The Grandeur of Yosemite

El Capitan is one of the iconic images of Yosemite

Going to Yosemite reminds me of the unseen force that swings the compass needle to True North.  We also seem to be pulled north to this magnificent land.  So  this morning we again drove north to Yosemite and we plan to go back tomorrow and several times after that.

It is a 30 mile drive from Park of the Sierras, where we are camped, to the South Entrance of Yosemite and another 35 miles into the area around Yosemite Village, just one of a few major areas inside the park that offer lodging and other facilities -- including medical/dental emergencies services.  We actually made the drive Saturday morning to see how much time we need to allow to arrive Sunday for a Ranger guilded tour at 10:00.  We'll be leaving early.

Ofcourse we took a few "snapshots" along the way. The above was taken at "Tunnel View". El Capitan is on the left and the small beak-shaped mountaintop just right of center is Half Dome. You might want to click on this one for a larger view.

Another famous feature of the park is Bridal Veil Falls.  Waterfalls in the park are now at their peak flow due to spring melt of winter snows. There is still snow on the ground at 5,000 feet and above.  And some roads in the park won't open until mid-May or early June. 

On the way out of Yosemite, I had to stop and take a photos of this beautiful river.

The Wawona opened in 1879

We decided to stop for lunch in the park and chose the Wawona Hotel dining room.    Real white linen table cloths, a great waiter and easily 3-star food (4 star dessert).

The dining room is charming and the multi-paned windows

 lend a distinct charm

The wall sconces are, unfortunately,

replicas of the hand-painted originals

that were replaced in the 1980s.  But
they are nonetheless very unique.

(L-R) Greg and Jan, George and Sandy

We ended the day on a high note by having dinner with new friends Greg and Jan White.  We first met Greg and Jan at the Gypsy Journal rally in Yuma in March.  They started thinking about full-time RV living in the summer of 2006, but got on the road a lot sooner than we did.  They are now well into their third year.  They are staying in our campground and discovered from our blog that we are here, too.  Small world.

Stay tuned.

When a Telephone Pole Becomes a Self Storage Facility for a Woodpecker

Our new front gate

The first day we were here, Sandy spotted a neat looking woodpecker. A little while later we both spotted the same type of bird and Sandy looked it up in our National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America. It is an Acorn Woodpecker. More about him in a moment.

An Acorn Woodpecker rests on a tree near our motorhome.

Yesterday when we went for a walk we passed a telephone pole. Something about the texture of the pole was different, so I walked back a few steps to take a closer look. Every nook and cranny and crack in the pole was stuffed with acorns. Aha, I thought, clever squirrels. As we walked away we could see four Acorn Woodpeckers land near the top of the pole. I assumed the woodpeckers were taking advantage of the hard work of the squirrels. What’s the old saying: never assume anything?

When we got back to the coach I looked up Acorn Woodpeckers on Wikipedia and learned some fascinating facts. First, Acorn Woodpeckers love the California Sierras as much as they love acorns; hence their name. According to Wikipedia, in some parts of their range (e.g., California), the woodpeckers create granaries or "acorn trees" by drilling holes in dead trees, dead branches, telephone poles and wooden buildings. The woodpeckers then collect acorns and find a hole that is just the right size for the acorn. As acorns dry out, they are moved to smaller holes and granary maintenance requires a significant amount of the bird's time.

Looks like some nuts have been consumed

The acorns are visible, and the group defends the tree (or telephone pole) against potential cache robbers like Steller's Jays and Western Scrub Jays. Acorns are such an important resource to the California populations that Acorn Woodpeckers may nest in the fall to take advantage of the fall acorn crop, a rare behavior in birds.

Kind of cool to learn something so unusual while enjoying this beautiful park.

There are many flowering bushes here in Park of the Sierras

Stay tuned.

A Sneak Preview of Yosemite National Park

Some days we just kind of wing it.  Actually, lots of days are that way.  Following breakfast we decided to drive into the nearby mountain town of Coarsegold and then on to Oakhurst. 

Typical scenery as we drove into town 

While in Coarsegold we stopped at the local post office to pick up our mail.  I needed to find a general dentist to make an appointment to get my teeth cleaned, and we hoped to find a dog groomer for Trixie.  Missions accomplished.

These flowers were outside the post office.  Doesn't look like the post office in Barrington, IL

We also wanted to drive the 30 some miles to the south entrance of Yosemite National Park to kind of check it out.  Now, you might ask: how does one "check out" a 12,000 square mile national treasure?

Well, we started by talking with one of the attendants at the south entrance and telling her that we had never been in the park and needed some information.  She gladly gave us a 4-color brochure and  the April 14 to May 25, 2010 Yosemite Guide.  We took those home to formulate our plans.

We haven't seen snow on trees since March of 2009

On our drive up into the High California Sierras we went from an elevation of 2,000 to just over 5,000 feet.  It had snowed at the higher elevations of the park last night and as we drove higher the trees became covered with snow and the air became colder.  We also saw signs informing motorists that tire chains or snow tires on cars were required. That was another reason we didn't want to drive into the park today.

We did see some great scenery.  We will be back to the park and more than once. After all we have from over 12,000 square miles from which to choose our visits.

So stay tuned.

In the Central California High Sierras

We pulled out of the Orange Grove this morning at 8:30 and headed north and west into the California Sierras. We arrived at our destination about 12:30. About 20 miles from the park, I pulled into a gas station and took on 125 gallons of diesel fuel. It took forever since we were not at a truck stop where the hoses force diesel fuel into a tank at an alarming velocity. It took at least 15 minutes, partly because the idiot behind the counter did not set the pump to NOT shut off at the $75 mark. Once we got her to understand that we needed a LOT of fuel she set the pump to run until our tank was full. By the way, we paid $3.39 per gallon.

As we drove here, the landscape was abundant with luscious farms. We passed miles and miles of bright green vineyards, peach orchards and other fruit trees we could not readily identify.

We are in the Central California High Sierra Mountains about 40 miles north of Fresno, CA. It is a beautiful location. We will be here at Park of the Sierras SKP Resort for the month of May. The park is an RV membership co-op campground for Escapees RV club members. Because we are members of the Escapees organization we are able to stay her for a nominal cost of $10/night, plus electricity.  For our non-RV readers, SKP is a phonetic abbreviation of Escapee.

The Escapees organization also hosts one of the better RV on-line forums and was a major source of information as we researched this lifestyle.

When we arrived Sandy went into the park office which is connected to the huge activity center. One of the park residents, John, led us to our spot. He instructed me to follow his pickup. When we turned off the main park road I thought he was taking a short cut as he drove over an area that was no longer paved. Where he wanted me looked so un-level that I didn’t think the site would work for us.

I hesitated – after all we weigh 17 tons and I didn’t want to get stuck. John hopped out of his truck and waived and guided me into this spot. The coach self leveled without any problems. Whew!

Fortunately, we have great internet phone service but marginal cell phone signal strength. But, we are able to make outgoing phone calls on Skype.  So if you try to call us you will probably only reach voice mail.

We are again in a rural/natural setting. This time I am being pro-active in rodent deterrent. I have a work light in the motorhome engine compartment, and Sandy and I put down a square of rope lights underneath the engine compartment and we have propped open the hood of the Honda to discourage squirrels and chipmunks from making nests.

Later in the afternoon we drove around the park. We were cautioned NOT to go without their map as there are five miles of park road and not one of them is in a straight line. I took a few scenic shots and some flower photos to give you an idea of what it looks like around here.

I took this last photo at dusk as storm clouds moved away from the park.

Stay tuned.

Déjà Vu – or A Night in the Orange Grove

When I was a kid I remember going through the big stores in downtown Chicago and noticing the overwhelming scent of perfume in the department where perfumes were sold. It is a similar thing here at the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield, CA where we are spending one night.

The orange crop has already been picked, but there are enough blossoms remaining to push a heavy scent into the air. Think dime store fragrance. A little goes a long way.

We departed from Parker, AZ this morning at 7:30 and pulled in here this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. We covered about 330 miles, which is a little more than we like to do, but we wanted to give us a shorter drive tomorrow when we head northwest to Coarsegold, CA and will spend a month at the Park of the Sierras. Tomorrow’s trip is 150 miles.
On the way here we passed a small town called Boron. Those of you who took chemistry know that Boron contains sodium borate decahydrate (Na2B4O7•10H2O), better known as borax, the third most important boron compound. Borax is used in laundry products and as a mild antiseptic. Perhaps the most popular brand is 20 Mule Team so well known that a local road carries the name. See photo below.

Stay tuned

A Bouquet from the Desert

I've been saving most of the pictures I've taken of desert flowers.  Here they are for your enjoyment.

Stay tuned

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Another Good Day in Arizona

It is not summer in Arizona, but by Illinois standards 88 degrees sure feels like it.

This morning we spent some time next door talking with Carol and Harold Thornberry.

We asked them about their wood carving and coaxed them into showing us some of their handiwork. They have created some very impressive pieces of art and have a lot of fun in the process.

These long and narrow whimsical wood carvings are called Hobbit Houses. They are carved from the bark of  Cottonwood trees 

I made a small but important upgrade to the motorhome today. Whenever we are parked for as long as two weeks we have gotten into the habit of starting the coach's diesel engine and letting it run for about 30 minutes solely for the purpose of re-charging the engine batteries.

By installing a device called Trik-L-Start we no longer have to do this. Whenever we are connected to shore power, Trik-L-Start borrows a very small amount of power from the coach batteries to keep the engine batteries fully charged. For me, one of the best aspects of this improvement is that I installed it myself in less than 10 minutes.

Around four o’clock we walked over to the campground marina where they have a small restaurant. We had an excellent cheese pizza and some pretty decent margaritas. We were pleasantly surprised when Carol and Harold showed up and joined us. These kinds of impromptu friendships and get-togethers help enrich our life on the road.

Before sunset Sandy went outside to roll up our awnings.  Carol came over and gifted Sandy with a round rock she had painted to look like a turtle.  It makes a perfect stepping stone for the birds to get into a dish full of water.  Carol is also an accomplished painter as you can see from the turtle. We will miss our new friends but hope to meet up with them down the road.

Stay tuned