Gary my first trip to California was in 1998, we flew to SF and spent the weekend there and then headed to Yosemite, went south on the coast road and then turned inland at Gilroy, went thru Vasalia and spent the night in Three Rivers. Went thru Sequoia the next day, which is a beautiful place, then Fresno and Merced (if I remember right, the name is real familar) and into Yosemite. It was wonderful. We wern;t feeling quite well so didn;t get to do any long hikes, but we tooled around for two days all over the park. Even with the people there it was paradise. I really want to go back there and do some camping out away from things. Would love to climb Half Dome.
Then we took that sacry pass down from Toulloume Meadows to Lee Vining, great day!