"Do you have any spare change?"

We continued our travels and after a day in the car we landed in San Francisco. We found the hotel we were staying in online during a brief stop during the journey and all sounded good - it had excellent reviews and was a great price.

After a fantastic sleep we set out to explore the city. Walking towards the bus we realized very quickly that we were in the middle of what appeared to be the area where the homeless lived. Garry and I were both shocked to see so many people wandering, aimlessly, obviously with serious drug, alcohol and/or mental health issues. Yasemin became very distressed and was crying as she had never seen people eating out of trash cans before. It really did feel like we were in another world. We all felt really sad for all the people.

We did see a number of homeless people with dogs - you don't imagine that many people who live on the street have pets. I later discovered that a special program runs where the homeless are given a dog to love and care for and in return they receive free food for their pet and a small wage each week. This seemed like a really innovative and beneficial program.

San Francisco has almost 7,000 people sleeping on the street each night. We did not feel unsafe, however if I was honest I would admit that I was constantly in a hyper alert state. It is difficult, even as an adult to reconcile that so many people were once loved and adored babies, now living in such a harsh environment. It was also a reminder of what lovely lives we lead...

Yosemite Part Two ...

After a great day taking photographs we returned to camp and after dinner we made our own Smores.

Again we were lucky with a cancellation, so we grabbed a campsite for the next night - but again we had to pack up and move sites. After the move again we headed for the Valley and the creek for a swim.

It was fun to take some time experimenting with some textural images. 

Yosemite was simply amazing. Our visit included Garry, Yasemin and Max spying a mother and baby bear walking in the forest and hearing the stories of bears ripping the doors of cars in the car park of the campground in the Valley overnight. Did I mention that I'm really glad we were not camping in the Valley!

Walking in the Footsteps of Ansel Adams...

We left beautiful Mammoth Lakes and entered the amazing Yosemite National Park. We had been told that bookings for campsites were available months ago and sold out in a matter of minutes. We were also told that this time of year is the peak and that we would not find a camping site inside the park.

Who says never? The camping fairy was on our side and we managed to snag a site in our preferred campground called Crane Flat which is a half hours drive to Yosemite Valley. We couldn't believe our luck!

Beautiful camp sites that come with strict instructions regarding Bear Lockers and food storage - you are even required to sign a contract that acknowledges that you understand the rules. We actually watched the Rangers issuing substantial fines to other campers who were not following the rules while we were putting the tent up.

The nights were really cool - lots of tall trees and stars.....

On day two in Yosemite we managed to secure another camp site - we actually purchased it from another family who were leaving early. The only hitch was that we had to pack up and move our tent. After getting organized we headed to the Valley where I was booked into a Photography Course that was about Walking in Ansel Adams Footsteps. Woo hoo - 4 hours without children to listen, learn and just take photographs. (Thank you Garry)

The course involved loads of information regarding the life of Ansel which was great. We then walked around from scene to scene looking at wonderful images Ansel photographed and then having an opportunity to photograph the same scene.

Ansel Adams image of Half Dome

It was great to have the opportunity to photograph the same scene, given the different season.

Ansel Adams image of Bridalveil Falls

I really enjoy Ansel Adams image of Bridalveil Falls. Technically this is not a great image - blacks to black and overblown highlights. But what a dramatic image! Unfortunately this is one of the driest years in Yosemite - and the falls are suffering. The difference in the volume of water is dramatic.

It was great to focus on black and white photography for a change. Yosemite was a dream!

I'm going on a Bear Hunt...

I was going to be really disappointed if I did not see a bear. So not being a morning person, I decided to brave the elements, (in the mornings it actually was close to zero degrees) and get up at 5.30 am in the  hope of a sighting of the infamous Knucklehead - the naughty baby bear that frequents the campsite.

I woke and with my trusty camera went for a walk around the campground. After a ten minute walk in bare feet and no longer able to fell my toes I guessed I wasn't going to be successful. I returned to our tent and you would never believe who was their - Knucklehead - right outside our tent!

As I approached Knucklehead decided it was time to move on, I gamely followed him, (from a safe distance Susan). What a cute little, but I'm sure unpredictable little Brown Bear.

Bears were not the only animals we shared our campsite with. We were all in love with the cute little Chipmunks that bounced around daily.

Later in the day we went for a drive up to Horseshoe Lake. This used to be an extremely popular campsite but no is a very eerie and desolate place. A fault caused by a quake has created a space in the east for large amounts of Carbon Dioxide to escape. The CO2 has killed the soil and all trees and is unsafe for humans. It was strangely beautiful and made for some great photographs.

Back at the campground Garry and the kids helped create a warming fire, while I organized our red. I liked the camper van on the label and felt it was appropriate.

I had some fun fooling with images at Sunset. Mammoth Lakes was a really beautiful place to stay!

Bodie is an amazing Ghost Town....

We decided to spend our day exploring Bodie State Historic Park, which is an hour and a half north of Mammoth Lakes, along the eastern gateway to Yosemite. Today, Bodie stands just as time, fire and the elements have left it - a genuine California gold mining ghost town. It is maintained in a star of "arrested decay."Bodie was reputed to have been the wildest town in the west - a gold mining town where 35 million dollars in gold was discovered from 1877 till 1888.

By 1879 Bodie boasted a population of 10,000 and was second to none for wickedness, badmen and a very difficult outdoor climate. Robberies, stage holdups and street fights provided variety and the town's 65 saloon's were a place to relax after a hard day of work in the mines.

It was amazing to look inside the windows of bars, the general store and homes and see everything simply left as it was. 

We had the pleasure of spending a number of hours exploring this extraordinary town. I managed to take over a thousand photographs and could not wait to get to a power source, charge my computer and start creating a photographic essay. I did spend some time wishing I cold have had a Year 12 Visual Arts class with me for just an hour!

Mammoth Lakes - I am the Bear Hunter...

I have now lost track of time, days of the week and sometimes have to think twice when I write what year this is? Surely this is a sign that I am truly relaxed and enjoying this trip.

When we arrived in Mammoth Lakes after a long drive we were stunned by how beautiful the Forestry Camp Ground was.

We were looking for a vacant site and were starting to worry that our good luck was starting to run out. So far we have been able to stay at our first choice without having made a single booking during peak season. Again good luck was on our side and we were offered a site for one night.

Relieved we started to set up camp and come to terms with what the Bear Locker was all about. It was clearly explained that all food, toiletries, ice boxes and anything with a scent needed to be secured in the Bear Locker each night - we were in bear country! Bears had been sighted, and were around the camp late at night and in the early hours of the morning.

We were excited at the prospect of sighting a Black Bear - from a distance. When we woke the first morning we were entertained with stories of a large bear sniffing our neighbors through their tent wall. The camp host also reported that he had chased, "Knuckle Head" the baby bear from a picnic table in camp early in the morning. We were all hoping for a sighting! I was going to be on the hunt!

Zion to Beatty....

We were headed for Mammoth Lakes - Bear country! Unfortunately the drive was to long to complete in one day so we decided to stop for the night in a little town called Beatty in Nevada. Beatty was a vey small town with a population of roughly one thousand people. The average wage is only $24,991 per year and ladies if you are looking for a man than Beatty is the place to be with men significantly outnumbering women.

We decided to give the Desert Inn a miss and opted for a room at Motel 6. This was very basic and with Denny's inside the casino or Subway the only food options in town we new this would be a quick stop. Even the internet didn't work well in Beatty.

The next morning we drove out of town eager for a quick trip across Death Valley. We passed many interesting sites - including many advertised services for the men passing through.

Driving through Death Valley was really beautiful with more amazing landscapes. One of the best parts of this road trip is driving the road less travelled and seeing little towns and interesting sites along the way.