Boise via Yosemite and Tahoe

We drove down to Yosemite National Park for the day after getting back to the mainland. We drove through rain fog, and snow showers on the way into Yosemite.  It was a big wake-up call from the past month.

It was cold and rainy in Yosemite, but that didn't deter the crowds of people there to see the big snow melt waterfalls cascading down. The views were great when the clouds weren't obscuring the tops of Half Dome and El Capitan. Bridal Veil Falls was flowing so strongly the bottom was a could of mist with just about zero visibility around the base. The upper and lower falls were thunderously loud. We could really hear the water crashing  with crescendos as the volume increased or big gusts sent it falling in different globs.

Finding parking was a challenge and it was hard to enjoy being in the beauty of the valley with car after car, and delay after delay, to get from one section to another. A whole day of driving was spent circling the loop. The place was over half filled with tourists from India. I don't know what caused the collection to be a majority of Indians, but I felt pretty confident I could easily find a doctor or an engineer if anything went wrong.

We left Yosemite and traveled the long and winding road towards South Lake Tahoe, We went through 8,000 + elevations and were back in the snow showers and big snow drifts quickly. Many roads were closed but the one we had spent many curvy turning hours on appeared to be open  - until we neared the 7,500" area and it got iffy. Remembering we were not far from the famous Donner Pass, we took notice of the situation and the surroundings.  It would be easy to make a wrong turn and end up at the bottom of some gully where nobody would find you for years. Many places had no guardrails, there were curvy up and down grades, limited visibility, narrow roads with blind turns and icy patches with fog. It was nice exercise for the forearms - gripping the steering wheel tightly. The pass was open but we went through snow drift areas that were easily over ten feet high.

Pulling in to South Lake Tahoe was nice to put an end to the crazy driving for while. We filled up late that night on a Chinese buffet and got a mid morning start the next day. It was still cold and breezy as we drove to viewing areas.  As we drove out of South Lake Tahoe, almost all the shore access areas were pay-to-see state park areas or Casino/ Hotel property. After coming from Hawaii where free beach access is available everywhere, it felt very wrong to get hit up for $7 here or $5 there just to be able to drive in and look for a few minutes before heading on along the lake shoreline to see other sites. It was a bit depressing and made me wonder what it will be like for my grandchildren some day. Pay for everything, a permit required for everything, view everything from a distance behind barriers, or maybe even just a webcam  monitor in some crowded viewing area. The "experience" is being take out of nature - mostly it seems so the state can generate revenue to pay it's park employees. I think it is a bit of a self licking ice cream cone.

We found a nice pull over area and worked our way down to the water and rocks without paying to do it. The sight was nice and we had a good time. We considered staying around longer, but everyone really wanted to get back to see Maui, so we started the push for Boise. After lunch at a local BBQ place for Memorial Day, we hit the road with expectations of stopping in Winnemucca, NV for the night.

We made reservations and arrived to find out the reservation was lost, the hotel was a part of a casino, it had multiple names, it wasn't clear where to enter for the hotel part, and the lobby was oozing smoke from every corner.  We gave up on it and decided to press on late into the night to Boise. After driving and driving (past the area with no gas for 100 miles) we checked at the gas station in the next "big" town. There was a dumpy line of motel rooms behind the gas station, but they were all full. The teller informed me there was a funeral in town and everything was booked. Since it was a funeral, the way I saw it, at least one bed should have been available.

We pressed on past the long stretch of nothing in Oregon that has a 55 MPH speed limit where you can see for miles. This must have been in the inspiration for Sammy Hagar's "I Can't drive 55" song. Neither could I, so I didn't, and we made it Boise around 11:00pm. It was nice to see Maui after so long away. He was plenty happy to see us.

Waking up the next morning to spend time with the Chodors was great. We caught up on stories about the move they had just done into their awesome new home with great views of the mountains from the back yard. We had plenty of good food and tons of snacks available. Shelli made salty caramel cupcakes, which are probably the best cupcakes I have ever eaten.  We slow cooked Kalua pork, and  coconut rice with pineapple and mango salsa, and rounded it out with buttermilk/coconut biscuits with coconut butter. At the Chodor house, there was double thick bacon, sliders, breads, ice cream, rice pudding, pizza, fried chicken, homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs, steak fajitas, and plenty of chips, jello, parfaits, and sundaes with homemade chocolate sauce.

For a non eating activity went to Bruneau Dunes State Park and went through the most horrendous mosquito gauntlet I have ever seen. We had to follow a trail through some brush to get from the parking are to the largest dunes. Just a few steps in, we began seeing swarms of mosquitoes. We all ran to try to get through the area and out to the windy open dunes area. After running fast in for a couple of minutes, we came to a marshy are that was impassable. We had to turn and fight through another pathway. We quickly decided to completely reverse and exit the area.  Running and sweating, we plowed back through and into the parking lot. The mosquitoes followed us all the way out, so we had to defend ourselves by smacking the mosquitoes off each other. I frequently was able to hit three mosquitoes in one strike. After being in 47 states, growing up in the South, visiting most Central American countries and many South American ones, I have never seen such an infested area. Poor Abby ended up with 41 bites on her arms, legs and face.

We gave up on the big dunes and went toward the smaller one away from vegetation. It was nice and still tall enough to make everyone really tired at the top. Cardboard sledding didn't work very well, but the plastic sleds were doable. We found a horny toad lizard and enjoyed the last part of our stay at the park. They need to do something about that mosquito trap area of the park if they want return visitors.

Cousins Becky and Adalee from Medford, Oregon made the 8 hour drive over to spend some time with the Chodors and Joe and his girlfriend Elisa came in from Memphis. The focus of this week has been on seeing the relatives we don't get to see often. We will update the blog with more of the stuff from this part of the trip once we get moving along in the RV and settle into a rhythm. We will be leaving Saturday headed for the Oregon coast.

On the way into Yosemite. From beach sand to snow,

Bridal Veil Falls in the background.

A LOT of snow is still up in the mountains between Yosemite and Tahoe.

Michael hurling a snowball right at John in the car.

Lake Tahoe on the Nevada side.

It was different looking into the clear water and not seeing colorful tropical fish. We didn't even see a turtle.

Hiking along the rocky shore. What a nice backdrop.

One of the many big boulders to climb.

Michael and John at the top. This picture is zoomed in a lot. It was a long climb up from the water.

Michael in a cool tree that was hanging over the rocks.

John on the rocks.

We made it back to see Maui and his head was missing.

Getting the pineapple and mango salsa ready, card tricks, and ukelele.

At Bruneau Dunes before the trek into mosquito alley.

Abby after mosquito alley. 41 bites!!

Bruneau Sand Dunes. The mosquitoes didn't follow us here.

Kelli and Michael at the top.

John using some of his new surfing skills.

John caught this horny toad lizard.

Abby didn't.

Maui playing tug of war.

Kelli and Adalee dressed for fun.

Woof.

Yo Dog.

The hills turned green while we were in Hawaii.

Abby had an early birthday party before the relatives all left. We don't know where we will be on her real birthday June 30th.

Down the side of the cliff where Michael and John built forts.

Another view of the fort construction area.

Michael, Abby, Becky, Adalee, and John having parfaits.

Kids, a dog, and a green spring lawn. Life is good!

Can you tell who is the ham at this table? Adalee was entertaining from start to finish.

Michael and John prepping for the ropes course at Bodies in Motion.

Michael on the net, Shelli and John on the platform to the left.

Nerf gun wars.

Joe, Elisa, Kelli, Vince, Abby, Michael, Maui, Shelli, John, Fat Daddy, Becky, and Adalee right after we finished packing.

A round of farewell hugs.

Adalee was sad to see us go. After she had hugged Shelli, Michael, and John, I asked if I was getting a hug. Very sadly, she said, "You're going too?"

One last family picture before we hit the road headed West.