SKETCHBOOK - "Yosemite and Lake Tahoe"

My trip out to see my daughter Jenni and her boyfriend Brad was outstanding!! I hate to be one of those guys that forces you to look at hundreds of slides from my summer vacation. But I did want to share a few of my favorite photos (out of the near 300 that I took). But first...the only sketches I managed to draw during the trip.

Above is a little bridge near a beach in Yosemite National Park. Some folks were swimming in the really cold water...I left them out. You can see the granite mountain called "Half Dome" in the background.

Below is our campsite. It was near a huge boulder. Brad's swimsuit is hanging from a tree limb. I slept pretty well, considering all night long you could hear people shouting, "Get out of here, bear!" when one of the locals made it's way down into camp to forage. Brad was out running late that night and saw a black bear nosing around the trashcans. I did hear a shotgun go off, when a ranger fired a shell loaded with a small beanbag, to deter the bear. That's why we have to put everything that has perfume (deodorant, toothpaste, etc.) or any food in the "bear boxes" that are all over Yosemite. The bears will rip up your car, even if you have stuff in the trunk. Fun sleeping!

Below are some drawings I did on Saturday morning and evening around the beach at Lake Tahoe, a couple of blocks from Jenni and Brad's house.

That's it for the sketches...time for some photos. Here's the gorgeous sunrise we saw while driving from Tahoe to Yosemite. Delicious.

I'd like to introduce you to our campsite's giant boulder. Note our designated "bear box 7C" in the right corner.

Below is the magnificent valley view...each of these granite formations have names, but I forget them. My terrific tour guides, Brad and Jenni, have both worked at Yosemite a few summers ago.

Right by the valley above, there is a tunnel for cars to pass through a mountain. Inside that tunnel is a very thin sidewalk next to the road. Up that sidewalk is another smaller tunnel, that shoots out the side of the mountain. Of course we had to investigate. Spooky!!

The tunnel opens to a different mountain view. It didn't take long for Brad to "do what he does"...look for rocks to climb...climb them...look for more rocks to climb. I made a little composite below.

We made our way to Meriposa Grove to see the giant Sequoia trees. Amazing.

Here's Jenni and Brad waiting for someone to turn on the faucet to a waterfall. Earlier in the season, when the snow is melting, the water shoots off the rocks in torrents.

On our trip back to Lake Tahoe, we took a little detour to a spectacular site...Tenaya Lake. I got pretty choked up by the beauty, and wishing my wife Cat could've been there with me to see such incredible scenery. The water is crystal clear, and was made of a rainbow of blues...indigo, aqua, green. We spent a good bit of time there...Brad and Jen napping on the beach, while I wandered the trails with camera in hand.
Around the lake, I came upon this cool little curly corkscrew tree.

As we were leaving Tenaya Lake, we drove by this huge granite mound. I was attracted to the lonely little tree on the right side of the slope. Then Jenni and Brad noticed there were climbers on the face nearest to the road. Can you spot them?
Here's a little help!

When we were driving through Sierra Nevada, we went to a little place off the main highway on a dirt road to visit some hot sulpher springs. Brad is still recovering from an injury on his bike, when he got hit by a car, and I had pulled a muscle in my lower back before the trip, so a soak in the rejuvenating waters really helped us both.

Here's Jenni and Brad's little "home sweet home" in South Lake Tahoe.

I did a patchwork panarama of the beach view that is a 5 minute walk from Jenni's house. Note the piers on the right side that I sketched (scroll back to the top of this post).

The morning before I was to fly home, Jenni and I visited Emerald Bay.

Okay...you made it through the whole post...I leave you with one last photo of Lake Tahoe! A lone little yellow sail boat on a gorgeous day.