Tahoe was a nice place and even in the off-season with cold and rain, it was full of pretty places and pretty people. We were able to find a public access that had stadium seating made of stone right above the beach. Overlooking the lake, we were treated to quite a show featuring sailboats, sunset and seagulls. We were able to get our gear dried out--actually pitching the tent in the hotel parking lot! Oh, the KOA in Tahoe is $78 a night for a tent site! The...

We packed up the soaked tent in the rain and left Yosemite. Stopped at the gate on the way out and asked the ranger the best route to Tahoe. He directed us to the campground office where we were told that the Tioga Pass as well as the Sonora Pass were closed so our rt would be 120 to 49 to 88 to 89 to 50. I wrote it down carefully, questioning time involved with each leg. Good enough, let's get out of this rain. It was gone by the time we got out of the park...

It could be a dream perhaps, or maybe some form of temporary amnesia, but I was going along a sunny California Highway watching the crops go by and then suddenly, I was in the middle of a snowstorm in the high Sierras with darkness setting in. Ok, the fear is subsiding now, we're safe and it's all coming back to me now. Loved that northern (mostly western this time) again! We got going out of Stockton on Rt 4 and bam! There it was! Remember "The Big Valley?"...

Two days out of Seattle and we're giving ourselves a treat at the Holiday Inn Express in Lodi, CA. Got a King Executive Suite for same price as standard. I started freaking out a bit when it sunk in that it was May 13th! Yikes! We've been dwadling a bit too much I think. I know, no hurry. But we can't stay gone forever and there is so much else we want to see. So far the only thing I feel we've sacrificed that I really wanted to see was Vancuver and more o...

Yup, tourist all the way today! Went to Pike's Marketplace and ogled the fish, the space needle up to the top, the EMP Museum (rock music, science fiction and pop culture), Seattle Aquarium, and Chihuly Garden and Glass. The later was my favorite. Dale Chihuly is great and the pieces there were inspiring. We also stopped and got a shrimp cocktail and later a crab cocktail from a fresh seafood market there at the Market. Parking was a pain but we parked down ...