Good afternoon one and all from the safe environs of the Youth Hostel Lobby and it's free wi-fi....just up the road from the laundromat - or is that a wrestlemania set? Today we are going to learn a few travel tips...like, if you wish to turn your local laundromat into a wrestlemania ring, ask Stacey how it's done..she'll give you the lowdown. First, get comfortable on the folding bench as you wait for your clothes to dry..have a chat to a local who is friendly enough and warns you that you are in a dodgy part of town...next make your husband clean out the dryer as you are engrossed in a book...next look up as someone approaches the dryer next to you...and there you have it...the spark for a fight! Yes, it's true...that's all you have to do!! After looking up from the book we were greeted with one of the local ladies making a threat at us for Stacey looking at her clothes...something along the lines of,,,Äre they your clothes in there"..to which you reply..thinking that it is a polite question before the other uses the machine.."No.."and then you are cut off with...Ï know they're not your stinking clothes, their mine..why you's looking so damn hard at my clothes..." ..and on we go with more observations being made about us and relayed down the telephone by our new found acquaintance...that and references to how it's been a tough day working the corner and there is a desire for more "weed"..she must be fishing for blackfish??..with all the weed she was ordering!!
That was our introduction to san Francisco...hopefully it improves...this Hostel is in the equivelant of the back streets of the Cross back in it's heyday..strip clubs and cheap restaurants abound..and most corners have ladies standing there all dolled up but still rough around (and even beyond) the edges...the hostel itself is one of the best we have visited and has good security..here's hoping the car is olay in the carpark next door!
Today was mainly a day of driving from yosemite to san Fran and we made it relatively easily, depite the need for a few freeway changes with the addition of traffic jams (welcome to california!)
Since we last posted from Cletus Country we moved the wagon westward and over them there hills into California....no indians encountered...just had to pull over for a quarantine inspection...and when asked where we had come from we innocently answered Tonopah...but the lady wasn't buying it...she reckoned our accent wasn't slack jawed enough...after about 3 further questions we finally worked out what she meant (as in which country are you from) and upon answering Australia we were questioned on things outback nd Steve Irwin like...she was a smart cooki though and i didn't have dad's BS Gene operating at the time - she knew that Australia wasn't full of bindi's (she hadn't seen our old front lawn)...but we impressed her with stories about snakes in the backyard!
The welcome back to california was accompanied by a road that resembled a rollercoaster - 5 miles over sand dunes where you could not see the road a few feet ahead...up and down she went..."bump"..or dip"as we call them after another..cheaper than disneyland. The lady at the quarantine station did suggest we go over those bumps at 100mph- since hire cars are pretty good at doing that stuff!
We then trekked through Jeffrey Pine Forest (obviously named after a good person)..and down to a beautiful salt lake full of tufas - being calcium carbonate/lime columns arising from the bed of the lake- Mono Lake...full of birdlife..and tourists...a well worthwhile stop...a natural wonder and one which LA (over 400 miles away) decided in the 50s that it would steal water from...the court recently put a stop to that and has mandated an increase in the lake level.
Tioga pass was next and that drive is recommended to anyone that likes winding roads through seemingly unpassable terrain and that gains over 2 kilometres in hight in a short time frame. Was full of snow fed waterfalls at or near the edge of the road and falling rocks of course! An engineering feat and a wonderful drive - the best way as an introduction to Yosemite National Park. Here we spent the rest of the afternoon at the top of the Park - Tuolmne Meadows....covered in snow for most of the yearbut full of new life as we lingered. The highlight was an afternoon swim at a massive lake there...sandy beach and all...and marmots (a wild possum like creature that comes up to say hello and possibly the main ingredient of Marmite?)...
Stacey had a drive after that...winding down into Yosemite valley and then out of the park to Evergreen lodge where we spent the next 2 nights...in a tent with elk and bears lurking in the forest next to us. The first night we had our first great dinner at the Lodge....and finished off with a pot of tea for Stacey, which was a first for the US...yiu don't get tea in these parts!
Yesterday was a big day of hiking, sightseeing and swimming at Yosemite...over 6-7 ks walked...nothing too strenuous but certainly used up all the energy we had. We also joined a stroll with a ranger and learnt about bears and bear safety...he even had a bear skin there from one they had shot as it was too much of a nuisance to campers....amazing creatures and black bears are not a significant threat to your life and not naturally aggressive, though they can be pretty sneaky with stealing your food...
Look out for photos in our next blog from the last week and a half....apologies for the long post..hope you made it through it all and keep the comments coming in. As for your request Chris...i suppose that comes down to how well one is rated in performance reviews...in any case i've forgotten about work at the moment..I'm still looking over my shoulder..making sure the lady from the laundromat hasn't found us!
