The Ultimate Chicken Coop...

We enjoyed the drive along the Californian coastline on our way to Ed and Merry's house.

We stoped along the road and saw a large group of Sea Lions basking in the sun. The beaches are very different from home, no golden sand just grey sand and rocks. The weather was cool and we didn't see anyone swimming.

We arrived and were greeted warmly by Ed who immediately gave the kids a tour of the most amazing Chicken Coup I have ever seen. It reminded me of a Balinese Temple, and was even equipped with yellow eyes that lit up at night and a balcony.

Yas and Max were completely over excited by the Chickens. Ed was wonderful with the kids and showed them where and how to collect eggs - which they did and then took them to the wash room where Max very carefully washed and dried each egg.

After a chat with Ed and a tour of his lovely home filled with beautiful artworks, we jumped back into the car and followed Ed to another place on his property he refers to as Camp!

Camp consists of two lovely cabins fully equipped with bunks and even a fire. The area where you can prepare food was great, and include the best stocked cupboard I have come across. Even taps with running water were on hand...

The shower was a real treat - it is a lovely experience to shower outside.

Camp was a lovely place to be - Ed had all bases covered and we were certainly enjoying the beautiful property and wonderful facilities. Yas and Max found the swing, and spent hours playing.

We spent a great night together as a family around the fire pit listening to Yas tell ghost stories.

Pier 39...

We did enjoy the unique city of San Francisco - in particular our trip down to Pier 39 on the waterfront. Although very touristy, we did enjoy the sights.

I really liked the Image Arts poster shop. It was filled with loads of posters including many interesting posters featuring Cable Cars in San Fransisco.

We did the touristy thing and Garry and I both had Clam Chowder for lunch. Their were shops selling all kinds of seafood - I was daydreaming about cooking crabs in garlic butter - mmmmm! Wouldn't you like to cook these crabs up for dinner Dad?

Max particularly enjoyed the Sea Lions sleeping in the sun on the next Pier.

We wandered around exploring the waterfront with Alcatraz constantly in our views. Unfortunately, we didn't get to visit the famous jail as you needed to have booked tickets almost three weeks in advance. I will have to make do with watching a movie or documentary.

We walked the streets and admired some of the lovely homes, near the waterfront.

Definitely the highlight of the day was our cable car ride home. The ride up and down the streets, hanging from the side of the cable car was sooo much fun.

The following day we had the pleasure of driving across the famous Golden Gate Bridge as we left the city heading for our next destination - a visit with our exchanges father - Ed on his property in the Californian Redwoods.

"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!