Pumpkin Festival

I guess Halloween has its way of creating another festivity... like the Pumpkin Festival


Meet my friend, Mr Scarecrow aka Pumpkin Man


Look at all the future Jack-O-Lanterns!
Aren't they all so bright orange?

brand new Green friend

no no, i'm not referring to The Hulk;
i'm referring to my BRAND NEW Prius...

who would have thought that against all odds,
you could rent a brand new car?
with the scent of leather, virgin in taste;
feels like i bought myself a new car ;)


my white GREEN friend ;)

a hot sunny day

dry, hot, arid... thirsty guy... wilting sunflowers,
along the way up to Mission Peak...

Yosemite, California

a very beautiful and large National Park,
with an interesting half-cut mountain, "normal" mountains,
waterfall-filled valleys, and giant sequoias.


The Half Dome Mountain...
looks like cut into half right?
probably by glacier action.


Yosemite Valley...
i just love the beauty of Mother Nature,
makes me appreciate life even more...


The Fallen Monarch, a dead Sequoia tree that fell 300 years ago...
and it is still not decayed fully!


The Grizzly Giant...
judging from its sheer size, it is probably one of the oldest giant sequoias in Yosemite... 1800 years old!

Lake Tahoe... of California & Nevada

When you know of the beauty of the largest alpine lake in US,
When you know it's only less than 4 hours drive,
When you know you want to show it to the Cute Gal,
what do you do???

You make a trip to this place! and bring her with you!
and jetski in the lake too!!! :)

Note: the author strongly intends to go back there to snowboard & snow ski, by year end... *crosses fingers*



And this was where we jetski-ed.
the water was just so icy cold it froze my ankles just walking to the jetskis... brrrr...


Cave Rock... remnant of a volcano that erupted 3 million years ago...
such is the power of the Nature.


a view of the lake, after driving passed Cave Rock.


ahhh yes, Emerald Bay.
Probably THE most beautiful spot around Lake Tahoe.


Emerald Bay...
on a another day, on a cloudy day.
and yes, i was there again in less than a month :)

Napa Valley, California

an interesting trip almost a month back,
to taste a variety of wine and experience the beautiful wine country, Napa Valley...


a pond outside Domaine Chandon...
(This is the 2nd Domaine Chandon winery in the world that i've visited. The other was in Yarra Valley, Australia)


Domaine Chandon has giant toadstools???


Another winery, Darioush, with its pool-pond (or mini-fountain water-thingy?)


ahhh, finally you see something that is related to wine... the grapes!


and now, back to non-wine stuff... :p
this is the site for one of the only 3 Old Faithful Geysers in the world;
now i just need to visit the other 2, at Yellowstone and dunno where the 3rd one is (can't even find with Google)


And here it is... the Old Faithful Geyser of Calistoga, Napa Valley.
See the rainbow? ;)