Page Contents

Path
Sights
Food
Bird
Birds
Tunes
Runs

15 July: Bishop, CA

  Yosemite!Not just in retrospect, but as it was unfolding, this was one of the highlights of our trip. This leg took us from Carmel Valley, across California, through spectacular Yosemite, and along a beautiful road at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada.

As Pat drove into Bishop, I spotted a billboard about a gallery and Pat caught the name "Rowell." As a genuine photo buff, she recognized the name right away. We found a hotel for the night and, as I was checking in, I asked about (a) a place to eat and (b) the location of the Rowell facility. The clerk promptly pointed to an array of photographs on the walls and said that they were all from MountainLight. She gave me a brochure. I tried to be casual about the brochure when I went back outside to the Bird and Pat. But, I just thrust it at her. Pat called the number and learned the hours it was open; we had a chance the next morning, so we planned to stop there the following AM (but that's a story for the 16th).

Path

  Taking leave of our hosts (Pat with Cameron, Marie, Jim, and Lynn in front of their house), we departed Carmel Valley and took CA 1 north to CA 156, which we took east until we joined US 101. We eventually got on 152 until we were able to use Interstate 5 to get to CA 140, which we followed until we entered the Yosemite area. With Pat driving and the top down, we visited a few of the landmarks very quickly and then headed for CA 120 to drive across the Sierra Nevadas in the park, changed to US 6 on the eastern side of the park and followed it into US 395. We stopped in Bishop for the night.

The drive through the park was extraordinary. We spent little time in the most popular area (Yosemite Valley), devoting most of our visit to Tioga Road and Tuolumne Meadows. Both are worth a return visit.

Sights

  There were definitely lots of sights on this leg of the trip. My report will focus on the beauty of the national park, but there were interesting little towns along the way and the beautiful (I should write "beauty full," as Jack might have written) eastern Sierra.

  When we got to Yosemite, we dropped the top and I was hanging out of the Bird with the camera, snapping photos frequently. Sadly, only a few were worthwhile. The one of El Capitan (right), with automobiles in the foreground, gives a little perspective. I got another of one of the falls from a distant point but, alas, I only thought I got it. Between us, Pat and I took a few others worth passing along.

Food

  Breakfast at Chez Lynn was exactly right. Lunch (John's decision, sadly) was a convenient Denny's. I noted that I was probably launching into a string of grease-heavy forays among gardenburgers, fish-and-chips, grilled cheese, and Mexican foods. This were likely to be the menu items available to me at most such places. Dinner in Bishop was a genuine local place where the wait was too long and the fare was about the same.

Bird

  Each day, Jack's car became more fabulous. We rolled through the Central Valley of CA with the top up to avoid the heat, but when we got to Yosemite the top dropped back easily and we had magnificent views all around us. Probably the major drawback, in my view at least to this point, is that the passenger compartment is quite small and offers few putting-places. I'll have to work on designing a couple of mesh bags that can be kept with us on future trips.

Birds

   I didn't keep track of the birds on this day, not even as poorly as I've been tracking them the previous days. In fact, the dang identification book was still in the trunk. The binoculars were

Tunes

  We were now pretty adept at making the iTrip-iPod-radio system work. I don't recall what was playing for the drive through Yosemite, so it clearly wasn't intrusive.

Runs

  Before we left the Salazars' lovely home in Carmel Valley, I got out for a run in their neighborhood. There is a hilly loop that Lynn said was 2 miles and I ran it once each way, reversing directions when I got back to their driveway the first time. The run took me nearly 43 mins and, though I know I was slow, I figure that each loop was more like 2.2-2.3 miles (as I surely wasn't running 10 min/mile). It was a good run, however long it was.