Camping in California Part II

Next stop was down towards Yosemite. The plan was to camp about an hour from the park for a couple nights, then snag a campsite in the park for a few more nights. We got to a beautiful campground in the evening after a long drive through California and Nevada. Our one amusing stop for the day was in Nevada where one can apparently buy liquor in a pharmacy, which we did as the taxes are less than in Oregon. Also in the pharmacy, although we didn't participate, was a "game room" where you can play a slot machine, just in case you can't make it through your pharmacy trip without gambling. Oh, Nevada.

While most of us thought the campground was gorgeous, Dad was not impressed as the strong wind made setting up difficult and a fire impossible. He cheered up immensely as the newly purchased bottle of Jameson was opened and moments later he provided us one of the side-splittingly funny moments of the trip. After convincing Mom to have some whiskey, which she didn't really want he spied a mosquito buzzing around her. "Mosquito!" he shouted and swatted, supposedly, at the bug. Instead he connected squarely with the cup of Jameson, spraying it all over my bewildered mother. Dad was embarrassed and Mom was furious at the prospect of smelling like booze for the rest of the trip, so restraining laughter I found my sister who was brooding just outside the campsite to relay the story. It probably took me five attempts to get all the words out without doubling up with laughter. That night, the world's most tame and stupid deer walked right into our campsite while we were eating dinner and, four feet away from us, proceeded to chew on a piece of asphalt. Strange, to say the least.

The next day we drove to Yosemite to check out the park and to see how the campgrounds were filling up. The drive there was gorgeous, but as we got near the park we slowed to a halt to wait in a line of cars for admission. Once inside, it was pretty, but crowded and we weren't allowed to take the dog anywhere. One by one the campgrounds we investigated were ruled out and a huge fight broke out over whether we were to see another camp which was out of the way. I won and we drove an hour down a terrible road to discover that the campground sucked. I was relieved that we'd gone down there, otherwise we'd have camped there the next night. So the next day we went to Yosemite again and raced to a different campground only to have that filled. With no place to stay that night, we had another argument and finally settled on seeing the park quickly, then taking off for somewhere else as camping was not going to be an option nearby. Our tour was underwhelming to say the least. Again, don't go there, for the sake of the park.

Not sure exactly which mountains these are, but behind them is Yosemite. Behind me is the campsite. Quite the view with a short walk up the hill. The elevation - 7,000 ft - made it so I was winded just walking up here.

View of our camp.

I love the high desert. So beautiful.