Father's Day/Solstice Greetings From Sausalito!!

After a break of a couple of days with lots driving and bad cell service the TOE returns the summer solstice dawns bright, fog-free and cool in the bay side community across the water from San Francisco. From Crafty and Bill's charming house I can see boats in the Sausalito marina and across Richardson's Bay to the exclusive enclave of Tiburon. Hummers are cruising about with their choice of flower's everywhere and the cool breezes are rattling the wind chimes; California, baby!
So, two days of catch up and a lot of miles covered and states crossed with wild changes in temperature, topography, views and population. Leaving Albuquerque in the cool of Friday morning and heading west on I-40 the deserts of the southwest rolled by, still with hints of green and in bloom from the rains of May (long gone but with much of the water collected, used and now stored in the desert flora). My first stop was just past Petrified Forest National Park at Jim Gray's Rock Shop and Petrified wood emporium. Acres, yes acres, of petrified wood and a store that was overwhelming to the senses of a rock hound. Tables and stools and a chair and slabs and nicknacks of petrified wood in all directions. I got out fairly cheaply but I would be back with lottery winnings to have my own personal petrified tree delivered to my new house.
Next stop, just down the road, is the world's most recent reminder that big rocks from space occasionally hit Earth, Barringer Meteor crater. Impressive, hard to fit in a photograph and deceptive in size, rising well above the surrounding desert floor the crater is just wild; hard to wrap your head around that day 50,000 years ago, the forces and randomness involved in it's formation. I'm glad NASA has picked up its search for Earth crossing asteroids and meteoroids, the list, at spaceweather.com now up to about 1,500. Better to know than, SURPRISE, I'M HERE!
Friday's drive continued past Flagstaff with it's big snow dappled volcanic peaks and big trees (elevation means rain in desert regions) and then into western Arizona before turning off I-40/Rt 66 and heading up Rt 93 to Las Vegas. The temperature continued to climb, I didn't notice when it passed 100 but in traffic in downtown Vegas is read 113, I didn't stop. By the time I reached Tonopah the sun was well down and the temp had dropped into the 70's, desert changes!
Yesterday, Saturday, I head out of Nevada and into the Sierra Nevada of California, I had been watching the eastern slope cruising through the silver state. Impressive to approach and then try and get through. Yesterday was switchback day, the longest, steepest drops, most impressive views I've ever seen, on both sides of the range and everywhere in between.
Yosemite, packed with people on a June Saturday, is breathtaking long before you actually enter the park with the larger than imaginable switchback drive up to the entrance at the top of Tioga pass. Olmsted point, a classic view down the valley to Half Dome, caused me to whip the car into the parking area for pictures and just to take it all in. Words, penned by way finer writers than I, still come up short to describe the vistas of the high Sierra.
Down from Yosemite, I pass through the oaks of the eastern central valley, the almond groves, the middle of the day, Saturday traffic jams of California freeways, the new Bay bridge, the energy filled streets of San Francisco, the fog and crowds crossing the Golden Gate and finally to the wonderful hill side home of Crafty and Bill. Then oysters and tempura and sashimi and catching up with old friends and the last few days on Earth unfold, the spectacular journey continues.
And, today, Father's day and the summer solstice, the most daylight to remember the wonderful times we share, shared and may share with our Dad's. Hope you have a magical one, Today on Earth.

Petrified Log - broken into pieces

 Half Dome from a long ways off

 Olmsted Point with Half Dome waaaaay in the background

Meteor Crater, Az.