Thursday June 23
It's time to start on our way to Gerlach, Nevada for some ravioli. We will meet other friends from Albuquerque there. We have decided to cross the Sierra mountains by going through Yosemite National Park and then we will probably spend the night at a campground in Lee Vining. It would be nice to stay in Yosemite but the campgrounds are usually full in the summer. I had over estimated the life left in our trailer tires and decided that one tire would not make it home and wasn't feeling too good about the other. Yesterday I had searched for tires but all I could find was one dirt bike tire so I bought it and installed it on the trailer. On the way to Yosemite we try a few more shops but cannot find another tire. I had also washed the bike and trailer which turned out to be a waste of time. We encountered a log stretch of road reconstruction and had to drive on gravel and the dust from the vehicles in front of us covered the bike in dust. The road to Yosemite goes up a steep grade that is 8 miles long. Naturally in the summertime there will always be a gigantic motor home pulling an SUV holding up a lot of cars behind it and today was no exception. I had already accepted the fact that we would be in heavy vacation traffic so I enjoyed life at 20 mph up the hill. The oil temperature actually got a little hotter than normal going up the hill but was nothing to worry about. Our previous bike would have overheated in these conditions. Inside the park it is very crowded and if there is something you want to see that requires parking you are out of luck. The parking lots are full with lines of cars waiting for a parking spot. We do pull over for a break beside the river and Linda tries getting her feet wet but the water is painfully cold. I decide to keep my boots on and my feet warm and dry.
That is the only time we get off the bike as there is just no place to stop. We do get to see Bridal Veil Falls as we drive through as well as El Capitan.
Both of these are in Yosemite Valley which is a dead end road and we double back and get on the road that goes to the east entrance. There is still a lot of snow alongside this section of road. The snow is melting and the water runs across the road which makes for some pretty good splashes. There is also a lake that is still partially frozen over.
On we go to Lee Vining and get a campsite. It's already time to eat so after setting up the tent it's return to town and get some food at Bodie Mikes which turns out to be a BBQ restaurant so we get a picture just in case I need another BBQ picture from California. Then it's back to the campground, a shower and crawl into the sleeping bags for a night's sleep that is not near as cold as we would expect at this altitude.
It's time to start on our way to Gerlach, Nevada for some ravioli. We will meet other friends from Albuquerque there. We have decided to cross the Sierra mountains by going through Yosemite National Park and then we will probably spend the night at a campground in Lee Vining. It would be nice to stay in Yosemite but the campgrounds are usually full in the summer. I had over estimated the life left in our trailer tires and decided that one tire would not make it home and wasn't feeling too good about the other. Yesterday I had searched for tires but all I could find was one dirt bike tire so I bought it and installed it on the trailer. On the way to Yosemite we try a few more shops but cannot find another tire. I had also washed the bike and trailer which turned out to be a waste of time. We encountered a log stretch of road reconstruction and had to drive on gravel and the dust from the vehicles in front of us covered the bike in dust. The road to Yosemite goes up a steep grade that is 8 miles long. Naturally in the summertime there will always be a gigantic motor home pulling an SUV holding up a lot of cars behind it and today was no exception. I had already accepted the fact that we would be in heavy vacation traffic so I enjoyed life at 20 mph up the hill. The oil temperature actually got a little hotter than normal going up the hill but was nothing to worry about. Our previous bike would have overheated in these conditions. Inside the park it is very crowded and if there is something you want to see that requires parking you are out of luck. The parking lots are full with lines of cars waiting for a parking spot. We do pull over for a break beside the river and Linda tries getting her feet wet but the water is painfully cold. I decide to keep my boots on and my feet warm and dry.
That is the only time we get off the bike as there is just no place to stop. We do get to see Bridal Veil Falls as we drive through as well as El Capitan.
Both of these are in Yosemite Valley which is a dead end road and we double back and get on the road that goes to the east entrance. There is still a lot of snow alongside this section of road. The snow is melting and the water runs across the road which makes for some pretty good splashes. There is also a lake that is still partially frozen over.
On we go to Lee Vining and get a campsite. It's already time to eat so after setting up the tent it's return to town and get some food at Bodie Mikes which turns out to be a BBQ restaurant so we get a picture just in case I need another BBQ picture from California. Then it's back to the campground, a shower and crawl into the sleeping bags for a night's sleep that is not near as cold as we would expect at this altitude.
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