on my absence

Yeah, I haven't posted in two days.  I have reasons.

Monday was our only full day in Sacramento, so we hit it hard.  We strolled through the capitol neighborhood...all palm and pine trees.

Then we walked down by the Sacramento River to old town.  There's about a three block section holding on to the origins of the city, where wooden sidewalks, hitching posts, and buildings from the late 1800s still charm visitors.  Horse drawn carriages with tired horses and hot drivers plod the asphalt and remnant cobble, stopping in shady spots to wait for those looking for just that sort of cheez.  I'll admit the river looks inviting and the sentiment for vintage is well played.  That is until we passed the "River Saloon" - complete with swinging doors and a mannequin cowboy/miner at the bar - and were blasted by Britney or Nikki or Lil somebody on the muzak...totally ruined it for me.

By then it was around lunchtime, so we headed over to the Federalist, a tap house built from a couple of shipping containers with a great tap wall, fresh menu, patio misters, and a sustainable rooftop garden.  From there we walked to Rubicon - arguably Sac's oldest brewery - and drank a full flight of their beers.  Down the street we stopped in at Der Biergarten.  A lovely patch of patio with a killer beer selection.  A short hike from there (and back to our hotel) is Firestone...not the brewery, but great little gastropub...and where we capped our day with dinner and more beer.  By now, as one might suspect, we were a bit - and I say this with not the least bit of regret - impaired.  So much for posting Monday.

Tuesday we go up at 5am.  Not because we went out for a morning jog, silly, but because we booked a Yosemite-in-a-day tour.  You'll recall that this trip is pretty much seat-of-our-pants, and because of that we had not booked a campsite or cabin or hotel in Yosemite a year ago.  So we took a tour.  Amtrak left Sacramento at 6am to Merced, where we boarded a really nice bus to the park.  We arrived in Yosemite Valley just in time for lunch (included in the price).  About an hour later we took a two-hour tour of the valley floor.  We got back on the bus at 6pm and back on the train in Merced at 9:25...which put us back at the hotel at midnight.  Yes, it was a long day, but

El Capitan (Spanish for the Chief)

El Capitan head on

Tunnel View - El Capitan on the left, half dome in the distant right, Cathedral (three giant points) fore right

Half Dome - the north face (can you picture the North Face Logo?)

Better look at Half Dome.  Can you see the logo?

Centennial Point

Bridal Veil Falls - just a hint of water spritzing on the top (most of the falls are dry, many from drought, most because it's late summer and the snow pack is gone)

Still Bridal Veil Falls

Glacier Dome on top, Royal Arches beneath (kinda looks like Roy Orbison)

What an amazing park.  Sheer granite rock faces.  Beautiful forest and valley floor.  John Muir was right...

"The world is big, and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark."