Posted by Karen on 05-Dec-2009
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Back to Bonfante Gilroy Gardens we went (gotta make that tax-deductible season pass pay for itself!). Tersha and I, along with Brianna, went back to experience their Nights of Fire laser lights and fireworks show. In December, the park opens on weekend night to show off how they’ve decorated the park with millions of lights. We left a few hours early because we wanted to explore the San Luis Reservoir and Pacheco State Park areas that we had seen on the way up last time. We saw a couple of deer and a stray house cat hiding amongst the tall dried grass surrounding the very blue lakes. As the sun set, we headed to the gardens and then spend some pleasant hours wandering around enjoying all the many lights. We rode the train ride again and this time we also rode the balloon ride and even the roller coaster, just the things to do when it’s cold and dark… you trying doing a roller coaster scream with your teeth chattering…LOL! Off to find a spot at Coyote Lake for the laser show and fireworks display. It was a very short show of maybe 10 minutes, so that was a tad disappointing, but it was still a very fun and pretty evening and I enjoyed it.
Posted by Karen on 14-Nov-2009
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Tersha and I took a trip southward to Bonfante Gilroy Gardens in Gilroy, home of the world famous Garlic Festival where you can get all kinds of garlic foods, even ice cream! But the garlic festival is in the summer time and the scent of garlic is only mildly in the air. Gilroy Gardens is a horticulture theme park that was a labor of love for tree lover Michael Bonfante, the park’s creator. The unusual “circus trees” were the inspiration for the park. The circus trees were dozens of trees that had been grafted into various shapes starting in the 1920s. The park contains numerous garden areas and gentle theme park rides like a train ride, swan paddle boat rides or an antique car ride, that meander through the gardens. The park’s Middle Earth celebration was underway on the day of our visit and the bridge we crossed entering showcased displays made by local organizations. Across the bridge we went, past the carousel and took a ride on the Big Red Engine Company train to get an overview look at all the gardens. We disembarked the train and then wandered through the various areas of the park: Bonfante Falls, Pinnacles Rock Maze, Coyote Lake, Claudia’s Garden and finally the Monarch Garden. This park is extremely kid friendly and all the kids seems to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. We’ll be heading back shortly to enjoy their park at night during their Holiday Lights shows.
Posted by Karen on 11-Jul-2009
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Tersha, Elana, Brianna and I went with the Northern California Photography Group Meetup Group on a trip to Alcatraz Island and had the best day! This was my first time visiting “The Rock” and while we didn’t see Sean, Nicolas or Ed, there were lots of other visitors to the island on this gorgeous day. We arrived at Pier 33 and boarded the ferry to the island, sitting up top to enjoy the view. At the island, we listened to the ranger give the welcome speech and then we started meandering our way up the winding path to the cell house. Along the way, we saw numerous baby and juvenile birds because the island is now a bird sanctuary too. There are lots of buildings in a state of arrested decay and beautiful flowers all over the place. At the cell house, they give you a headset so that you get a guided narrative as you go through the building. The narrators are real guards and inmates from the past and they share stories of what went on there. It’s all very interesting and there is so much to see, that there is still more for me to see next time. Back on the mainland, we enjoyed a nice seafood dinner on Pier 39 and then we watched the sunset from their dock.
Posted by Karen on 11-May-2009
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Our last day here in Yosemite this weekend, so I suggested we hike over to the Vernal Falls footbridge (according to the map, 3/4 of a mile one way) and check out Vernal Falls before heading home because it’s a beautiful waterfall, complete with tons of rainbows. We reach the bridge and ooh and ahh and then decide to climb the granite steps of the Mist Trail to the top of the waterfall. We don our ponchos and get soaked thoroughly on our way up; at this time of the year it should be called the Soaker Trail instead of Mist Trail.. LOL! At the top, we decide to cut over to the John Muir Trail instead of going down the wet granite stairs. While the path on the park map looked relatively short, it didn’t show that it was all uphill, but we made it, hot and tired and then took the JMT trail back down to the car. And that is how you accidentally climb a mountain and turn a 1.5 mile short hike into 5+ miles!
