Hearst....Yosemite

Wow, what a week we have experienced so far.

Once we parted ways with friends in Santa Maria, we camped at Pismo Beach, CA and journeyed north up the coast to San Simeon to see Wm Randolph Hearst's purpose. He was

a wealthy man with too much time on his hands is my best summary. Anyone who has the time to build such an incredible place probably sacrificed in other areas of life. As I walked the estate, I kept thinking how nice it was to have my crew captive in a 36'X10' box where I could get time with them.

(Don't get me wrong, all of the time in our miniature Alcatraz isn't always peaceful, but as Sister Sledge preached, "we are family".)

Dinner in Monterey and a safe haven at Prunedale set us up for a journey to Yosemite. I write this two days later and my Knuckles are still white. I don't remember the name of the town we passed through, but their primary crop was garlic. Thankfully we had plenty of time to air out the RV and move towards the park. The view to the park was incredi

ble and many of the roads int the park were still closed by snow.

We parked at a small village just inside the south entrance and rode a shuttle to the Sequoias. There was a debate about the need to see some trees, something about how boring "my parents were", but we persevered and enjoyed a remarkable view. (Internet access limits our ability to upload photos, but if you are Facebook friends with Caitlin, she might have more than I am posting!)

During the last 5 minutes of the shuttle ride back to the RV a certain fear hit me. I sensed I was about a pound lighter than I should be, if not a pound, at least the weight of a big ring of RV keys. Think about that feeling. We were in a pretty remote area, and very likely locked out of the RV. Except, again one of the nerdy aspects of dad, I was a Boy Scout, you know the deal, always prepared. I had this horrible feeling before we left Fishers we might need a spare set in one of those crazy magnetic boxes and yep, it survived all of the bumpy roads and was attached exactly where it was supposed to be. Even ripping off a tailpipe didn't know those babies loose!

From there we snaked through the park to El Capitain!! White knuckle driving would likely be the proper description in a car, I don't have the words to explain it in an RV, but I can say thanks to Dr. Joe who hooked me up with a TENS unit that was cranking electricity to my shoulders then entire afternoon!

One of my highlights of the trip is watching my oldest enjoy one of her passions.....firing photos...

On our way out of the park I thought I was in safe territory, until I say a sign on the two lane road that said, "no vehicles over 5,000 pounds". I am pretty sure my shorts weighed that much after the last 50 miles and I realized the moments ahead were going to be my admission to manhood. Heading northwest out of a little town named, Priest, it is a good idea to be a peace with your maker, for you may just have the opportunity shortly to meet him.

The view was remarkable, I used several of the turnouts to let less observant drivers through. This stretch was one of the top 10 most beautiful so far on the trip, but it costs a couple dog years to travel it!

The rest of the way into San Fran was pretty passive compared to this section....well...that is if you don't mind a gas station that the entry door is locked at 8pm and the only way to communicate with the attendant is through bullet proof glass. Normally, that would scare me, but....it was 1 mile from our campsite. A cynical smile crossed my face as we rolled into our razor wire bordered campsite and parked for the night! Ah the good life!!!