The drive from the Bay Area of California to Yosemite Valley takes about four and a half hours, and is an excellent study in the contrasts inherent in California's landscape. Most of the first two-thirds of the drive is through California's fertile -- and very flat! -- central valley, where I saw endless groves of fruit and nut trees. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, you hit the mountains, and the road begins to curve and wind up the side of the slopes. This is a view back towards the west, with the rising sun behind me; I believe that is Don Pedro Lake in the background (see the final image in this SceneSet for more on the lake.)

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