After a yummy breakfast of eggs and potatoes fried in cumin (which I hope my awesome husband can figure out how to make at home) we got a couple of gallons of $6.00 a gallon gas and headed out for the day. We had gotten some tips on places to stop on our way to Yosemite and were excited about heading that way.
After 20 miles of flat scrubby desert, we saw out first power lines and hollered! "Civilization!"
The first reccomendation for a point of interest Manzanar which was a Japanses Internment. I am very glad that we stopped and had the experience of learning much more about this chapter in the history of our country, but that's about all I want to write about it. It was hard to be there. (http://www.nps.gov/manz/index.htm)
As we left Death Valley literally in the dust behind us the land slowly giving way to greener higher landscape. We began to see low jagged Joshua trees, sage green grass, small rivers cutting through the dry ground and jet black cattle huddling under tiny groves of scrub trees. Then the Sierras began to rise up in front of us. Wile we drove through valleys in the 90's we were looking at snow on the sharp granite mountain tops. I have seen the Rockies, the Smokies, the Blue Ridge, the Appalachias...but the Sierra has a magic all its own.
We stopped for lunch, and more importantly cold cold drinks, in a little town called Bishop, CA. The sign at Raymond's Deli said we should eat there, and it was one of the few places open on Sunday so we stopped. Though the walls were covered with rude signs guaranteeing rude service, the sandwiches were amazing and we picked up a very tasty loaf of day-old rye from their bakery in anticipation of lunches or dinners at camp the next couple of days.
Less than 2 hours later, we were at the entrance to Yosemite National Park. It was beautiful and greener than anything we had seen in so long, but I was also instantly struck by how incredibly busy it was. There were cars parked on both sides of the road and a long line to get into the park. Of course we were there on the tail end of the 4th of July weekend so we knew it would be busy, but wow.
Once inside the park, it would be a slow drive so I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. Just cruising along we came around a corner and exclaimed as El Capitan appeared there shining in the sun above us. We drove a bit further to the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center and got a handful of maps and headed out for a hike to see the the upper and lower waterfalls there in the valley. Though we were not in the Sequoia area yet we were still so impressed by the size of the trees looming overhead. The trails were busy also, and the rocks at the base of the falls were covered with kids and parents climbing around and swimming in the pool downriver from the falls. As we walked back towards the visitor center, I started seeing lots of milkweed plants and since I am now an educated lady when it comes to Monarchs, I got excited and started taking pictures to send to my fellow monarch cohorts. Just as I was snapping my picture, two Monarchs came and flew around my head just in front of me.
And as if cheering when I saw milkweed wasn't nerdy enough, I was about to solidfy my nerdiness for all to see. Throughout the day in Yosemite, I had been seeing signs about a particular park ranger doing a ranger talk at 7:00. I knew I could not go to the event because we would be long out of the park by then. The ranger, Shelton Johnson. For those who don't know, Ranger Shelton Johnson was prominently featured in the Ken Burns documentary series about the National Park System, and is brilliant. I have read his writing and watched everything he has been in. Every word he says feels inspirational to me, and I was terribly disappointed I was going to be there, in Yosemite, and not see Shelton Johnson. We were walking into the visitor center, and I heard a voice. No. It couldn't be. I turned around. It was...Ranger Shelton Johnson! I started gushing..."I'm such a fan! Could I Just get a picture?" But he was amazingly kind and interesting and stood talking to me for the better part of 10 minutes. WOW!!! The universe must have known that I couldn't stay for his ranger show, but still wanted me to meet him! So cool! I was all teary eyed, yes, after meeting a park ranger. But Shelton Johnson. Look him up.
By then it was time to head to the Yosemite Southgate Inn, eat some Mexican food way too late at night, and crash into our beds. An amazing day...El Capitan, milkweed, and Shelton Johnson.
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