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Published: November 21st 2011
Merced River
in Yosemite ValleyWe will put up another couple of posts about this trip. We need to do our normal thing and provide a wrap of the USA and we want to provide the trip statistics so that anyone who is interested can see what it cost, how far we travelled and how many countries we visited. That sort of thing. We have also developed some 'rules' for travellers and we will put them up as a bit of fun and maybe even some value for others. But this post is the last one we will publish while we are actually on the trip as such. And it is not easy to write.
We are going back to Australia today. A nice little trip across the Pacific to New Zealand and then a jump across the ditch to Sydney. It will be nice to be home. We are looking forward to catching up with everyone. Of course, we do have to actually build a home when we get there. Part of our strategy to be able to stay on the road for three years was to sell our home. It has been a good strategy for the last three years but it doesn't
sound all that flash from this end. The prospect of going through the various dramas involved in having a house built now have to be faced. I am sure we will start enjoying it once we get into it. Either that or it is live in a shed for a while.
Originally, we intended to be away for a year or eighteen months. Then it became clear both that there was so much more to see and do and, very importantly, we had worked out ways of travelling that kept us within our budget. So we ended up lasting all of this time on the road. We could keep going and there are a lot of places yet to see but we really do need to get back and get organised. After establishing ourselves a home, having a few parties, getting Sarah married off, clearing the weeds off our block, buying a few cattle (and just maybe a couple of alpacas) to eat the grass we might be ready to have another look about. There is a long Comeback List to work through. Perhaps not a 3 year trip next time though.
I digress. Our purpose with this
post is to talk about our last week in the USA.
We spent the first couple of weeks of our US leg in California and were keen to pick up on some places we hadn't seen. The plan was to come through the Tioga Pass into Yosemite National Park. A check before we left Death Valley indicated that the Eastern entry through Tioga was closed due to snow. Apparently, the National Park closes the entry each year after the first significant snow fall. There had been a couple even though it is reasonably early in the year so that was not going to work. A check of a couple of other lower passes indicated that, if they were open, then we were likely to require chains. We decided not to take the punt and headed for Walker Pass. It had been good enough for a couple of Sacketts so it was good enough for us.
Actually, Walker Pass didn't really live up to its reputation. An easy drive up and over the 5,700 foot (1,737 metres). Doesn't sound much but, for the Australians, this is just 500 metres less than Mt Kosciuszko. It was supposed to be a
Lake Isabella
Pretty but very cold at this time of the year skinny road and somewhat difficult. I guess if you were in a large RV it may be but it was a good road and not at all difficult.
There were a few other people staying at the Lake Isabella KOA but it is definitely at the very end of the season. A very cold night and by the next morning we had decided that this would be the end of the camping. Not that we were cold inside the tent. It is just that it does become that little bit tiresome climbing out of a warm bed to toddle off to the facilities through the frost. The lady at the campground expressed interest in the tent and bedding so off it went to its new home. To be honest the tent was feeling its age. A camp under some pecan trees in San Antone had left its mark but it was still a very serviceable tent and we hope it will be useful for the people who have it now as they often go off camping with their kids up in the Sierra Nevadas.
For the rest of the world, California is a major economy, the 6th largest
Boardwalk to the river
Yosemite National Park in the world. I suppose that most of us see it as a place where the movie stars wander the streets, beautiful people wander up and down beaches, those on the outer spend a lot of time knocking off other peoples' property and most people work for exciting Silicon Valley firms. Driving through the San Joaquin Valley you would have to think that industrial strength agriculture has to be a major component in the economy of this state. Apparently its contribution, in concert with mining, is 2% to the GDP of the State. Not a high percentage but people do have to eat and the population of the State alone is over 37 million.
Yosemite National Park is one of the best known parks in the US and has accordingly high visitation rates. It is definitely a beautiful park incorporating a fantastic valley. El Capitan and the Half Dome are very impressive edifices as is the sequoia grove. We didn't see the waterfalls in all of their glory and we didn't spend the time to hike some of the backcountry trails. It is a park well worth a visit but let's just say we wouldn't skip Glacier, Zion or
Yellowstone to make the time for Yosemite. But perhaps we have just seen a lot of wonderful places and are simply becoming a little blasé.
We needed to come back to San Francisco so that we could hand back the leased Mitsubishi that we have been driving for the last 4 months. The vehicle, by the way, completed the almost 20,000 miles without a whimper. It turned out to be a very good choice, handling all of the conditions that the country could deliver with equilibrium.
Our return visit to San Francisco gave us the opportunity to score another excellent meal with Dave and Merry-Jo. It was a lovely evening. Terrific to meet with other travel bloggers to share experiences, tell our best travel tales, discuss possible future trips and check out some of our impressions of the USA.
The end of this trip requires shopping. An argument that we can't carry the extras can no longer be sustained. Excess baggage is going to have to take care of the product of our activity in Berkeley, San Francisco and Los Angeles. We have now completed our list with the purchase of the last few items. It does
Preparing for home
Gum trees again (plus a big fertiliser tank?) take time this shopping; and there really isn't much to report other than that we now have more luggage to deal with.
LA is probably an exciting city and I am sure we haven't given it a proper chance. We intended to go off and have a look around but I'm not sure that we really care much about where movie people live, what they do or where they eat. Certainly not enough to get us too active about wandering around in the rain.
LA brought some excitement to us anyway. A short walk up the road to a Mexican takeaway. Strolling back along the footpath and 5 police cars arrive at the Starbucks next door to our hotel. A chopper arrives and is doing tights circuits shining the big lights down on the scene below. A little closer and it turns out that the cops are in the Starbucks and also in our hotel. All over it. And they wouldn't let us in. So we sat and watched. Lots of cops with impressive weaponry.
They wouldn't tell us much. 'Investigatin' a crime ma'am. Serious. Just wait a while please.'
It took them a while to
Bushfire damage
Recovery is a lot slower here than we're used to in the tropics search the place. Quite a good hotel really. More flash than our standard. Don't know what actually happened. Didn't hear gunfire. We did make sure the door was locked that night. And all of this on top of the first earth tremor we've experienced in quite a while! Can't ask for much more.
So, it's been great. The trip of a lifetime but it had to end some time and there will be other trips. There are a lot of other places to see.
Don't worry, we are happy that we are heading back to Australia and we are looking forward to seeing everyone and doing all of the things necessary to establish a new phase of our life down in Queensland. The decision is now final. We will be building in the Obi Obi Valley. All thoughts of possibly building on Coach Road at Eva Valley are gone. If you would happen to like the idea of picking up 320 acres of beautiful bush country close to the thriving metropolis of Batchelor, feel free to make an offer.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Farewell
It's been quite a journey. We're looking forward to your wray up.