk up round Lower Yosemite Falls. They (and many of the others) were dry at this time of year (Sep) but they were still great to see and gave an idea of how impressive they would be in full flow.

The Lower Falls took about 1/2 an hour to walk from the Yosmite Lodge Hotel and complete in time for catching the Valley bus.

After our walk we took the shuttle bus up to Mirror Lake. It’s possible to walk this but with limited time we wanted to get up there as soon as we could.

The shuttle bus drops you off not far from Curry Village and it’s a 15 minute walk up to mirror lake. Again, it wasn’t a lake at this time of year but we were able to walk along the lake bed instead which gave us good views of the rocks surrounding the lake. Although it would have been nice to see it as an actual lake, that’s the way it’s always taken in photo’s for guide books etc so I think it was quite nice to see it with a different slant.

Woman mauled by bear….well almost…

Now, it was after Mirror Lake that the Fiance and I had a little incident. As you may have gathered form a few other posts, I am a bit of a wuss. I am also terrified of being mauled by a bear after reading too many gruesome stories. I am also completely aware that I don’t have a clue when it comes to American wildlife.

Anyway, at the start of the walk to Mirror Lake there is a warning about mountain lions. ‘That’s cool’ I thought, they’re just wee cats (how very wrong I was – an actual size of a lion! The clue was in the name really). So anyway, off we set on an extended walk back to the shuttle bus. If you look in the image below you’ll see the start of the walk, this was a pretty open part of the walk and we proceeded to get further and further into a deserted forest and more and more closed in by massive boulders.

At one point at the start I could have sworn I saw a bear so I took a quick photo (yes, really!) and legged it out of there. On closer inspection (ie zooming in on my photo) I realised it was in fact a cave that just happened to have two wee ear shapes sticking up so with a little persuasion I went back in. The more we walked the more vivid the images became in my head to the point where I was convinced we were about to turn the next corner and be met with a mummy bear and cubs. The ‘highpoint’ was hearing horrible noises in the forest only to be met by a load of people pony trekking (hence the noises) and I am ashamed to say I did exit the walk sobbing slightly (much to everyone’s amusement at home)!

So, after our near death experience we headed back to the hotel to pick up our stuff and make the short drive to Wawona and take in as many stops as we could.

First of all we stopped at Bridal Veil falls. These were the only falls that had water in them so I can only imagine how much powers down them in the Spring. It was good seeing them at this time though as we were able to climb up the waterfall for a short while and get a good view looking up at them.

Our second stop was at Tunnel View. From here you get that classic view down Yosemite Valley that you’ll have seen in guide books. The view from here was breathtaking despite being partially covered in smoke form the fire. In fact, I think the smoke added to the atmosphere although I would love to see it in it’s full, uninterrupted glory too…maybe for my 40th ;-)

Our last main stop before Wawoma was Glacier Point; a 16 mile drive up to the Point which sits at 7,214 feet and offers panaromic views over Yosemite and fantastic views of Half Dome.If you look down (if you dare) you see the Valley Floor and we could see Yosemite Lodge looking tiny in the distance.

Glacier Point is incredibly relaxing, very quiet and peaceful – as soon as we were out of the car there was nothing but quiet surrounding us. A few minutes from the car park is the main viewing platform for the Glacier Point. My photo’s just don’t do this place justice at all. The sheer size of the place was enough to make you just sit and watch for ages (which we did). If you get to Yosemite you HAVE to go to Glacier Point. ‘Nuff said.

After we manage to tear ourselves away from the view we did the final leg of today’s drive and got to Wawoma Hotel. The hotel itself deserves a full review (which I will get round to doing) but suffice to say, it is the perfect place to have a few days rest and relaxation in the beautiful surroundings of Yosemite.

I’ve wanted to go to Yosemite since I was a kid and thanks to my wonderful Fiance it’s now somewhere I have seen, loved and vowed to retun to.

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