mmm-yoso!!!

Roadtrip (During Covid) - Tuolumne Grove (Yosemite), Mountain Sage Coffee, Iron Door Saloon (the oldest continuously operating saloon in CA), and Dinner at the Groveland Hotel

   

  After a restful night of sleep at Rush Creek Lodge, we woke early to check out. You see, there was one other place I had on "my list".

Since we were in Yosemite, the Missus and I really wanted to see sequoias. And the usual place for this would be the Mariposa Grove. There are however, three giant sequoia groves in Yosemite and one of the reasons I chose to stay at Rush Creek was that it was just a mile from the Bog Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite and the Tuolumne Grove is just a fifteen minute drive from that entrance. The strategy was to checkout and drive back into Yosemite, hike the short trail (less than 3 miles in and back). We found that much of it was paved, we loved the tree stump with the rings and date places were built....man, would you believe we've been to six of the seven places listed!

We weren't overly impressed at the beginning of the trail....but then, you come across a huge sequoia....the photo doesn't do it justice.

And then the amazing Tunnel Tree.

   From this point on, you could really enjoy the majesty of the sequoias. There were trees with huge burn scars and trees that didn't have a sizeable (it's relative) circumference, but seemed to rise to the heavens. It was such an impressive site and possibly my favorite hike of the trip.

Since this is a nature walk, mostly paved, the grove is actually a short loop trail, we started seeing families and pooches arriving.

Along the way there was a fallen tree; I believe the NPS left it in place so one could really see and experience the grand size in person.

The second photo below if of the Missus walking into the trunk! Amazing!

    We spent a good 2 1/2 hours exploring the Tuolumne Grove. It was now time to head on back to the car and our next destination.

It was good thing we had a bit of an early start since we had no problems finding parking. And like the other places we parked in Yosemite, there were cars waiting for parking as we left........it was good to get an early start.

A tad over 20 miles from the west entrance of Yosemite is the town of Groveland. Founded in 1848 as "Big Oak Flat" Groveland was a gold rush town, it then became the headquarters of the Hetch Hetchy water project which provides water to San Francisco. I thought it would be fun spending the night in this interesting little town.

We first stopped at the local market; Mar-Val Food Store where we restocked on water and a few other "stuffs".

Mar-Val
19000 Main St.
Groveland, CA 95321

I booked us a room in the historic Groveland Hotel which was built in 1849......don't worry, it was renovated in 2018.

And, much like our experiences at other historic hotels, Groveland Hotel is said to be haunted, by the spirit of a miner named "Lyle". No, we didn't book "Lyle's room"....nor did we see anything strange during our stay.

We were of course too early to check in; so we dropped off our luggage; the folks at the front desk were very friendly. And then headed out  down the one main street of Groveland. Two blocks down from the hotel was a quaint coffee shop - art gallery - gift shop named Mountain Sage.

The Missus had a Pour Over (of course), I had a cold brew....and I also ordered a brownie for the Missus. We grabbed a table out on the porch and just relaxed.

The Missus really enjoyed the brownie. This was such a nice stop.

Mountain Sage
18653 Main St.
Groveland, CA 95321

After this really nice break; we decided to take the short walk back to the hotel.....while checking out the shops along the way.

After which we headed to the hotel and luckily our room was ready. The rooms were predictably small, but we were given one on the opposite side of Main Street which was much more quiet. Once we freshened up, we decided to head back out.

We'd be having dinner at the Hotel restaurant, Provisions Restaurant in the back courtyard of the hotel.

We had reservations at 5pm, so we decided to head over to a place I had wanted to check out.

Iron Door Saloon is the oldest continuously operating bar in California!

The place definitely had character; that's for sure....

Check out the dollar bills on the ceiling!

The Owner was awesome; his name is Chris and is Asian! I believe he and his wife are from Oakland and own the bar. 

He also makes a decent Old Fashioned!

It was chatting with him and also the gentleman sitting next to us who is a contractor....we were told it was great we were here on Thursday; from Friday on the place is filled with tourists. Apparently he has a bunch of projects going for folks who are building homes in the area.

The Missus was feeling a bit peckish so we ordered some Sweet Potato Fries which were pretty good; crisp outside, creamy inside.

Chris was great; he shared a bunch of stories with us.....we really enjoyed Iron Door.

Iron Door Saloon
18761 Main St.
Groveland, CA 95321

After our drink we headed back to the hotel and went to check in for dinner. I was looking forward to the dinner BBQ menu....but sadly, it wasn't available on this evening, oh well.

So, I got the fried vegetable plate......

And the Missus the Bratwurst.

The Missus enjoyed Her Scotch Tasting....

As the sun went down a guitar player appeared and there was live music.

It was a nice and relaxing time.

Provisions Taproom & Bourbon Bar (In the Groveland Hotel)
18767 Main St.
Groveland, CA 95321

We slept well.

The next morning we took a walk down Back Street which parallels Main Street for a couple of blocks.

We headed back to Mountain Sage....

And got some coffee to go....and another brownie for the Missus.

Before checking out then heading off to our next stop.

Yosemite sure was an amazing experience and we had fun in Groveland

But I was kind of tired of diner and fried foods.........so.....we were headed back to Paso Robles!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Roadtrip (During Covid) - Sentinel Dome, Taft Point, and Dinner at Rush Creek Lodge (again)

After a having a nice night's sleep at Rush Creek Lodge, the Missus was raring to go. After a light breakfast we jumped in the car and headed on out. We had place in mind and wanted to beat any possible crowds. It was going to be a bit of a drive first onto Wawona Road...where we stopped at the super popular Tunnel View.....it was early enough in the morning that there was no one else around. We had the wonderful view to ourselves.

From here we went onto Glacier Point Road and easily found parking at the beginning of the Sentinel Dome Trail. And so we headed up Sentinel Dome, which for some reason, I didn't find too difficult. You start in rather sandy ground and forest, eventually making your way up the granite slope.

And end up with an awesome 360 degree view of Yosemite.

That view of Half Dome is priceless.

And then there's this......

This fallen Jeffrey Pine was once the subject of one of Ansel Adams most iconic photos. Unfortunately, it died during a drought in 1977 and fell over in 2003. 

From here we scrambled on down then took a detour through the forest to Glacier Point.

Which way too crowded for my taste....so we headed back up the switchbacks to the trail and then headed around to Roosevelt Point.

The view from Roosevelt Point was outstanding.

Though that could be said about much of Yosemite. From here it was back on the trail.

Taft Point was also a great stop......

Not only for the fabulous views of the valley and El Capitan.....

Which are fantastic.......of course, with a lookout like this.....we enjoyed this much more than Glacier View.

Still, it's the fissures in the seemingly impenetrable granite that we found so fascinating.

It was amazing to see these fissures carved into the mountainside.

Once we were done, we headed back to the loop trail which led us to our car.

Coming early was a good decision; there were cars lined up looking and waiting for a parking spot as we left. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Yosemite Village (mostly window) shopping and then headed back to Rush Creek, where we had a short nap.

Since we went the packaged food route the previous night and the Missus wanted to have Her burger again, I made reservations at the restaurant at Rush Creek again. This time they sat us in the main dining room. It was a Wednesday and there were significantly more people at the resort.

We started with the "Garden" Board ($21), which wasn't such a big deal.

The Missus got the burger again ($20).

Ordered exactly the same as on our previous visit; this time it was overcooked.....so not nearly as good as before.

I went with the Brisket Tacos ($19).

The actual BBQ and seasoning wasn't too bad, but the brisket was dry and tough.

So...pretty much the same a before.

The Restaurant at Rush Creek Lodge
34001 CA-120
Groveland, CA 95321

Still, our room was super comfortable and the folks working at Rush Creek were really friendly.

And we'd had a wonderful of hiking in Yosemite.

We'd be checking out in the morning; but I had one more place on my list to check out.......

Roadtrip (During Covid) - Rush Creek Lodge and Spa, Hiking Around Rush Creek, and Yosemite Valley

Here's a fairly quick post about our trip to Yosemite in October of last year.

After heading out from Paso Robles, we took a bathroom break and filled up our tank at Bravo Farms outside Kettleman.

Bravo Farms is one of those.....well road side stops with everything from a diner - food court - mercantile, which means all kinds of stuff you never knew you needed, it has some places for kids to play....all in the middle of...well...not much.

I did really enjoy the signs in the very clean restroom which cracked me up.

It was a good place to stretch our legs since we wouldn't be stopping until we got to Rush Creek Lodge and Spa. I chose the place, which was kind of remote mainly because of the location, 1 ile from the west entrance to Yosemite and size of the rooms; we got a Hillside Villa with our own private and a nice view.

We arrived a bit too early to check in. I had told the Missus that there were hiking trails around the lodge.....so guess what we did?

I parked the car in the lot where our Villa was located and we headed up to where the trails were.

I asked the Missus which trail She wanted to do...big mistake....Her answer? "All of them." Which is what we did.

It did us a nice "taste" of the beauty of the area.

And once we returned, our "Villa" was ready......it was quite large.

And the view....

There were a couple of shortcomings with the unit. It had no microwave, so you'd have to eat in the resort or drive the 20 or so miles to Groveland. But, there was a Restaurant, Tavern, and a General Store. 

I had made reservations for dinner at the restaurant....during these times of Covid, it was optimal to do so. And on this day, we were seated in the Tavern.

The tables were nicely spaced out.

I started with a Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool ($9), a nice Brown Ale.

I was interested in trying the Crispy Fried Cauliflower ($17), which proved to be a mistake.

This wasn't particularly crisp and the sauce.....was like something from Panda Express; it was teeth rattling sweet. 

We also got the Tomato and Roasted Garlic Soup ($14).

This lacked garlic flavor. Though it still wouldn't have been too bad if it had been served at a better temperature. It was barely lukewarm.

The Missus ordered the Rush Burger ($20).

 After the two appetizers, we didn't expect too much....especially when they asked the Missus how She wanted the burger done. In many places, asking that question is just going thru the motions and you'll get your burger well done. This burger however, was cooked exactly how the Missus wanted. It also had a nice char adding a nice smokiness. The fries had a decent crispness.

I ordered the Lamb Shawarma ($21).

This wasn't very good either. The flatbread was really tough; so was the dry lamb which really lacked flavor.

Overall, very corporate food...our dinner was a $100 without tip! I guess most folks were a captive audience and there's no microwave in the rooms. At least the Missus enjoyed Her burger. And I guess we really weren't staying here for the restaurant, right?

The Restaurant at Rush Creek Lodge
34001 CA-120
Groveland, CA 95321

One of the reasons we stayed at Rush Creek was the distance to the West Entrance to Yosemite; it was less then a mile!

We got an early start and headed into Yosemite, making several stops along the way.

And then we entered the park.

The Missus was so excited about doing some hiking; unfortunately both of the trails we selected we closed as trail, road ,and parking lot work was going on. Sigh.....

We then headed to Yosemite Village and the visitors center, spoke to some rangers and decided just to do some trails in the area.

We first did the Lower Yosemite Falls Trail, an easy trail. The water was just a trickle on this day....and few weeks later there would be a major storm and waterfall would be going like crazy. Just our luck on this day.

From here we walked thru Cook's Meadow....I really enjoyed the views from here.

And from here we headed to Mirror Lake via the Valley Loop.

Because parts of the trail parallels the road, there was a lot of vehicle noise; it's also a pretty busy bike path.....and of course, because of the season, Mirror Lake was dry. It was still quite beautiful though.

And we took the loop back to Yosemite Village and our car.

 We drove back to Rush Creek and relaxed for a bit. The Missus and I just weren't up to having another meal in the restaurant and we didn't want to drive to Groveland. We went over to the General Store and picked up a bottle of wine for the Missus and a beer for me. I had done some planning and brought along a self-heating Omeal and also a portable heater-lunch box; we had brought packaged meals. I put my package of basmati rice in the Omeal bag, so it heated up along the vegetarian chili.

The 110 volt hot plate didn't get things super hot, but it did the trick.

It was an ok meal......but the view just couldn't be beat.

And we were sure that tomorrow would be a better day!

Thanks for dropping by!