Naturegirl: Excellent planI donÂt think you could do better. Of course you will see the Mariposa grove of sequoias. They are a bit out of the way from the other park attractions, but I would say they are a "MUST." A couple of things to look for: By all means stop to see the "Grizzly Giant" tree. This is one truly spectacular tree and in its way as amazing a giant sequoia as you can see anywhere. The diameter is truly massive, but overall it is technically not one of the largest because it is not so tall as othersÂjust a bit over 200 feet--, but no matter. The crown of this tree is truly grizzled and gnarled, suggesting that has been growing there forever. Depending on how much time you have, a couple of suggestions: Try to see one of the fallen trees. There is one called "The Fallen Monarch," but I canÂt remember how far one has to walk to see it. And since I was last there, the Wawona Tunnel tree has fallen. You might want to make a point of seeing that--it should be right next to the road. One of the finest trees is the Galen Clark treeÂgiven that name because that is supposedly the first tree he saw when he discovered the grove. It is not unusually large, but perfect in its formÂat least the last time I was there. Also, I understand there is a kind of tram ride that has been built. Maybe you could get around more easily that way to see the grove. But anywhere you stand in this grove you will see wonderful trees. And if you see this grove, and Big Basin, you will really have more than just a "taste" of the most amazing trees in the world. I would recommend that you get up early, very earlyÂand get to Yosemite early enough to see the Mariposa grove the first day. Then you would not have to break up your stay in the valley area the next day. Two recommendations: first, for a hike in the valley, the vernal falls trail is nice. I canÂt remember exactly how far it is to get to the top of the falls, but it may not be too far. Some of the other falls in November may not have much water. Bridal Veil may be dry, and Yosemite falls itself will be at a low ebb. But Vernal Falls should still be very nice. Second, Glacier Point should be a must. It is a bit of a drive, but not much walking required once you get there. One bummer for you is the days are so short in Nov. Well, have fun!!

I wish I'd seen this thread before posting mine! Yes, you can use a pressure cooker on the propane stove. I had a pressure cooker in my RV (and plan to put it in the camping equipment for this summer's trip). I have also used it on the white-gas stove (older Coleman model), when we were renovating the kitchen at home. We looked at those 12-volt refrigerators. My husband was annoyed that he got rid of his after leaving the trucking industry. Well, how could we know! Thanks for the tips on the newer ones. As far as camping reservations go: from experience, the national park campgrounds fill fast. Many of them are on the reservation system, and others (like in Arches) will require you to start trolling through the CG at daybreak, looking for departing campers. Our trip is about the same length as yours, though we are staying in motels and with friends and family instead of tent-camping. From experience with long trip tent camping, though, you'll want to get a motel room or find a truck stop with reasonably priced showers (bring shower shoes) every 3-4 days. Your trip sounds like a lot of fun -- we're heading from CA to ME via Orlando, FL, and back through MO (daughter, son-IL and new granddaughter live there). So we're going opposite of you, grin. I've placed a link to a great resource for road-trip planners. It's one of my favorite Internet sites. Donna Here is a link that might be useful: Road Trip America

I moved here from Chicago (and have also lived in LA) and you really, really should rent first. Housing prices are not going to zoom up anytime soon. The banks have a large shadow inventory and CA is one of the three worst states for foreclosures. It is very time-consuming to buy a foreclosure. Figure it will take 4x longer than to buy normally. Homes in foreclosure are often in bad shape; quality of construction in CA is often very low. Labor costs are high and skillful workers harder to find than they should be. Do not assume you can remodel a not-so-perfect house into what you want. The NIMBY-ism here is hideous and in all the major cities it is extraordinarily difficult and expensive to enlarge a home's footprint. You are legally constrained from covering more than 40% of your lot anyway, I believe, and with our small lots that's not a big footprint. Permits are expensive to obtain and if you make structural changes, it will be required that you bring everything up to current building code. Since every year brings in stricter earthquake building codes, this can add so much to the cost that remodeling projects become impossible. For example, our neighbor wanted to turn their downstairs into a legal in-law: adding a second bathroom, building a single-story, one-room addition. They had $75K in cash as their budget (we live in the Oakland foothills, nice older area, starter homes). It took them over $12K and almost two years to go through the permit process. Eventually they were told they had to apply for a waiver because they were taking 2' from the single-car garage which was already minimum size allowed, so they had to have the architect re-draw the plans and resubmit them. Permit cost, BTW, is 10% of the cost estimate in our city. The City of Oakland does the engineering study for all projects. As we live on a hill (great east-facing hillside views), they were told to stabilize their lot, it would be necessary to sink 40 piers, each 37' deep to bedrock, filled with steel rebar and concrete. 25 of the piers would be for the single-room addition (which was only going to be about 17x25') and the remaining 15 would be placed all along the north side of the existing house. The cost for the pier work alone? $65,000. Needless to say, they did something else with their remaining $63K. You might be surprised what you pay for utilities here. PG&E is one of the most expensive utilities in the country, and most older homes aren't insulated well. Our home is insulated with double-pane windows, we live in a warmer microclimate than Berkeley, I keep my home fairly cool, yet we pay on average $170/mo for gas (furnace/dryer/stove) and electricity. No one can place any dependency on PG&E absorbing all the costs for their unmapped leaking gas mains (a neighborhood in San Bruno saw its gas main blow up and 8 people died); we ratepayers will almost certainly see our rates rise yet again. Water isn't that expensive, but earthquake-proofing our EBMUD water reservoirs is. Our bi-monthly water bill for a large garden (1/6 acre) and 3 people runs $45 for water and $100 for earthquake work. We do have earthquake insurance. There is a fault that runs right through Alameda County and it's overdue for another major quake. Homeowners insurance is fairly low - less than $1K, and umbrella liability is around $200/yr. Earthquake insurance with a $100K deductible costs us almost $4000/yr. However, we have no mortgage so we are carrying all the risk on our home. It made sense for us to purchase risk mitigation. To be afraid of all of Oakland is ridiculous. There are some very good neighborhoods here, just as there are some bad neighborhoods in Berkeley. If I were buying for the first time, I'd look in El Cerrito on the east side of San Pablo Ave. Good, stable neighborhoods, nice weather, easier city traffic, great services/shops. I like Alameda, but access is limited to the bridges, and traffic is easily snarled at commute times. Traffic is the huge issue in the Bay Area. If you are still working, you need to really see how the traffic patterns work, not just when things go right but when things go wrong. Public transit is pathetic compared to Chicago, NY and Boston. Cars are a necessity in the East Bay; you can get around without one but it will take forever and making transfers between systems is a pain. Don't ignore the sales tax. The first time you pay sales tax on a new car, you will definitely feel the pain! Food is a conundrum: you can spend less and get higher quality, but on average Bay Area residents eat out more often than anyone else except New Yorkers, over 4x/week. I don't mean to sound discouraging. We love living here but there is no denying CA is an extremely expensive state. State income taxes are high and services are dwindling. You will find politics very different here than back East.

Only a completely "off the grid" setup, as some kooks like to do but which is impractical because of nighttime darkness, would be unaffected by changes in the distribution system. Why do you refer to people who live off the grid "kooks" ? Besides name calling, that sounds really close minded to me especially coming from the guy who has told KT forums members to "open their minds" in past threads. I have a neighbor who has been off the grid for the 25 years that I have known him through a combination of solar and water power. He's far from a kook and lives very comfortably while generating all his own power. Unlike all the people who are upset about their power being turned off during this red flag fire warning, he won't be affected at all. Be advised that I'm not going to get into it with you; I just was curious why you felt the need to call people who choose to live off the grid "kooks". And, calling "crickets" on Lukki Irish is uncalled for. She may very well be busy with other things and hasn't yet seen your posts. Not everyone spends all day on the internet. I haven't been on since this morning because I've been busy with other things.