California and Nevada

Tuesday morning we woke up in Prunedale in another parking lot, but this time it was Safeway. We did our morning ritual packing everything up and brushed our teeth. I like going into single bathrooms to brush my teeth, and most Starbucks have bathrooms like this. I went in the one that was in the strip mall area we stayed in and started brushing. Well, this time it was me who dropped the toothbrush, and the head of it landed right where the water drains, right into some sort of slimy stuff. I looked at it for about a split second and then said adios. Thankfully, I was able to go next door and pick up a new one. I wonder what Anthony would have done.

Anyway, we made our way south for a bit, and Anthony said, look!

We were glad Ponch and John are still in action. Go CHiPs!!

Then I saw workers picking something in roadside massive fields of green in Castroville. It was rows and rows of artichokes:

We continued for a few more miles, and then we were in Monterey. Anthony said that about all he remembers is on Saturday nights while he was there, he would walk off base, buy himself a steak, pick up a donut or two, and come back to the base and watch Airwolf. And he would occasionally come down to the pier.

He said it has changed a bit in the 30 years since he left. 

These ^ are tiny sailboats with elementary school aged kids in them. We think this is some kind of a camp because there were children learning how to surf too on the other side of the pier. I wonder how these sailboats would do at Chester Frost Lake?

We also saw some seals(?)

And saw a stingray too, but you will have to take my word for it. We couldn't get a good shot.

We also walked down Cannery Row:

We just ran out of our Franklin County honey, so we had to buy some more. I have never heard of sage honey, but it's pretty good. 

When Anthony was here, he heard that you need to go down 17 Mile Drive, so now 30 years later he had an opportunity to do so:

We saw golf courses:

We saw MORE seals and sea lions:

And The Lone Cypress. It is the living symbol of Pebble Beach Company.

They say it is 250 years old.

The 17 Mile Drive was okay, but I don't think I will feel the need to do it again anytime soon.

We next tried to see if we could get on Post to see where Anthony's school was, but of course they said no, so we didn't. So I got a picture of this sign instead.

Anyway, that's about all we did here, and decided to start heading east toward Yosemite Park. We got there about 6:30 and asked about camping. He said all of The Yosemite Valley was taken, but to check on a few other campsites, so we headed toward Bridalveil Campground. It was about at 9,000 feet elevation, and it took us about 45 minutes to get there, and wouldn't you know it, it was full. So instead of driving an hour away to other possibilities in the park and them being full, we decided to go out the same gate we came in, and saw the most beautiful scenery. I was pretty upset we didn't have a campsite, but so glad we got to enjoy a Yosemite sunset.

There weren't even any places in the campgrounds outside of the park, so then we started getting a little anxious. The only possibility we had to camp was to do a little stealth camping in a hotel parking lot, so that's what we did. We drove a bit down the street, put up our cardboard in the windows, got our bed ready, and drove into the hotel parking lot and found a nice out of the way space. It was a bit warm, but we both fell asleep finally and slept pretty well. I think it is getting me ready for what's to come in Utah. 

The next morning we went back into the Park and did a little housekeeping in the Housekeeping Camp. I got to take a shower, but had to wait in line for a bit, but got to chat with people around me, and Anthony got to chat with someone he met. He was talking to the fella who takes the money for the showers and hands out the towels. It is the craziest things what you learn about people if you ask a few questions and take the time to just listen. 

Anthony:  Alan is the name of the guy handing out towels for the shower. I hung out with him while Lisa was enjoying her nice, hot, much deserved shower. He was probably in his mid-20's and has been a rock climber for about 5 years. Prior to that, he was a runner for about 13 years, but gave that up to pursue his passion for climbing. He took the job at Yosemite this summer to be able to climb the many rock formations in the park. His girlfriend back in Southern California, where he is from, was not crazy about him spending the summer away, but has come around to accepting it. He studies climbing books in his spare time, and also teaches others to climb. He gave me some pointers, and indicated climbing is more about weight distribution than upper body strength.  He stated that some of the best areas to climb are in Kentucky and West Virginia. He stated some of his climbs take 4 days to summit and he sleeps on narrow edges on the cliffs. 

He talked about cultural differences he has observed handing out towels. He stated women from India bring one towel with them to the shower not much larger than a wash cloth, and they refuse a larger towel when he offers one to them.  On the flip side, he stated most American women ask for 2 towels, one for their hair and one to dry off with. He indicated some even asks for 3 towels, the third towel to be used for their feet. 

Lisa: After we left the Housekeeping Camp, we took a little hike and saw Half Dome:

And more beautiful scenery:

And Anthony even got to get out in the lake and paddle around in the water.

We were just amazed by the gigantic sheets of rock towering above us. And then I asked Anthony, would you rather be at the top of a rock slide or at the bottom of a rock slide? We decided top, but that the end result would be the same. 

After Yosemite we continued on our quest east and saw some deserted desert, but pretty in its own unique way.

What was interesting going down this road, California Hwy. 120, was it was pretty desolate, and I thought it would be a good time to type some. Anthony saw a sign that said, Dips Ahead. But what it should have said was, Dips Like A Roller Coaster Ahead, which it was. I thought I was going to get sick, and they went on for quite awhile. Definitely tickle tummy dips. 

We drove through a town called Benton, and came across skeletons of yesteryear:

The fella who took this picture was on a motorcycle, and they thought the dips were dramatic too. 

And also at the only service station we saw, we found this:

And it has a dial tone. This is not just for looks.

And here we are in Nevada!!!!

I give them a score of 10 on the colorfulness of their sign. It's difficult to tell, but it is a picture of a Miner with a mountain in the background.

We ended up stopping 10 miles outside of a town called Tonopah, Nevada, the home of the Muckers.

We googled what a Mucker is, and it had something to do with cleaning out stables. And we thought that was an interesting name for a mascot. But then after more research, it also has to do with Mining. I hope that's the definition for which they were shooting.

We needed a place to sleep and there were a couple of casinos that looked promising as it had RV parking on their signs, so we drove through their parking lots. What we found were RV's all right, but it looked like they had set up residence there. Some had even put underpinning under them. HA!! There's our sign saying we aren't going to blend in here.  This seemed to be a town that consisted of several areas that were solely RV's.

We ended up spending the night at a rest stop set up for RV's and camping on the side of U.S. Hwy. 95, and besides us, there was only one other vehicle there. I was a bit anxious, but looked up the reviews on this place, and it was rated high, so we stayed. We talked to the cleaning guy the next morning, and he said sometimes this place is full, especially on the weekends and said there has never been any trouble there. And he said there is another rest area on the other side of town.

When Anthony woke up the next morning he said, I know you are going to be mad at me waking you up, but this sunrise is beautiful.

And he was right. And I wasn't mad.

Anthony was amused at me brushing my teeth, so he took my picture:

I don't know what was so amusing about that.

After we cleaned up our breakfast dishes, we took off and made it to the other side of town where the other rest area is, because that's about how long our bladders last, especially in the mornings, and saw a tent pitched in the parking lot. Anthony wrote some on the blog and while he was doing this, I saw the people climb out of the tent, and this is what I saw:

Please note the butt flaps have bears on them.

I thought he was getting the grill ready to cook up some breakfast, but he was setting up his camera so he could get some pictures of him and the person he was with. They were pretty funny to watch posing around in their red pajamas, and then I offered to take a shot of them. They said they had just found the pajamas yesterday in a store in Lee Vining, CA, and was trying them out. They were from California and made some suggestions of some places to stop if we head back through New Mexico. That's where they were headed.

Today hopefully we will be in Utah at Zion National Park.