Northern California

Have you ever wished to hug a giant Sequoia tree? Well, it takes some mighty long arms. They are some 1800 feet tall when mature and are thousands of years old. In fact, they are the olds living things on the Earth.

The Town of Virginia, City NV did not mean much the either of us, Mom and Dad used to watch the NBC Television series Bonanza all the time back in the 60’s. They really wished to see it and Dad just had to have a couple of “cold ones” at the saloon.

What about that famous mountaintop resort, South Lake Tahoe, CA? Everyone always talks about it, but no one ever gets out there. We did, along with taking the “Heavenly Gondola” Ride to the top of the Sierras and parasailing on the cold waters of Lake Tahoe.

What would a trip to Northern California be with a couple of days at that most popular of National Parks, Yosemite? There are the snow-capped Sierras, beautiful lakes with rigid waters and Sequoias that nearly reach to the skies.

And what is the capital of Northern California? Why, that “City By The Bay,” San Francisco. There are restaurants with delicious food, little cable cars and the magical bridge that everyone talks about, the Golden Gate.

We even took a side-trip to the famous Sonoma Valley to tour several wineries for Mom And Dad sample their vintages. The three families running them have been doing so for over a hundred years.

Finally, after a cruise on San Francisco Bay and sun bathing on Ocean Beach, we were headed back to North Carolina.