California
Oct. 6 - 24, 2006

After reaching Merced and attending my high school reunion, we spent some time visiting relatives in California and enjoying the warm weather (temperatures in the 70s and 80s) and the scenery.

We camped at Bodega Bay, which is north of San Francisco; our campsite was on the spit of land that divided Bodega Bay from Bodega Harbor. Bodega Bay is famous as being the location where the movie, "The Birds", was filmed. I thought about the movie when the seagulls at the campsite became obnoxious when we attempted to have lunch at the picnic table. We retreated into the RV and ate our lunch in peace. Note the deer on the ridge in the foreground.

The Pacific Ocean at Bordega Head

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We visited Point Reyes National Seashore, which was nearby. An interesting trail at Point Reyes is the Earthquake trail, which runs along the San Andreas fault. This fault is the one that caused the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. The photo shows a fence that crossed the fault; the slippage at this point caused the two sections of the fence to separate by about 15 feet.

After the north coast, we headed for the Sierras and a second visit to Yosemite; this time the weather was beautiful. This is Half Dome reflected in the Merced River, which flows through Yosemite Valley.

El Capitan is a huge granite cliff that towers over Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite Falls dries up in late summer; you can see from the discoloration on the rock face where the water streams down. Mirror Lake, a seasonal lake, was also dry as a bone. Then it was back to Merced for a couple of days of preparation before heading out on our trip to Mexico.