Week 24…Zig Zagging through California

We found a nice little spot to boondock just a mile or so west of the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite. We settled in next to a small little creek with huge pine trees towering above. There was no cell service and besides the random cars that would appear and then leave across the creek, it was really peaceful.

Saturday we drove into the park and headed to Yosemite Valley along with everybody else. We cannot even imagine what this place looks like in the summer because the roadsides were lined with people and traffic was pretty constant.

We made our way to Bridal Veil falls and again were a little frustrated with tourists who think they own the sidewalk. Who walks four wide and thinks they don’t have to move for anyone? We bypassed the “Climbing on the Rocks is Dangerous” sign and made our way to the bottom of the falls, where there were fewer people. We would love to see the falls in the spring when they are surely gushing more violently than what we were seeing now in late fall.

We continued toward the valley and got our first glimpse of El Capitan! So amazing! The people who climb that huge rock face are crazy.

We were also happy that we were able to experience the colors in the park. We learned, like at other National Parks, Gus is not allowed on most trails. There were a few trails we wanted to hike but didn’t want to leave Gus behind for hours, so we found a small cafe instead, ate our packed lunch and used the Wi-fi to get caught up on a few things.

Sunday morning Gus didn’t care that we had gained an extra hour to sleep. We were up fairly early, relaxed and caught up on reading which is easy to do when you have no cell service. We eventually hopped in the Jeep and made our way to Glacier Point for the view of Half Dome.

Again, the drive up was just a line of cars heading to the same spot and a full parking lot waiting for someone to leave. We did see some of the burn area from the fire that had just occurred this past summer.

We made the walk up to the view point and had to work at getting a picture from the side to avoid the many other tourists. We are glad to be able to see this amazingly breathtaking park and it’s gorgeous views. The next time we come back we’ll get off the beaten path and see it a little differently. But for now, we were content with the couple of days we spent there.

We realize that we have traversed California in the most inefficient way. The camper rally brought us way farther south earlier than we had intended and we ended up zig zagging all over the state. When we left 5 months ago, we originally thought we’d make our way through California and then end up in Nevada for Thanksgiving with our friends. We ended up seeing California way quicker because of the heat and the traffic.

After Yosemite, we had been in contact with good friends of ours that are also traveling for a couple of months. We were estimating that we could be back in Santa Rosa the second week in November and we set up a date to meet them at the downtown Russian River Brewery. We had gone to the brand new brewery in Windsor and some of the workers had told us that the downtown pub had a more quaint feel, a different menu, and more beer. We wanted to bring some beer to share at Thanksgiving anyway so we thought this plan would work out great.

After only a few days in Yosemite, we headed back to the coast a little earlier than planned, but thought how wonderful it would be to find a spot on the water to relax and enjoy a proper California fall. What we didn’t know was how difficult it was going to be to find a place to camp that wasn’t super expensive. Everything in California is expensive. We located the boondocking spot called boat ramp on CA-1 just outside of Marshall and we were not impressed. We continued north a little farther to the next one and our gigantic rig didn’t fit. So back to the boat ramp.

Add the frustration of the traffic just to get to that point, the fact that it gets dark earlier, we hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and Gus wasn’t feeling well… we were done. But the fun wasn’t over yet, I ended up getting up with Gus about 4 times. He was panting like crazy and acting out of sorts and struggled to go to the bathroom. I did not know exactly what was going on in his little doggy head and I was worried and frustrated. He’s doing fine now and whatever was the problem has taken care of itself hopefully. He’s back to his good old self again.

The next day, after searching again for a better place to stay and having no luck, we decided staying on the coast was just not what we wanted. We contacted our friends and told them we were headed back to the mountains. They were very understanding stating they weren’t exactly looking forward to heading in to the city either. Our kind of people.

Tuesday we parked the rig behind a Best Buy in Santa Rosa and drove the Jeep downtown to Russian River Brewery. We arrived just before lunch and had no problem finding a seat. This is different from the stories we heard about two hour lines out the door. The new brewery was helping to alleviate the crowds which was great for us. We were able to chat with our bartender about hikes and traveling and had a really great time. We got our coveted Pliny the Elder (a really excellent beer ) and decided we needed to hit the road before rush hour.

We had decided to go to Lake Tahoe. It was a few hours away and we had researched more than enough options for boondocking should we strike out again. We immediately hit traffic just east of San Francisco. Google maps told us it was a car crash but we never saw it. Then as we neared Sacramento, we hit full on rush hour. How people deal with that kind of traffic every day is beyond us.

We crawled through it and finally found ourselves away from the city and needed to stop for fuel. We’ve struck out once or twice using the app Gasbuddy, finding the place is tiny or the price not as listed. We pulled into this gas station well after we usually are snuggled into a campsite for the night, frustrated, tired, and hungry. Thankfully it was one of the hugest gas stations we’ve been in and it was super clean, had cheap diesel as listed, and good cheap coffee that we needed to help us function the last couple hours as we drove into the mountains. As we continued on, we watched the temp drop significantly. It had been in the mid 70’s in Santa Rosa, it was 29 by the time we stopped for the night.

The next day we decided we’d just explore the area in the Jeep and drive around the lake and then figure out where exactly we wanted to go. The place we spent the night wasn’t ideal so we wanted to check out a few other spots on the east side of the lake. Those brought us onto Hwy 50 toward Carson City. The sites were located on a narrow gravel road heading up a mountain and knew that would never work for our rig, but it looked like a fun drive in the Jeep.

So we headed up and it took us higher and higher. We eventually got to a spot with a great overlook of Carson City. Now we didn’t intend on going to Carson, but the trail spit us out there. Carson is just 30 minutes from our friends The Timmers.

We texted them for some lunch recommendations and we got a response of “Weren’t you in Santa Rosa yesterday?” Yes, we tend to put in a few hours when we want to get somewhere. After lunch, we headed back to Lake Tahoe and continued up and over the top and found a better-ish boondocking spot on the north end. We decided we’d move in the morning.

Everyone we talked to said we had to go to Emerald Bay. So Thursday morning we did. We thought we had found a trail that would lead us there without having to pay the parking fee required everywhere else, only to find out Gus wasn’t allowed on that one either. After some discussion we decided to skip it. We got some pictures from a vista point and went to move our camp.

We definitely found our cooler weather. We had bright blue skies but it was still pretty chilly and leaving Gus in the Jeep didn’t sound like a good plan. So we moved camp and settled in just south of Truckee.

We needed gas in the Jeep and like I said before, everything is expensive in California, especially gas. So we decided to make the short 30 minute drive to Reno for super cheap Costco gas. We also needed propane and had no idea finding a place to fill our tank would be so hard. We spent most of the afternoon running around Reno getting our errands done and by pure coincidence, ended up 2 miles from Revision Brewery which was highly recommended by the Timmers. We enjoyed the beer and the atmosphere and were happy we made the stop. We meandered our way back to camp and settled in for a cold night.

In the morning, it was bitter cold…pillows stuck to the inside of the camper, ice flakes cold. And then we discovered our water lines in the trailer were completely frozen, and any water not in an insulated container was frozen. Our olive oil was frozen!! After some discussion, I decided to go for a water and coffee run. No water meant no coffee and that’s no good for anyone. Gus and I hopped in the Jeep and went the few short miles to Truckee with the heat blasting. We had planned on another Jeep tour but hung out in the trailer with the propane heater going monitoring the frozen lines. Everything thawed and thankfully the pump wasn’t affected but the shower head was cracked so we’ll have to replace that soon.

Saturday morning wasn’t as cold and we had tried to insulate the lines as best we could with blankets and towels so we had no issues with freezing. We headed south in the Jeep and went to the start of the Rubicon Trail. Craig has talked about this trail for as long as I can remember. We knew we wouldn’t be able to run the entire 18+ miles with my mildly lifted Jeep with no extras besides a winch. It was a beautiful sunny 55 degree day and we just enjoyed the drive.

We made it 4.3 miles in with no issues and commented on how pretty it was and surprised that it wasn’t more difficult. We hit a big rocky section and got out and walked it. Craig pointed out how he would spot me and direct me through it and maybe this, and maybe that. Now folks, I never intended my pretty little Jeep to be a rock crawler. I’m fine with getting a few scratches here and there, a little dent in the bumper is okay, a scrape somewhere in the nether regions maybe, but this trail is a serious rock crawling trail. Even though we were not even close to those serious sections, this was a glimpse. I told Craig that if he could guide me through with no damage being done, then I would try…he hesitated. We both knew. It broke my heart because I know how much he wanted to keep going, but it doesn’t mean enough to me to say I did a hard section of the trail and end up with my dream Jeep being damaged.

So we called it a day, wandered back off the trail, and went to a really cool bar called BridgeTender in Tahoe City for an excellent lunch and followed that up with a visit to Fifity-fifty Brewery in Truckee. We are in an area that our friends know well and are trying to soak up all the good stuff they suggest.

We really are enjoying this area. We didn’t much enjoy the super hot desert and even though it’s pretty darn cold, we know how to deal with it…layers are key!

Our friend, Kristen, had mentioned one of her favorite restaurants was Sasquatch in Verdi, NV. We were not camping too far away so we asked if they wanted to make the trek up to have dinner. Our awesome friends are always up for a road trip. We are here waiting for them and excited to talk about all the fun stuff we’ve done in the area. We are headed to their house on Tuesday anyway, but Randy will be leaving for the week so it’ll be nice to catch up with them again. And who doesn’t want to go to a restaurant called Sasquatch?

The Timmers are here!