Purple ZR-1 Road Trip to Yellowstone and the Pacific Northwest

[8cam]

Originally Posted by C4Ray

With all due respect and I'm gonna try and make this as short as I can because this is a great thread with all the amazing images provided by the honorable OP Jim. About your wife and her resistance to your wishes... What about you-as the faithful and hard working husband? Why don't you take that once in a lifetime trip without her? Because if your wife loves you for you, then she will accept your gracious once in a lifetime opportunity invitation to travel all over America in a Corvette! Only in America would a woman complain and decline when a loving husband invites her to travel all over the USA and the husband drives! I must say, I am so disappointed why we men tolerate such spoiled women. It is just simply beyond me.

Jim - Great thread...amazing pics and drive safely!

I understand what you're trying to say, but you are wrong. She's most definitely not spoiled, just a very active person who cannot stand to be stuck in a car for long periods of time. That's ok with me, since we have a lot of fun in other ways - mountain drives, visiting wineries, autocrosses, etc. Just no long road trips. Back to the thread, loving the travelog!

[HIZNHRZ]

Originally Posted by QB93Z

We continued south on US-101 and enjoyed seeing all of the giant redwood trees. We even drove thru a Redwood:

Originally Posted by QB93Z

It is very hard to describe or photograph the magnificence of the giant redwood trees. It was like a special privilege to be in the presence of these trees...

Walked, ran, and drove through what looks like the same tree in the same park more than 15 years ago. Well said Jim and you hit the nail on the head. The magnificence of the Redwoods is hard to describe and it does feel like a privilege to be in their presence. Thanks for the beautiful pictures. Drive safe and enjoy...

[QB93Z]

On Monday morning we left Oakland and drove to east to Yosemite National Park. Since we left early in the morning, the sunrise became a pain as I drove into the sun:




The good news was that the traffic was much heavier going into Oakland/ SF:




The drive east was through some very prosperous looking fruit groves. We reached Yosemite with no problems and stopped to take our picture at the entrance sign. We met a nice family from Ocean City, Maryland. They had flown to SF and were planning to visit the parks we had just come from.



We are staying at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. A nice facilty with a nice view. Unfortunately, the WiFi is poor, so I will be posting slowly.

to be continued...

[QB93Z]

As we continued into Yosemite NP on CA-120, we were greeted with a beautiful vista of the valley floor:




We took a drive along the Yosemite Valley floor and stopped for a walk on the rocks of the Merced River:




Lyndi snapped this interesting pic of me driving the PurpleZ under a rock overhang:




Here is a morning picture of El Capitan in the center and Half Dome on the right side, (rear):




Another shot of Half Dome:




Since we always try to get photos of the wildlife, we were pleased to get this squirrel. They are a little smaller than the squirrels we have in Maryland, and have a unique color pattern:




to be continued...

[QB93Z]

After a day of sightseeing and hiking, we adjourned to the bar for some dinner and a few beers. The service was great, the food was excellent, and one of the squirrels snuck in and made a quick circle of the lounge looking for tidbits:




We walked back to our lodge and I posed next to the large California Cedar that was right next to our patio:




Jim

[QB93Z]

We had tried to drive to Glacier Point on the south side of the valley but could not get there because of the crowds. The road to the Point was closed to private vehicles until some cars came down, and a ride on the shuttle bus was a long wait. So on Tuesday morning, we got underway early and drove to the Glacier Point before the crowds. On the way to the mountain, we met this deer grazing along the road side. He was not at all concerned by us watching him:




We were rewarded for our early drive by having the over-look at Glacier Point almost to ourselves. Behind Lyndi is the north wall of Yosemite Valley:




Here is an early morning view of Half Dome just after sunrise:




In this view you can see the Upper Yosemite Falls and the Lower Yosemite Falls and the area where our lodge is to the left of center. This time of year, in the drought conditions California is experiencing, the Yosemite Falls dry up. During our visit, there was a very tiny flow from the Upper Falls:




Here is another photo of Half Dome with more sun, and the smoke haze has cleared some:



to be continued....

[QB93Z]

Before we left Glacier Point, we saw this Mountain Bluebird on a branch nearby:




Glacier Point is not very far from the Yosemite Lodge area of the valley, but the route to get there is about 30 miles:




Here is another picture of El Capitan from the valley floor:




While driving in the Park, we saw two signs warning of the danger of traffic to the bears. We found out later that each sign was placed at the location of actual car-bear collisions, and some were fatal:




During the previous evening and on Tuesday, we had heard a lot of helicopter traffic along the top of the north wall of the valley. We were informed that there was a small forest fire at the top of the Upper Falls. Lyndi got this shot of the helo bringing in a "bucket" of water to help cool down hot spots:



Jim

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by QB93Z

As we continued into Yosemite NP on CA-120, we were greeted with a beautiful vista of the valley floor:



Here is a morning picture of El Capitan in the center and Half Dome on the right side, (rear):




Another shot of Half Dome:



]to be continued...

Wow! You'd make Ansel Adams proud!

For those non-shutterbugs (or budding photographers) out there, Ansel Adams was a famous photographer who spent a good part of his life making a fascinating black and white photo record portrayal of the stunning scenes that is Yosemite. Breathtaking!

[Jagdpanzer]

Appears to have recently rained

[GOLDCYLON]

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