Experiencing american hospitality to the max.

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Yosemity Valley, Sunny Side Campground.
25-10-2002.

"We give praise to the Lord and thank him for this food". I've never been much in the way of religion but I obligingly bow my head repecting the faith of my hosts.
While Steve gives thanks to his God for food and red californian wine I allow my mind to wander back to the hiking I did today.
Today I hiked all the way up to North Dome which is at 7250 feet altitute. Getting up was the sweaty part off course.
I was half way up when I met Steve, strinking up a conversation with him while we laboured our way to the top.
Massive and weirdly shaped granite boulders covered in moss, slightly slippery and uneven going but the views up on top of North Dome were worth all our sweaty efforts.
Right across the valley we could see Half Dome through a misty air.
Once we got to the top we still had a five mile hike through startingly beautiful pine forest. The air was thin and crispy this high up but the hard physical labour kept our bodies warm while the sheer magic that seemed to rule that natural kingdom brought our conversation down to a minimum.
The overwelming impressiveness of Mother Nature was taking both our breath away.
Only on our return hike down to the valley did we start talking again about our individual lives.
By the time we finally said our goodbeys Steve invited me to come over for dinner telling me he and his wife Dawn were staying in a mobile home at the Lower River Campground.
"We also would like to give thanks to God for having Hans here in our midst", well, you can overdo this God-Is-Great-Thing but I'm a guest here and should therefore respect their God-Positive feelings.
Actually there food is good and my first Red Wine in weeks is sweet and strong making our tonques loose and conversation easy.
We sit outside under the stars surrounded by gigantic Insence Cedar trees which shaggy red bark makes them look a bit like Sequoia Trees or Redwood Trees. The sounds of the night all around us while my hosts tell me about there lives in LA.
The Californinan red wine is very palatable and soon enough I tell them about my "Other Live" in Thailand and the pride I feel for Joy and Jay, I tell them about my live as a bicycle messenger in Amsterdam.....
By the time I cycle back to Sunny Side Campground using the torch they've given me to guide me through a pitch black night - no light on my bike - slightly tipsy and extremely happy, I realise I've once again experienced the american hospitality to the max....thanks Steve, thanks Dawn, if you two ever get to read this...it was a GREAT night, tasty food and great wine.

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Photos

El Capitan...
in Yosemity Valley.