Death Valley to Yosemite
7am start. We had our breakfast, coffee and hit the road. We tried to buy a camping permit but the machine wouldn't take our card - unlucky. Looks like we camped for free.
As we drove up and down the mountains in the valley we came across more and more trees - a hint that we were slowly leaving the desert. They were Joshua Trees. Unusual looking trees but it was nice to see so many because we missed the Joshua Tree Park.
Past the trees we were heading into farming country where there was lots of dairy cows. We saw a Coyote running across the road in front of us. Not sure where he had been. Maybe to eat someone's chickens. Out of the country and into Lake Issabella. There was a lot of people out in the boats having some fun. Another spot which looked like it could have been a lovely stop. As we drove down the Kern River Valley it was ever so Green and pretty! At the bottom there was a lot of search and rescue guys and a helicopter in use sign. Turns out some crazy lady jumped out of a moving car, fell down the riverbank and had to be hoisted out with a chopper.
We had planned on a stop at Bakersfield for lunch and to get some groceries before Yosemite. It looked like a nice town when we drove in.
Our GPS knows where to go but gee some times it picks the wronnnnnnng part of town. We did a number of blockies around a suburb which looked like a crystal meth city. Eep let's get out of here everyone is looking at us in our giant rv. GPS just be quiet we are taking the first EXIT!
So lunch never happened at Bakersfield. actually it ended up at maccas Mcfarland. I honestly thought where better to buy Mcdonalds than a store starting with Mc??? yeh it was pretty rough also blahh.
The Walmart was finally found at the next city- Fresno. It was a little better there but the Walmart was undergoing some renovations and the food was on limited supply. Luckily we managed to get enough for a few days.
We arrived at the Mariposa KOA Park around 6pm. Yep a big day behind the wheel. It's quite nice here in the pine tree forest. We are on the side of a hill. It's cool but not freezing. The ladies are friendly at the store. They sell chocolate fudge, pizza and ice cream - amongst the other usual store stuff.
There is a bus that commutes to the Yosemite National Park which we plan on catching tomorrow and the fellow next door (from Washington State) says snow is forecast for Yosemite overnight so we will see if the weatherman is correct. .