Saturday Morning

This is the theme song from the movie The Sterile Cuckoo with Liza Minelli. It's a oldie, but goodie if you like tear jerkers. Well Saturday turned out to be a swell day. Another sunny, cloudless beauty with pleasant temperatures at our high altitude.

We packed up and drove east through Yosemite's high country on the Tioga Pass Road. We were a little wary about this drive and it turned out to be extremely pleasant and an easier drive than the switchbacks coming into the park from the west. We got to see some more gorgeous scenery in the Tuolumne Meadows and lots of snow once we hit 8000'. There were lakes and streams shimmering in the sunlight and wildflowers dotting the sides of the road.

Yosemite is such a special place. Aside from the famous rocks and waterfalls you can drive through burned areas and see the new growth. There are huge pine trees and tiny, delicate ferns. You can look into the sunlight and see thousands of bugs flying around and there are so many spectacular butterflies and moths that it makes your head spin. Yosemite is in Mariposa County and Mariposa is the Spanish word for butterfly. There was one at the pool and he was drinking from a drop of water on the sidewalk and I just watched him flutter his wings and found it amazing. Our ranger tour guide also had pointed out deer lying in the tall grasses of a meadow. We could see ears and antlers and knew that the timid deer would wait until dark to reveal themselves.

So we drove along and came to an area with lots of snow on the ground. Jeff and I made a few snowballs and Ziggy was totally confused, but it was fun. Later we found ourselves back in Nevada and had lunch at a rustic BBQ place. We saw some huge lakes and I wondered why some areas are so lucky to have water and wouldn't it be nice to even it out. We see hardly any farming out here it is all about the cattle.

By dinnertime we arrived in Lovelock, Nevada and stayed at a creepy campground. It will probably win our award for worst campground. It reminded me of the Bates Motel. We cooked dinner inside and I watched two DVD's. A great Saturday night.