We settled into our new RV site. We’re in Yosemite and this place is not as populated as our last place. In fact we are in the boonies. Pat got the TV working but I chose to read a book. As I had been up since 4:00 am (had to make a business call to Texas at 5:30), I went to bed at 7:00 but did manage to stay awake until 8:00 reading. Stay tuned for pics and adventures of Yosemite.
Here's one last pic of a cute little yorkie at the dog friendly park in Plymouth. Isn't she cute with her little hooded sweater? Got this pic as we were leaving on Friday.
Saturday…. We made a scouting expedition of Yosemite in the car to check the roads for travel by bike. Yosemite was crowded. We forgot that this was a holiday weekend. Yosemite is not that large and of course there are many things to see that are off the main road. We will travel back to Yosemite during the week when we hope the crowds will lighten a little. Drove back to Coulterville and visited the museum and the the Jeffery Hotel bar. This bar is very old, built back in the 1800’s, the floors are the original and are warped and uneven. If you’ve had few too many that could be disastrous. We then visited the Visitor Center and a resale store on the main street. I may have to go back to the resale shop as there are 2 baskets that I really like. Got back to the RV and took Blaze for an afternoon walk. Watched a little TV and then to bed, again early for me at 8:00. Here's a few pics of our travel today.
Pat thought the paint job on this Harley was pretty awful. It was parked in downtown Coulterville.
Sunday .....we drove to Yosemite and took the 48 mile drive on the Tioga Pass going up to an altitude of almost 10,000 feet driving all the way to the Whoa Nellie Deli. We then plugged in restaurants in the GPS and were taken to the nearest restaurant at June Lake. I remember my parents talking about June Lake, they lived in California years ago. Anyway, the town is pretty much closed unless you’re into fishing. We found the one restaurant in town that was open so parked and went in. Now this is a bar and restaurant and it’s before 11:00 o’clock on a Sunday morning and the restaurant and bar are completely full, we couldn’t find a place to sit so had to leave and drive back to Whoa Nellie Deli to find something to eat. Next time we take off I’m packing my own lunch so I can have some healthy choices. Oh well, we drove back on the Tioga Pass through Yosemite to make it back to the RV. Later in the day we watched 3 RV’s pull in from Ohio. Pat went out to talk to them and found out they are on their way to Mission, TX for the winter. (their GPS must be a little off, how do you get to California from Ohio when you’re on your way to Texas?) Pat asked the wife of one of the RV’ers how their day was and her response was “it started out with them running their car into the restaurant” What can I say, is it safe for retirees to be on the road??? I actually laughed a lot at this when Pat told me about it. This lady’s statement starting me to think that everything crazy thing that has happened to Pat and I on this journey is just entertainment for everyone reading this blog and that’s good otherwise life and this blog would be rather boring. We are really enjoying all the areas we have visited and all the people we have met.
On the way back to Yosemite today Pat just had to get a pic of this large stump on the side of the road. As you can see in the following pics that along the Tiago Pass there was lots of snow. This snow is from the storm that passed through the area on Thursday (remember the storm and rain in Plymouth?) This is the result higher up.
How cool is this fog over the water
Notice it is 32 degrees
These Morgan's were parked at the Whoa Nellie Deli. They are a club out of San Francisco and driving the Tioga Pass today.
Monday…. Pat took a quick ride on the bike to check out the road that we will take when we leave here. We don’t want a ride like we had coming here. I thought we were not going to go back to Yosemite until Tuesday but Pat decided we could go today. The sun was out when we left but became overcast before we got to Yosemite. We thought the sun might burn off the clouds but that didn’t happen. We made it all the up to Glacier Point to view the half dome. We had put on our rain pants earlier as it was getting colder and by the time we got to the top it was raining and sleeting pretty good. Took a few pics, waited in line in the rain to get into the 1 working bathroom before making the run back down the mountain. Before we left we put on our rain jackets. I was dry and warm except for my hands, my gloves weren't working too good. Pat is the one that was getting wet as he didn’t have a full face shield and he was getting hit in the face with the sleet and rain. We persevered and made it home about 3:00. (we hadn’t eaten since breakfast). I guess I can mark off my bucket list riding on the BMW in the rain and sleet up and down slippery, windy roads. Once we got back to the RV I made some cream of broccoli soup and tuna sandwiches. This meal served as our lunch/dinner as it was 3:30 when we finally ate. Needless to say we just stayed in keeping warm and cozy for the rest of the evening. The pics don't really convey how awful it was at Glacier Point. Not many pics today either as conditions were not that pleasant for picture taking.
Here's the half dome
Tuesday… We road the BMW to the Hetch Hetchy Valley/Reservoir and the O’Shaughnessy Dam, we took the Cherry Creek Road to get to the Northwest corner of Yosemite Park where Hetch Hetchy is located. The road was narrow and very windy with drop offs to our left. It was cold too as most of the road is shaded by trees and you’re pretty high up as you look into the valley. The dam was built in 1913 after the 1906 earthquake and fire that struck San Francisco in 1906. This reservoir supplies water to the 2.4 million people in the San Francisco Bay area. There were many hiking trails you could take in the Hetch Hetchy valley but we only walked through the tunnel and then road back to the RV. We then got into the SUV and drove into Coulterville to visit the Visitor’s Center and use their wifi. Unfortunately my computer would not log onto their wifi. The center needed to re-boot so I opted to check my e-mails on the ipad. After Pat read his e-mail and the Austin newspaper and we visited with the lady at the Visitor’s Center we decided to have a drink at the Jeffery Hotel bar. After our drink the bartender told us we could view the upstairs rooms of the hotel. Room 22 is supposed to be haunted. The new owners are renovating and will put the hotel back in service. It was decorated with all the old furniture you would expect to see for a Hotel built in the 1800’s. In fact President Roosevelt stayed there many years ago when he would come and visit Yosemite. We returned home to watch some TV.
Below pics are of Coulterville. Yes, this is it! All of it.
Above is our campsite at the Yosemite RV park.
Wednesday…. We rode the BMW back to Yosemite to hike a couple of the waterfalls. At least today the sun was shining, a beautiful day. See pics. We were gone most of the day getting home at 3:00 in the afternoon.
Thursday.... We got the RV ready to leave, we have changed our itinerary as we are going to Lodi to enter the California Championship Chili cook off held at the Robert Mondavi winery.
Friday...... got to Lodi and pulled into the Robert Mondavi winery, found Larry, the person in charge of putting on the Cook Off to discuss where we can park the RV. Then we are off to grocery shop for our chili meat, etc. Friday evening the cook off had a get together for the chili cooks at Habenera Hots restaurant. We had margaritas/beer and snacks all paid for by the cook off. Pat and I have both entered to cook. Wish us luck.
Saturday.....Neither Pat nor I slept very well as we are parked at the winery and since it is the season for bringing in the grapes, all night long the big trucks were hauling grapes and juice in and out of the winery. We got everything set up for the cook off at the winery early in the morning. Some of the cooking teams were setting up in the early morning before daylight. There was also a car show going on in conjunction with the cook off and of course vendor booths. The proceeds of the cook off were for the Lodi Library. The library had a booth and were selling used books for a $1.00 each. I bought 5 books by authors I like to read. I was thrilled as I love to read. Well, we had a great time but we didn't win, we didn't even make it off the preliminary judging table. What a disappointment. Oh well, it was great fun.
This above pic is a truck hauling tomatoes, we passed many of these on our way to Bakersfield, our next stop on this journey. Not looking forward to Monday and all the back log of work. Later.
This above pic is a truck hauling tomatoes, we passed many of these on our way to Bakersfield, our next stop on this journey. Not looking forward to Monday and all the back log of work. Later.
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