El Capitan in the late afternoon light. This place is gorgeous in any light, but especially in the early and late hours.

Tuck goes for a swim in the VERY COLD Tenaya Lake. Tenaya Lake is located in Yosemite Park. It’s fed only from snow melt and local rains, so the water is crystal clear and very cold. Of course Tuck, being the labrador that he is, loved every minute of it.

The iconic Half Dome in Yosemite…one of the most photographed locations in the states.

When we last visited Yosemite, we really lucked out. Heavier than usual snow melt really showcased Yosemite Falls. Since there were no fires in the area (like they are experiencing this year), we had super visibility.

Claudia and Tuck in the meadows with the beautiful Yosemite Falls in the distance. The vertical drop of the falls is about 2,400’.

A view of Bridal Veil Falls from the road approaching the entrance to Yosemite.

Pictures are indeed worth a thousand words…what a happy time!

Tuck resting with “Bear” on the Groveland Hotel balcony.

Main Street in Groveland, CA. We stayed here a couple nights on our last trip to Yosemite. We stayed at The Groveland Hotel, which was constructed of adobe block in 1849 and it has been open ever since.

Mama bear and her cubs….on the road into Yosemite. The rangers were there to make sure the bears didn’t get close to the road, but they never moved. Just kept on grazing.

Yosemite…on the path up to Yosemite Falls.

Taking a lunch break in Yosemite. Tuck is eagerly waiting on a handout!

Yosemite….beautiful view leaving the park.

El Capitan…a very popular vertical rock wall that draws climbers from all over the world.

Yosemite…a beautiful, clear morning to view the falls.

Our picnic spot below El Capitan.

One of our absolute favorite locations….Mendocino, CA. A lovely artists town that sits on a beautiful section of the coast.

The beautiful coastline of Mendocino, California. Of the many areas we have visited, Mendocino stands out as being a great combination of natural beauty, a cool little artists town with lots of great places to stay and isolated from the rest of the state. It is, without a doubt, one of our favorite places on Earth.

Our little Isetta and our Volvo PV-444 at the Grass Valley, CA car show. I’m not sure how we ended up with two vintage cars from 1958. The Isetta ended up winning the “Most Unusual” category at the show.

A view of the sand dunes in Death Valley Park, taken from Zabriskie Point. For those of you who are film buffs, this is the area where parts of the 1970 film “Zabriskie Point” was filmed. Harrison Ford starred in the film.

This is one of my favorite pictures ofTuck. He’s lounging on the rocks at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley. Dogs aren’t allowed on some of the trails, so we took turns walking to the top for the view. Tuck was happy just people watching. He was not only a beautiful dog, but a majestic one….and he loved everyone. RIP Tuck…miss you everyday.

A beautiful rock formation near Tucson, AZ. These huge formations are everywhere in Arizona.

The beautiful Flaming Gorge reservoir, taken from the ranger station, which sits right on the edge of the canyon. This area had some of the best camping spots we’ve ever seen…most either right on the canyon rim or across the road. Update, 6/23/22….this beautiful reservoir is now being partially drained to help out the dire water situation in Lake Mead. Locals are irate. The water situation out West is critical and is not receiving near enough attention.

One of the giant redwoods. The tunnel was carved out in the 30’s and the tree still lives on. Pretty amazing. We tried to get the RAM through the opening, but we were way too big.

An early morning view of Crater Lake, in South Central Oregon. The lake has no inlets or tributaries and the water is some of the purest in the world. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the states with a depth of about 2,000’. Yikes!

On our visit to Crater Lake, we stayed in a restored ranger cabin from the 1930’s. This cabin used to be located high up in the woods. It was moved to this location years ago.

Claudia and Tuck checking out the surf on the Oregon coast.

The beautiful Point Cabrillo lighthouse near Mendocino, CA. This lighthouse has been in continuous use since 1909. The fresnel lens was constructed in England and shipped around Cape Horn. It consists of 90 lead glass prisms and weighs 6,800 lbs.

Claudia and Tuck get out of the truck to explore the Bonnieville Salt Flats. This is one of the flattest spots on earth and is the site of the annual speed trials, where all of the world speed records have been set. As a funny side note, we still had salt falling out from under the truck frame months later. Definitely not good!

A view from the rear of the ranger station in the Great Basin National Park. This is a really cool place and due to the fact that it sits many miles from any town, it’s one of the best locations in the states to view the stars. The park has been designated an International Dark Sky Park. The rangers supply telescopes and lead star watching tours on selected nights from April through October. Sadly, no pets are allowed, so we can’t attend.

Walking into the ghost town of Bodie. When the last of the residents left in 1942, they left dishes on tables, school books on desks, poker chips in the small casino (yep….those miners needed to drink and gamble) and newspapers in the post office. Poof….they were gone.

A giant wheel used in the mining operations at the ghost town of Bodie, CA. This wheel is about 15’ in diameter and was used to raise and lower miners in cages down into the gold mine.

One of the fun “leaning” buildings in Bodie. The park service now protects this quaint little town. The mine was in use from 1876 until 1942. After WWII, the mine was shut down and the town was abandoned.

Convict Lake in the Sierras. This lake is near the big ski area of Mammoth Mountain. A beautiful lake fed only by snow melt and rain water.

Tuck going for a quick stroll around Convict Lake…in the Sierras.