day 23

twelve years ago today (09/03/1994) aLex and i got married. it was inevitable. i am sad that i could not share this day, what i saw, what i did, and how i felt with her. i was thinking about her all day, wishing she could be with me, not just today, but for this whole journey. i owe her so much for allowing me to do this. she has sacrificed so much while i am on this trip, time, sleep, help, my company, that i cannot possibly repay her for this. i know that there will be plenty of chicken enchilada dinners when i get back.

as we are highly competitve with each other (big hill in washington park, springfield, il), she now has her own blog. it was after reading hers that i figured out how to do web links instead of inserting the url into the text. i went back in my entries an fixed a few of the longer links. i look forward to reading it every day to see how she is doing.

it was a relatively quick ride to yosemite, and i already had my route planned out to see the major sites. once i got in the park, traffic was pretty bad, but the roads and, more importantly, the road surface were quite good, making the twists much more easy to ride through. below are some of the impressive sights.


el capitan, yosemite, ca - 09/03/2006

aLex is always so good at taking these type of self-portraits. i hope this one meets her approval.


pedro and el capitan, yosemite, ca - 09/03/2006

on the way to mariposa grove, there is a great view of yosemite valley, with el capitan on the left and half dome in the background.


yosemite valley, yosemite, ca - 09/03/2006

this fallen giant sequoia, called "fallen monarch" is estimated to have fallen over 300 years ago. in 1899, the u.s. cavalry took a picture on this tree.


fallen monarch, mariposa grove, yosemite, ca - 09/03/2006

this giant sequoia, known as the "grizzly giant", is estimated to be over 2700 years old. to get an idea of its size, notice the group of people standing at the base of the tree.


grizzly giant, mariposa grove, yosemite, ca - 09/03/2006

after visiting mariposa grove, i headed along the tioga pass road, which crosses the pass at an elevation of 9945 feet. the road winds through granite domes and open meadows. this picture is looking west west, with tenaya lake in the middle.


tioga pass, yosemite, ca - 09/03/2006

after leaving yosemite, it was a nice ride to bishop, ca. i rode through the inyo national forest and owens valley. this picture is looking southwest from just north of bishop, ca.


owens valley, north of bishop, ca - 09/03/2006