Nuestra casa rodante – Our Airstream, travels and such…

roger December 31st, 2010

We woke up a bit late this morning.  11AM actually!  My philosophy is if you sleep that long you must have needed it!  I think we did.  So we skipped breakfast and went straight to lunch.  Duh.

We headed over to the main visitors center.  We have never really spent much time there so this was a welcome relief that we were not rushed.  In a bit, a naturalist walk/talk was starting just outside the door.  We decided to join up.  The talk was very enjoyable and the walk was very easy.  However, 3 months after the fact, we cannot remember the specific subject.  We walked across some meadows and one of our fellow attendees pointed out some deer in the grass (see below).

After the walk was over we walked to the nearest bridge and took the requisite shot of half dome.

We went back to the main village area, looked around a bit and went back to the trailer.  I had heard of someone talking about going to Glacier Point to watch the sunset over the valley.  This idea intrigued me so we headed out to do so.  As we got on 41 and headed to the Tunnel the traffic was backed up.  I was not sure if we would make it to Glacier Point in time (it takes about 1 hour to get there).  An additional problem was that I didn't have any headlights!  What?  That wasn't going to work.  We pulled over into the Tunnel View parking lot.  I started to investigate the headlight problem.

It turns out that I found the problem.  I added a special harness that senses when the lights are turned on and then powers the headlights directly from the battery.  It is supposed to help headlight brightness but it uses two relays.  One relay is for the low beams and one is for the high beams.  The low beam relay had failed.  I swapped the relays so I had low beams but no high beams, which is workable.  However there was absolutely NO WAY to get to the sunset viewing now.  So we just sat at Tunnel View and watched it.

With a bit of sadness we went back to the campground but decided to go to the evening ranger program.  The subject was bats.  Again, very informative.

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roger December 30th, 2010

Labor day had arrived!  We are doing the opposite of everyone else, we are going TO our destination.  We saw a steady stream of cars leaving the park.  Normally we will take highway 41 into the park since it is the most direct.  But I wanted a change.  The stretch from the south entrance to the valley floor is kind of a long haul and the last time we were there (not too long before) they were tearing it up and there was a lot of gravel.  Gravel and aluminum don't mix!  An alternative was the highway 120 entrance but we had also done that many times and it too was a long haul to the floor.

We took the alternative, highway 140.  We stopped and had lunch in Mariposa before continuing on.  Our son and his girlfriend were going to go to Yosemite for a drive and meet us at the campground for a bit.  They were ahead of us.  The one drawback to 140 is the slide bypass.  However reading up on it I realized that we could do it with no problems.  It was kind of fun too!

It seemed to take forever to get there and we wondered what happened to our son. We were in the line to enter the campground and we saw them coming OUT of the campground.  They turned around and followed us back.  We then setup the trailer.  Roxie wanted a picture of her and I in front of the trailer.  To give you some background here, Roxie had rotator cuff surgery one month prior to our trip.  She was still supposed to wear a sling but didn't want it on when the picture was taken.  Luckily a shot was taken with us by the trailer.  I am asking her is she is serious about taking off the sling.  Bottom line, this is my blog so I am posting this picture:

Aaron and Kellyn left.  We setup the lounge chairs and kicked back.  While resting the squirrels were all over the place.  One even jumped up on me!

We got dinner going and Roxie had me put out the tablecloth on the picnic table.  One camper (in a tent) came by and said it was fancy.  I think he was just jealous.

That evening we went to the ranger program and learned about mountain climbing of all types.  Interesting.

Time for bed.   ZZZZZ

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roger September 27th, 2010

We live about 3 hours from Yosemite but we don't go there as much as people would think we would.  We have never camped on the valley floor.  We took a road trip there in 2008 with our new hybrid.  We actually camped there later that year.  But this year it was on the floor.  I was really looking forward to it.  Plus it was about 5 months since we had taken out the trailer.

I got the reservations in the early spring.  I used the technique of checking for reservations every 10 minutes during a day.  When they showed up, I grabbed them!  Our first night, oddly, was Labor Day Monday.  I knew the campgrounds would be full but was hoping the park would be clearing out after the holiday weekend.

Time to get the trailer ready.  As you know in the previous post, I had replaced all the lights with LED's.  It is dry camping in Yosemite and 3 nights could be a bit of test for us.  We had gone 4 nights in Albuquerque last year and had to run the generator a bit to help out.  This was going to be a good test.

Another component of power usage is the propane heater in the trailer and the water pump.  We knew it would probably be a bit chilly at night so we did need some method heating.  I have always wanted to install a catalytic heater in the trailer but they are a bit pricey for the permanent models.  A catalytic burns propane, and therefore gives heat, without any power.  All you need is a spark via some piezoelectric generator.  So I got a catalytic heater, a portable one, Mr. Heater.  I almost bought one on our Albuquerque trip.

Now, what do I do about the water pump?  We need the water pump to run any of the water in our trailer.  Or do we?  One of the blogs that I read gave me a few tips recently.  We already knew about doing dishes in a bowl as Roxie used to tent camp with her family.  The water saving valve was a good idea, I thought.  I got one for my sink at home and I like it.  I know I am saving water.  However, Roxie did not like them in the trailer and I had to show her the 'override' function and she used it extensively.  So I don't think it helped that much.

However, the ONE tip that helped the most was the water jug used to 'flush' the toilet.  The normal flushing HAS to be the biggest user of water in the trailer.  By not running the pump all the time to flush we were able to use the campgrounds water to flush.  Brilliant idea!

I also washed the trailer AND truck before the trip.  This was unheard of!  We replaced a trailer tire for good measure.  We actually shopped for groceries BEFORE we left on a trip and were very ready.

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caadoptees September 20th, 2008

Another post today!?  It must be a sign of the apocalypse!

As mentioned in the previous post we had a trip planned to Bishop.  Our niece was getting married on the 28th of June.  We planned on taking the trailer anyway since there would be no place to stay at my sisters house.  We thought we might stop off somewhere for a couple of days before.  Six months before I started to get a reservation at Yosemite at 7am on the day the reservations for June opened.  Well 10 minutes later the park was sold out!  Ouch!

We took a road trip to Yosemite earlier and while I was there I talked to the reservations office.  They told me if I was there the morning of the day I wanted to stay most likely I could get a spot on the valley floor.  ‘Most likely’ didn’t give me a great sense of security.  They also told me to keep checking online for cancellations.  So starting then I would check online at least every 15 minutes when I was near a computer.  I did this for about 3 weeks.  I was getting nervous, not knowing where we would stay.  Then I got a hit!  A spot at Hodgdon Meadow for the two nights we were looking for!  I thought about it for about 3 minutes and then took it.  It wasn’t on the valley floor but it was near Hetch Hetchy.  We had never been there.  I stayed many years ago on the floor in a campground, but I don’t remember much.

So we were off to Yosemite!  It takes a long time to get there from Visalia.  It is just 120 miles but a lot of the drving is through the park, which is slow, but rightly so.  We were assigned a huge spot that was not particularly level but we made it work.  It was nice to watch all the tenters and be happy we didn’t have a tent anymore.

The next day we took a day trip to Hetch Hetchy.  I have heard a lot about Hetch Hetchy and all the controversy but had never been there.  It is a very beautiful place, unfortunately we went when all the forest fires were going.  We came to the main gate and were asked our plans and given a placard to take and return when went back out.  They also recorded our license plate.  You could not stay past dusk either.  When we got to the dam I asked a ranger about all these ‘measures’ and if it was for the security of the dam.  He said it was.  He also told me some things about the things done to the dam.  Look at this picture:

Hetch Hetchy Dam

To the upper left of the spillway you can see some large white blotches.  Someone painted “John Muir” there.  There is also a jagged white area, someone painted a fake crack to scare people.   The whole area is very beautiful with some large cliffs and falls.  Here is a poor picture due to the smoke:

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

It is always fun to go somewhere you have never been to.  The next day we went somewhere that we have been before, Glacier Point.  The view of the valley there is fantastic, especially if you look straight down!  I remember the firefall that happened many years ago when I was a child and asked a ranger where the drop point was.  Nice to reminisce.  Here is a photo of Roxie with Nevada and Vernal falls in the background (this shot is after I asked her not to squint):

Roxie with Vernal and Nevada falls

After our two nights in Yosemite we headed to Bishop via Tioga pass.  It is such a beautiful place in the high country.  We stopped off at Olmsted point, another never had done item.  We got a good view of the back side of Half Dome and could see hikers going up the steps and cables with our binoculars.

Half Dome from Olmsted point

We made it to Bishop and wedding went well.  The actual wedding was held on the shores of Convict Lake.  Here is a shot:

Wedding at Convict Lake

We made the big loop on the way home, south on 395, we cut across by Lake Isabella, down the Kern river canyon then home.  The worst part of any trip is the last leg home, it didn’t help that it was over 100 degrees!  It was, overall, a good trip.

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