Sequoias!

There is no photograph that will ever show the height of these trees, that will ever represent the magnificence of the grove.




There is no question that this land should have been set aside for posterity.  If commercial logging companies had their way, they would have chopped down all of these beauties.  If the land developers and restaurateurs had their way, they would have tourist traps beside every inch of this place.




A few of the greatest of these survivors from initial encounters with the white man (native Americans never harmed the giants) have been given the names of great men.  Or they used to have those names.




When we were here a few years ago, (well, 2004, so I guess that was 10 years ago), one of the largest Sequoia trees here was named the General Grant, after Civil War Union General Ulysses S Grant who later became President of these United States.



On this day, however, in 2015, I notice that all reference to President Grant has been removed from the interpretive signs.  The tree is now known only as "Grant."  It is so sad how the leadership in America is slowly but surely erasing our history.  Why would the National Park do that?  President Coolidge in 1926 honored a giant tree by giving it a giant name.  It shouldn't be because America has a black President, because Grant was a Union General, fighting for, among other things, freedom from slavery for the black man.  I just don't know...  but I do know that I'm troubled by this tiny piece of evidence... (Evidence of what?  I don't know.)  I suppose they thought that no one would notice - or care, but I noticed, and I do care.

I shake off the troublesome feelings and try to enjoy our trip.  The snow is coming down in dry pellets, so I take shelter in a fallen tree.

And look!  We can walk all the way through to the other path!  (Love the snow pellets caught in the pic, too!)  Notice the icicles beginning to form from the top, right at the first support pole.

I am beginning to feel better.  Golly gracious it's cold!

These trees are as long lookin' laying on the ground as they are standing up!

Wow!  Those ice pellets are getting pretty thick and heavy!  We gotta go!

The fun begins - because we have not decided where we're going from here ... woohoo!!

Yosemite Snow

We're leaving Yosemite by a different route that we came in on.  This one will take us out through a tunnel and then higher into the mountains - which means we will need to break out the new snow chains Granpa bought.

Just before entering the tunnel there is a large turnout, and when we turn and look back into the valley we see an iconic Yosemite sight.

Granpa is thrilled with that, but it also happens to be snowing!  Bo-o-onus-s-s!!

If you could enlarge his picture you can see snowflakes resting on his shoulder.  This has become my favorite photo of him because he is happy right down to his toenails!











As we move on up the mountain we are greeted with snowy sights right and left - literally!

To the left we have scenery:

... and to the right we have deer!

When we come down out of the mountain, the scenery is just as beautiful.  We are in a valley filled with orange trees and pistachio nut trees and bloomin' almond trees.  Gorgeous.

John Muir

This guy should be bronzed.  The good news is that John Muir (1838 - 1914) is the reason the Environmentalist Movement exists.  I don't like the idea of some rare species of frog or gnat getting in the way of human habitation, however, I (no surprise to you) cherish America's National Parks, reserves, preserves, and monuments.  I like to think that even John Muir would see the balance in that.

On May 17, 1901, Muir brought President Teddy Roosevelt to Yosemite.  They tent-camped in here for three days. Muir allowed Yosemite itself to do the lobbying for the area to be managed by the federal Park Rangers.

As early as 1864 it was "protected" by none other than Abraham Lincoln (at the height of the Civil War!) when he effectively took the Yosemite area out of private hands and granted it to the state of California.  It was the very first time park land would be set aside by the federal government, and thus laid the legislative foundation for Yellowstone in 1872 to become the first National Park.

In 1869, John Muir built himself a cabin out of sugar maple logs at the base of this waterfall.  He lived here for two years, exploring the valley, mapping and researching day in and day out.  It truly was his home. (Lucky, lucky man!)  The plaque quotes him:  Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.


In 1890, Yosemite, by act of Congress, became a National Park, but it was still under the control of the state of California.  That wasn't working out so well, and it was Roosevelt that signed the legislation bringing Yosemite back under Federal jurisdiction.  (I surely didn't know it had had such a multifaceted past!)

Yosemite's Winter Animals

The snow pack and cold winds drive the animals out of the highlands and into Yosemite's canyon. That means we may have a better chance of seeing something cool.  There are always benefits to visiting during the off-season.

How about a raccoon moseying around the Visitor's Center totally ignoring all humans.  He's like Daniel Boone's coon skin cap on four legs.




  What else did we see.  How about a bobcat!

Trust me, this was at maximum zoom!  He was in the middle of this meadow.

Anything else wandering around the canyon?  Deer, of course. On our second day in Yosemite we got high enough to reach the snowfall - in fact, we had to put snow chains on.

But the deer were in no hurry. Granpa was taking photos through the rear window, the side mirrors, open windows ...

Not in a hurry, slowly easing down the roadside, past our windows, across the road, and then straight up the side of the rock wall like they were a bunch of goats!

Bucks don't start to grow antlers until their fifth year.  The antler growing cycle can last up to ten months.  (When that time frame starts and ends depends on whether the critter is a Yankee or a Southerner.) It usually starts in March or April.  By June or July growth really takes off - sometimes, if the feed and genetics are great, antlers can grow as much as 1/2" a day!  The antlers are grown to impress the ladies and to use as a weapon during the rut (mating season).  After the rut, bucks are all worn out from stress and not eating right - so the antlers fall off. That would be in January or February (give or take a tad).   Unfortunately, hunters aren't hunting for venison (deer meat) anymore. Today's hunters want just the antlers - and the more perfect the rack the better.  So genetics are no longer protected.  The hunters should be culling the deer with weird looking or puny looking antlers, leaving the most perfect specimens to reproduce and make even more perfect racks. With that in mind, I think "hunting" with a camera like Granpa does is a pretty good way to hunt.  The guy in this photo?  I think I'd leave him alive for years to come - and every year find a new buck growing to be even better than his daddy!

Right around the corner from these deer we find wild turkey.

But, here's my favorite animal...

The Waterfalls of Yosemite

The major waterfalls will probably have water year-round.  The minor waterfalls may or may not. The ephemerals are just that:  lasting a very short time, transitory, short-lived.

The best time to visit Yosemite if you're coming for the waterfalls?  Spring would be that time. There are over a dozen shown on this map - but with heavy snowfall and Spring rains there could be a whole lot more.  For those waterfalls not seen from the roadways, there are well-used hiking trails.

Granpa Has A Hankering For Yosemite

We know that the east entrance to Yosemite is closed because of snow.  That means we will have to circle around and come in the west.  This calls for the road atlas so that I can find a town and a hotel.

I settle on a lil' place called Mariposa, California.  When we get there we're thrilled to discover it is an unblemished old mountain mining town, and our hotel is hangin' off the side of the mountain!  I don't usually promote the places we stay, but this one has something special to offer.  Comfort Inn has two separate housing units with a kitchen and a living room!  It would be amazing for a family reunion!

The history of Mariposa and Mariposa County is pretty interesting.  Check out this website if you're interested in gold and California in the 1800's.  http://www.visitmariposa.net/history.html

But we're interest in Yosemite.  It's cold, and snow is forecast for the Park.  Granpa bought snow chains for the tires, so he is obviously determined to go.  As for me, I packed every conceivably warm clothing item available - and bought extras!  (Turns out they were absolutely needed!)

This entrance to Yosemite is NOT RV friendly.

The forecast of precipitation made for incredible photos!  They were so good that when we got back to the hotel that first night Granpa ordered a giant print on canvas to hang in our great room back home!  I think this is the one he chose:

Check out that waterfall!  

It certainly doesn't look real does it?  None of the photos look like something an ordinary person would see much less get an astonishing photo of.  No wonder the Park is full of artists of every kind trying with each brush stroke to become one with the Park.  "Nowhere else on earth are there so many spectacular waterfalls in such a concentrated area."

Then, in a solid mass of clouds, wa-a-a-y up high I see something that makes me think that heaven itself is looking down on us.

I know, I know.  It's one of those, "you had to be there" kinda things.  But this was so isolated and so ethereal.   It was literally breathtaking for both Granpa and I.  We couldn't see landforms of any kind because of the clouds - just the trees looking down on us from heaven!

It takes us forever to get as far as the Visitor's Center because every second the clouds were changing and Granpa would have to stop and take a picture - which was totally fine by me!

The Visitor's Center is in Yosemite Village.  They call it a village because there's a lot more than just the Center.  There has to be because millions of people a year come here.  However, this is winter time and there are only a handful of people in the whole park.  (My kinda visiting!)  Granted, the higher elevation roads are closed because of snow, and it's mighty cold and wet for hiking, but there is so much to see and do anyway...  not to mention the fact that by August the ephemeral falls disappear and the others dwindle to a mere trickle.

The Center of course has a mini museum explaining the geology, history and fauna (all the animal life of the region.)  This I particularly like - a bird walking around under water!

The whole place was amazing...

If you went to that link I shared above then you already know that Yosemite was discovered by a troop of militia that was chasing Indians.  They followed them into this enormous box canyon.  This is an "eagle eye" view of the glacier-carved gorge.  The red lines are the roads that we traveled through here.

One must not miss the details either, the "can't see the forest for the trees" kinda things.

That tree is huggin' that rock like an octopus, totally determined not to be washed away in a Spring flood!

Petrified Wood

Granpa is losing patience.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  He gets it that people lived here a long, long time ago. The ruins were cool; the petroglyphs were really cool, and the teepees, but where IS the pea-pickin' petrified forest!!

Finally, finally we come upon the remnants of the forest.

The word "forest" implies standing trees. Ever since I first learned of this place I expected to drive up on vertical, stone-infested tree trunks. Not.  I confess to being disappointed.  But what we did find is amazingly interesting - and beautiful!

There, resting among the teepees is an enormous stone log.  From this point on there are remnants of the forest scattered everywhere.

So, how do these logs crystallize into petrified wood?  It takes a precise combination of events and elements, which is why petrified forests are so rare.  First, they must be buried in mud in a manner that prevents oxygen from reaching them. The oxygen is what would cause the cellulose to disintegrate.  Remember that this entire area used to be - for a long, long time - under water.  The teepees are in fact composed of what is called mudstone.  (Same stuff those beautiful formations in Death Valley are made from.)

Once buried, the wood needs to be in contact with mineral rich water.  These minerals are deposited right down to the microscopic level, preserving even the tiniest detail of the original tree structure. What's really, really cool is that, depending on the minerals in that water, the slices of tree-stone sparkle with a myriad of colors.  Sometimes even exotic minerals are present and shine in extremely rare red and green hues!

Sorry for the glare, but these polished specimens are so valuable that they have been placed behind glass at the Petrified Wood Company.

Wood is not the only thing that gets petrified. There are petrified clam shells, and here's a collection of Nautilus shells.  These must have taken hours to hand polish.


So, you ask, what good is all of that "stuff." Well, Granpa bought some beautiful pieces that he intends to inset in a wood table top so that I have a "petrified" sofa table.

Or, maybe you could use a spare bowling ball??

(These are actually petrified wood spheres - no finger holes.)

They say that millions of pieces have been taken by tourists before a law was passed weighing very heavy fines for that:  $300 per pound.  If you really want some pieces of petrified wood, leave the park and buy it for $2 a pound in tourist traps or at a really cool place called Petrified Wood Company in Holbrook.  (Just turn right out of the south entrance.)

There must be acres and acres of petrified wood in the backcountry/off-road, because this Wood Company has tons (literally) of this stuff for sale!  I will have to admit though, that Granpa was enormously tempted to take a piece from inside the boundaries of the Park (mostly because we didn't know at the time what was available to buy.)  I told him that if we showed the piece to anyone back home we'd have to be admit to being thieves - not a good Christian witness.  LOL, so he just took a picture of a field of pieces:

All of the brown in the foreground of the photo is made up of small pieces of petrified tree.  Each piece is absolutely gorgeous.  Quite a bit of it is polished by the sands that make up this environment.

(Oh, how I wanted to pocket that little piece of temptation!!)

So, Granpa finally got to see the real-deal Petrified Forest.  Now maybe we'll have to go to the other Petrified Forests scattered around the U.S.:

• United States – petrified wood sites include:
• Petrified Wood Park in Lemmon, South Dakota.
• Ginkgo/Wanapum State Park in Washington State.
• Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
• Petrified Forest (California) in California.
• Mississippi Petrified Forest in Flora, Mississippi.
• Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument near Florissant, Colorado.
• Yellowstone Petrified Forest, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
• Gallatin Petrified Forest, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
• The south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park outside Medora, North Dakota.
• Gilboa Fossil Forest, New York.
• Escalante Petrified Forest State Park in Utah.
• Petrifying Springs in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
• Agate Desert in the Upper Rogue River Valley near Medford, Oregon. Though large pieces are rare, the area abounds in petrified fragments.

Who knew???

The Petrified Forest

There are lots of sights to see in the Petrified Forest National Park besides petrified wood.  There are petroglyphs and ancient Indian ruins and a place called the teepees.

Newspaper Rock is pretty amazing:

These designs were pecked into the rock as much as 2,000 years ago.  They say these rocks tumbled down here, but it doesn't say how "they" knew that.  It's lucky that it landed right-side-up so we can understand them (maybe.)  There are markings throughout the Petrified Fored in the "varnish" of the rocks.  This particular one has more than 650 designs.  It is at the bottom of a cliff, inaccessible, and far enough away that maximum zoom on the camera was required.  There are several telescopes fixed on the platform so everyone, even those without camera or binoculars have a chance to see them.  

Archaeologists have worked extremely hard uncovering these walls.  We need to appreciate that fact. This is what the whole site would have looked like thousands of years ago.

There are petroglyphs in this area, too.  It's beautiful here.  A nice place to spend some time.

Obviously these folks did not live in teepees.  Teepees were what nomadic American Indians used for housing.  They weren't farmers, and so did not have to stay in one place.  They would fold up their tents, gather their goods onto travois, and move with the animals that they hunted for food like the buffalo (American bison).

Regardless, the Park has named one location the Teepees.  They look more like they should be in the northern portion of the park, the Painted Desert.

Finally, we get to the Forest...

The Painted Desert

So, we're driving along seemingly on flat ground, but then we discover that we have been on a plateau all along!  This valley has been carved by eons of wind and the wanderings of the Little Colorado River - which has long since dried up.  It begins at the eastern end of the Grand Canyon and arrives here along a broad crescent of territory ending at St. John's, Arizona.

It's easy to see why the northern part of this National Park has been named the Painted Desert.

From here we follow the Park road south across Interstate 40 and on to the Petrified Forest part, but before we go, please try to imagine all of this, as far as the eye can see, full to the brim with an inland sea!

As it dried up an amazing treasure of fossils was left behind.

This guy is known locally as "Wild Bill."  I guess he died with his mouth wide open?  

Can you imagine the deserts of Arizona once crawling with critters like ol' Bill?

Looking back at the earlier pictures, you can realize the ancient water levels by the perfectly horizontal lines "painted" on the cliffs.  How long levels remained constant resulted in the different minerals leaching out of the soil and becoming permanent colors.  The strong lines of color would mean water levels were pretty consistent for a long time. The air-brushed looking colors would have meant the water levels went down pretty steadily.

I know that our current American President has said that climate change is the single most dangerous problem facing our country.  I don't discount climate change, but to my way of thinking, this planet has held itself together through eons of climate change.  In the day of the dinosaur we are made to believe that there were volcanoes dotting the surface of the entire globe, incessantly spewing carbon dioxide. For the life of me, I just don't think cows spewing flatulents, us puny human beings breathing in and out and burning a few tons of coal for power and heat can hold a candle (so to speak) to what incredible dynamics were going on then. Climate change, as global leadership calls it, in my opinion, is nothing but political hyperbole, and a way for former Vice-President Al Gore (amongst others) to make fools of the rest of us by creating imaginary "carbon credits" while flying his fuel guzzling, pollution-making jets around the world at his whim. At least, that's some of what these fossils say to me...

Granpa's SkyView App

A unique planetary alignment happened last night.  At bedtime, Granpa picks up his iPhone 6 Plus and accesses his SkyView app.  Moving it toward the western horizon he picks up this incredible image!

The artwork is overlaid on the actual image.  The blue lines within the fish identify the star constellation we know as Pisces.  As he moves his iPhone around the bedroom 360 degrees we see every constellation with its artwork overlay.  The artwork is beautiful in and of itself!

But tonight Granpa is focusing on the unique alignment of Mars, Venus and the crescent dark moon.
Look closely, and you'll realize that there are two orange globes.  They would be the male and female of heavenly bodies.  Mars, named after the god of war, and Venus, named after the goddess of love.  I suppose one could imagine that the crescent moon is a worried Daddy looking after the young couple?  Whatever, I think it is a really cool image, and I wanted to share it with my friends!

Tucumcari Snowfall

Though Tucumcari, New Mexico is only at an elevation of 4,000 feet, 

we woke up to a couple of inches of snow.  

It was anticipated, so Granpa was up and down all night long watching the snowfall and estimating the accumulation.  It was, in my opinion, just enough to make for beautiful photos.

The roads were clear, so we had the best of both worlds.

Most of New Mexico received some accumulation.  We had a beautiful drive to the Arizona border.

As we neared the state line, Granpa asked me to find the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park on the map.  Huh?  I'm walking around with a (literally) freakin' eyeball, and he wants to go sightseeing.  Hello!  I am the sight!

Oh, well.  We're here.  Might as well take a look-see.  I wasn't prepared for what we saw ...

To Texas and Back

Well, we've had yet another extension to Granpa's contract, so we have to go back to Texas and pick up all of our tax documents to file our 2014 return.  (Any excuse is a good excuse to go home!)

There was no sight-seeing on our way home, and we were only there for two days.  Day one we took everyone available to an I-love-you Valentine's lunch (Tex-Mex of course).

Day two?  Well, day two began at about 2 a.m.

I have Sojgren's Disease which is simply a form of arthritis.  It causes some joint pain, but more immediately it causes dryness:  dry mouth, dry skin, dry eyes.  At 2 a.m. Sunday morning I woke up knowing there was an eye-event going on.  I went to the mirror, and Holy cow, wow! did I have an event!!  All of the "white" in my left eye had ballooned with blisters filled with dark red blood. Not being a panic person (but thinking I could scare the beegeebers out of adults with this new look), I assessed the situation.  Consciously checking, there did not seem to be any change in my vision. There was no pain other than the eyelid not being happy about having to accommodate the swollen membrane.  There was no bleeding (yet).  Other than an optometrist maybe using a syringe to draw off the blood, I don't think anything could be done.  Possibly, nothing should be done as long as my vision was not changed in any way.  So, I put in some Systane Ultra eye drops and went back to bed.

With the sunrise, I knew Granny Beth would be up.  She's a retired RN, therefore I thought she at least wouldn't faint when I showed her my eye.  True to form, she couldn't believe what she saw, but no panic ensued.  I reviewed with her my earlier thoughts, and she agreed with the assessment.  There was nothing to do but wait for a decent Sunday morning hour to put in a call to my eye doctor.

As family members got up or arrived I would cover my eye, prepare them for it, and then reveal the problem.  There was no going to church like that; everyone would think I had been possessed!  Me and my Systane Ultra stayed home.

Contemplating the event, I decided that it was a combination of the normal dry eyes and maybe allergies stirred up when I cleaned out the flowerbed Saturday afternoon.  I absolutely love working my flower beds, and I delighted in the little bit of work required to set things right for Spring.  I saw some moldy spore-lookin' stuff on some of the dead Canna leaves, but I figured no big deal.  Ha! was I ever wrong!

Celebrating our homecoming with family kinda died down because of that.  Our Dallas son and family drove all the way to Tyler to go to Sunday School and church with us.  They enjoyed it with Granpa and Granny Beth...  Parents prepared our little grandchildren for the eye problem so that they wouldn't be frightened by it -- but they simply hugged me, looked at my eye, and proceeded to go out and play with each other and the animals.  No worries.

While at church, our daughter-in-law showed a photo I had taken of my eye (some selfie!) to an ER doctor/church member.  He was appalled.  He thought I should go to the ER asap.

I did call my eye doctor, and he said, yup, things like that happen sometimes.  If there is no change in vision, not a problem.  It will clear up in 4-6 weeks!  Yikes!!!  Throughout the day the swelling increased, so I ultimately called him back for reassurance that it would stop at the iris (though the swelling itself had laid over a portion of it). The blood was beginning to "weep" out, and I thought emailing or messaging a photo of it to him would make me feel better.  He declined the photo op, reassured me the swelling would not affect the iris, and said adios.

Everyone went home, John got some sleep, Systane and I made a night of it.

We left for Arizona Monday morning.  I made certain that Systane was in my pocket. (Oddly enough, just before we left for Texas, I bought two new bottles of Systane Ultra just because.  Very cool, huh?)  I kept my sunglasses on through lunch and whenever I thought other people might catch a glimpse of  "the evil eye."

Tuesday morning at breakfast in the hotel I continued to wear the sunglasses.  A very nice couple sat down next to us.  She was "chatty," mentioned that her eye was swollen from a fall she had taken, and that she had debated whether to put makeup on or not.  I complimented her makeup, and commented that makeup wouldn't help mine!  That opened up the whole story.  Providentially, the Lord was with me yet again.  Her husband was a retiring ophthalmologist with over 40 years of experience!  He was intrigued, and asked to take a look at my eye.  (Oh, my goodness!  At breakfast?)  I thought that the photo I had taken to send to my eye doctor might provide more privacy that uncovering my eye for everyone to see, so I showed him that (after asking if he was absolutely certain that he wanted to see it.)  "Wow," he said.

I could tell he was resisting doing a thorough investigation of it, but he finally asked to actually see the real deal.  Checking to see if there were breakfast guests that might also see, I took off my sunglasses and eyeglasses for just a few seconds. The long and the short of it, he said the same things my eye doctor had said over the phone.  He also assured me that there would be no way for the iris to become involved in the swelling.  (That definitely made me feel better!) The "weeping" of blood wasn't of great concern, only if it actually began to bleed would there be a reason to check in with a doctor.   If there was no change in vision, I should just wait out the weeks it would take for the blood to be absorbed back into the blood stream. At the point of greatest swelling, he said the blood had congealed, so that would take longer to go away.  Sigh.  But thank you, Lord!

We parted ways and headed west.