Yo yo yo….Semite

We left the Angels and the Donner party Murphy’s and headed out the next AM. And had another short trip because as I mentioned in the last post I squeezed in Napa as an in between extra stop so hadnt planned on a stop between Green Acres and this one. Im not complaining. I am a little disappointed in my lack of gold nuggets but maybe there will be another river to pan in. Jo is rolling her eyes if she is reading this. Nerd husband.

The 1.5 hour trip to Yosemite was on the scariest road yet. Must be old age but I couldnt look over the edge as driving or not driving without some queasiness and anxiety. Thanks a lot Gram Chellis. (My grandmother was terrified of heights and I made it my goal to terrorize her in her wheelchair or when she was riding in my car. Payback clearly). And zero guard rails …. Again.

As we got close to the campground address put the street address my Garmin RV GPS (which is supposed to look for RV safe routes (no weight restriction, parkways or height restrictions etc) directed me to turn right on the street named in the campground address. This was a steep car and a half wide road making me very suspicious this was a GPS mistake. But we did finally come to what looked like a campground with no signs. And this was the first campground for us where it is a first come first serve no assigned spots. Call in when you pick a spot despite no cell service for any carrier in the campground. Well we found a spot and the paper attached to the power pedestal said that site closed for winter…and the next one,,,and the next one. Well we went across the campground and finally found one. Then it said to check in online but as I said no cell service so I set up camp and got my Starlink running hoping this was an ok site and i wouldnt have to move. Oh and they said to print out passes for you windshield and the site. I dont have my printer running as I assume most dont on an RV trip. So I called the number given using my Starlink wifi and she said you are ok not sure if you need any paperwork ugh. Well I found the unmarked office that looked closed but wasnt and the very nice people printed out the papers saying the woman I spoke to really wasnt correct. But we had landed so all good. If you cant tell I am a little freaked out not having i’s dotted and T’s crossed before arriving to be sure we have a spot. But we had arrived.

Since we arrived so early we decided to head out for Yosemite for a half day tour. OMG the size and expanse and beauty was breath taking. Multiple tunnels cut into the stone and cliff side roads going into the valley.

And down we went into the valley.

Jo thought the river at the bottom of the valley looked promising for gold but all I had read said you couldnt pan or take anything not even pine cones when at a National Park (different from a National Forest so I didnt pan despite Bonnie’s I mean Jo’s urging. We drove around and just couldnt believe the beauty and massive size of the cliffs. Lots of back to nature rock climbers tenting at the base of El Capitan. I had tried to do this near Stowe when I was at UVM for college and decided the rocks were too hard or I was too soft to be banging against them if I fell. But good for them as it does look like fun if you dont have a self preservation gene.

We headed back to camp but stopped at the Ranger station to get a map and ask if I could pan. Terese at the station said just tell them Terese said OK. Johnny Cochran might have been able to use that as a defense but ultimately I didnt dare to as the map clearly said take nothing and google said no panning.

Our nights lately have been quite cool and trying to decide what heat source to use and what temp to set has been a project. Im still trying to use the campgrounds electricity to heat with heat pumps versus my propane but man the heat pumps are noisy when they Ice up in cold weather and go through a defrost cycle. So started to augment a potable electric heater with propane. Not something I typically have to deal with when landed at home and not something that disrupts my light sleeper girl.

Early the next AM we set out for Yosemite again but stopped at a river on the way before the Park. And more gold flakes. very tiny but sparkly and non magnetic which I thought meant not fools gold Iron Pyrite. Further reading that day suggested not all Pyrite is magnetic. hence the saying all that glitters isnt gold. And to make me even more skeptical of this place not known for gold history was that Jo noticed gold speckles in the sand we walked out on. I need to do further research into the is it or isnt it dilemma. But fun none the less to be out in nature playing the gold lottery.

So I saw this plaque up from the rails and just had to see what it said. So despite Jo’s concerns about me breaking my neck on slippery rocks decided to check it out. It was pretty treacherous with me crab walking like an old guy most of the way. And the sign 100 feet up the rocks said….

Jo was correct….again. But I got back sans broken limbs.

I dont think I have mentioned that for anyone planning to tour National Parks you should definitely get the National Park Pass. The entrance fees are $20-$40 per car and a senior lifetime pass is $80 one time. Has saved us hundreds.

Our plan was to leave via the Tioga Pass to go to Arizona but the night before we were leaving it was closed likely for the winter due to snow soooooo we had to back track and go down the scary road this time ugh and spend another 1.5 hours but I do not want to go up or down the Tioga pass with a snowy road.

No snow and dry roads and off we go to the next stop and such a fine sight to see per the Eagles.