Postcard from the Road - Catching Up

One of the things that never occurred to me when planning this walkabout adventure was that I could be without an Internet connection for days at a time. I had planned to write a postcard nearly every day...but the last five days I have been without any Internet or cell phone service. So my next few blogs will be quite a bit behind where I am now. So, I thought before I wrote those, I would tell you where I am, and where I have been...then write the catchup blogs.

I write this blog from Oakland, CA on the dining room table at my brother Dave's home. I arrived here last night and will stay in the Bay Area several days here and at my friends the Millers in Walnut Creek. Then I will head south for Yuma to see my son and his wife.

Now...how I got here. When I wrote the last blog about Mitchell, OR, I posted it from Reno. I was already behind in my blogging at that point. So how did I get to Reno? After I left Mitchell, I drove to Crater Lake National Park with the intention of staying there overnight and doing some photography. When I saw the lake for the first time, I was sorely disappoint in the light and the fact that a terrible haze covered the lake, making decent photography impossible. And to make it worse all the park facilities were shut down, including all campgrounds. Even the road signs were taken down.

It took me only a few seconds to figure out that I didn't want to stay there. So I left for Klamath Falls, just 20 miles north of the California border on Highway 97. I had intended to stay there, but it was so early, I changed my plans and headed further south to Redding CA. Got their about 5:00 PM with the temperatures in the high 80's, then took off my warm clothes and checked into a hotel with Internet. The next morning, I was up early and headed for Lassen National Park. That is such a small park that I was through it with many photos in half-a-day.

From there, I headed east and south, mostly on Highway 395. While in Redding, I booked a luxury hotel room ($32 on Hotwire.com)...then decided that I was tired of driving and would stay two nights in Reno before heading south. My two nights there were interesting and fun and will be a blog all by itself.

From Reno, I drove back into California via Highway 395 and headed to the small town of Lee Vining, right on Mono Lake. I intended to photograph the Tufas there the following morning (I will explain that in another blog). Lee Vining is also the junction point for heading into the high country of Yosemite via Tioga Pass, which was a major destination for me from the beginning. My only concern was that I get there before the first snows when they shut down the Tioga Highway. Well, I made it.

I camped out for two nights in the mountains above Lee Vining, with temperatures around 25 degrees at night. From there, I explored the Yosemite High Country for two days before breaking camp and moving into Yosemite Valley and much warmer night time temps.

There, I found Autumn in full swing and camped there for two nights with my camera in constant use during daylight hours. On Thursday, I broke camp and headed west to Oakland, where I am now, with a stop at Hetch Hetchy.

So now you know where I've been...and the next few days you will know a little more about what I saw and experienced. The two photos shown here are obviously autumn photos as I have been following autumn as it makes its way south also.

Of course, when a person like me goes walkabout, the first thing you want to ask them is have you found yourself yet. To anticipate your question, the answer is no. But some interesting thoughts have already popped into my head about where I might be headed...some things that I might never have thought of before...and when you spend 12 hours in a sleeping bag trying to stay warm, you have a lot of time to think.

This is already an interesting and exciting trip, and I spend most of my time taking life as it comes. I am not thinking about finding answers, which means they will probably find me.