"Airstream 1"
The great American Adventure-part 8
April, 2007
Patty had taken her neighborhood Bible study group to our home in Seaside for a ladies retreat and confabulation time in
the sun and sand, which left me with nothing to do but take another adventure in Airstream 1. I was going to meet son
Jed in San Diego for a national billboard convention so I decided to camp my way from our last stop; Lake Tahoe, Nevada down
through the Sierra Nevada Mountain range to that convention.
I flew to Reno where I had docked the Airstream and headed west over that California mountain range and south for Yosemite
National Park. I made it to a KOA commercial campground in Sacramento around night fall, had a hot bowl of soup and toast,
a nice hot shower and crawled into our wonderful bed for a much needed sleep and rest. I arose the next morning at 4:45, had
a hot bowl of Patty’s oatmeal and headed down the "99" four lane for my destination, hoping to arrive around noon time,
as it was 200 miles away. About 50 miles into this odyssey the traffic came to a grinding halt as a tractor trailer truck
had turned over in the highway blocking all lanes southbound and it took me 4 hours to go the six miles to the next off ramp
and back onto the highway below the wreck. This caused me to arrive at Yosemite at 5 pm that afternoon; much weary from inching
along in that traffic.
My campsite in the edge of Yosemite Park; Wawona, was adjacent to the powerful south fork of the Merced River,
where I was able to obtain a beautiful spot overlooking the river and the awesome rushing sound of water pounding and
cascading over the rapids 50 feet from my campsite, number 74. After setting up the camper, I built a fire in the pit and
proceeded to cook a wonderful piece of chicken and baked an ear of corn for my supper; as an awesome full moon with shafts
of sliver light fell between the foliage of the huge 600 year old sequoias surrounding my camp….thank you Lord.
I arose the next morning after a 9 hour solid sleep with the river rushing by the open windows as I was hunkered under
the down sleeping quilt; the temperature in this mountainous 4,000’ elevation had dropped to around 40 degrees. After
a good hot cup of coffee and eggs and bacon cooked over the campfire, I unhooked Airstream 1 as I was camping here for 3 nights
and headed off in Ford 250-Turbo-Diesel, for the breathtaking Yosemite Valley and Village, over the mountain pass and
through the tunnels that open into a vista that was grander than anything I have seen yet on this odyssey.
In 1855, mountain man Golan Clarke came over this same ridge in pursuit of renegade Indians and discovered this
awesome valley where the hand of God took a huge swath so many years ago and left a fertile valley bordered on the left by
the magnificent "El Capitan," and on the right by the cascading thunderous "Bridal Veil Falls," a 2,000 foot
drop and then on to spectacular "Half-Dome," a mountain sheared in half a Millinium ago as God sent his glaciers ripping
through this indescribable valley. On past these creations of the Master, you meander through the valley floor until you reach
the village and the splendor of "Yosemite Falls," where water from the Yosemite River cascades from the mountain
that rims the village onto the valley floor; a drop of 2,500 feet creating an inspiring scene of spray and rainbows that only
our Heavenly Father could have created; the tallest water fall in North America!
I spent the entire day enthralled at this enchanting beauty of nature, just taking it in, as it literally rested my soul
as I absorbed it all, having a picnic lunch in the meadow below this magnificent aqueous display. What an experience this
has been and I truly missed Patty being here with me to see it, as we have loved soaking up this great country’s beauty
together.
I returned to "Airstream 1" that evening and prepared a wonderful filet mignon and baked potato; after which I visited
with my new "Airstream" friend Gary Nichols and his wife Margaret; retired Chief of Police from Ontario, Canada.
Gary has a 5 year old 31’ Airstream Special Edition Classic and they have been on the "trail" since January,
nonstop camping….my kind of man. I told Margaret that she gets my "camper of the year gold star award."
The next morning I went to the giant Sequoya’s at Mariposa Grove; trees that are over 2,000 years old
and 300’ tall, and a brisk uphill 2 mile hike; what an incredible sight to stand under these leviathans and comprehend
all that has gone on since their existence. I went back to camp, and regrettably my last evening in this most wonderful
of all National Parks; that our indefatigable president, Abraham Lincoln, during the middle of his battle to save the
Union, was persuaded by naturalist John Muir in 1863 set aside this great land preserve as our first National Park.
The next morning I headed off for San Diego and the billboard convention with Jed and parked "Airstream 1" at the
Big Toy Depot….
.......Where it anxiously awaits our next great adventure...we take off mid summer for the Rocky Mountains of Colorado;
Ridgway State Park and Vega State Park with Jack and Little Charlie "II"....stay tuned!!
