Day X

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Reece: Unfortunately, as cozy as I was in my sleeping bag, nature took it upon herself to call on me in the middle of the night. I was forced to an early rising, probably somewhere around four in the morning, and saw that there was almost two inches of snow already on the ground. This was definitely cool, I thought. Caitlin woke me up again in the morning and we both undertook the not-so-pleasant task of cleaning last night’s dishes and packing up camp with numb hands. Yet, the whole time I was doing so, I kept thinking how worth it that it would all be when I could brag to my friends about how badass I was, camping in the snow on Memorial Day in Lake Tahoe.

We said our goodbyes to Ranger Parkinson, asking him for a picture, and then finally hit the road for Yosemite: the final destination. We took our time, seeing as the roads were still snowy and wet, and took several opportunities to capture the Lake in its temporary snowy wonderland. Getting hungry, we stopped for breakfast sandwiches at a general store along Route 89. They were delicious. We both opted for the jalapeno bagel, and neither of us was disappointed.

Eventually we headed out of the Lake Tahoe area and intended to continue to take Route 89 south through many of California’s national forests and eventually cutting through Yosemite on Route 140. As it turned out Caitlin missed a sign or an exit and we were heading west on Route 50 for a short period of time. This ended up being a blessing in disguise for a few reasons. It turned out that 140 was closed, so we would have been put way out in order to get to the South Entrance using alternate routes. Also, taking Route 49 down turned out to be a nice change of scenery from windy switchback roads cutting through dense evergreen forests. I mean, if one can actually grow tired of such a thing. Either way, we weren’t upset to have been diverted temporarily, and again took the advantage of some unique photo opportunities. The whole time we were on the road I was reminiscent of the popular television ad for California dairy products. “Good cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California.” They did look happy. Another highlight of the trip was finding out that we would be going through the town of San Andreas. As a fan of the GTA video game series this was exciting due to its latest release: GTA - San Andreas. I took the opportunity to take an especially gangster close-up.

As the signs started appearing indicating the mileage from Yosemite, both Caitlin and I began to grow a little anxious. Caitlin more so than me, I suppose. It was weird to not have the mindset that we were still trying to get somewhere; that we had arrived. The whole time we have been on this trip, there has always been some sort of pre-determined agenda as to how far we want to travel in the next X amount of days. Time was always spent trying to figure out what highlights along the road were worth stopping for and which weren’t. But now it seemed that we had had our chance to make the most of the trip and now it was time to exploit the destination to the fullest extent. Exciting and sad at the same time, I guess. Bittersweet.

Driving in the foothills of Yosemite, just after the entrance gate, I have to admit that I really wasn’t very impressed. I mean, the Rockies were way cooler. No doubt about it. The elevations weren’t that impressive, and much of the road offered very few truly breathtaking vistas. This was all before we had reached Yosemite Valley. I had spoken, or thought, too soon. Driving past a large Memorial Day crowd of cars at one pull off, Caitlin asked me if it was worth it to stop and take a photo. What I had seen when we drove by seemed something straight out of a Bob Ross painting: the long valley stretching into the distance with its sheer rock walls on either side, Bridal Veil falls visibly flowing hard yet making no sound as it was too far away, and Half Dome trying to hide behind El Capitan in the background. I felt stupid for even thinking that Rocky Mountain National Park was cooler, as amazing as it is. All I could think to myself was, “This place is amazing.” It’s still all I can really think as I continue to tour the park. They really should throw a few dinosaurs in here and rename it Jurassic Park. It’s that surreal at times.

Despite how exciting this new sensory overload was, I was tired. Caitlin was, too. We had to find a place to sleep. Caitlin was unable to officially get settled with the housing department that day and the campgrounds were full, so we set out upon the arduous task of looking for a hotel. Or, rather, Caitlin did. I slept in the car outside the general store while Caitlin put about five dollars worth of quarters into a pay phone, calling every cheap motel in the tourbook from Yosemite to Fresno, about 60 miles south of the park. Eventually she found a Best Western in Fresno that was a little above our price range. It didn’t matter. We were both exhausted.

It took us about an hour and a half to get to the hotel, but once we arrived we were happy. It was clean, spacious, and it had a hot shower. Something both of us hadn’t had the pleasure of using for nearly three days. After getting showers out of the way we headed out for some good ol’ fast food cooking. I finally got to have my curiosities quelled and ate at an In n Out burger for the first time. I had heard it raved about in the past, and now understand why. It is absolutely delicious. That’s all I really have to say about that. Unfortunately, Caitlin being a vegetarian, had to take a stab at a local pizza place. Not so delicious. That’s probably all she has to say about that.

When we made it home we hung out and tried to get the wireless internet to work. It obviously didn’t, considering the complete lack of updates we have had on the blog. Eventually we both fell asleep watching a documentary on Thomas Edison that was chock full of New Jersey city names, but curiously devoid of any real mention of the state. Whatever. Yosemite again tomorrow, in greater detail.

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