Day 22 - We saw a bear in Yosemite National Park today !!

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Good morning everybody and Happy 4th of July !! Ohhhhhh we slept so good last night here in Yosemite National Park. We had the window open for a while until it got too cold and we fell asleep listening to the Merced River flowing gently through the park. Unfortunately our deep sleep was interupted by a loud banging on the door. Of course, I thought it was bear or some wild crazy person trying to kill us but it was just the local Park Ranger kicking us out of our cozy little spot in the woods. Tim went to the door and Mr. Meany Ranger asked for his license and registration and stuff so Tim turned it over. Well, he didn't want to really so he told the ranger that it wasn't his motorhome it was his wifes and he should take her to jail and not him !! I heard him from the bed and just started dying laughing. That little stinker just threw me under the bus without any hesitation at all !! He told me he was too old to go to jail and since I was so much younger I could handle it better than him. Luckily the park ranger found it in his heart not to take us to jail for illegally parking in the woods in a national park so he just gave us a warning and told us to pack up and get on down the road. It wasn't our fault really, all the campsites were full and we wanted to stay and enjoy the park so we just kinda pulled off into the woods and camped for the night. Anyway, I have never jumped up so fast and gotten ready so quickly in all my life. We were out of there within 30 minutes and soon on our way to explore Yosemite National Park. Well it didn't take us long to figure out it was a holiday weekend because this place was packed out !! We couldn't get a parking space hardly anywhere so we did a lot of riding around. We eventually came upon a place where we could park so we pulled over and started checking everything out. Tim carried his coffee around the woods as we spotted deer tracks, mountain lion tracks and even bear tracks all over the place. This was getting us really excited about the fact that we might get to see a bear today. Plus, the couple on the cruise with us said they were just at Yosemite and they saw one. We walked around for a little bit and then headed on back to the motorhome. We made our way down to the Bridal Veil Falls hiking trail and decided we were gonna take our chances and do it !! The next thing I know, we're in the woods and headed for a humongous water fall. It was actually really fun and not that strenuous of a hike at all. We stopped once or twice by the river for a little break but we eventually made it all the way there. The water was falling so hard and so fast we were getting soaked so we backed up and enjoyed the view from a distance. It was gorgeous and by far the best Bridal Veil Falls out of the four we've seen on this trip. We hiked all the way back to the motorhome and relaxed for a few minutes before we began driving on through the park. We saw several water falls, large and small, as well as tons of beautiful flowers but not much wildlife at all. I guess they were all scared off by the huge crowds of tourists with all their screaming kids. Just as we were giving up all hope of seeing any wildlife, much less a bear, we turn the corner and there are cars parked everywhere and a park ranger standing in the middle of the road. We had no idea what was going on but when we passed by the ranger I yelled out the window to him and he said there was a bear right by the side of the road in the field. I thought me and Tim were going to DIE !! We looked over and there it stood, just as brown and fluffy as could be. We pulled off to the side of the road and made a b-line for the bear. Finally, after three long years, we got to see a bear living out in the wild. It was crazy !!! The ranger said that although it was brown in color, it was technically a black bear and that it was female. She was just beautiful and we couldn't take our eyes off of her. I had the camera and Tim had the binoculars and we were in heaven ! We watched her as she ate and ate and ate and she never even acknowledged the crowd of people that were gathered around her. I took lots of pictures but I didn't have my zoom lens so they're not really that great. I guess we will always have that imagine in our heads to remember this moment, along with our memories of the moose. I really couldn't believe I was standing there looking at a bear, it really was crazy ! Well that just made our day and we were on cloud nine, both just smiling from ear to ear. WOW, it just can't get any better than this. We finished up the day riding through the park looking for more wildlife and enjoying all the gorgeous scenery at Yosemite. It's a wonderful national park but I have to say that Rocky Mountain National Park is my favorite on this trip so far. Tim had been dreaming of seeing Yosemite and spending some time there and so his dream was complete and it was time to head on down the road. We said goodbye to Yosemite, Mr. Ranger and our beautiful black bear and made our way out of the park. Tim took us down Historic Highway 99 and we rode on the Gold Highway 49 for quite some time. We went through a small town called Placerville and ended up in Angels Camp, CA. This is the town where Mark Twain lived and several of his works were inspired by his life in Angels Camp. Tim and I both were getting hungry so we found a little pizza joint called Mike's and ate some dinner. The salad bar was great, everything was very fresh and crispy, and the pizza was even better. We had been driving and riding for hours so the break was really nice and we just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. After dinner, we had planned on driving a little bit further before stopping for the night so we were soon back on the road. All along the highway, we began to see billboards advertising an "Olive Bar" and olive tasting. I thought that would be kind of neat since I like olives so we pulled off the exit and made our way to the "Olive Pit" for a little olive sampling. It was really cool !! They literally had tons and tons of different olives, olive oils and al types of brushettas and dips and stuff and you could just taste them until you were full or sick. I had no idea there were so many different types of olives in the world so it was not only educational for me it was delicious. Of course, a few of them were not so good but for the most part, they were delicious. It was a neat experience and I'm always up for trying something new so it was right up my alley. I think Tim tried the garlic stuffed olive (he loves anything with garlic) but that was pretty much it for him. He's not a big olive person so he just kinda watched and helped me. Well that was fun and yummy but it was time to get back on the road and head on over to Red Bluff, CA to the Wal-Mart before it got too dark. It is the 4th of July after all and we wanted to see some fireworks so we made it there just in time. We got all settled in and not a moment too soon. We could hear the little kids up on the hill laughing and screaming as the local fire station set off the fireworks. It sounds so funny but we actually sat in the motorhome, in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and watched fireworks. Oh well, I guess you gotta take what you can get !! After the fireworks show, we decided to watch a movie before heading off to sleep. I had never seen Walk the Line so Tim opened it up while I popped some popcorn and we watched it together. It was a really good movie and I'm so glad I finally got to see it !! Well, we had a really long day up at Yosemite with all that hiking and stuff and then the excitement of seeing a bear and we were pooped and quickly fell asleep. At least I don't have to worry about anyone knocking on the door at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning ! Night !

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Comments

[andy wilson]

bear
looks like a dog to me