Sierra Park, Condominium Mammoth Lakes

... After leaving the lake we headed a mile down the road to the Panum Crater which was formed around 650 years ago by a volcano. We (Kathryn) decided to walk around the crater (click for clip), I wasn't too keen on the idea as it looked way to big to entertain but now I'm married I need to do as I'm told (well I need to appear that I am). The walk wasn't as bad as I thought, it was only a mile or so, but the ...

... not into bird-watching) as they feed on the flies. The water levels used to be about 45 feet higher than they currently are, which I found really amazing, as this “old” water level was only as recent as 1941! So much of the water has been diverted out of the lake! I think the difference in the water levels works out to be about 0.5miles walking distance from the old water level to the new water level. So we would definitely have had to ...

Today we started the drive from Bryce Canyon in Utah to Yosemite Park in California, with the plan to stop half way in a place called Tonopah. However plans changed slightly en route and we ended up driving for 11.5 hours and almost all the way from Bryce Canyon to Yosemite (we stopped 12 miles from the park entrance). I think we're both glad we covered all that distance in one day but it got hard work towards the end.

The journey ...

... area of conversation without feeling too bad. Either way, his wife's current justification for him not buying Rogaine or any other hair loss treatment: his hair hasn't stopped falling out yet. Apparently, she's under the impression that if he uses anything now, it won't do anything and his hair will keep falling out. In short, money wasted. But apparently, if they wait until his hair is all gone ...

Today I went and checked out Yosemite NP. The drive up into Yosemite was quite nice and took a couple of hours from Napa. In Yosemite there are a number of hiking trails ranging in distance from short to a couple of hours long. Alternatively, if your game enough, you can try and climb up El Capitan. There were heaps of people in Yosemite so I mainly just did a drive around tour stopping occassionally for some of the shorter hikes and to check out Yosemite Falls. Unfortunately due ...

... and redwoods. Of course, had to see Henry Cowell campgrounds..the most beautiful campgrounds to me since they are in the middle of the tall TALL TALL MIGHTY California redwoods. Also stopped at the Santa Cruz boardwalk, of course, and then on to Monterey. Spent the night in Monterey and roamed around the "Cannery Row" area ...

... the old money still lives. Nice part of town. Caught up with a fella who was host to an Aussie team 41 years ago, pretty fascinating and good to hear their stories. Good presentation again, we're getting better the more we do! The 4th Street School was next, with Kideract and Interact members attending. Narelle took over and entertained the students with some exciting facts and stories of Oz. Some lovely and smart ...

... people have always realised that the way to achieve and earn wealth, is to have a can do attitude. However, as I was reminded of last night, when watching Barack Obama speak on TV, America does have its own history of division, which it has to get over. That of Race. Anyway, the message I hear is: the route to happiness must be in looking on the bright side of a situation, and saying bugger to what anyone thinks of you.

... Grove and saw many incredibily awesome Sequoia trees. We were the only ones on the trail it was like the forest was ours. While having dinner we read about the Sequoia trees, one of the interesting facts about these trees is the ONLY way they can die is by falling over! They are resistant to fire, disease and insects, all the things that kill other trees. We then started our travel through the Sequoia National Park. It was starting to get dark and the road was ...

My birthdate and the start of my adventures. Every birthday begins and ends at midnight (and to those of us who were born across the date line, it begins the day earlier). Thus, to capitalize on all it's worth, you've got to start the day before your birthday. My friends, including all 5 of my x-roommates, came out to Hennessy's, a local bar. As tradition would have it, they bought me drinks and we enjoyed our evening ...