Wednesday, June 04, 2008

We did wind up with neighbors last night... a couple from Reno NV. They had a bad day. The wife had gone into a store and the husband was walking the dog (a handome dachsund.. brown and white in color) around and a drunk driver came along and hit their trailer. It messed up the side of the trailer near the bumper and the bumper... so much they couldn't get the sewer hose out of the bumper. They had also had to do a sudden stop when someone ahead of them stopped suddenly... the inside of the trailer was a mess from that. The wife told us that it was too bad her husband wasn't in the trailer when the drunk driver hit them, if he had she would be replacing the trailer for a new motorhome with the insurance money! :-)


We left Tonopah at 10:15 (GA Time). We bought gas in Tonopah at $5.09 a gallon.


Pretty scenery along the way. We saw Columbus Salt Flats. That is when wind kicked up real quick and hard.. probably at least 50 mph. We saw wild horses on highway 6 near the INYO National Forest. Frank took a few pictures and hopefully one of them will be decent.


We arrived at the Mono Lake Campground in Lee Vining California at about 1:50 pm (GA Time; 11 am Pacific Time)... but they don't let anyone check in until 1 pm (Pacific Time). So we went over to the visitor's center and looked around and Frank asked questions. The museum there told all about Mono Lake. It is a salt lake that is three time saltier than the Pacific Ocean. No fish are in the lake. There are brine shrimp that live in the water. There are Alkalai Flies that live on the shore... they are only interested in the alkalai and not humans. There are also a few birds that visit the lake, but none year round. They feed on the brine shrimp and algae. The lake is a beautiful blue, but they say the color changes with the seasons. The lake is just as interesting as it is beautiful. We ate lunch and then went back over to the campground and got checked in and are in site 25. It was a bit chilly with the strong winds when we checked in. Summit point.. which we hope to travel in the morning has winds up to 70 mph today. It was advised that rvs not go through there.... hopefully the wind will be zilch in the morning.


As soon as we got set up we went to Yosemite National Park. A beauitful park. There was still snow on the ground in places. The temperature started off at 54 degrees at the beginning of the road into the park and not long into the park it dropped to 44 degrees... with a good breeze. One of the lakes still had snow and ice on it.... just beautiful! There are just no words to describe the beauty within this park. Frank and I did go for one hike to see sequoia trees... but we didn't finish the walk. We walked for about a mile... which is suppose to be the length of the walk to the first of the trees. We think we saw one... not for sure as to what one looks like. The trip uphill was harder for me. I wheeze a bit with my asthma and my heart tends to beat hard and loud. My knee was screaming a bit too, but not bad. Frank's leg was a hollering too. Despite all that it was an enjoyable walk. There were three chipmunks scurrying about and we wondered which one was Alvin :-D We also saw a Belding Ground Squirrel. An interesting looking squirrel. There was also a woodpecker that had a red head, titmice and a few other little birds darted about so fast I couldn't tell what they were. The Pacific Dogwoods were blooming. They look a bit different than those back home. I couldn't get close enough to one for a good picture. I didn't take the long lens. The pines in the forest smelled wonderful and the sounds of the trees and shrubs rustling in the light breeze was a delightful sound along with the twittering of birds.


Within the park we also saw mule deer and a very interesting critter called a Yellow Bellied Marmot. I wish one of those would have let us get a picture of it.


The park was just as beautiful on the ride back. It would take a very long time to explore all of the park. I'm glad we got to see what we did.


On our way back to the campground we stopped and got gas at $5.49 a gallon. There was a scenic view outlook up the hill from the gas station. We went up there and looked at Mono Lake from there... wow... such a beautiful view!


We went back to the campground exhausted but had a beautiful day. We took our showers in a token operated shower. One token.... 5 minutes of warm water. The token runs out and you get cold water... that is what Frank said... I didn't use all my 5 minutes. I was a little wind burned on my face... the water was forceful and stinging, so I wanted to just get out of there :-D Then rest the rest of the day.

We traveled 137 miles today plus thru Yosemite.