Sunday September 17, Day 61

Starting trip meter: 12717
Starting time: NA
Starting Location: San Jose, CA

Since we adults stayed up late talking last night, we all slept in as long as the girls would permit it. Attended Christ the Life Lutheran Church and took communion. The church was only 10 minutes away, so it was not a problem to find it.

Spent the afternoon enjoying the family. Later in the day, Fred and Barney went to a driving range and hit some golf balls. Fred grilled chicken for dinner, and fixed his world famous baked beans, and Ann fixed her delicious cous cous and a Caesar salad. Everything was so good. Later in the evening it had cooled down enough to enjoy desert, and a special after dinner wine out on the new patio. It was so pleasant sitting there with just the glow of the tiki torches for light. We were all very tired and mellow, and were in bed, lights out before 11PM. Fred had to be in to work very early in the morning.

Today’s weather: Hot. 94/59 A record high temperature!
Miles driven today: 0

Today’s Pictures

Monday September 18, Day 62

Starting trip meter: 12717
Starting time: NA
Starting Location: San Jose, CA

Monday chores. Barney took the van to get the oil changed, and a haircut for himself. I switched some clothes in the drawers in the van, to allow for the warmer weather. We are not ready for the heat yet, but it is here for sure. Often, while we were in Alaska, we would remind each other of how much we loved the cool air, and how we wished that we could stay up there, at least until the heat in the lower 48, had simmered down some.

Megan wanted all of us to walk along with her to school and it made quite an entourage. The high today is predicted to be almost 100°, and it was already very warm at 11:00AM. Ann and I worked on an “impossible puzzle” and as it claimed, we never did get it together. Fortunately, the solution is posted on the Internet to protect our sanity.

Late in the afternoon we enjoyed a swim in the community pool with Ann and the girls. Poor Fred was still working and missed all of the fun. After he came home from work we picked up some great Chinese dinners and all 7 of us had a ball eating it up.

Our plan is to leave here tomorrow, head for Yosemite and then Las Vegas the following day. From there we will head for Fort Worth.

Today’s weather: High 99/Low 68
Miles driven today: 0

Today’s Pictures

Tuesday September 19, Day 63

Starting trip meter: 12717
Starting time: 9:30 AM PDT
Starting Location: San Jose, CA

And we’re off as quick as a pair of wedding pajamas! On our way to Yosemite all refreshed and rested from our stay in San Jose. Thanks so much to Fred and Ann. We’ll miss you and the girls. We certainly enjoyed our time with all of you.

As we turn east toward home our van statistics are:
Miles driven: 12717 (in addition to about 500 nautical miles)
Gallons of gas: 868
MPG: 14.672
Avg per gallon cost: $1.718
Total gasoline cost: $1509

We arrived at Yosemite National Park about 1 PM. We had our lunch along the road at a beautiful vista, and we had an EXPLOSION. It was mustard gas we think. Actually, the change in elevation from San Jose to Yosemite caused the mustard to erupt like a squirt gun, and it went all over the back of Diane’s shirt and into her hair. At first we thought it was the same blouse that had the coffee spilled on it earlier in the trip, but later decided not.

We drove to Yosemite Valley for views of El Capitan and Half Dome, and also visited The Ahwahnee Hotel and Yosemite Lodge. Unfortunately, due to the extreme drought this summer, as well as just the time of year, none of the falls were flowing. We will just have to come back again so that Barney can see how spectacular they are at their fullest. Then we drove up to White Wolf campground where we spent the night. We arrived at the camping area about 5:30 PM and set everything up for the night. We cooked our dinner on the charcoal grill and we had a nice campfire. This campground is for primitive camping, which meant no power or water at the site. It was in an area that was covered with granite domes, and boulders everywhere. While we still had some daylight, we took a short walk and were fascinated with the protrusions. Each site was situated a little differently because they had to fit them into the rock structures. We turned in for the night at about 9:30 as it was getting very cold and very dark. The darkness however, had made it great for viewing of the stars. The elevation at the campground was 8000 feet, and it was scheduled to close for the season in six days. I guess the snows are right around the corner.

Today’s weather: Promised to be another very hot day in San Jose, but we’re on our way to Yosemite and higher altitudes. The high today was about 95° and the low was about 50°.
Miles driven today: 227

Today’s Pictures

Wednesday September 20, Day 64

Starting trip meter: 12944
Starting time: 8:30 AM PDT
Starting Location: Yosemite National Park, CA

It did get very cold during the night. We knew that it would due to the elevation, and expected it. Our thermometer read 38° when we got up. Barney started up a new campfire, and we had cold cereal for breakfast since we had no power for the microwave oven. I attempted to fix “toast” over the fire. Take my word for it, don’t bother! All you get is dry, bread that tastes like wood smoke!

Driving the Tioga Pass out of the backside of the park was a delightful experience. There are entire mountain sides of nothing but solid granite walls. Some are very smooth, and others were layered with strata of rock that sloughed off and piled pieces of rock down the mountains for as far as you could see. We saw boulders as big as office buildings, or at least so they seemed. We wished that we knew more of the creation of that area, and how it came to be. It was so different than anything else that we have seen. We ascended to an elevation of 9945 feet before we finally dropped down to the floor of the meadows at 7000 feet.

In contrast to the craggy beauty of the Tioga Pass, once beyond the park, the land became extremely flat and very arid. Driving through Nevada was desert, with sand and gravel, and sage brush scrub for as far as you could see. What a change, and of course we were back again into the HEAT!

Arrived in Las Vegas in the midst of rush hour, but were able to easily find a great room at Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall. There is a large atrium in the center of the hotel designed to look like a park with trees, and benches and a huge waterfall. The interior walls surrounding the park, of which our room is in one of them, appear as if they are buildings overlooking the park. We spent our evening strolling through the facility, Barney tried out a couple of the poker machines, had the promoted prime rib dinner, and saw an impressive water and laser show in the park. All in all, Las Vegas is still a city in the USA that seems to have come from another planet. It is one of a kind for sure!

Today’s weather: It was 38° during the night. Brrrrrr! Las Vegas was 99° for their high.
Miles driven today: 403

Today’s Pictures

Thursday September 21, Day 65

Starting trip meter: 13347
Starting time: N/A
Starting Location: Las Vegas, NV

We were in Las Vegas, need we say more?

Actually, we packed so much in to today, and had a positively wonderful time. We spent a little time in the morning on the same poker machines that Barney had found the night before, then we left the casino and drove to the strip to do a little sightseeing. We parked the van at the Bellagio, and walked through it, then across the street through Paris, which has a half-sized replica of the Eiffel Tower, lunch at the Barbary Coast, then ended up at Caesars Palace. There are truly no words to describe the structures and the interiors and do them justice. Words like opulent, and decadent are just a couple that come to mind. The Bellagio without a doubt was our favorite and as we understand, cost over a billion dollars. What a feast for the senses!

We arrived back at our hotel late in the afternoon, and Barney decided to try his luck again playing poker. Does ROYAL FLUSH say it all? That is exactly what happened to him! He had only been playing a short time when he held two and drew the rest. We were both startled and thrilled. What a cap to our day!

Winning the royal called for a celebration dinner at Binion’s Steakhouse and boy was it ever good. We were seated at a table overlooking the lights of Las Vegas. The view was spectacular, our steaks were excellent, the wine was delightful, and the atmosphere was fitting with our already exhilarated mood. While in downtown LV, we took in the Freemont Street Experience. It is a neat overhead show. which runs a couple of blocks. After dinner we drove down The Strip to enjoy all the lights and other happenings. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time in Las Vegas!

Today’s weather: Clear skies, very windy. 99/77
Miles driven today: 33

Today’s Pictures

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