A Loss for Words

My brother's birthday is today, and sadly, my mind is still composing a long blog about Yosemite. My wife saw my problem and decided to write something to help.Happy Birthday, pare.

Ansel Adams in Concert

The night before, Steve was over and we all had a nice birthday-eve dinner and a movie. This also came with LOTS to drink so even before the movie was over I was snoring on the couch. The next morning 8 April Sunday, my first utterance was “Happy Birthday Honey”. My next task was to get out of bed. Umm well it was a major task. The feeling of parched muscles and bone joints plus the splitting headache did not do me well. A dehydrated body can be a major downer to start you wife’s birthday. But get up I did, re-hydrating with lots of water and then she reminded me that our friends Geoff and Allyson were making Birthday breakfast for her that morning (Just five more minutes) in my mind was all I was thinking at that point. And that we were leaving right after breakfast for Yosemite National Park for a three day rendezvous with nature. So we hastily left packing a few things and were off for breakfast.The breakfast was nice under the warm sun, it was home made waffles, bacon, sausage, OJ, with home made bosenberry jam. We also were there to borrow a bike rack to attach on our car. Yes, we were bringing along our mountain bikes. The thought of it made me shudder. First, I haven’t biked in a VERY long time and second, the thought of 2 bikes dangling on this contraption strapped on the back of your car while going 80 MPH gave me imaginary visuals of them falling off and hitting the car behind us thus causing a major pileup on the freeway and us having to go to jail for accidental manslaughter just wasn’t my idea of a nice leisurely drive up the mountains. We left and went back home to grab our few belongings, cameras, bikes and long underwear. And we were off.Me being the wimp that I am asked her to take the wheel since I was still nursing my hangover. I nervously kept and eye out from the passenger side view mirror every 5 minutes or after hearing the interval thudding of those strapped bikes on the boot of the car till we reached our first destination four hours later. Aunt Kris (Gigi’s Dad’s sister) and Uncle Larry’s place. They live “as the crow flies” 50 miles away from the south east tail of the Sierras. Meaning their back yard has a breathtaking view of the place we were motoring to the next day. We arrived to find the place empty but Gigi recalled that earlier the week prior, her aunt said they would be away that day but would leave the key in a hanging basket on a tree in front of the house. Well, what tree? There were many trees and many hanging baskets or objects that could have been a hiding place for the key to the front door. She eventually found it and we welcomed ourselves in. Heading straight for the bathroom. You know how that goes. They (Aunt and Uncle) finally arrived an hour later and right away made us very welcome, offering refreshments (read: beer and wine), Humus spread and cheese and crackers while awaiting the sunset on their back deck with a nice warm fire to boot. When it got too cold (they live about 5,000 feet above sea level) we ushered ourselves in while Kris made dinner of baked ham, bread and risotto. More wine was set on the table (one of the was even a reserved wine) meaning it was a special occasion. Kris also made lemon squares with 3 candles on then and presented Gigi with a Gift basket. A very nice gesture. They also showed us our sleeping quarters, which is an in-law section of their house. It looked very quaint with lots or real antiques, I liked that. We slept well that night.The next day 9 April, we were up at 6 am to set out by 8 am. Breakfast was sliced apples and some toast and OJ. Aunt Kris and Uncle Larry were to come with us into the valley, which was 2 hours away by car though 50 miles if you could be a bird. The trip had a lot of anticipation of the sights that were to be seen although the trip in itself was very scenic. Climbing up higher to 6,000 feet then descending on to the valley floor was nice enough. As we entered a tunnel blasted through the granite rock we emerged at “Inspiration Point” --- And inspiring it was! A scene straight out of the movies. You had to stop and take it in. The majestic view of “El Capitan” and the Yosemite Valley with all the redwoods and giant sequoias down bellow were truly worth the nervous twitch I had developed during the drive. Uncle Larry expertly explained the different mountains and waterfalls and their locations, the trails that you could hike and the crazy feats that some people have done on those giant rocks. For those that who don't know, Uncle Larry and Aunt Kris met in Yosemite and both worked there when they were younger, they lived in the park for 5 years before moving upland and settling down and having their son. So they knew a lot about the area. Before we reached the entrance to the valley floor we turned towards the Mariposa Grove were the famed Giant Sequoias were located, you know, where they carved out a tree so cars could drive through its trunk. Well, that tree fell in the early 70’s but they carved out another one but this time for pedestrian use only. The pictures do not do justice to the enormous size of these living giants. They are the oldest LIVING things on earth. Try 1,000 BC or 3,000 years old. That would make a believer in God of anyone who thinks they are invincible. Can you imagine what these trees have seen in their lifetime, or what they have been through? Makes you wonder why they are still here when everything else seems so temporary. After huffing up and down the footpath to see them we were ready to move on. From there we motored on to the valley floor itself to grab a quick lunch within the Yosemite village. A roast beef sandwich and a beer would do it for me bought from Degnan’s Deli, which started operations in 1890’s. Around the time John Muir was lobbying the government to set aside Yosemite as a natural preserve. In fact Ansel Adams joined the Sierra club at age 17 which was founded by John Muir. Now that's a different story, either look it up in your local library or Google it and you may educate yourself. It was now 2:00pm and Aunt Kris and Larry were ready to head home. So we bid our goodbye's and saw them off. We decided that it was time to check in at the Yosemite Lodge that we had reserved a week earlier. When we got there, which was only about 5 minutes away from where we parted ways with her Aunt and Uncle, we were dumbfounded to find out that the "Wawona" room that we thought we had booked was actually a different hotel! An hour uphill called the Wawona Hotel. Gigi was a bit devastated about the situation. Realizing that we would NOT wake up to the sound of the Yosemite Falls and the ease of biking around the various breathtaking views was quite a damper. So are the woe's of booking online. Nevertheless we machoed ourselves to leave the place and drove back up the mountain for an hour to find the Wawona Hotel. It was actually not bad, being historic and all that. Built around the 1870's to accomodate the coach (stagecoach) drivers and passengers. But before that, to lighten our "spirits" we went to the village store and stocked up on liquids that would ease our dissapointment. We arrived and checked in and realized it was all not that bad. Between drowning our sorrows we had a very nice dinner at their banquet hall dining on Flat iron steak and chicken marsala. While waiting for our table we had some cocktails in a section of the lobby. I had my ususal "Dutch Piss" a.k.a. Heineken beer and Gigi had a Gin and Tonic and we sat there listening to this middle aged man brailing his way on the piano. He played old ragtime music "nothing younger than the 30's" --he said but played a great rendition of the theme from "The Sting". We both agreed that this was his secret masterpeice being that he played it enthusiastically and pretended he didn't know it that well. It was a nice placid yet casual place you could just hang out--part of the lobby. And in between his tapping of the ivories he would break out and engage the small crowd that had started gathering while waiting for thier names to be called for dinner. At this point he blurted out that Ansel Adams was a great Concert Pianist and was on his way to becoming one-- if not for that other hobby he had (taking pictures). We both looked at each other and said, hey, I didn't know that. Imagine if he did not persue his interest in Photography and went on to be a concert pianist. Hence the title Ansel Adams in Concert. My take on it is that his pictures were silent concerts that when you saw them they played music in your eyes.The night was cold so we called it a day by around 10 pm. The next morning 10 April, we slept in till about 9:30 am with the knowledge that complimentary breakfast was being served till 10:30 in the morning. We got up and dressed and went down to the banquet hall to put our names in and sat waiting to be called and escorted to our table. We had a hearty meal of corned beef hash, scrambled eggs, pancakes, fresh watermelon and cantaloupe plus the old faithful OJ. We then decided to visit the Pioneer Yosemite History Center, which is a collection of historic buildings associated with the people, and events that shaped the national park idea in Yosemite. It was only a walk away from the Wawona Hotel. After seeing the place and imagining how it was back then we went back to the hotel to collect our bikes and went on a 4-mile bike along a path in the meadows nearby. It was a nice ride sometimes a bit of an incline for me but the views were serene and peaceful. The crackling of pine needles under your bike wheels wisps of wind and the chirping of birds is all you could hear. Not to mention my short of breath panting. It took us about an hour and a half till we ended up near our hotel again. By this time is afternoon and the weather was starting to get cold. So we sat around on the balcony in front of our room just sitting in the sun to keep us warm. With beverages in hand we just sat and thought. We decided that we would stay around the area of the hotel for the rest of the day and plan our adventure for the next day. We went down to the dinner banquet hall again, submitted our names and waited to be called. Again. While waiting we had more cocktails but the wait wasn’t long enough so we took our drinks in with us and had a very nice dinner of seared salmon and veggies. In a place that is visited by so many people from all over the world you could not help but over hear the different languages and accents of the other guests during our dinner. After the heavy meal we went to our room and I decided to take a nap. (It was only about 7:30 pm and there I was all bundled up under the sheets and blanket and duvet). Two hours later I woke up with the sounds of chatting outside our window, which by the way the curtains were parted so anyone who passed by could actually see me. So this chatting I heard was Gigi and another woman with her 10-year-old son on holiday too. They (Kathy and her son Shawn) were from San Diego and were nice next room neighbors. She brought out a bottle of red wine and he brought out a game of monopoly. Still being in bed but awake by now I decided to get up and join them. They were having fun and the boy was really into his game. The mom and Gigi were starting to get really cold and tired at this point and so the game ended and back to bed it was for all of us. It was about 10:30 pm by then. The next morning, our final day in Yosemite, while we were having breakfast I started hearing big raindrops. Yes it started to rain. We decided that this would not stop us from driving back down the valley to enjoy the sights that we were to be leaving that day. By the time we reached our destination, it was raining hard. We still got out of the car to have a close up view of Yosemite falls. Wet and cold we took some pictures and headed back to the car. While walking the rain broke and got a bit of sun. This made a perfect time to shoot some amazing pictures of the mist covered granite rocks and surrounding scenery. Then we went to the famed Ahwahnee hotel (a $500/night place) surely not in our budget but nice to see. Its grand wooden pillars and Native American inspired décor made an interesting place to see and take some photos. From there we decided it was time to go home. So with bikes re-checked that the straps would hold we headed up the mountain again and took the road back to San Francisco. By this time the rain had turned to hail and then to snow. Yes SNOW! This made a very interesting drive. Our car temperature gauge read the outside temp as 32 degrees. We stopped and took more photos of the bizarre weather change. We drove on and reached a town about 3 hours away from home to stop for lunch. It was 62 degrees in that town. I had a huge steak (too large that I had to brown bag my leftovers) and Gigi had some Chili Rellenos. From there we would not stop and we reached home by 5:00pm Wednesday 11 April. After quickly unpacking and resting I started downloading pictures and video footage I took and so did Gigi (from her own camera). So as you see it was more of a Photo-shoot-adventure than anything else yet it was memorable. So in closing I will leave you with this image, hope you enjoyed the experience as we did.

Click HERE for a multimedia image essay.