Yosemite cont.

Yosemite

Well here we are week before last settling in to a campsite at Yosemite. We were there from Feb. 16 to Feb. 20 and got some great pictures. There are more photos on my website www.tomwallis.com. It was snowing when we arrived and I had to chain up both the truck and trailer right after we entered the park (required). It snowed all night Monday night and most of the day Tuesday. I drove around and took pictures on Tuesday and it seemed like I had the whole park to myself. I drove up to tunnel view and found the whole valley socked in with clouds. I was about to leave when the clouds began to part and reveal a beautiful view of the snow covered valley. I got some great shots there including a panorama. No one there but me. It snowed on and off Tuesday night and Wednesday morning the sun was out in full force. There is nothing better than sun on fresh snow, so out for more pictures. It was awesome for a few hours and then the snow started to fall off the trees. As the day went on it got a lot less spectacular. Wednesday evening I was ready to get the annual shot of the sunset on Horsetail falls along with probably about 40 0r 50 other photographers and it didn't happen. This event only occurs in the last two weeks of February and only if the weather is just right. Thursday I was kind of spoiled by the day before and didn't see anything to get excited about but planned to try for the sunset shot again. Since it wasn't to crowded on Wednesday I didn't head out early. There are only a few places where you can take that picture. When we got there both of the good locations were packed. My guess would be 2 or 3 hundred people jockeying for a spot for their tripods. Connie and I found a spot to park in a snow bank a little ways from one of the full parking areas and it turned out I had a great view from the back of the truck. I set up my tripod and was all ready until a ranger came by and told us to move. The event was just starting so I had Connie drive away in the truck and I stayed in the snow and got some good shots from right there. I had that spot to myself! Friday we headed for Heidi's and got to see Alice and Jenny who were visiting from Portland. No more trips planned right away but if anything comes up I'll post it here.

I'm Back

Well here I am again. It has been a while but I have my new website up and running and it links to this page. So, I thought I better get some new posts on here. By the way, the website is: http://www.tomwallis.com/. I know, it's gonna be hard to remember that address! We have done some traveling since Alaska, but I'm not going to cover it now . Just maybe the most recent trip to Fort Brag, CA. We took the trailer over for a few days. Nothing to exciting for pictures this trip. That is our trailer by the beach though.
Our next trip is to Yosemite for a few days next week. In May we're going to Spokane and we will detour to some place exciting on the way home. Maybe Yellowstone, we'll see. Then in July it's off to Canada again. No, we didn't plan to go back so soon but my cousin Marty's daughter Danielle is getting married on August 1st and Bill and Sandra's daughter Tabitha is getting married on August 14th. So here we go again. I'll keep you posted.

The End

Well, we actually made it home all in one piece and none the worse for wear. The last few days of our trip did not produce any exciting news or new picture with the exception of Friday. Connie had wanted a good loon picture from the very beginning of the trip and although we had a few, none were of descent size and quality for printing. When we left FSJ I told her to keep and eye out because we still had a few chances to see one. After 2 days of scanning every body of water that was visible and after turning around more than once to find out the birds we saw were ducks we were about to give up. Then, with less than 200 miles to the US border and hope running out, we see a sign that says Loon Lake 18 kilometers that way. If you can't venture 18 k out of your way when your on vacation, then when can you? Loon Lake does have loons and we spotted a pair before long. We got some good pictures and decided it would be worth spending the night if we could hear them call. We didn't get much in the way of calls but did end up with a beautiful sunrise on Loon Lake. The photo of the mountain on the far side of the lake is just to give you an idea of how prevalent the pine beetle kill is in that area. This was some of the worst we have seen but it goes all the way to Alaska.

There was one other big event on the way home. When we stopped at the Hensley's, we discovered that Alice had made us an exceptional lemon delight dessert. If you know Alice you know that was a big deal!

Now, I think I am done blogging. However, if anyone is still following this blog, and you are interested in seeing a few more pictures from the trip, just post your comments or email me and let me know. I can add a few more pages with mostly pictures. We hope you have enjoyed our trip as much as we did. But if you haven't, you'll just have to get in your vehicle and go to Alaska.

Thanks for following along with us.

Tom & Connie

Technical Difficulty

Monday morning I arose from my air mattress wondering how good an idea camping really is, but ready for more fun and beautiful scenery. We all wanted to go a little further up river before heading home. Just a few miles from camp a rear wheel bearing went bad on my motorcycle. It was decided that the group would press on while I made a rather slow return down the trail. I could still ride but the back wheel was wobbly and I wasn't sure how much additional damage I might do by riding on it. The extra time allowed me to get a few extra pictures and we joined up less than 2 hours later. I was able to ride all the way back to the trucks, just not as fast as normal.

Can You Say "Chowade"

That's "Chow-wad-ee". Sunday morning still at the property the guys all get up around 5:30 to head out on our motorcycle/quad trip up the Chowade river. Check the SPOT if you want to see where that is exactly. It was all of the pirates from the treasure hunt plus Sam Fallen and Justin's best friend John for a total of 7. We rode about 20 or more miles up the river through mud and water and more and made camp on a gravel bar for the night, but not before we broke a hitch on Bill's quad and rolled a quad trailer twice. In the mean time all the pirate ladies at the property were having a Maui-Birthday party for Connie with a pajama party following. There was certainly no shortage of activity for all good pirate treasure hunters.

The Teasure Hunt

Saturday was finally the day for our Treasure hunt party. The pirate crew consisted of Bill, Sandra, Justin, Jessica, Tabitha, Dave, Cheryl, Luke, Amy, Connie and Me. We had a wonderful dinner in the gazebo complete with decorations and costumes. Then it was off for the treasure hunt. Each pair of pirates ended up with a treasure. After we finished their hunt Connie and I found out they had prepared a treasure hunt just for us and off we went again. It was just as elaborate as their hunt was and at the end we were rewarded with a treasure chest full of goodies. Then some games rounded out a really fun day.