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Published: April 10th 2011
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4 April 2011 to 7 April 2011
On the morning we left, I told the motel desk-clerk that we were going to drive through Yosemite Park to Saratoga, California. She shook her head. "Oh no, the park isn't open until June or July."
June or July??? You must be kidding! No, she wasn't kidding. The park service doesn't plow the snow, so it sometimes takes to July to melt.
Okay, on to plan-2. Do we drive down south to Barstow, California or up to Reno, Nevada to get where we are going. Those ARE the only two choices.... We decided to drive north...and that went up, up, UP! Into the White Mountains of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I've learned the tree-code for mountains now. At lower elevations, the first trees to appear are Pinyon Pine and Juniper . Then comes the majestic Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine . Next comes Lodge Pole Pine and Red Fir and finally White bark Pine, which is up to 10,500 feet; we didn't see much of them. The trees welcome and usher you into the mountains. We went by two passes through Yosemite that were
closed. Close to Reno we turned west on US 89 and started OVER the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We saw cabins with snow 6 or 7 foot deep on their slanted roofs. The snow on the side of the road looked like it had layers and layers--kind of like tree rings, only horizontal.
It took us all day but finally we arrived in Saratoga, California where we were met by the warm hug of Kerry & Clare Schultz. Stepping into their home was like visiting France--as they brought back some beautiful furniture from there and Italy. Oh my, it was beautiful. There home is like an exquisite doll house--perfect in every detail. We went to sleep wrapped in a soft white comforter. And wow did we sleep well.
Saratoga was founded in 1848 and its main operation was a saw mill--it's name was Bank Mills. in 1867 a man built a toll gate to get to Santa Clara and then the town was called Toll Gate. Then the spring was discovered and the town was called Saratoga Springs because the mineral compound of the water was quite like the water in Saratoga, New York. Finally in 1855 the town's
name was shortened to Saratoga.
The next day Kerry took us to Carmel-by-the-Sea. It was founded in 1902 and bay 1910 over 60%!o(MISSING)f the population were artists of one type or another. Pretty happening! It's not very big, but quite scenic and beautiful. It only boasts of a population of 4, 081 and there are no street lights or meters. In fact, the houses do not even have numbers. Instead the early founders decided the houses would be named . Consequently, not on resident receives mail at their house, they all have to go to the post office for it.
We took 17 mile scenic drive, which has the Pacific Ocean along it's right. It was the ocean of my youth... It's colors vary from navy to sea green and the splashes into rocks and sprays into the air. It is the reason I was so disappointed when taken to the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Where were the raucous waves? Where were the rocks? The cliffs? This is IT? We stopped at every turn off and took pictures. One is called 'Seal Rock" and there were 100's of brown seals and
sea lions clinging to the bump in the middle of the sea.
Carmel has some strange laws. It is against the law to wear high-heels. One can get a permit to wear them, but it is unlawful without the permit.This is because the early founders were trying to avoid law-suits from people tripping on the uneven pavement. Another law, an un-popular one, was it was against the law for anyone to eat ice-cream on the streets.But Clint Eastwood had this reversed in his one term as Mayor of Carmel in the late 1980's.
We went home that night to the dinner prepared by Clare--ummm ummm good. THEN we were infected by the Mah Jongg virus = or taught the game, whichever seems more appropriate. It was invented by the Chinese. Tim kept asking questions and 'pretending' he hadn't caught on.Then he won the first round. It's a matter of skill and luck. We played 4 or so rounds--enough for me to fall in love with the game.
The next day Kerry took me to her book club where I talked about The Red Glass and met really fabulous women. They had all read it and asked very
insightful questions.Well, that is an author's dream. Then we feasted on lunch provided by the ladies. Talk about yummy! I was so taken with this group--what a fine group of women.What a fine example of how supportive and loving women can be toward each other. Makes me wish I lived near. On the way home Kerry just happened to stop by a used book store, and I just happened to pick up some more books. Really the books just jumped in my arms.
The next day it was time to say good-by to Kerry, Clare and Saratoga; they even gave us a starter Mah Jongg game, which I fully intend to infect the Smokey Mountains with as soon as possible.
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anonymous
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the gyspy is coming out in you...drive careful