Pinnacles National Park

And yes, I finally managed by buy some new sunglasses!




The stuff we bought at a number of outlet stores on the way back. Brand names for much better prices than back in Europe or even in San Francisco!

Our very friendly neighbors at the campground - we were able to warm ourselves at their fire at night, cause it was not particularly warm at night. During the day it was like 70, but at night a whole lot colder - no wonder, it is still April!

Our neighbor with his wild cat/mountain lion-like animal - looks like a regular pet cat, but it wasn't!

Back at the campsite eating real American hotdogs!! And this time not at the ball park.


Bird resembling a Blue Jay.

This is what it looked like without the flash on the camera, with just a flash light/torch.


This is where we climbed into to get to the caves.

Whose shoes are those?





This is where we descended - into the caves.







This is where we are.






Pretty tight as you can see..














By chance hard to see on the picture, but here are some eagles.




All sorts of stone types/colors.



There were rocks formations all around that looked really funny. Many of them were piled up like these - amazing they hold only a couple of miles away from the San Andreas volt!!


The last few miles into the park.


On our way to Pinnacles National Park the next day. It turned out to be a very beautiful day and the route there was absolutely awesome! Lots of wildflowers all around.

Our campground, near San Juan Bautista, right off highway 101, approx. 2 hours away from San Francisco. It turned out an interesting place, with nearly only fishers! Some of them were crazy to say the least, shouting every hour or so and taking off real fast to drive around the campground. Later it turned out that there was a fishing derby going on. On the picture above you can see the lake.

On the same day Minke and I headed due south, to test our new tent and go hiking in the Pinnacles! Although we only went camping for two days, our Volvo wagon was filled to the roof ;-) This summer we have plans to go camping for three weeks and probably in a much smaller rental by then - we had better pack our stuff more efficiently then! But for now, we had plenty of room and did not need to bother to pack our stuff tightly!

On Friday, April 4 2008 I (Frank) got my graduation gown and hat. I am due to graduate on May 17, 2008 (i.e., the ceremony) although our cohort still got a class in the summer and some other requirements to meet before we hope to officially graduate towards the end of July 2008. Anyway, for now here's a picture of what it should look like...