So, the last time I typed to you, I was in Vegas preparing to voyage across the great arid expanse known as Nevada. One thing I forgot to mention about Vegas was, that as I got in about 7PM friday evening, I checked into the hotel, got in touch with my russian clown friend from the show (he was staying with his wife and kid at the Circus Circus casino KOA...yes, ironic, I know) Turns out he was going to the see the Cirque show "O" at the Bellagio, so, since I'm on vacation and very rarely get to see other people work in showbiz, I decided to pay the still hefty sum for a limited view ticket, and I have to say, besides the rude people with diarrhea-of-the-mouth next to me, it was pretty amazing. Basically it's a Cirque du Soleil show utilizing a giant water tank...so in a ways I had never imagined, they were able to incorporate acrobatics, with sycronized swimming, and state of the art theatrics (not to mention the LIVE band) to deliver a show that I will be thinking about and absorbing for some time. I'd recommend it.... spend a $100 bucks on that instead of the slots.....you'll fell better about yourself on the flight home :-)
Ok, on to Sat.
So, after sleeping off my late night Mexican food (Stas- the russian clown who was in town- and I hit up Tacos Mexico @ 1AM...haha, good times) I awoke to prepare myself (mentally) and my luggage for the ride ahead. About 350 miles from Las Vegas to my destination just inside Yosemite Park. So, after packing everything up, planning my route, and scheduling my dinner reservation at the lodge for 8PM, I hopped onto the bike in the balmy 90's weather and headed the 200 miles north to Tonapah, NV. OK, so the map quest thing says that the 350 miles should have taken me about 9 hours to there....well, I made it in a little under 7 (and I stopped for a 1/2 hour lunch at the BK in Tonopah) ......hmmmmm, how fast do you think I was going? Well, let just say that I wanted to spend as little time as possible in the 105+ degree weather in the desert, AND I found out that my bike will do 120mph fully loaded, not bad for a sophisticated Italian lady. So, it was a long ride, but I knew that the cool moutnains and a nice gourmet dinner were awaiting me at the Toulomne Meadows lodge......the last 60 miles up to the park were beautiful.....I had see the mountains starting to grow in the distance already when I was 100 miles out. Each mile brought a new dimension, and cooler temps. I took this about 30 miles out.....
As I entered the park I started to notice snow on the mountains! It got to the point where snow was literally a few hundred yards away, and with the steep canyon walls, the shadows were becoming much more prominent and it was getting chilly for me. As I rolled into the camp, I noticed the parking lot was rather full, but then again it's the holiday weekend. So, I checked in, told me the rules about the bears (no food allowed in the tents, all food had to go in"bear boxes") and then was given a card with my name and tent-cabin number on it, just in case I wanted to "charge" anything to my tent! I've been a lot of places, but have never charged anything to my "tent" before. So, I got settled in....my luggage system has been working surprisingly well, I can unpack the entire bike in about a minute....the same with repacking the bike. So, I showed up for my 8PM reservation, not quite sure what to expect. Well, the lodge is nice and cozy...basically a wooden building structure with a tarpaulin top to it. Efficient yet rustic I'd say.....so after my name was called I sat down to a table with 5 other strangers. I choose a Guinness (figured I had earned it that day....and with the altitude, one beer so go a long way :-) ) and ordered the almond encrusted rainbow trout. Ahhhh....what a dinner, I ended up meeting these delightful people from Spain. So, we chatted about motorcycles, traveling, RVs, the EU, immigrations issues around the world....we covered a lot of ground in a simple dinner, but I think their company is what made it memorable for me. So, we traded email addresses and I headed off to my tent-cabin to try to illuminate some warmth for my humble shelter. Now, no electricity might be alarming to must...but after living in an RV for 3 years and driving each week, you gain instincts of what to expect with out electricity (I usually don't run my generator when I'm sleeping in Walmart parking lots between towns). So, in a small way it was vaguely familiar, except the bed was more comfortable and there was a wood stove next to me. So, I gave my best circus boy attempt to light the stove, and achieved some moderate success and passed out from the exhaustion of the day before I even really got under the copious amounts of blankets.....finally I did get under those blankets and awoke @ 7AM to birds singing, the smell of the camp woodsmoke, and the sun drenching the front of my tent-cabin with its golden paint.......
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