Yosemite ramblings in no particular order…………..

We got lucky…we picked September 17th as hike day back in November……weather forecast before we left showed chance of thunder showers on hike day…..turned out to be a great day….no rain…..and more importantly…..no lightning!!!!…. The drive wasn\’t that bad…. Had lunch at a burger joint called \”Hula\’s\” in Escalon on the way there and back…. good food, great shakes!……Lake Don Pedro water level was about as low as it could get…looked like someone let the water out of a bathtub and all the boats end up near the drain…..Gas at the closest station to Yosemite was $4.89 per gallon for unleaded……Gas was cheaper in Groveland than it is in Fremont!!!!!…… Figured out the last time I was at Yosemite was 35 years ago when mom, dad and I went to visit John, who was working the summer at Curry Village…….It all came back to me when I saw those granite cliffs behind camp Curry…..The bobcat in camp was sort of scary/cool. Definitely a wild animal, but didn\’t seem to worried about Ron and John taking pictures…….The bobcat has enough squirrels around to keep him fat and happy for many months…….Curry Village was going through some renovations while we were there…..most people didn\’t even notice the two bucks (deer) sitting in shade right next to the reservations area. Ron made two old lady\’s day when he pointed them out….. The food was….not great……dinner buffet the first night, pizza the next, nothing on hike night, and burgers on Thursday…….breakfast buffet was great on Thursday after the hike…….Steve loved the tuna cassarole so much he went back for seconds…..It was so cool to be hanging with my sis and bro and all my friends……turned out to be a good dynamic………sure gets dark at night out there……….quiet too…..funny when Steve and Vicky told us they had to use the light from their cellphones to find the way back after dinner the first night……my sister was probably in the best shape for hiking……I realize now that the reason I didn\’t take too many pictures was that I was in \”survivor mode\” and only thinking about conserving energy and getting Barb and I safely there and back…….mint chocolate chip ice cream cones were great…….we over packed……..glad we brought the coffee pot……. we brought our satellite radio and were able to pick up a pretty good signal considering our location…….it was good to see a few of bro John\’s high school buds show up on Thursday…..had some good times talking about old times in Daly City…….even I got tired of the Daly City stories after a while…..funny to hear these guys refer to me and John as Johnnyand Jimmy……….got to keep the cabin door shut cuz squirrels will go right into your room looking for a snack……love those Smart Wool socks….so glad I bought a bigger hiking boot……the trekking poles helped alot……I wish we could have all stayed together on hike day…….and reach the top together……..this hike was a lot harder than the double traverse of Mission peak……all the next day after the hike we were saying \”yesterday at this time we were\”……the girls got sick of that after a while…….at the end of the hike when it was dark, we thought Steve was up ahead with Vicky….Vicky thought Steve was back with us…..Steve was in the middle by himself…..and lost……but just for a while…..sure felt good to take those boots off after 15 hours of hiking…..I was proud of us…..all of us….it wouldn\’t be the same without you!…..I miss my hat : )