It’s almost 10pm in California as I type this. That means it’s almost 7am in Italy and almost 1am in Florida. Why are those important? Because that’s where our family lives. It’s making me laugh a little that the Italian crowd might already be awake right now and looking to see what we did yesterday. Well, you have to wait a little longer, because we are still doing it! 🙂
We just arrived at the hotel a few minutes ago. We didn’t have any reservation for a hotel tonight because we weren’t sure where we would be. Eventually we made the decision to visit a favorite felino maker here in California (Columbus Craft Meats) and I’m very excited about tomorrow. But it meant a little extra driving today to get where we needed to be.
Today we were in Yosemite National Park. Truly an amazing place. We got a late start because (1) it was a late night last night and I needed the sleep, and (2) we stopped by a grocery store on the way to the park to pick up some steak and wine. Oh yes. Always wine.
So we arrived in Yosemite about 10:30-ish and drove straight to a public grill to cook the steaks. It took a while because I don’t want to use lighter fluid, but eventally we were feasting on some amazing meat. Good thing we aren’t vegetarians.
After the steaks, a nap. I wish! Instead we went for a short walk and then a very challenging hike. Made it to the top of a very nice waterfall, got a few pictures and then headed out of the park just as the sun was setting.
Truly beautiful day.
And yesterday? Seqoia National Forest. Home of the largest tree in the world. It’s not the tallest, or the widest, but somehow they claim that. All I know is that the tree is big! Bigger than a typical cabin on a cruise ship.
And the day before Sequoia? Death Valley National Park. This is what happens when we try to hit too many places all in a short time. I don’t have the energy at the end of the day to write a little something about what we did. But Death Valley was amazing. It really is incredibly remote. So remote that they really get you with the gas prices. We saw a station there selling gas for over $5/gallon. When we left Miami it was about $2.75/gallon. California has expensive gas, but that was over $1 more than we paid in LA just 1 day prior!
But you pay for the experience. It was amazing. I don’t want to go back, but I can say I’ve been to Death Valley and survived. 1-3 people every year don’t make it. So my odds were pretty good, overall. 🙂
And that’s it! Hope anyone reading this is having a great day and know that I wish you well.
Ciao for now.