Thursday, April 16, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Hollywood -- Griffith Observatory
15 Feb 2009
12.30pm --Hollywood Blvd--
This was actually my second time visiting Hollywood Blvd. The last time I went here was exactly 3 months ago. Well, everything around was still the same. The Chinese Theater, Kodak Theater, Walk of Fame, people wearing costume of movie stars, etc... However, one thing different is that the weather was different. During my last visit, I was only wearing a normal T-Shirt, so did all the people around. This time, I can see most of the people were wearing winter jacket and heavy clothing.
This time we only made a quick stop around Chinese Theater and the Hollywood shopping mall. After the lunch, we went to Griffith Park Observatory for another visit.
4.15pm --Griffith Observatory--
12.30pm --Hollywood Blvd--
This was actually my second time visiting Hollywood Blvd. The last time I went here was exactly 3 months ago. Well, everything around was still the same. The Chinese Theater, Kodak Theater, Walk of Fame, people wearing costume of movie stars, etc... However, one thing different is that the weather was different. During my last visit, I was only wearing a normal T-Shirt, so did all the people around. This time, I can see most of the people were wearing winter jacket and heavy clothing.This time we only made a quick stop around Chinese Theater and the Hollywood shopping mall. After the lunch, we went to Griffith Park Observatory for another visit.
4.15pm --Griffith Observatory--
Maybe it was during the peak hour that it was so difficult to find a parking at the observatory. We had to park our car about 0.5 mile away from the main parking lot.
The place offers free admission to the general gallery. However, if you wanted to see more, you can always buy the ticket and continue with the tour to see the rest of the observatory. We just simply had a quick visit and went outside to enjoy the scenery from the top of the hill. From here, you can overlook at the LA town center and also the Hollywood area.
The place offers free admission to the general gallery. However, if you wanted to see more, you can always buy the ticket and continue with the tour to see the rest of the observatory. We just simply had a quick visit and went outside to enjoy the scenery from the top of the hill. From here, you can overlook at the LA town center and also the Hollywood area.
Plum Blossom Tree
14 Feb 2009
It was valentine, but we decided to go to Camarillo Chelsea Premium Outlet for shopping. The place was about 1.5hour drive away to the North of Lake Forest. What attracted my attention at the place was the plum blossom tree around the area. This was actually the first time I saw a plum blossom tree with my naked eyes in my life. As a Chinese, I used to make up a small artificial plum blossom tree especially during the Chinese Lunar New Year. The flower used was actually a plastic flower, and I remember some times we used some cotton to imitate the look of snow on the tree.
Maybe it was the early of the Spring that the flower started to bloom. It was strange that there was not even a single leaf on the tree. Only small little pink blossoms were seen on the tree. Maybe later toward the end of the spring or in the summer that I should come back and check out how the tree would look like during that season...
It was valentine, but we decided to go to Camarillo Chelsea Premium Outlet for shopping. The place was about 1.5hour drive away to the North of Lake Forest. What attracted my attention at the place was the plum blossom tree around the area. This was actually the first time I saw a plum blossom tree with my naked eyes in my life. As a Chinese, I used to make up a small artificial plum blossom tree especially during the Chinese Lunar New Year. The flower used was actually a plastic flower, and I remember some times we used some cotton to imitate the look of snow on the tree.Maybe it was the early of the Spring that the flower started to bloom. It was strange that there was not even a single leaf on the tree. Only small little pink blossoms were seen on the tree. Maybe later toward the end of the spring or in the summer that I should come back and check out how the tree would look like during that season...
Monday, April 6, 2009
Yosemite National Park
7 Feb 2009 (Day 1)
8.00 am --South Entrance, Yosemite Park--
After a long 6 hours drive from Candlewood Suite Lake Forest, we finally reached the south entrance of Yosemite National Park. The entrance fees cost $20 per car for unlimited entry to the park for the next 7 days.
9.00am --Tunnel View--
About 1 hour drive away from the south entrance, the first thing attracted our attention was the tunnel view. It was called tunnel view because it was the first amazing view we had after passing through the long tunnel.
It was a cold morning. My hands were freezing, my legs were shaking... But the breath-taking view didn't stop us from going out there and face the cold. This place was located at a very high ground where you can see the Bridaveil Falls, the famous Half Dome and overlook the whole Yosemite Valley.
9.30am --Breakfast near El Capital Bridge--
This was actually my first time having sandwich picnic outside in the cold, and I couldn't hardly taste the sandwich at all! But it was an amazing experience...
After filling our stomach, we went for a short visit around the El Capitan bridge which was a few steps away. It was called El Capitan bridge because it was actually facing the El Capitan wall, a very huge wall which made up part of Yosemite Valley's surrounding. There were many people like to come here in during the summer just to climb up this wall...
10.45am --Sentinel Bridge--
The most iconic landmark in Yosemite National Park was of course the Half Dome. For us, the best view for Half Dome was from the Sentinel Bridge where the river gave us a clear view of the most remembered landmark in Yosemite. The photo above was taken from the Sentinel Bridge...
12.00pm --Mirror Lake--
We decided to take the free shuttle bus to tour around the Yosemite Valley. After a half round around the park, we got off the bus where the trail to Mirror Lake starts.
To get to the Mirror Lake, we need to trail for about 1.5 KM. The road to Mirror Lake was close to public vehicle during the winter, thus we had no choice but walk. Only authorized vehicle and those disabled were allowed to drive up into the entrance. Maybe it was winter that the place was so quiet without any other people around the area besides us. The trail took us about 30 min as we were taking a lot of photos along the way...
There was a separate trail inside the compound of Mirror Lake. Nobody was allowed to drive in this park, except on foot. The photo at the left was taken by Jason which show how quiet and peaceful the trail was.
The whole trail inside the compound was about 0.5 KM from the entrance up to the upper pond where we stopped and headed back. Within the 0.5 KM trail, we could see the Half Dome up-close from another angle. I was amazed by how straight the wall was, and there was like some natural painting on the wall itself!
There was 2 ponds which give the name Mirror Lake to the place: the middle pond and also the upper pond. From these 2 ponds, the water was so calm and give the impression of a huge mirror on the ground.
After our home made lunch, we continued our journey to the lower Yosemite falls trail since it might get dark anytime soon.
Yosemite Falls was made up from 2 falls, the upper part and also the lower part. Total height was about 740m and was the 5th tallest waterfall in the world. From the photo on the left, you can roughly feel the height of the fall, where it gave a feel that the lower falls wasn't that tall. But when I got really close to the bottom of the fall, I was again amazed by the height of the fall. The height ratio of a fully grown up man to the height of the fall was merely 1:175!! If you enlarge the last photo of the fall below, you can actually see a man standing on a rock really close to the bottom of the fall, and you would absolutely amaze with the height of the fall...
8 Feb 2009 (Day 2)
10.30am --Tuolumne Grove Entrance Station--
The journey took about 1.5 hour just to get to the entrance/ranger station from our inn. When we got there, there were another 2 families just got there and gearing up for the trail. I could they were well equipped with snow shoe, proper walking stick, thick jacket, etc. Looking at ourselves, we were like just coming out from a shopping outlet. I was wearing a work shoes, my friends was wearing a very thin sweater, normal jeans...
11.20am --Entering Tuolumne Grove--
11.30am --Reaching the Tuolumn Grove--
12.00pm --Heading back to our car--
1.30pm --Bridaveil Fall--
On the way back, we made a stop at the Bridaveil Fall which was located at the U-turn that we need to take before continuing our journey near Yosemite Valley. We didn't stop for a very long time here as we need to head back soon. I just took a couples of photos and continue our pain-in-the-ass journey back to Lake Forest.
8.00 am --South Entrance, Yosemite Park--
After a long 6 hours drive from Candlewood Suite Lake Forest, we finally reached the south entrance of Yosemite National Park. The entrance fees cost $20 per car for unlimited entry to the park for the next 7 days.9.00am --Tunnel View--
About 1 hour drive away from the south entrance, the first thing attracted our attention was the tunnel view. It was called tunnel view because it was the first amazing view we had after passing through the long tunnel.
It was a cold morning. My hands were freezing, my legs were shaking... But the breath-taking view didn't stop us from going out there and face the cold. This place was located at a very high ground where you can see the Bridaveil Falls, the famous Half Dome and overlook the whole Yosemite Valley.
9.30am --Breakfast near El Capital Bridge--
This was actually my first time having sandwich picnic outside in the cold, and I couldn't hardly taste the sandwich at all! But it was an amazing experience...
After filling our stomach, we went for a short visit around the El Capitan bridge which was a few steps away. It was called El Capitan bridge because it was actually facing the El Capitan wall, a very huge wall which made up part of Yosemite Valley's surrounding. There were many people like to come here in during the summer just to climb up this wall...
10.45am --Sentinel Bridge--
The most iconic landmark in Yosemite National Park was of course the Half Dome. For us, the best view for Half Dome was from the Sentinel Bridge where the river gave us a clear view of the most remembered landmark in Yosemite. The photo above was taken from the Sentinel Bridge...
12.00pm --Mirror Lake--
We decided to take the free shuttle bus to tour around the Yosemite Valley. After a half round around the park, we got off the bus where the trail to Mirror Lake starts.To get to the Mirror Lake, we need to trail for about 1.5 KM. The road to Mirror Lake was close to public vehicle during the winter, thus we had no choice but walk. Only authorized vehicle and those disabled were allowed to drive up into the entrance. Maybe it was winter that the place was so quiet without any other people around the area besides us. The trail took us about 30 min as we were taking a lot of photos along the way...
There was a separate trail inside the compound of Mirror Lake. Nobody was allowed to drive in this park, except on foot. The photo at the left was taken by Jason which show how quiet and peaceful the trail was.The whole trail inside the compound was about 0.5 KM from the entrance up to the upper pond where we stopped and headed back. Within the 0.5 KM trail, we could see the Half Dome up-close from another angle. I was amazed by how straight the wall was, and there was like some natural painting on the wall itself!
There was 2 ponds which give the name Mirror Lake to the place: the middle pond and also the upper pond. From these 2 ponds, the water was so calm and give the impression of a huge mirror on the ground.
3.00pm --Yosemite Falls--
After our home made lunch, we continued our journey to the lower Yosemite falls trail since it might get dark anytime soon.Yosemite Falls was made up from 2 falls, the upper part and also the lower part. Total height was about 740m and was the 5th tallest waterfall in the world. From the photo on the left, you can roughly feel the height of the fall, where it gave a feel that the lower falls wasn't that tall. But when I got really close to the bottom of the fall, I was again amazed by the height of the fall. The height ratio of a fully grown up man to the height of the fall was merely 1:175!! If you enlarge the last photo of the fall below, you can actually see a man standing on a rock really close to the bottom of the fall, and you would absolutely amaze with the height of the fall...
8 Feb 2009 (Day 2)
It was another lovely morning at Oakhrust town which was located about 25 KM away to the south of the Yosemite South Entrance. After having our light breakfast in the inn, we started to discuss about the plan for the day. Since it was already Sunday and we need to get back to Lake Forest before midnight, time was running short... We could only choose one place to visit before heading back: Mariposa Grove, Tuolumne Grove or Yosemite Upper Fall Trail. Based on the time left and a number of people who's willing to walk, we finally made a decision to go for Tuolumne Grove.
10.30am --Tuolumne Grove Entrance Station--
The journey took about 1.5 hour just to get to the entrance/ranger station from our inn. When we got there, there were another 2 families just got there and gearing up for the trail. I could they were well equipped with snow shoe, proper walking stick, thick jacket, etc. Looking at ourselves, we were like just coming out from a shopping outlet. I was wearing a work shoes, my friends was wearing a very thin sweater, normal jeans...
Without wasting anymore time, we started our journey. It was ashamed that we went toward a wrong way. We were actually making a loop around the ranger station! The snow was too thick causing us to missed the actually starting trail. For us who never went for a trail in a snow before, the route seems to be very dangerous. Every step that we took, the our foot went about 0.5 foot into the snow.
Initially we thought of giving up and head to other place. Everyone started to feel a bit disapointed, and hope that we could take a few more photos before heading back. Guess what, we're already a few meters away from the starting point of the trail. Suddenly everyone had the same thought, why don't we continue the journey? So the journey began...
Initially we thought of giving up and head to other place. Everyone started to feel a bit disapointed, and hope that we could take a few more photos before heading back. Guess what, we're already a few meters away from the starting point of the trail. Suddenly everyone had the same thought, why don't we continue the journey? So the journey began...
11.20am --Entering Tuolumne Grove--
It was about 30 min walk before we reached something "un-natural". We finally saw the a signboard made by human saying we're entering the Tuolumne Grove. That means we're not far away from seeing the sequoias for the first time for most of us.
11.30am --Reaching the Tuolumn Grove--
It was just merely about 10min away from the signboard before encountering the first sequoia tree. The tree wasn't as huge as I expected, maybe because the trees around it were also very big, thus it didn't make so much different. But anyway, I could see the tree was aging and from the shade and the condition of the tree, I can tell the tree survived thousand of years and many jungle fire.
There were about 5-10 giant sequoias easily visible around the area. The second photo below showed a huge sequoia tree which had an obvious mark of surviving the jungle fire. Another unique tree here was called the tunnel tree. The tree was already dead at the time when people make a tunnel thru the tree. Not sure why anyone would make a tunnel thru it. But what left now were only the 2 planks at each side of the tree as showed in the photos below. I think the 2 planks might collapse anytime in the coming few years. It was lucky that I was still able to see the tree as it was.
There were about 5-10 giant sequoias easily visible around the area. The second photo below showed a huge sequoia tree which had an obvious mark of surviving the jungle fire. Another unique tree here was called the tunnel tree. The tree was already dead at the time when people make a tunnel thru the tree. Not sure why anyone would make a tunnel thru it. But what left now were only the 2 planks at each side of the tree as showed in the photos below. I think the 2 planks might collapse anytime in the coming few years. It was lucky that I was still able to see the tree as it was.
12.00pm --Heading back to our car--
I could feel that it was started to snow. Yes snowing. For the first time in my life I experience snowing! However I wasn't a snow flake as what I always thought a snow wold be. It was just a small dot of ice dropping from the sky. But the feel was amazing!
1.30pm --Bridaveil Fall--
On the way back, we made a stop at the Bridaveil Fall which was located at the U-turn that we need to take before continuing our journey near Yosemite Valley. We didn't stop for a very long time here as we need to head back soon. I just took a couples of photos and continue our pain-in-the-ass journey back to Lake Forest.
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