Central Valley Sunset

[Adsos Letter]

From a couple of summers ago. I was on a drive north from San Diego to the Bay Area on old Hwy 99. It was 110° earlier in the day.

[mr_lebowski]

1. Must've been the EAST Bay Area cause normally you'd take the 5 to go to the SF Bay Area ...

Take the 580W over Altamont.

99 you could take to go to Stockton and Sacramento. Which are sorta the Bay Area but not exactly

Of if you needed to hit Fresno on the way up from SD or some such.

Where are ya, like Modesto? Manteca?

Or were ya stuck in Lodi ... again?

Beautiful sunset shot though

[Adsos Letter]

3. I was in no hurry, so I traded the monotony of 5 for the monotony of 99.

I forgot about all of those merges from the left at highway speed.

[mr_lebowski]

6. I guess the 99 is slightly less monotonous ... ever so ... next time you're in no hurry allow me to

recommend ... the 101

And if you're driving REAL leisurely-like, cut over to the 1 in SLO town to hit up Big Sur, Carmel, Monterey, Half Moon Bay, and roll into SF through Pacifica ... now we're really talking

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. What a beautiful sky, my dear Adsos Letter..........

So tranquil and lovely...

Wherever you were, you got a great shot!

[Adsos Letter]

4. Thanks Peggy.

Somewhere between Bakersfield and Lodi.

[NBachers]

5. I took Amtrak to Yosemite last month. It dropped me off in Merced, and then I bussed up to Yosemite.

Amtrak followed 99; it was an interesting way to go.

Nice sunset shot

[Adsos Letter]

7. Thanks. I thought that hitting the towns along 99 might be interesting.

But there are several places where the highway shrinks from three lanes to two, and the merge happens from the left. No bueno at highway speed.

Yosemite is beautiful. Was last there six years ago.

How was Amtrak? I’ve been thinking of making the trek from Sac to Seattle.

[NBachers]

9. My seat was way better than any first-class airline seat. I had a 110 v plug, a reclining seat,

a tray I had to slide towards me to rest my laptop on because I had so much space, and the gentle rocking motion of the train was easy to sleep to. Add in nice scenery and just a pleasant all-round vibe, and I loved it.

[Adsos Letter]

15. Thanks for the response.

My wife and I are planning an Alaska Cruise, and I thought that riding the train from Sac to Seattle (or Vancouver) might be a nice way to start the trip.

[mnhtnbb]

14. We rode the Coast Starlight from L.A. to Seattle

in August, 2016. Fabulous trip. We had a room in a sleeper, but spent hours in the observation car. Took some great shots from the train, especially early one morning rolling past Mt. Shasta.

[Adsos Letter]

16. How was the sleeper car? Did train sounds make it difficult to sleep?

I've been considering a trip from Sacramento to Chicago for later in the year.

[mnhtnbb]

17. I sleep soundly on trains

as long as I'm lying down. The motion is wonderful. It's nostalgic for me. When I was a kid growing up in NJ, our family traveled by train to California several times in the 50's and early 60's to visit grandparents. My dad did not like to fly. We rode the 20th Century Limited and the Santa Fe Super Chief. Of course it's different now, but I really enjoy traveling by train. I can look out the window for hours and have no problem sleeping on trains.

[mr_lebowski]

8. NICE ... I was just at the Ahwahnee for lunch on Xmas Morning with my whole family ...

Well, my mom's side of my whole family.

Freaking LOVE Yosemite ... I go there a lot.

[NBachers]

10. I had to wait a couple hours for my ride, so I hung out in the Awahnee- fireplaces, music, comfy

seats, snow and mountains outside - no one knew I wasn't one of the $500 guests. I had a window-seat lunch on my departing day. We had a family stay in one of the Yosemite West lodges. I had a fireplace in my bedroom.

It was magic. I still feel like I've got one foot back there, and one foot here.

[mr_lebowski]

11. I know exactly where you mean, you walk out the Dining Room, hang a right and it's right there

Did you check out upstairs, and see the little mini-museum they got up there?

That room your talking about w/the grand fireplace is one of the greatest places in the world, esp. when it's snowy and cold, but clear and sunny. It's an amazing place to hang out and read or just look out the windows.

We weren't staying there, we just drove in for lunch ... my folks have a house about 40 miles from the gate ... if you came up from Merced you would've gone up the 120 and right through the town where it is, called Groveland. It's the real old-timey looking town that crowds right up against the road, about 20 minutes above Lake Don Pedro. And it's the last town of any size before you get to the Park.

Me and my cousins and their kids walked from the Hotel up to Mirror Lake after lunch. That's a really cool little walk/short hike.

Nothing like Yosemite in Winter. Though all the seasons there also definitely have their charms ... it's magical indeed.

Trippy, that pic makes the dining room like longer and narrower than it really is ...

[NBachers]

12. We stayed in Buck Meadows a few years back. My son went to Iron Door Saloon in Groveland

with his family while I took the YARTS and train back home. Not enough room in the car for everyone; that's why I trained it.

The YARTS to Amtrak takes the southern way, through Mariposa and little towns. I hadn't come in through that route before, so it was a lovely and interesting trip. You get the real contrast from flat Merced, up into the hills, and then into the mountains. It's so nice to just sit and watch it go by out the window of the bus. You really can't pay attention to the scenery when you're driving, or you'll drive off a cliff.

I didn't go up the stairs- I should have. That gives me incentive to go up there again soon!

[mr_lebowski]

13. Oh, DERP, of course it would go 140. I frequently confuse Merced and Manteca for some reason lol

But yeah, you know the place ... been to Iron Door MANY a time, last time was early November of last year (made two trips to the mountains there in 2 months). Very cool old joint. Damn good food too.

What's funny about Groveland is it seems TINY when you drive through, it's like blink and you miss it ... but it's got quite a sizable development just off the 120 there called Pine Mountain Lake where like 90% of the town lives, there's about 1400 houses there. My folks have a vacation house therein (inherited from mom's folks), and my mom's sister has lived there full time for over 20 years.

The drive up 140 is indeed beautiful ... and that route basically never closes for snow, unlike the 120 route which gets up to 8K feet before descending into the valley, so snow can be an issue.

120 is a pretty killer way to come in though too ... it gets super cool once you get past the park gate.