I had the pleasure of having my wife along for this business trip to Fremont, California in mid November. We were surprised, even though we should not be because it was the week before Thanksgiving after all, by the large crowd at PHX Sky Harbor. A short flight of less than 2 hours from Phoenix landed us at San Jose Airport around noon.
After a quick lunch, we went to my office to set up the training room and get its workstations for ready for a class starting on Tuesday. Once this task was completed, we drove to Mariposa, a small town just outside of Yosemite National Park. We arrived at our motel in Mariposa well after sunset. After settling in, Mylinh & I had a nice promenade along the main street.
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| Mariposa, CA. Photo by Mylinh. |
Early the next morning, we headed out to Yosemite. We made a few stops along the way to enjoy the beautiful landscape.
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| Entrance to Yosemite National Park. |
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| Information panel at the ranger station at Yosemite National Park. |
The ranger at the entrance gave us numerous tips to maximize our enjoyment of this wonderful park. Our first stop was Bridalveil Fall. The scenery along the road was majestic. Yosemite has many waterfalls and delightful vistas. Below are selected photos from our visit to Yosemite National Park.
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| Natural rock gate. Photo by Mylinh. |
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| Bridalveil Fall. |
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| Bridalveil Fall. |
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| Half Dome. |
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| Biking in Yosemite National Park. Photo by Mylinh. |
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| Yosemite National Park. |
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| Path to Yosemite Falls. Photo by Mylinh. |
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| A young visitor at Yosemite Falls. Photo by Mylinh. |
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| Half Dome over clouds. Photo by Mylinh. |
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| Scenic road at Yosemite National Park. Photo by Mylinh. |
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| A view in Yosemite National Park. Photo by Mylinh. |
Mylinh & I had a wonderful day at Yosemite National Park. We wished we could spend more to fully appreciate this magnificent place. There were many hiking paths we wished to explore. Spring would be a good time since there would be blooms and waterfalls would be grander with the melting of the winter snow. Autumn might also be great time to see the changing colors of trees all around Yosemite. But we had to head back to Fremont, CA, as my work would begin soon.
Somehow, our GPS directed us back to San Jose by a different route, bypassing the town of Mariposa. Along the way, we were treated to a beautiful sunset.
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| Sunset. Photo by Mylinh. |
The rest of the week was spent at the office in Fremont, CA. On Saturday, Tony H., a college friend, gave us a guided tour from San Jose to San Francisco. Tony also brought along his friend Mai D. Upon reaching Half Moon Bay, we took California State Route 1 (also known as Pacific Coast Highway) to San Francisco and enjoyed the beautiful coast line. Tony introduced us to the Sigmund Stern Grove, which is a park in a ravine in San Francisco.
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| Sigmund Stern Grove in San Francisco, CA. |
After a quick picnic, we went on to visit the Golden Gate Bridge, Tiburon, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Sausalito. Both Tiburon and Sausalito are charming towns, deserving more of our attention than we could offer, because the sun was setting and the air temperature was dropping fast.
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| Mylinh photographing the Golden Gate Bridge. |
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| Luxury condominiums in Tiburon, CA. Photo by Mylinh. |
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| Glass art at a gallery in Sausalito, CA. Photo by Mylinh. |
While in Sausalito, we had a very pleasant time getting to know our new friend Mai D. over hot coffee and delicious tiramisu at the Il Piccolo Cafe.
Bowls of delicious roast duck noodle soup at a popular restaurant in Chinatown of San Francisco brought a warm end to a wonderful day. We thank our wonderful friend Tony H. and his friend Mai D. for being great tour guides and magnificent hosts.
Your comments and critiques of this blog and its pictures are solicited and welcomed. Thank you for visiting.
Enjoy,
Paul & Mylinh
