2. The concerts
3. Going west
4. Good bye in San Francisco
5. Back to the east coast
back to homepage
|
|
1. Arrival in New York 2. The concerts 3. Going west 4. Good bye in San Francisco 5. Back to the east coast back to homepage |
|
They day Martin had to go back to Germany (one week earlier the we had to) came near, but we still wanted to see two National Parks before going to San Francisco for his departure. The first one was Sequoia National Park, an area in the Rocky Mountains that was crowded by huge sequoia trees. The difference to the desert landscapes of the last days could not have been bigger. Apart from the greens we didn't see for a while we were impressed by the size of these trees that can't be compared to anything. So it was no surprise that we met the biggest living being on earth: the General Sherman Tree.
 |
 |
 |
| Tunnel-Log | the DVQ on a huge root | hardly to be seen: the DVQ at the foot of a sequoia tree |
 |
 |
| General Sherman Tree, upper part | General Sherman Tree, lower part with DVQ |
After visiting Sequoia National Park we had go to down to the californian lowlands and again up to the Rocky Mountains to get to Yosemite National Park, one of the most famous rock and climbing areas in the world. And we were lucky again: first we got into the park a couple of minutes before closing time and then we could "convince" a ranger to let us camp at the emergency site - whole Yosemite was overcrowded because of the weekend. (Un-)fortunatly we didn't see any bears although we heard enough bear warnings. In return for getting up early we got a marvellous sunrise between the high rocks of the Yosemite valley. A couple of hours we spent walking on the rim of the canyon and climbed the Sentinel Dome where there was a wonderful view of the Half Dome, a well known rock which is a thousand meters high. In the end of the day we left the park knowing that we'll be back some day.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| rock in Yosemite with Ben's "suicide No. 2" | view of "El Capitan" | on top of "Sentinel Dome" | "Half Dome" |
In the outskirts of San Francisco we stopped at a motel for the night. Next morning we entered San Francisco via the Bay Bridge. Then we went straight to the symbol of the city, the Golden Gate Bridge. There we parked the car and walked over the bridge and back. A great feeling standing on the bridge having crossed the whole continent and travelled more than 6000 miles. Then we made a tour through the city spending the time till 22:00, going by cable car, shopping, sightseeing, eating and so on. Then we went for a last time all together to the airport. We said good bye to Martin who went to New York with Tower Air and then home with Martinair.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Golden Gate Bridge | the DVQ on the Golden Gate Bridge | Golden Gate Bridge | in the port of San Francisco |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| cable car station at the port | steep street with cable car | Golden Gate Bridge at night | good bye at the airport |