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When I get to a place
for the first time and know it like home, this is when I know my journey
will be over
A good traveler has
no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
The traveler sees
what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.
There are always two
people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
When you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there ~ Anonymous
I was born lost, and take no
pleasure in being found
"On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of those who waited, and while waiting, died".......
Anyone can grow older, that doesn’t require any talent or ability
The only people who fear death, are those with regrets
“The farther backward
you look, the farther forward you are likely to see”
"One person with one
camera and one idea can make all the difference in the world"
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Pat's Blog If this is your first time here, you might want to start from the beginning of our fulltime RV Journey with our 2007 Blog's
January 2008 Blog
February 2008 Blog
March 2008 Blog
Photo Gear We Use - Solar Tips, Fact's and Trick's we've learned while on the road
Camper
Check List - A list of things we do before leaving camp.
Again, this isn't gospel, but its a good start for those who might not
already have a list made up. **** Sunday June 1st Up and over the Sierra's to Yosemite
Talking with Jeff Bettenga yesterday, he had reminded us of the June Lake Scenic Drive, and told us to make sure not to miss out on that beautiful route while in this area. We took the drive this morning, but with my foot the way it is, we missed out on many of the cool hikes it offers. The scenic drive brings you through multiple mountain lakes that are so tropical blue, you'd think you're looking at the Caribbean Ocean. This was very hard for me to drive and not be able to hike in to take any pictures, especially like the pictures Jeff had referred me to on his travel website while we were talking about the views. Once we were done with the June Lake Loop, we turned onto the Tioga Pass, and started our long climb up the mountain. We've taken Bubba (Cindy's name for our truck) up some steep climbs on our adventure, but the Tioga Pass is one he wont forget anytime soon. Never have we been on a climb when I thought we wouldn't make it and every hill we topped I thanked myself for choosing a Turbo Diesel engine. But this climb was so long and steep, that we pulled over multiple times to let the engine cool down. The turbo was screaming so loud, I thought it was going to throw a bearing at any moment. I will say that Ford makes one hell of a motor. Bone stock, this baby likes to pull, and pull he did.
Once into Yosemite, we had trouble staying on the road. Around every corner, one of us would be pointing out some mountain vista to look at, and the narrow roadway reminded me of the dangers of driving in Baja. Every where I looked, I was reminded of famous photographs by Ansel Adams, Galen Rowell, Michael Fre, or any of the other photographers whose work you're so used to seeing on the covers of outdoor magazines. When we finally made it down to the bottom of the valley floor, I already had a sore neck from cranking it side to side to see the top of the enormous waterfalls. I'm not sure if there is going to be enough time in this month to see, hike or explore everything this National Park has to offer. Once at the valley floor, we found the terrible news that the four campgrounds that were open were booked solid for the rest of the year. I had asked online if I had to make reservations in advance before coming to Yosemite, but many replied with answers like "No, there are plenty of campgrounds that have a first come first serve basis." Well that is true, but this early in the season, the only campgrounds open are the ones with paved parking slabs and those campgrounds where reservations are made 6 months in advance. Now what do we do? We found that at 3pm, they give away any campsites that haven't been checked into for the day, but this is on a lottery system. If you read last months blog and remember The Wave Lottery in Utah, then you know we aren't that lucky with these type of things. I told Cindy I'd let her handle this one since last time I was the biggest Loser Utah had seen in awhile when it came to winning a lottery draw.
Once we got our campsite, $20 for no hook-ups and a very narrow camping spot, we set up camp and Cindy took the dogs for a walk. 20 minutes later, she came running back saying she had seen a mother bear with a baby cub walking through the woods. I told her I didn't believe her since she didn't have her camera with her so she had no proof to show me. We got the bikes down and decided to go for a ride up to Mirror Lake to stretch out the legs after a long day of driving. Riding along the bike path through the giant trees with mountains so tall, they block out the sun, I was having trouble keeping my eyes on the wide path. I understand why this park is so busy, it's probably one of the most beautiful National Parks we've been in so far on our adventure. Mirror Lake is an easy hike if you can even call it that? It's more of a paved bike path right up to the lake, and they even allow people with handicapped passes to drive right up to the end of the path. The scenery is what you'd expect, spectacular! Riding back to the camper was uneventful, meaning we saw no wildlife except for the fat squirrels that have no fear of the many tourists.
Then we remembered that we were out of everything. No cold Coors Light, no smooth Makers Mark, no aged Scotch, and we had sipped our last bit of salty Mexican Tequila last week in Bishop at the Mule Days Festival. Not that we're alcoholics or anything, heck we had gone for over a week with nothing in the fridge and neither of us had even noticed, but a bonfire just feels right with a cold drink in your hand. After she checked all the hiding spots, she informed me we were without adult beverages. I said "We do have that Absinth in the cabinet if you really want to get crazy?" Back when we owned the Red Dog, we had a good friend who was headed to South America and had told me he could get real Absinth if I wanted any. Owning a bar that prided itself with all sorts of different exotic alcohols, of course I wanted some. He brought me home a few bottles of the wildly famous Green Fairy that is outlawed in many countries, the same stuff that made Van Gough cut off his ear, or any of the other famous artists you've heard of who went crazy after drinking the stuff. We had brought our last bottle along on the journey for a 'just incase', and this might just be one of those times. So sitting around a roaring campfire in Yosemite National Park, we sat sipping on some 120proof Absinth that isn't even legal in the United States. If you were to look it up in a drink book, the definition states, "A Green Liquor outlawed in many countries due to its aging in Worm Wood, which is known to eat a hole in your brain" I don't know about all that, but I will say that it reminded me of drinking Moonshine and wasn't at all what I was looking for to sit beside the warm fire. No amount of Sugar, something you're supposed to add to cut the bitterness, can make the stuff taste good to me. Cindy didn't mind it at all, but she loves the taste of Black Liquorices. It reminded me of a really strong Sambucca, which is something I normally hate. Once dinner was over, we called it a night. We had visited with the neighbors, John and Christy, who had a beautiful little girl who is almost 3 & a 1/2 who talked out ears off for awhile; she was so cute and we were getting a good laugh out of her till John said they were roasting marshmallows. Then she was gone like the flash of energy all kids that age have. Normally I'd never talk politics, but I just have to get this off my chest. We're spending a billion dollars a month on a country that has been fighting with each other since before Jesus walked the Earth. Cindy and I come to stay in a campground in a National Park, one of the busiest ones in the country, and they tell us they don't have space for us. Now they have 7 campgrounds that aren't open, yet the 4 that are already open are booked solid, at $20 per night with no hook-ups mind you, for 6 months in advance. When I asked why the other 7 campgrounds aren't open yet, the ranger told me that they "Don't have enough people to have them ready to open, so they wait a few more weeks till the surface dries out and they get all the trees removed." This sounds like simple math to me. Hire more people, have these campgrounds ready to open all at the same time, and make more money throughout the entire tourist season. The parks are swarming with foreign tourists due to their dollar being higher than ours right now, yet hundreds are being turned away because these campgrounds aren't open yet? Why not cater to them and have everything open and ready to sell out by this point? Can someone explain to me why we're spending millions upon millions of dollars on another country, when we could be making millions of dollars, and providing jobs for the people of our own country if we'd just pay attention to where it's needed? This makes no sense to me at all, but now that I've gotten that off my chest, we'll leave it alone. Monday June 2nd 2008 We were up first thing this morning to try and drive around to find a good spot to photograph the sunrise. We choose Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall in North America, for when we tried to photograph it yesterday afternoon, it was deep in shadows.
Once we realized we had made a mistake, we decided to drive the Valley Loop to see if we could find anything else worth while to snap some images of. Really the whole park itself is breathtaking, and any time of the day is beautiful on the eyes, but since you all know how much we enjoy photography, we're always in search of that next great photo. While driving around the one way loop, we saw a little meadow and decided to pull over to see if we might spot any animals returning to the den this early. Just as I was shutting the truck off, Cindy and I both heard the distinctive cry of a coyote. At first the sound was so close, we thought we might have run over it. We rolled down the windows only to find not one, but two coyote's sitting in the meadow welcoming the dawn. Now I'm no animal expert, but what we witnessed for the next 45 minutes was something I know I'll never forget. These two full grown, shaggy coyote's sat in the meadow howling at the sun something awful. The only thing I could think that they were doing was getting rid of every last bit of energy they held before returning to the den to sleep for the rest of the day. They sat non-stop with their heads pointed towards the warming sky and let loose with such sounds it would make any horror movie soundtrack sound fake in comparison. But to see it happening wasn't scary in the least, you just stood in awe of some of Mother Nature's creatures acting out in ways only she knows the answers to. When the sun finally made it's arrival, both coyotes let out a few last "Yipps!", before heading down towards the nearby stream where they disappeared into the brush. I wish I could post some amazing pictures, but you'll have to make do with these shots that were captured with my much too short telephoto lens. It's times like this when I wish our cameras would record sound. I know Cindy and I will never forget that early morning experience.
The rest of the day was mostly a waste, spent moving the camper from spot to spot, then all the way to the West entrance of the park so we could meet up with Andy from California Mobile RV Repair, who was driving out to diagnose our cooling problem. We knew the refrigerator wasn't fixed when the 'No Co' light kept coming on again. But we didn't know it would be such a hassle to get fixed. After the light coming on twice last night to tell us it wasn't cooling properly, Cindy called some repair places to see what we had to do to get it fixed. This took up most of our afternoon, and when she finally found someone who would drive out to where we were to look at it, she jumped on the offer. It was either pay the $150 service call, or drive the two hours to Modesto ourselves. That alone would cost more than the $150 in fuel and would save us some valuable time to see this park we've now been in for a full day and haven't seen much of anything. It didn't take long to diagnose the problem once I told Andy of the gurgling noise I had heard a few days ago. As soon as I told him that, he said "This is not good news!" He told us "That is probably the worst noise you can hear when it comes to a refrigerator cooling system, and probably means you're entire cooling system needs to be replaced." That was the last thing I wanted to hear, and was hoping that it was going to be one of those "Oh look at this, it's just this silly wire that had come loose" sort of fixes. But nope, our worst fear had come true, the entire back end of the fridge was going to need to be replaced. Andy went over and above what you'd expect from any repair tech, when he told us his family was planning their yearly spring vacation to Yosemite this coming weekend. He told us if the parts were delivered in time, he'd bring them with him along with his tools and take some time away from his vacation to repair the cooling unit. In the day in age when you normally get a response like "A service tech will be there between 10am and next Thursday" I couldn't believe we could find a guy that would even make this offer.
Heading back into the park, we thought since we planned on being up at sunrise again, why not just park in the Day Use parking lot since in all reality we'd only be sleeping in it for a few hours. As long as you keep this between you and us, we were able to pull one over on the forest rangers by sneaking out a free nights stay this way. But I wouldn't advice it since we've talked to a few others who were woken up in the middle of the night with loud knocks and an escort to the exit. Tuesday June 3rd 2008 Cindy woke bound and determined to get us a campsite this morning, and was at the reservations office by 7am. I thought this was stupid, but when she came back a few hours later (they don't even open till 8:30am) she said there were probably 40 something people there waiting in line by the time they opened the doors. There has to be a better way then this foolish lottery system they've come up with?
Most of the hikes we wanted to go on were long, all day hikes and were now out of the question. While talking with some other campers who were waiting for the lottery system, we learned that there were 6 people allowed per site. We grouped together with another couple, one that was traveling full-time on a Harley Davidson motorcycle pulling a teardrop trailer where their dog lives, and said they could camp with us tomorrow night, and we would camp with them on Thursday night when they already had a reservation. We did ride our bikes over to the Ahwahnee Hotel, a registered landmark which has been in the Yosemite Valley since 1927. This place is amazing with its dozens of enormous rooms that leave you feeling like an ant in a gopher hole. Each room is different, yet uniquely rustic. Each room has fireplaces that I could back our truck into and the best part about the place, they offered free wi-fi so we could see about making reservations online for campsites. As we rode up, Cindy told me "The wi-fi is free, as long as you eat or drink in one of the bars or restaurants." I knew this was a ploy of hers, but I'd take the bait because I felt bad just scamming off their free internet service without making a contribution to the cause.
After we answered a few emails and made reservations for the only available night of camping on the reservation list, we found our new campsite, set up camp and made another loop around the Yosemite Valley floor right before sunset. This is the best time to take in all the wildlife that comes out to play at this calm time of the evening. Oh, and Andy did call back from California Mobile RV Repair stating that he had spoken with Norcold, and everything was under warranty, so everything would be fixed and paid for, but we had to wait till next Tuesday. Looks like dehydrated food is on the menu for the next few days. Wednesday June 4th I wont go into too much detail with the hassle it's been to find or switch campsites every single day, but this has definitely left a sour taste in my mouth for one of the prettiest National Parks we've visited. Even though we were already in a campsite, and fully set up, we had to move out of our site for a few hours and park in the Day Use parking lot only to move back into a different site at 3pm.
This completely ruins all plans of any good hiking or photo taking
opportunities with the constant worrying about where we're going to camp
each night. Heck, for the past 16 months we've never worried this
much our entire time
But then again we have no problem finding a place to park, something that isn't possible in a park this big. That is unless we want to drive the 60 something miles outside the park each day to find a parking lot or campground where we could not have to worry about the Forest Rangers. We did ride bikes around the valley for a few hours just to get some exercise and take in the sights, before we met Gary, Joy and their 12 year old dog Joshua, so they could join us at tonight's campsite. Once we all got to our new campsite, we set up camp, and Cindy cooked up some tasty dinner. The rest of the night was spent with Greg and Joy around the camp fire where we all swapped plenty of travelin' stories, enough to fill a few Wanderlust books for sure. Thursday June 5th Since Joy and Greg had a reservation for tonight, none of us had to worry about where we were going to stay, but we did have to pack up camp one more time and move across the street to a new campsite....AGAIN! Once we had moved and set up camp, Cindy and I got the motorcycle down and rode up to Glacier Point. Thank goodness for the motorcycle in times like this. The ride up to Glacier Point is 30 something miles, all uphill. That climb alone would have cost us a fortune in fuel if we had driven the truck. Luckily the much smaller Suzuki gets 50 something miles to the gallon and makes for a much more enjoyable drive anyway. I do feel bad for Cindy when we go on long rides like this. The seat we have on our motorcycle isn't made for riding passengers, and the 1 inch of foam her butt has to ride on cant feel all too good by the time we get to our destination. I also made the mistake of only wearing a light jacket on the ride since the temperatures were very warm when we left the valley floor. I knew I was in trouble when we reached the halfway point and there was a few feet of snow still piled along the sides of the roadway.
When we're parked in the valley, the size of the pines make our camper look like a Matchbox toy. From this elevation, the trees blanketing the floor looked like a well manicured lawn. Except for a few spots cleared for parking areas, the inner workings of the National Park are all invisible from the lookout. Looking over the railing on the viewing platform, the vantage point from 3,214 above the valley floor offers views of many of the iconic landmarks Yosemite has to offer. Yosemite Falls, the tallest of waterfalls in North America looks small in comparison, and you can see all of Half Dome from bottom to top. You get an eagle eye view of both Nevada and Vernal Falls. You can look across the park to Clouds Rest peak and on a clear day like we were having today, you can see all the way to the eastern most edge of the Yosemite National Park to Mount Lyell, with its 13,114 foot peak as your horizons edge.
I
probably could have spent the entire afternoon up here just looking out
into the great wide open, but of course our view of the valley was
somewhat
The wind was blowing the smoke right through the valley and was blocking any chance of a clear picture of the many sights. Not that I didn't enjoy the views we did see. Once we realized the smoke wasn't going to clear anytime soon, we climbed back on the bike and headed over to Sentinel Dome for a short 1.1 mile hike. Sentinel Dome is this giant dome of granite that also offers amazing views of the valley floor. This is where any aerial shots of Yosemite Falls are going to be taken from and the view of that monstrous falls makes it look small from this height. Now I know the vantage point to get a good shot of the falls in all its glory.
Looking West, you also have amazing views down into the valley making El
Capitan look like a small wall of rock, rather than the largest granite
monolith in the world. Sitting up here, Cindy and I forgot about
all the nonsense and stress
Once the sun started to set, we hiked back to the motorcycle talking with a nice couple from Seattle about various National Parks to visit. We saw a group of deer who was prancing around the woods not paying too much attention to us hikers. But once back at the motorcycle, the sweat I had worked up while hiking, now froze on my back once the wind started whipping through my thin jacket. I cursed myself for having a nice warm leather riding jacket hung in my closet while my arms froze like two popsicle sticks holding on to the handlebars. We pulled over to warm up at the most famously photographed spot in the park, the view of the valley floor, with Bridal Veil Falls to our right, and Half Dome off in the distance. You know the one, the shot made so famous by a little known photographer who called Yosemite home, Ansel Adams.
Well by no means could we even try to compete with Mr. Adams today, but we did sit and stare at this amazing view till the blood started to flow back into our extremities. Trying to match his talents and failing miserably every time only makes me respect his work all that much more. On the ride back to the campsite, we did spot too many deer to count, and one bear wandering along the side of the Merced River. Of course we don't have pictures to show you, so you'll just have to take our word on this one. Once back at the campsite, Cindy started making dinner for the four of us, and I was volunteered to take the dogs for a walk. While standing there waiting for Luca to finish sniffing every pine needle he could find, I heard a group of dogs start barking frantically. Out the corner of my eye, I noticed a good sized dog sitting only about 10 feet from me and my two dogs. Luca was the first to notice him, and when his tail starting wagging uncontrollably, I noticed that this shaggy dog wasn't a dog at all, but a coyote sitting face to face with us. Just as Luca started to lunge at him thinking it was full on play time, the coyote was gone in a flash. Lucy and I were still sitting there in shock when Luca almost tore my arm off going after the distant cousin. When I regained my balance and was able to skid the three of us to a halt, I think Luca was pretty upset that I had held him back from this playmate that would have given him a run for his money. I had to drag him down the road all the way back to the camper. Dinner didn't take long to scarf up, and after a box of wood burned in the fire ring, we all said our goodnights and were off to bed fairly early. Friday June 6th 2008 Gary and Joy were headed towards Fresno and Cindy and I are still planning on bagging at least one of these big hikes before we leave Yosemite. So as we packed up camp for our 5th day in a row, we made plans to meet up somewhere on down the road when we'd all have reservations and not have to move every single day. Cindy and I moved to the Day Use parking lot, AGAIN, and found a nice sunny spot to park the camper for the remainder of the day. The last few days in the campgrounds have been very shady on the solar panels and our batteries are getting dangerously low. Heaven forbid we pull out one of the generators to charge them back up....LOL It had been 6 days since I had shaved either my beard or my head and I was starting to look like the Unabomber or a distant cousin. Cindy turned on the the water heater and said to me "OK, you have to shave today." Something tells me she doesn't like me looking all shaggy and mountain manish. I personally hate growing out my hair, but when we're trying to conserve water, shaving is the last on my list of things to do. What I've found is the easiest way to accomplish this task is to first knock down as much of the hair on my head as I can with an electric shaver. Something I cant use on my face as it just pulls at my facial hair, but I have no problem using on my head? Cant figure that one out, but it helps in conserving water.
I now can sit on the floor of the shower (I know, not a pretty sight) and shave the rest of the hair off my face and head using the hot water in the container to clean off the razor and not waste any with leaving the shower water running. The problem with shaving my face is, once I have let it go this long, my skin breaks out very badly right after I shave with a very bad case of razor burn. This is why I always try and shave right before I go to bed. Usually, if I can do this, by the time I wake up my face is back to normal and I don't look like I was on the losing end of a fight with some battery acid. Now that you know my secrets to shaving, you'll know why if you see me with a heavy beard, it's because I've been trying to conserve on water the last week or so. If you see me with hair on my head, something that I have very little of to begin with, (but that's what I get for raising a step-daughter through her teenage years...LOL) then do me a favor and don't point out my bald spot that is 75% of the back of my scalp. Saturday June 7th 2008 Today was probably the busiest we've seen the park since we've been here. If you ever plan to visit Yosemite, avoid the weekends. Much of the day was spent relaxing in the camper with the cool breezes blowing through the screens. I was able to finish the book, 3 Cups of Tea, that I've been reading for the past week. Never have I finished reading something and felt like my life was so useless. What I mean by this is, Greg Mortenson, who the book is about, devotes his entire life to build schools for girls in the Middle East. Something that goes against all their beliefs. These schools are to educate the young girls in hopes to teach their culture better standards. In a time where most people are so fed up with anything to do with the Middle East, this was a very refreshing view of a way to put an end to Terrorism with books, not bombs. The selflessness this guy shows should be taught and noticed by every individual on Earth. Never before have I wanted to donate to a charity so badly, or go out and do something good for other people, than after I read this book. Do yourself a favor and read this amazing story about one man who I cant believe hasn't been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize yet. You wont be disappointed. I did get a chance to ride over to the Ahwahnee Hotel where I was able to upload some new pages to the website. Nothing else really happened today. We are trying to rest up for a big hike we're planning on tomorrow. Sunday June 8th Climbing the Tallest Waterfall in North America We got an early start this morning as we knew I'd be hiking pretty slow with my gimpy foot. Usually with my boots laced as tight as I can lace them, I can keep it from hurting too badly. So I was hoping I wouldn't be holding Cindy back too much.
Well on this hike, I felt like they look. Chalk it up to elevation, the steepness of the climb, or the simple fact that this was our first strenuous hike in a few weeks, but man did it kick my ass. Upper Yosemite Falls is only a 3.6 mile hike, but all of it is straight uphill. There were more switchbacks than I could count, and when they say don't stray from the trail, they're not lying. In many places you can look right off the edge of the trail all the way to the bottom, with maybe only a few shrubs to break your fall along the way. Not that we werent passed by a few couples who were my parents age, and another Mother/Daughter team who made us look like a couple of snails.
It's funny to compare Cindy and I when hiking. She has trouble climbing, and wants to take a break every 50 feet, where I can climb all day long with out too much trouble. Now on the way down, Cindy is practically running, where my knees feel like they're going to blow out at any minute. The climb down was my nemesis, and I had to keep telling Cindy to wait up for me as I was going so slow. But the climb back down was a slice of heaven when compared to the HOT climb up. The entire way up, we were in the direct sun, which had me sweating like Charles Mansion in front of the Parole Board. But on the way down, 90% of the trail was in the shade, with a nice cool breeze that actually had Cindy thinking about putting her jacket on. But enough about the trail itself, what we were really doing all this for, was the spectacular views this hike offers. So many times did we both just stop while saying to one another "I could sit here for days and not get sick of this view!"
Once we climbed to the top, we were glad we made the extra effort. All the huffing and puffing, the lungs burning for the past 4 hours as we trekked up the switchbacks were forgotten while we stood on Yosemite Point overlooking the valley. I think the view from this side of the valley is even better than the view from Sentinel Dome, or Glacier Point. From atop Glacier Point, Half Dome has mountains directly behind it, so it doesn't look as menacing. But from this angle, you're looking right at the front wall of that amazing sheer face, and know how crazy the climbers who scale it must be.
No amount of coaxing could get her to scale that narrow walkway, so I had to do it on my own. Once down there, I wasn't nearly as impressed as I thought I'd be. For one, the wind was whipping so strongly, that I was getting soaked with overspray, and for two, you cant get a good angle of the falls looking straight down the drop. Crazy as it sounds, I think the best view of the falls is half way up the climb where you're in the middle of the drop, and can sit comfortably watching the foamy water drop off the ledge. But looking straight down the falls, you do get to see a cool Double Rainbow coming off the spray with the Valley below it. So that made the scary climb along the narrow edge worth it for me.
Once we started heading down, I knew I hadn't brought enough water. I had left my Camelback reservoir back at home because it has a small leak in its hose. Cindy had brought hers, and we also had two 32oz water bottles, but I had finished them off while we had eaten lunch on top of the hill. I was tempted to drink from one of the many mountain streams we crossed, but we don't have a water filter, and with my luck, I can see me getting some virus and being stuck on the side of the mountain with a stomach flu.
It's times like this when I'm so confused when we see hikers going up the trail with only one small water bottle in their hand? Do they just not think about things like this? The short walk from the shuttle stop to our camper left me feeling like I had two cement blocks around my feet. Oh my God I'm out of shape! 9 1/2 hours of hiking it took us to cover 9.4 miles of terrain. That's an amazingly fast 1 mile per hour for the average of the day on the mountain. WOW are we some speed demons! It's days like this when I love crawling into bed knowing I'm going to feel good and sore tomorrow, but its soo worth it from the memories we made. Tuesday June 10th Leaving Yosemite After our 9 mile hike on Sunday, I woke up on Monday morning saying "Oh man, I think someone beat my calves with a baseball bat!" Needless to say, we didn't do much of anything yesterday. We did ride our bikes around the valley a few times just running some errands and picking up mail we had shipped to us. Our friend Don Wessel in Arizona had contacted us saying he had a buddy that could get a good deal on some 4 Gig Compact Flash cards, so he was mailing them to us. When we got the mail, we had a great surprise when Don, also a woodturner included in the package a few handmade wooden pens he had made for us. He knows how much we love hand made stuff, and what a great guy to think of us with something so cool. THANKS DON!! A good friend of mine from back home in Michigan had emailed us when he knew we were in Yosemite with some info. Andy is a guy who had been born and raised in Milford like me. He had moved out at one point and called this area of California home for a few years. Sitting in the Red Dog back in Milford, he used to always tell me stories of cruising up and down the twisty mountain roads on his motorcycle and how the little towns reminded him so much of our small town, only with nice weather year round.
Call us crazy, but we were both ready to pull up stakes after a week in Yosemite and not much involvement with the outside world. Don't get me wrong, it's breathtakingly beautiful, but there is only so much beauty you can take in a weeks time. That and the place was so packed full of people, we both decided that we'd love to come back in late fall or even in the winter to see what it would be like then. So this morning we packed up, and made that huge climb up and out of the valley. Over 10 miles of a 6% grade to get out. Luckily for us the last week was spent 100% green. Except for moving the truck from campsite to campsite for the first few days and our ride on the motorcycle, that was the only time we had run a combustion motor in a full week. The tight windy roads leading away from Yosemite towards Groveland offered great views, and the cool mountain temperatures were perfect to leave the windows down and let the wind blow through our hair, or Cindy's hair I should say. The first town we pulled through was so small, it let us know on the welcome sign that it's population was only 50 people, and the only thing we saw was a trailer park and a general store. That one we didn't stop in. The next town we came to was Groveland. This little gem of a town was something right out of a story book. With blooming flowers lining the narrow streets, and the oldest Saloon in California, it was just what we were looking for. We bellied up to a bar that was older than both of us put together in the Iron Door Saloon, and ordered our first Cold Beer we'd had in weeks. With the fridge not working, and our budget not allowing us to afford anything in Yosemite, I was loving this small town bar.
After our very entertaining lunch, we rolled on down the road to Jamestown where Andy had recommended the famous Willow Saloon. The road between Groveland and Jamestown is one of those roads that looks like you've dropped a handful of wet noodles on the ground. It was so curvy and loaded with 180° switchbacks, I think our top speed was 25mph. Once in Jamestown, we found a place to park the camper and walked up and down the quaint streets window shopping in all the antique shops. At the end of the block is the place we had come to see, The Willow Saloon. This old time bar under a closed hotel was originally built in 1862 and is known to be haunted. The Willow Hotel reportedly has been haunted since the late 1800s. Under the Hotel an old gold mine caved in and killed 23 miners, and now the hotel is said to be haunted by these miners.
We
sat here for a few hours talking with some very cool bikers who had
spent the last week riding around Northern California on their Harley's
that they had
From Jamestown, we were headed towards LaGrange down some tight, bumpy roads when we hit a roadblock. Apparently there is a forest fire going on, and they had the roads closed down right before LaGrange. Don't ask me why they didn't have the roadblock setup at the start of the 15 mile long road, but we had to turn around and head back down the bumpy road to HWY 120. Sorry Andy but we never got to visit the LaGrange Saloon, which he had described to us as 'The Red Dog West', but thanks for all the great tips on the cool little towns. When I had asked Andy how he could move from this area when he had first sent us the emails, he replied back with "That was the one place beside Milford that I felt in my place." After spending the day roaming around these little towns, I now know exactly what he means. I never thought I'd say that Northern California reminds me alot of my small town back in the Mid-West, but sure as shit it does. We finally pulled into Oakdale, and found a parking lot we could call home for the night. Amazing to think that we feel so right at home parked in any ol' parking lot in any ol' town. I guess once you get this gypsy lifestyle into your blood, it's hard to shake it. Who would have ever thought that we'd both get antsy in Yosemite after being out in the wilderness for 7 days? Throw us in a small town parking lot and we feel right at home. Maybe it's because we had logged some miles on today, and that's what was giving us the itch. _____________________________________________ I just realized I have forgot to mention this awesome topic! A few months ago, I had remembered the Wood Carver we visited back in Wisconsin who carved these beautiful mermaids that adorned all his shop doors. The mermaids were actually door handles or door pulls.
He laughed and said he would be able to, but that was winter work when he was holed up in his workshop and the nasty Wisconsin winter was keeping him from doing any outside work. Fast forward to this January. We're in Arizona and I emailed Bill (That's his name) asking him if he was still interested in making them for me? Bill said he'd love to carve a few curvaceous mermaids in the middle of the winter, and set about to whittling a few masterpieces. In that time, one of his work shops caught on fire in the middle of the winter, burned to the ground and the one of a kind life size rocking horse/dragon that Cindy is sitting on in the Woodcarver Gallery burned down with the fire. Awful news! Bill was in our prayers for the next few weeks while he sorted out his mess.
The last thing Bill said in his email when he told me the terrible news was "No worries though, your two mermaids were on my nightstand in the house! Safe and sound."
I put them on while we were in the Day Use Parking lot in Yosemite and it didn't take but 5 minutes till we had people walking up to look at them. In the past week, I've noticed so many people point them out, that I wish I would have had them when we first got the camper. It's hard for people to walk by without stopping to look or take a picture!
My only worry is getting them stolen! We have thousands of dollars of outdoor gear hanging off the camper, and I'm more worried about these two little wooden carvings than I am about our motorcycle or the two mountain bikes getting stolen. Thanks again Bill Vienneaux, you outdid yourself this time! If you're ever near the Apostle Islands in Northern Wisconsin, make it a point to stop by Bill's workshop. The place is like stepping into another world! If you'd like to contact Bill, you can click here to do so. Thursday June 12th Playing the Waiting Game Yesterday we caught up on laundry and some much needed cleaning of the camper. But it wasn't fun at all due to the heat wave we're experiencing right now. We had drove over to Modesto so we could meet Andy from California Mobile RV so he could repair the Norcold refrigerator. But the part hadn't come in on Tuesday like we had planned, and Wednesday they had a full day scheduled, so we were planning on meeting today. Problem was he couldn't schedule us till 4pm. He had asked if we could meet him at a Flying J parking lot where he would do the repair. We pulled in, emptied our gray/black tanks and decided that there wasn't a shady spot in the whole place, so we drove around till we found some shade off the side of a building where we could park. We then called Andy and told him our new location and waited in the sweltering heat for him. What a difference coming down from Yosemite's elevation makes on the heat index.
By
the time Andy got there a little after 4pm, the inside of the camper was
at
Not that I minded helping, but what if I was some elderly guy? How would he have done this on his own? So a few hours later, he had the new cooling unit in and it was working like a charm. Once he packed everything up and took off, Cindy said "You're taking me out to dinner tonight! There is no way I'm sitting in this hot camper and I'm surely not going to fire up the stove!" Across the street, there was a host of fast food places to choose from, so we walked down the block and decided we'd give Sonic a try. Every time we pass by one of these drive up, A&W style joints, we notice the line of cars, so we figured we'd see what all the fuss was about. There is no dining room, and since we had walked up planning on sitting outside, we couldn't enjoy the gimmick of having the food delivered to your car where you would rest the tray on your window like the old drive-up diners of the 50's and 60's. While we were waiting for our food, I thought I'd go wash my hands before we ate. The bathrooms were locked, so I asked what I needed to do to get a key. The cook told me he'd get the manager since he was the only one with the key. As this young 20 something year old kid came out, I was following him to the bathroom when he says very loudly "I'm gonna have this place shut down!" I questioned what he was talking about and thought maybe he was mad that we were here this late. I asked "What time do you all close?" He says "I don't mean close tonight, I mean close for good!" I asked him if we should be eating here if he was trying to get it closed down, and he says "Oh, don't worry about the food, it's the bathrooms that are pissing me off!" As he unlocked the door, he pointed out that the toilet seat was shattered and told me that when he called the district manager to tell him they needed to replace a toilet seat, the district manager told him to "Glue it back together."
When I came out, I was telling Cindy about our little discussion about the toilet seat when he came walking out with our food. As he set it down, we asked if we could get some condiments like ketchup, mustard and mayo. He said "Yeah, I can do that for you." He comes walking out a few seconds later and throws down a handful of condiments and states very loudly "I hate this place, the food sucks and the people are all rude!" Cindy and I both started laughing thinking maybe we were on the next episode of MTV Punked. But this young, angry manager just had a chip on his shoulder and wanted to make sure every customer knew about it. Cindy asked him why he hated the food, to which he replied, "It's not good for you, it's fried and it's loaded with preservatives." So if I could borrow a line our good friend Darrel likes to use, "Our visit to Sonic was two visits in one, our first and our last." But it made for some good entertainment and we chuckled to each other the whole walk home. Once back at the camper, we were still roasting from the heat, and went to bed with every fan on in the place. Hopefully tomorrow will be cooler. Friday the 13th Luckily it's the only one of 2008 We were up with the sun trying to get moving before the heat engulfed the camper. We had camped in a grocery store parking lot, and now that we had a working refrigerator, I walked the dogs while Cindy went grocery shopping for fresh supplies. Once the dogs were walked, fed, and the groceries were put away, we were on the road headed towards Sequoia National Park by 9am.
Once off HWY 99, we found HWY 180 and started the long climb up to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. These two park systems share entrances as they border one another. As soon as we pulled in, thanking ourselves once more for having the Annual National Park Pass, we pulled over at the first scenic overlook to let the motor cool down. In the past 20 miles, we had climbed over 5000 feet in elevation! While we were sitting there looking out over Kings Canyon, some guy pulled in with a very sweet Jeep Rubicon. I started talking to him about local places to go 4Wheeling, and he asked "where are you going to camp at?" When I said "I don't know, we just pulled in the park two minutes ago." He told me about a forest service road that leads out to a spot called Big Meadow. He told me "along the road, there are a few different places to take the trucks 4Wheelin' and anywhere along that road is free to camp." How sweet is that! A free spot to camp just on the outskirts of the National Park! I like this park 100x's better than Yosemite already!
Being this high up, the temperatures had dropped down into the low 80's, and there was a cool mountain breeze blowing through the tall pines. The air even smelled fresh. Amazing what some cool weather can do for our grumpy attitudes we both had when we were roasting in the heat of the Valley yesterday. After lunch, we grabbed the cameras and headed on our way into Sequoia to see what this park had to offer. 20 minutes into our drive, Cindy was yelling to stop because there was a blonde bear walking along a beautiful green meadow. This would be the start of the rest of the day. For the next few hours we wandered amongst the largest living things I've ever been near in my life. There are no words to describe the Sequoia's and their majestic beauty. Standing at the base of a tree that is larger than our camper in width, stands some 300 odd feet tall, and absorbs any sound with it's multiple feet of thick red bark, I was at a loss for words.
I tried to take hundreds of pictures to show their size, but unless you have either Cindy standing at the base, or the truck parked somewhere near the tree, you just cant get the feel for how huge these monsters are. In our first few hours of driving the park loop, we had already spotted numerous deer, and a few bear. We decided to go for a little hike into the woods so we could surround ourselves with these living giants. Walking through a forest of Sequoias is like nothing I could have ever imagined. The only thing I can think to relate it to is in the movie Lord of the Rings, when the forest comes alive and the giant trees start walking. I was waiting for one of these giants to take a step at any minute. That's how magical it is to be around them. Not only the fact that the meadows were filled with grazing deer nibbling on blooming wildflowers, but there were bear at the edge of every pond, and the dog woods were in such bloom, it smelled like we were in a Potpourri store.
If it wasn't for the hordes of mosquitoes that thought the layer of DEET I had soaked myself with was some sort of aphrodisiac, I would have laid down in the grass thinking I had died and gone to heaven. On our hike, we found a tree that a guy named Tharp had carved out to use as a house back in the mid 1800's. He had built a small shed off the end of the tree, hollowed out the inside and even had a fireplace to keep himself warm. Imagine living inside of a tree, and not being in a fairytale!
On this
hike, we were able to cross a flowing marsh by using a fallen Sequoia
that was probably over 200 feet tall. Walking on this natural
bridge sounded like thumping your hand on a cork board. The sound
was so dense and deep.
Once back at the truck, we both said to one another, "why did we waste so much time in Yosemite?" This park has just as much beauty, almost no one at it, and free camping! What more could you ask for? By the time we got back to the camper, we had been gone for almost 5 hours. In that time we had seen 6 bear; two blonde, one giant Red one, and three black bears. I had walked up to one deer so close I could have petted it like we were in a zoo, and we had another one jump up from its spot it was sleeping so close to Cindy, I thought she was going to walk on water.
I'll admit, we were both paying so close attention to look for bear, that when this deer jumped up, I almost wet myself too.
Saturday June 14th Since both parks border each other, we figured we might as well check out Kings Canyon National Park considering we're camped right on its edge. Up until a few weeks ago, when I was studying a map looking for a route to Sequoia National Park, I had never even heard of Kings Canyon National Park. This park really only has one road that drives through one small section of the deepest part of the canyon. But don't think the park isn't huge! It's loaded with hiking trails and you could probably spend months here before you could hike all the trails it has to offer. We stopped at the visitor center to get some maps and info on the park, and watching the very cool movie they show, I was amazed at how huge this National Park is. Actually every day I'm wowed at the new things I learn. My education in the Mid-West was very lacking when it came to the edges of our own country. Who would have known there are all these beautiful parks that I never even knew existed.
Not just in height, I've always been short, so I know what its like to stand beside tall things, but to sit amongst these trees that are thousands of years old, you realize how short of a life span we humans have on this Earth. These trees were here before us, and they'll be here long after we're gone. W | ||
Some places we stay, they're just places to camp for the night.
Other spots are those type of places you never want to leave.
Camped beside Mono Lake, deep in scrub brush with the Eastern side of
the Sierra Nevada mountain range at our backs, I could have stayed in
this location for quite some time before I would have gotten bored with
the amazing views. 
Once at the summit, which was almost 10,000 feet, we had climbed from
warm temperatures and lush green shrubs, to snow lined roads still piled 6' high.
At one point, you could see where they had carved out the road through
the snow. I pulled over beside the snow banks, and the height was
taller than the hood of the truck
Low and behold, she gets picked, and we get a campsite. Granted it
was only for one night, but that would get us through today till we
could figure something out for tomorrow. 
Once
back at the camper, Cindy sparked up the bonfire and cooked up some grub
over the open flames. What more could you ask after such a great
day? When she asked if she could get me anything to go along with
the fire, or the spectacular views, I said "Yeah, a cold drink would top
everything off wonderfully."
Well
early this morning, we found that it remained deep in shadows and gave
us no good pictures to show for our early awakening.
He
said he'd let us know first thing in the morning what Norcold would say,
and wished us luck in finding a camping spot.
We
knew we had a campsite for this evening, since Cindy's early arrival had
put her on the number 2 position for open camp spots, but this also
meant we were limited to what we could do since we had to be back at the
reservations office by 3pm. 
That
was till we got the bill for two Makers Mark on the rocks. For
$27, I could have bought the entire bottle along with the two glasses, but
hey, this was Cindy's bright idea. And she's the one who's always
worried about our money situation???? Maybe next time I wont feel
so bad about using something for free.
on
the road. 
Once
we reached Glacier Point, the views stretched on for miles. Talk
about a completely different view of Yosemite. Half Dome looked
like a small rock formation rather than the 8,842 feet of granite
hulking mass it looks like from the floor of the valley.
hindered
by a controlled burn the park service was doing a few mountain passes
over. 
the
park had caused the last few days and remembered what this trip is all about, seeing
unforgettable sights like this and enjoying them together. 
Once
I shave off much of the hair with the electric shaver, it leaves my head
looking like I got into a fight with a razor and lost, but it does cut
the actual shaving time down considerably. I then get in the
shower and fill up a small Tupperware container with hot water and
lather up my head with shaving cream or Cindy's conditioner, but don't
tell her that. 
I
usually think of myself as being in normal shape. I'll be the
first to admit that I'm nowhere near where I should be for my young age
of 34. But I know many of my friends back home who make me look
like I could be running marathons when compared to their physiques.
With
Yosemite Falls being the tallest waterfall in North America, you know
the view from above the falls would be breathtaking. The trail
itself only brings you right to the top of the falls, we choose to add
another 1.1 miles to the hike by hiking to the top of Yosemite Point.
If you ever do this hike, make sure to tack on that extension and see
the views from that vantage point. You wont be disappointed.
Hiking
back down from Yosemite Point, we were going to climb out to the
overlook above Yosemite Falls, until Cindy realized the railing was on
the wrong side of the narrow stone staircase. If I could have had
a video of how fast she came scurrying back around the rocks once she
realized the railing switched sides, I'd win the Funniest Home Videos
award. 
By
the time we got back down to Camp 4, where the trail head is located, I
was practically running to the water spigot. I'm not lying when I
say I filled up one whole 32oz bottle, and drained it just as fast into
my parched mouth. I refilled the other two, bringing one back to
Cindy, and sipping slowly off the other one while we waited for the bus.
Andy's email gave us a bunch of cool spot to stop by and he wasn't
joking with his comment that many of these small towns reminded us
exactly of Milford, only much nicer weather.
Cindy and I ordered some big, juicy hamburgers and spent the next few
hours talking with the ol' bartender and a few of the locals who call
this place home. It was just like being back in Milford, Andy was
right. The bartender cracked us up because she looked like she had
been sipping off the bottle since early this morning and was telling us
some very unusual stuff that you don't normally tell two people you've
just met. 
ridden all the way from British Columbia. We never
did see anything crazy happen or get to see any ghosts, but the place
does have a cool atmosphere about it. We didn't eat, but the food
looked great!
While
we were wandering around his shop back in October when we were passing
through the Cheese State just after kayaking the Apostle Islands, I
asked him if he could custom make me two of them to replace the stock,
plastic handles on the side of our camper. 
So
we just got them mailed to us last week in Yosemite, via Arizona, where
Bill had mailed them to us. .JPG)
They
truly are one of a kind pieces, and every time I walk towards the
camper, they put a smile on my face. I had told Bill to make them
as curvaceous as he wanted, and he didn't let me down. These two
girls are as curvy as they come! Cindy even gets a big smile every
time she walks in the door!
91°.
I'm not sure what he was thinking, because he showed up by himself to do
the repair? Not that it was a hard repair, but the entire
refrigerator unit had to be pulled out and laid on the floor of the
camper so he could swap out the cooling units. 
Obviously
this long haired, pony tailed, bearded kid was very upset with this
reply from his superior, and was making sure I knew the shattered toilet
seat wasn't his fault. I let him know that "all I wanted to do was
wash my hands and I wouldn't hold it against him."
This
was a few hours drive from Modesto, along some awful California roads.
Up to this point, most of the roads in California had been smooth as
silk. But this stretch along HWY 99 is in need of major repair.
I felt like I needed to put a kidney belt on due to all the bumps and
uneven pavement.
Cindy
and I found a beautiful campsite that was blanketed with yellow flowers
where unhooked the camper. While I was setting up camp, Cindy made
us some lunch, and we both commented on how quiet it was up here.
To
see the base of the giant trees up and out of the ground is like looking
at the side of a building. I guess their root system isn't that
deep, it's just very wide and they are known to topple over for no
reason. 
Our first stop after leaving the visitor center was in a grove of giant
sequoias where some of the largest trees in the worlds are located.
The Grant sequoia is one of those monsters you just sit and look at and
feel small in comparison.