April 18 – 24 our friends, Sue and Richard, joined us in Mazatlan. We spent the week showing them around the area. On the 24th we headed north to the USA. We drove about 500 miles the first night and spent the night in a Pemex gas station. All gas stations in Mexico are called Pemex – they are run by the government. The next day we drove the rest of the way to the border and onto Sue and Richard’s new home in Green Valley. We spent two nights in their casita (guest room) and then moved onto Connie’s mom and dad’s park at Casa Grande. We packed up some china that Connie’s mom is giving to Connie’s son Brian. This was carefully place in the truck for the trip back to Washington.
Sunday, April 29th, we headed north towards Washington. We drove west to California and drove through Joshua Tree National Park. We made it to Edwards AFB that night – a day of almost 500 miles. The next day we drove to Sequoia National Park. We entered from the southwest end and out northwest side. It was a very, very windy road. Not an easy road on which to drive a 32 foot fifth wheel. We spent the night at Sequoia and then the next morning we drove to Yosemite National Park. We entered from the south and stayed at Wawona Campground. That afternoon we toured the Maripose grove of giant sequoias. We took about a 4 mile hike through the trees. The giant sequoias are an amazing tree. It isn’t that they are so tall, just big around. And they live forever. Some trees can live 3000 years. It’s a good thing that they weren’t good for lumber or they would have all been harvested. When they are cut down they are so brittle that they break into many pieces.
Wednesday we moved into the Yosemite valley. We secured a camping place for two nights. Then we saw a movie at the visitor center, checked our email at the library, and visited the museum. Next we went to the fanciest of the lodges here in Yosemite and had lunch. The Alwahnee lodge has a central tower of seven stories, and a west wing containing an enormous dining room seating 350. The lodge was opened in 1927 and in July 2002 celebrated it’s Diamond Anniversary. In the afternoon, the heavens opened and it poured. So, we headed back to the fifth wheel for an afternoon nap.
Thursday morning the sun was out – so a great day for some hiking. We headed to Mirror Lake. We did a 4.5 mile loop trip. The lake is only about ½ a mile in, but we decided to do the whole loop up the valley. On the way up a group on horseback passed us. One of the men told us there was a black bear up ahead in the meadow. Sure enough it was there. We weren’t all that close, but the bear spotted us and ran to the other side of the meadow. We moved up the trail some and Connie took one picture. Bob then took the camera and was trying to put on the zoom when the bear started running towards us. Oops. Time to skeedadle. Just before that we heard a noise from behind us and think there may have been a bear cub who was separated from it’s mom!! Anyway, that was enough excitement for one day. In the afternoon we did a hike up toward Inspiration point. 1000 feet of elevation gain and 2.6 miles makes for a strenuous hike. We hiked about .8 of a mile one way and then turned around. That was enough for one day.
