Coincidentally, there was a local quilt show on at Oakhurst on the Saturday we were at Mariposa.  As it was only about a half an hour drive, we piled into Trina’s car on Saturday morning to take a look.  For a small show there were a lot of quilts!  Caroline and I both found it really instructive to go around some of the show with Helen (who also quilts other people’s quilts with a long arm quilting machine and so was able to explain some of the finer points of what we were seeing) and Trina, just becaue they both know so much more about what they are looking at than we do.  So below is Caroline with an enormous string quilt and then a quilt from a pattern called Celtic Solstice – I don’t have the patience for this sort of quilt, but I admire those who do!

The reason for the trip down to Yosemite in the first place was to go to a quilt retreat Caroline’s friend Trina was hosting at her husband’s family cabin near Mariposa, about 40 minutes from the park. The setting was lovely, and the cabin, originally started in the 1940s, comfortable with all the comforts of home. So the plan was for four days of sewing and eating!

So, after my trip to Yosemite with Dan, I joined Caroline, Trina and Helen at the sewing table.  After an initial wrestle with getting used to a new sewing machine, the biggest issue was not getting distracted by the interesting projects the others were doing!  I had taken a couple of projects with me and didn’t finish either of them, but had fun along the way.  Dan and Paul, Trina’s husband, kept themselves amused in various ways, which generally involved fixing things. 

Below is a view of the cabin, and then Caroline with Trina, and then Helen, in the midst of making the hideous number of blocks she needed for the scrap quilt top she finished the next day.  Oh to be as productive!

  
[First two photos are from the viewpoint at Glacier Point, the next is from Tunnel View down in the valley and the last is in the Mariposa Grove.]

Yesterday my friend Caroline’s husband, Dan, took me for Yosemite National Park for the day.  We hit the highlights and it was a bit of a whistlestop tour but it is an amazing place of which I could only scratch the surface.

The first stop was the Mariposa Grove of redwoods.  Saying they are big trees doesn’t even start to describe it.  They are massive. I was luckly to see them as next week the grove closes for two years for restoration.  Then we went to Glacier Point, which is where the amazing views of Half Dome above were taken.  The view is just stupendous!  Lastly we went to the Yosmite Valley floor, where the views down the valley are amazing.

The park is nothing like a NZ or Australian national park in that you can drive extensively in the park, there are hotels (a bit like the Chateau in NZ in that they were built in a grander time), and the accessibilty versus conservation balance is probaby weighted more to accessibiliy than in NZ or Australia.  Yosemite is extremely well visited so even on a week day early in the season like  yesterday when we arrived the Mariposa Grove mid morning the carpark was full – but there are frequent shuttles to points of interest in the park so that’s what we took.  You really need more time  than I have to explore the park and it is possible to stay in a house or something more salubrious than a tent inside the park itself, unlike most Australian or NZ parks.

So, all in all a magic day with good company

This will be a short post just to say I made it safely across the Tasman and the Pacific with no mishaps and even after a very very long queueing experience in the Immigration hall in San Francisco airport (many many Chinese passport holders and what appeared to be an official lunchbreak) I just caught the bus up to the Napa at the agreed time.

We were at Caroline and Dan’s last night and this morning headed south and east to Mariposa, which is  one of the gateway towns to Yosemite National Park.  if the weather is good we are off there tomorrow..  Photos tomorrow I promise!

Today, as I am home and not sharing my sore throat with the office, I thought I’d have a play with the blog.  Best of intentions since I set it up, but there’s been a lot to do at home, including supporting John in his demanding but temporary promotion.

So, how are things progressing?  Well, we got our walking poles last week but haven’t had much practice with them yet.  Even with the little bit of coaching I got from Mike (the pole dude and friend of Janine and Rob) I can see how they are going to make a difference for us.  We just need to get the pole technique sorted out and practice before we get confronted by the Lake District in late August.  We are persevering with the PT, and while we’ve had our share of niggles (knees, backs etc) we are both fitter and stronger and better prepared than we have ever been for a walk

In late breaking news, I am heading to the US in early June to visit Caroline!  So watch this space for some pictures from the Napa Valley and maybe further afield!

And below, in my first attempt to upload a picture, are those red walking boots which so far have spent most of theit time walking between East Brisbane and the city!

I’m new to this blogging thing, but it seems like a good way to keep you all updated on our upcoming trip…which features walking Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route across the north of  England.

I’ve been counselled about getting the blog up and running early, and practising uploads before we go (thank you, Caroline), but I don’t expect to be posting much until August.

Until then, we are busy working and training (17 weeks to go, if we were counting!).  The walk will take 14 days, starting at St Bees Head on the Irish Sea, walking through the Lake District, across the Pennines and through north Yorkshire to the North Sea at Robin Hood Bay.  We start in the last week of August, so fingers crossed, we will get reasonable weather (no rain is just too much to hope for!).  We are doing it with a company, Northwest Walks, which means we only carry day packs, and everthing else is arranged.  We’ll be in a group of 12.  While neither of us is big on group travel, it means not having to worry about finding the way (the Lake District part of the walk is evidently not well signposted) or make judgements about the weather.

Looking forward to having you follow our adventure!