We stopped on our way out of Los Angeles at the famed In and Out Burger. They grilled our onions and made our fries fresh. It was worth the drive. Then we stopped at Whole Foods to pick up our gourmet dinner for camping that night.
We camped just outside of Yosemite in Lee Vining. The temperature dipped to 40 degrees and we slept on the side of a windy hill. Ann wished the air mattress stayed inflated longer. That night we went to see the sunset at Mono Lake. The next morning we drank coffee called Wild Women Blend at a funky cafe. I guess they heard we were coming.
Our campsite overlooked Mono Lake. Mono Lake is an amazingly beautiful place with mineral deposits called tufta that form lunar looking landscapes.
Everywhere we visited we met wonderful people like the Dutch couple who took our photograph.
This sentiment at Yosemite says it all.
At Yosemite we got to view Half Dome from Olmstead Point. If you look closely you can see small figures dangling from ropes as they make their way up the rock face. I'm sure you're surprised to hear that we left our climbing equipment in Fayetteville.
Lunch and a swim at a mountaintop lake. It may have been peak season but wherever we went there were no crowds.
In the morning we hiked through Tualame Meadow (sic) and saw deer, marmot, mountain blue birds, and ten pin squirrels. We found a soda spring bubbling from the ground and got great hiking advice from an ancient Yosemite volunteer.
We made a quick (see the darkening sky) detour to visit Bodie, a genuine, gold mining ghost town. The entire town is frozen in time and you can look in all the windows and see the remains of people's lives before and after the gold rush.
Clearly, they left in a hurry and didn't clear the table. They don't live in Ann's house!
Randi taking a break as Ann dragged her to over 60 buildings to see the scattered, dusty remains of this dangerous town. It was a shoot 'em up town where people died from either gunfights, disease, and harsh conditions. We are definitely not in LA anymore.
The California Park Service has 17 rangers housed in these buildings year round and they are attempting to keep the town structurally safe but arrest any further deterioration.
After Bodie we visited Uncle Bob's and Aunt Kathy's house in Gardnerville, Nevada, which is a beautiful area that is surrounded by mountains and only 15 miles from Lake Tahoe. They drove us up to the lake for a delicious lunch. Ann's cousin, Bobby, had nerves of steel and the patience of a saint as he traversed the winding, steep, mountain roads listening to us hyperventilate.
This is one of Bobby's two parrots who ride around on his shoulders and eat human food like spaghetti and almonds.
This is Henry, the watchdog of Rancho Taormina. He was so sweet and made us miss Charlie.
This is just one of the gorgeous views that Bob and Kathy are lucky enough to enjoy everyday. They have surrounded the house with gardens that have flowers and vegetables and a barn with a workshop, wine cellar, and a comfortable guest loft. There's plenty of room for big, family gatherings.
This is head honcho, Uncle Bob, of Rancho Taormina. He and Aunt Kathy were wonderful hosts who wined, dined and spoiled us. We decided this is our new favorite vacation spot to relax! Thanks for giving us a vacation within our vacation!
After recharging in Nevada we were on the road again for 9 hours and have arrived in Twin Falls Idaho for the night. Tomorrow it's on to Yellowstone and Old Faithful. This is, of course, after we eat an Idaho potato.
