Vacation pictures

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I took my Mom to Yosemite, Point Lobos and Big Sur last week.

[lost-in-nj]

1. Beautiful!!!

what scenery and so diverse!!!!


Thanks for sharing!!!


but I gotta ask

what is the last one???
:)


lost

:hi:

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3. The last one is looking straight down at the sand on Pismo Beach, from the pier

Thanks

[BarenakedLady]

2. Very pretty!

Thank you.

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4. You're welcome

[miss_american_pie]

5. Those are lovely

Thank you for sharing them.

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9. You're welcome, I'm glad to

[ThatsMyBarack]

6. Breathtakingly gorgeous!

Some of those water look nice to swim in--except there's too many rocks!

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7. Swimming is allowed in most places, but the water is too cold all year.

Swimming is allowed in many places, but I have never seen a swimmer at any of those spots, even in the summer or even with a wet suit. China Cove at Point Lobos allows swimming (the 6th and 7th pictures from the end) but it's very cold. At Yosemite, people do swim in the Merced River on warm summer days, even though the water is cold there too.

[Pool Hall Ace]

8. Gorgeous pics, and your mom is so cute.

:hi:

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12. Thanks - she's 89 right now.

[applegrove]

10. Gorgeous pics. Your mom looks like she is having a grand old time.

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11. Part of the time she did.

She was complaining about the cold a lot, even though it was clear and sunny, and 65 degrees, there was a wind that made it feel chilly. And it was very cold and windy at Point Lobos, even though it was full sun. If it had been warmer I think she would have had a better time.

[applegrove]

14. That is too bad. Maybe she'll appreciate it more as she looks back.

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15. And if she can remember it!

Today I said, "remember, we were in Yosemite National Park last week?" and there was a long pause while she tried to remember it.

[applegrove]

20. I'm sorry she is forgetting thing. Beautiful pics though. I always feel

so excited to be in/near mountains.

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26. I was struck by how clean and well-maintained Yosemite is,

considering how heavily travelled it is, with millions of visitors per year. It was absolutely clean without a single piece of trash in sight anywhere. Some of the meadows were cordoned off to help them recover from damage from so much traffic over the years, but most of it was in pristine, almost perfect condition considering that there is such a direct interface with humans and cars there. We were lucky to be there on a sunny day with the waterfalls in full flow.

[applegrove]

30. Sounds gorgeous!!

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38. It really is. The most photogenic spot on Earth, in my opinion.

So many things to see crammed into a relatively small area.

[LibDemAlways]

13. What a good guy you are for sharing some of the

best of CA with your mom.

Those are some of my favorite places.

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37. Thank you, I appreciate it

[My Good Babushka]

16. Thanks

Thanks for sharing those gorgeous pictures. They are just beautiful.

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31. You're welcome

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. My dear bob_weaver!

Amazing shots!

Those are some of my fav spots in the whole world...

You really do justice to the beauty there!

Thank you!

:hi:

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29. Dear Peggy,

Thank you very much. Really, those locations are all pretty much "point and shoot" places - basically as long as you hold the camera steady you're going to get a beautiful shot, no matter which direction the camera is pointed in. But thanks for the compliment. I bet you would come up with some stunningly beautiful photos from those places.

[kwassa]

18. My favorite places in California!

I would take friends and family on that exact tour.

Plus, Yosemite in May is the perfect time to go. The waterfalls are at their biggest, and the summer tourist crunch hasn't happened yet. I would go there yearly in May when I lived there.

I love Point Lobos, too. I also like the two Pfeiffer state parks, one the beach with the rock formations, and the other the redwood forest (pictures below).

You have some great pictures!

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19. Wow those are beautiful. I wanted to stop there.

I wanted to stop at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, and the sunlight was perfect (about an hour before sunset and everything was just glowing). But, it was cold and my Mom was very tired so we just kept going. We had to get to Morro Bay that night. I got a quick glimpse of the area of JPBSP shown in your first picture, and I'm pretty sure that the waterfall wasn't flowing last Friday, or if it was, it was just a trickle, as it wasn't visible from the road. I hope to go back there again someday at sunset.

[kwassa]

23. There is also a big arched rock formation there ...

but with your mother in a wheelchair, there really isn't easy access to the beach that doesn't go through soft sand.

Here is the Arch Rock formation at the beach, which is also pretty unique.

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24. That's neat - thanks

[Beaverhausen]

21. Wonderful! I've been to Big Sur and Point Lobos but have yet to get to Yosemite

thanks for sharing those pics!

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25. Yosemite Valley is a magical place. The best park in the world, if you ask me.

I had seen photos of it for decades, but I still gasped when coming out of the tunnel to the view in the first photo I posted. At every turn on the road through the valley, something beautiful or spectacular appears, whether it's a grove of trees, a massive granite mountain, a thundering waterfall, a rushing river, a deer nonchalantly munching on grass, another waterfall, another gigantic rock wall, and on and on. So much beauty concentrated into one small area 7 miles long by 1 mile wide. And what really impressed me was how clean and prisitne it all was, considering the millions and millions of people who have been there over the last 100 years. I did not see one single piece of trash anywhere. Everything was lush and verdant and full of life. It is amazingly well preserved considering the human traffic there.

[YankeyMCC]

22. Wow!

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34. Thanks

[Beer Snob-50]

27. did she climb half dome? nt

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28. Only as far as the cables.

[wain]

32. you're a very, very good photographer

and quite an outstanding son in giving joy to your Mom.

Thanks.

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33. Thanks - she's 89 and she got some joy from it.

I'm just an amateur photog though. Nikon Coolpix. I brought my old 35mm camera and my video camera, but never got them out.

[SallyMander]

35. Oh, those are GORGEOUS!

Thanks for posting! My fiance and i are planning a belated road trip honeymoon next summer (2009). Yosemite is definitely on the agenda! :D

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36. You're welcome. Yosemite is a magical place, and these photos barely scratch the

surface of what there is to discover in Yosemite. Most people only visit Yosemite Valley, where the most spectacular and beautiful sights are concentrated. But there is a lot more to the park that is less crowded and also beautiful. The earlier in the year that you go, the more water there will be in the waterfalls. By late summer, the waterfalls are reduced to trickles or gossamer sprays. So late spring, right before Memorial Day, is the best as far as the waterfalls are concerned. If you want to stay in any of the hotels or lodges in the park, you need to book them now as they typically get booked a year in advance. Almost the same for campsites too.