Staying in a massive tent city in Yosemite. Seven hundred tents very close together. A cross between guantanamo and Japanese american internment camps. Only not as nice. George has become unravelled. Has not slept or shaved in three days. Heard imaginary Vietnamese people yelling at night.
We are having a blast. Did I mention that this is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. Hope to see some of it if I can get George off his machines. - Love to all. Eric
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It's 7:30 Monday morning. Temperatures are starting to rise. That's a good thing. It will allow us to thaw out a bit. This is the first time over two motorcycle trips that Eric was responsible for getting accommodations. He chose Curry Village. Curry is huge. It has dozens of log cabins as well as hundreds of heated and unheated platform tents. Of course he selected the unheated tents. We each got a cot with two blankets. The blankets were the width of one- ply toilet paper.
Last night the temps dropped into the low 40's. Eric, who completely overpacked for the trip, had full body thermal underwear. Even so, he was frigid. I, in my t-shirt and jockeys, did notice the cold but was able to block it out. My one low point in the night was the 3 a.m. trip to the bathroom. I think I stubbed each of my toes during that critical mission.
Our bikes are parked on the other side of the huge, completely full parking lot. I hope they are still standing. My kick stand sunk three inches into the sand when I left it. Unfortunately that spot was the only option.
Yesterday morning we had hoped to hike a bit in Lake Tahoe. However, with the
marathon and bike race in town, the roads were unpassable. We opted to head to Yosemite instead. The trip added another 210 miles to the odometer. Despite the heat, a fairly easy five to six hours of leisurely riding.
The scenery turned spectacular once we cut off of 395 south onto 120 east and into the park. The one hiccup was when shortly after entering Yosemite, we got stopped by Park Rangers for speeding. We were doing 46 in a 35 mph zone. It seemed to me that they were being a bit nit picky but I guess they had a point. They have had lots of collisions between cars, motorcycles and/or bears this summer. They want to keep the bears safe.
While one ranger took our licenses back to the cruiser, the other one asked us a series of questions. I took out my iPhone hoping for a photo of her for the blog. I politely asked if she minded posing for a shot. She was incredulous and emphatic in her refusal. Ok, no big deal. Since I had my phone out, I noticed that I had a rare cellular signal so I took the opportunity to send Margot and the girls a text message. The other ranger, returning from his car, observed me typing and barked "Put that thing away". I think he was further bothered by what must have been my inquisitive look. He made a short, but clearly discernible growl. I think he has been working amongst the bears for too long.
This incident seemed to shake Eric. I would have expected an accomplished criminal attorney like him to stand up against this tyranny. Instead, he lectured me about the need to show more respect for authority. Maybe he is right.
Last night I had a 23 oz Sierra Nevada nut brown ale and some almonds for dinner. That hit the spot.
No bike riding today. We are going to take a flat easy four hour hike this morning and then an hour hike to Mirror Lake this afternoon. Tomorrow is the strenuous day. We hope to do a 6.2 mile hike up near Half Dome.
That's it for now.
Later,
-George
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