Thursday morning, we took off from Monterey. We headed up the coast to Santa Cruz, where our first stop was: The Mystery Spot! This is a very weird place, as mysterious things happen. Your senses get tricked by the nature – especially your sight as awkward angles takes place. It definitely tricks your mind. Uphill feels and looks like downhill and vice versa. We took the tour with a hilarious guide, who was very entertaining throughout the tour. I was “lucky” enough to be chosen for some demonstrations of the optical illusions. This place is worth a visit if you come nearby!
Afterwards we headed towards Fresno – the base of our Yosemite trip. We drove through Castroville – “Artichoke Center of the World”. On our way we passed lots of fields with fruit, nuts and vegetables. Lettuce, strawberries, artichoke, almonds, pistachios and vines. We arrived at our hotel in Fresno in the afternoon.
Later on we went to In-n-Out Burger to taste what all the hype was about. We were VERY disappointed! Afterwards we went back to the hotel to plan our Yosemite trip the next day. Unfortunately the weather reports showed rain.
Friday morning we went to Yosemite anyway. On the way there, a coyote crossed the road right in front of us.
It was a swirly road through the foggy Sierra National Forest up towards Yosemite. We decided to do the Bridalveil Fall Trail, some of the Valley Loop Trail and Mirror Lake Trail to the lake and back. I was very tired at the end of the hikes as we had to jump over big pools of rain. Unfortunately we didn’t see any animals other than birds and squirrels. On our way back we went by El Capitan – we couldn’t even see the top as the clouds were so low. And lastly we stopped at Tunnel View before heading back to Fresno.
Kasper
Torsdag morgen tog vi fra Monterey. Vi kørte op langs kysten til Santa Cruz, hvor vi havde vores første stop: The Mystery Spot! Det er et meget mystisk sted (deraf navnet). Dine sanser bliver snydt af omgivelserne – specielt synssansen, da her er mange skæve og unaturlige vinkler. Op ad bakke føles ned af bakke og omvendt. Vi tog en rundtur med en rigtig sjov guide. Jeg var “heldig” at blive valgt til at demonstrere et par af de optiske illusioner. Stedet er helt sikkert et besøg værd, hvis man er i nærheden!
Bagefter to vi mod Fresno – vores base under vores besøg i Yosemite. Vi kørte gennem Castroville – “Verdens centrum for artiskokken”. Vi passerede masser af marker med frugt, nødder og grøntsager. Salat, jordbær, artiskok, mandler, pistacienødder og vinmarker. Vi ankom til hotellet i Fresno om eftermiddagen.
Senere om aftenen to vi på In-n-Out Burger for at se om hypen passede. For at sige det mildt var vi TÆMMELIG skuffede. Bagefter to vi tilbage til hotellet for at planlægge vores Yosemite-tur dagen efter. Desværre var vejrudsigten imod os og spåede regnvejr.
Fredag morgen to vi alligevel til Yosemite. På vej derop så vi en prærieulv krydse vejen lige foran os.
Det var en snoet vej og meget tåget igennem Sierra National Forest op imod Yosemite. Vi besluttede os for at vandre Bridalveil Fall Trail, noget af Valley Loop Trail og Mirror Lake Trail til søen og tilbage igen. Jeg var meget træt efter vandreturene eftersom vi også måtte springe hen over et par store vandpytter på vejen. Desværre så vi ingen store dyr, kun fugle og egern. På vej tilbage kørte vi forbi El Capitan, men det var desværre så dårligt vejr at vi ikke kunne se toppen. Til sidst stoppede vi ved Tunnel View inden vi kørte tilbage til Fresno.
Kasper