Birdie

More about the bear later. This was a family trip after DD's high school graduation. I was born in California and returned to spend a few more years there during high school. I love showing my family the great natural beauty the state contains. The only problem is trying to fit it all in.

We decided to limit it to the three areas: San Francisco, Yosemite, and Lake Tahoe, a perfect combo, IMO, of city, mountains, and water.

We rented our car at the airport which might not have been such a great idea since it took us over two hours to get out of the airport but we did luck out and get a Nissan hybrid.

The hotel we stayed in was the St. Regis in SOMA across from the Yerba Buena gardens. The hotel is in a great arts neighborhood filled with galleries, next to the SF Museum of Modern Art, and, best of all , backing up to the Cartoon Museum. Yipppeee! Unfortunately, the Cartoon museum was closed on the one day we were able to visit but we did settle for the SFMOMA and its current show of Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams. Just kidding on the "settle" part. Its a great museum and the show was a perfect prelude to our next stop in Yosemite.

We ate at Baccar that evening. We were attracted to the wine list, which didn't disappoint, but also found the food to be very good and the service the perfect combination of friendly ease and professionalism.

Our teenager was with us so many of the traditional tourist stops were necessary even though DD hates to think of herself as a tourist because she has lived her entire life in a tourist destination. The cable car was '"OK" though since "normal" people did hop on. Also required were stops at Fisherman's Wharf to see the Sea Lions and to Ghiradelli Square to buy the chocolate.

Heading across the Central Valley to Yosemite, we stopped at one of the numerous fruit stands and bought freshly picked apricots, cherries, and bags of trail mix for our hiking. I had forgotten how wonderful just-picked cherries and apricots are.

I had done very little planning for this trip. I don't think I had ever traveled wth so little preparation. It had been a very busy year. As a result, we hadn't been able to get into the Awanhee and had reservations at the Lodge. The Friday before we left we checked the Awanhee and, SCORE, were able to reserve a cabin there.

The cabins at the Awanhee are lovely. The setup of the room was perfect. A closet dressing area with a vanity, a sink area, and a separate bathing/toilet room. In the morning I would step out of our cabin and have a short stroll to the river with Half Dome overhead and mule deer nibbling on the brush.

Our first hike was on the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. It is a great trail but it is essential to get on the trail before all the youth groups do. We were so glad we were coming down as dozens of people were going up. We saw a bobcat on this trail and the two women 5 minutes ahead of us saw a mountain lion.

The weather helped us out in the afternoon. It was drizzling when we were in the Mariposa grove and freezing rain up at Glacier Point. It kept the crowds down and didn't bother us.

Our second big hike was up the mist trail. Again, this is a trail you want to be on early. It would be difficult if there are a lot of people going up and down those narrow steps.

We were heading up to Tahoe so I thought the best route would be up the Tioga Road through Tolumne meadows. This is where the bear story comes in. Forgive me while I digress for a moment.

I have been camping and enjoying the outdoors for my entire life. This was my third trip to Yosemite and one of countless trips to the Sierras. I have hiked in the Poconos, the Canadian rockies, the Colorado Rockies, the Shenandoah. I have seen fresh bear scat and have missed bears by minutes. I have never seen a bear in the wild. It was becoming a family joke. We were just about to turn onto Tioga Road when we saw a cluster of cars pulled off to the side of the road. In a national park, this is like putting up a big sign that screams WILDLIFE! PULL OVER NOW TO SEE. So we did and there was my first bear off in the meadow eating green stuff. wow.

The drive over Tioga Road, past Mono Lake, and up to Lake Tahoe is almost indescribable. I think you must travel through at least 10 different types of ecosystems on the drive.

I had booked us into the West Shore Cafe and Inn. There had been a brief mention of it in The NY Times Mag and 1 TA review. I was a little nervous driving up the very quiet west shore. A lot of places were still closed for the season and my family was hungry. We were the only guests at the inn during our stay but that was just fine with us. The Inn is lovely.

We were able to get dinner that night at Sunnyside. We ate in the bar. The food was great and the crowd was having fun. DD was able to watch the hockey overhead so she was happy. I breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes your travel gambles pay off.

We had hiked and driven and tried to see EVERYTHING in the Yosemite valley. We were pooped and happy to sit by the lake on the Inn patio and read and watch the boats. We did go down to Sugar Pine Point Park to take an easy hike and tour the Ehrmann Mansion. The park ranger gave an excellent tour and talk about the history of the house and its inhabitants. We had picked up delicious sandwiches at Obexer's market and deli and enjoyed a lovely picnic in the woods at the park.

Dinner at the Inn was fabulous. The restaurant and bar opens to the lakeside patio and pier. I think it must be a great spot for locals to stop for drinks, lunch, and dinner.

We had a quick stop outside of Sacremento so that I could meet up with an old friend and then we returned to San Francisco. For this night's stay we chose the Ritz in the Nob Hill neighborhood. We like the Ritz Carlton's but after having free WiFi access in Yosemite and Lake Tahoe I have to ask: why can't I get WiFi in my room in San Francisco, one of the most tech savy cities in the world?

After roaming around North Beach and Chinatown we stopped at La Presse Cafe near our hotel for dinner. It had a typical bistro menu and the food was good.

I was sad to say goodbye to San Francisco and California the next day. We'd had a fabulous trip and I had many nostalgic moments. We shall return some day.

sf7307

Sounds like a fantastic trip (and a terrific trip report.

We saw the Georgia O'Keefe/Ansel Adams show last night. It's a very good exhibit (coming from a person who is neither an art nor an art museum aficionado).

Regarding the bears -- on a cross-country trip in 1963, bears were one of the things on my mom's list of "things we had to see". And see them we did mostly in Yellowstone. I have also seen more than one bear in the village at Northstar in Tahoe!