Off to Yosemite

Monday 28th October

Due to some complications with the hire car (and also because we were eager to get to Yosemite) we had to get up at 6.30am and head over to the airport to trade cars (long story, don't ask).  We were a bit worried about transferring all our camping gear, food and cases from one rental car parking lot to another but it was actually completely stress free thanks to a trolley and an elevator.

Once that was done we headed north up 880 before cutting across to the 680 and up to Dublin - where coincidentally we had picked up our hired RV on our first trip to California in 2008.  We stopped off to pick up a bagel and some coffee and continued west keeping an anxious eye on the sky, which at this point was still mostly blue and sunny.  The further we went the cloudier it got and the lower the external temperature became. After one slight detour through Jamestown (and back) when we missed the turning onto the 49 we started climbing into the foothills.  The next turn was onto the 120 and this was where the serious climbing and twisting began.  As usual I asked Martin to slow down as we hurtled round hair pin bends with no crash barriers and steep drops.....and as usual he ignored me......

The higher we went the worse the weather got and we started to glimpse snow higher up through the trees.  Eventually we reached the entrance to the Park to see the unwelcome sign saying "Chains Required".  We stopped at the kiosk and it was confirmed that we could wait for the "chain guy" to arrive and sell us chains at a vastly inflated price or we could go back.  We bought an annual pass (valid at all National Parks) in readiness for tomorrow, paddled through deep snow to the loo, turned the car around and headed back down the way we had just painstakingly climbed up.

It was at this point Martin decided it would be a good time for me to get used to driving a left hand drive car....I was fairly reluctant but at least there was very little traffic on the road. It's odd that it feels perfectly normal sitting in the passenger seat on the "wrong" side but driving in the left seat felt really strange.  At least we went back round the steep curves at a nice sedate pace.....

We drove down through bursts of really heavy rain and sleet and it was absolutely tipping it down when we reached Mariposa, where we had booked a motel room for the night after seeing the weather forecast yesterday!   As we were too early to check in we went to a local cafe for coffee and a sandwich first.  The motel was pretty good, it had an outdoor pool and hot tub so after we had settled in we went out (in the rain) to check them out.  Only one of us was brave enough to go in the pool (twice) but I must be honest the hot tub was the much better option!  As we soaked in the tub we could see the sky clearing and patches of blue sky developing.................

It seemed that the day had been a bit of a write off but in truth I was feeling a bit under the weather (in more ways than one) and I was grateful for the chance to relax and have a bit of a nap to try and make up for the lack of sleep the last few nights. Martin was like a child in a sweet shop playing with the remote and watching trashy TV.  We had a microwave, fridge and coffee machine in the motel room so we ate some of our camping supplies, sorted our gear, watched numerous weather forecasts and prepared for another early start tomorrow.