Day 10 Sonoma to Yosemite

  Yosemite National Park, California, United States
Monday, May 26, 2008

We were up and packed and on the road by 9.30 am. El Pueblo was just over $600 for the 4 nights (as we were refunded for the first night, see previous entry). I still have reviews to do for all the paces we stayed and ate, probably won't get them done till we get home though. I double checked the UK Customs allowances online and found that we can still take in 2 bottles of wine each as well as our Spiced Rum so we don't need to drink all 9 bottles in Yosemite - but we can always buy more if we do. I think we will save the more expensive exclusive ones such as the Benziger ones though.

The TomTom took us out to the SE via the 680, 580 and the 99. We stopped at Circuit City to see if I could get a replacement windshield mount for the TomTom as I had managed to break mine. 

We also stopped at Merced at a KFC for food. We saw the wonderful KFC hygiene rules at their best. There was a sign behind the counter about how all staff must wash their hands every hour. One of the girls picked up the initial sheet, took it round everyone to initial and then put it back - no-one washed their hands!

Driving down the Highway wasn't too bad, you are supposed to drive over on the right if you go slower. Most people seemed to drive on the left but as everyone under and overtakes it was like taking part in Wacky Races at time. The more lanes there are the more people spread out all over and zig zag out the traffic. 

Didn't see many police apart from 3 occasions - and they were already at the side of the road after pulling someone over. The 65MPH limit seems to mean drive at 85, the 55MPH limit seems to mean 65-70.

On the road to Yosemite - chucking it!

The weather got cloudier the further South we went, the spits of rain started about Merced. We turned off at Chowchilla onto roads that only had numbers, they muist have run out of names. It was very flat country round here with olive or fruit trees, going on into cow and horse country. We got to our first waypoint, the village of Raymond (had to go there as it's my name!). I was disappointed that there was no signpost with the village name on it for a photo op. but we stopped at the General Store where I bought a Raymond t shirt. A few of the local wildlife seemed to be gathered on the balcony at the front of the store so we didn't hang about too long. They would have been playing banjos if we were in Louisiana. 

Entering Yosemite

The rain was steadily getting heavier as we got to Oakhurst and on through into Yosemite. There was a bit of a queue on the way in, but 5 mins. and $20 later we were through and on our way to Wawona. 

The Wasona Hotel

We arrived at the Wawona Hotel 3.30 pm, the rain was a steady deluge by then. We checked in and got a room in the Washburn which is the block NE of the main building. The room has a rickety old wooden bed and "rustic" furniture. But at least we got an en suite (even if the toilet pan does have a crack in it). It wouldn't look out of place in the Waltons. It has no television and no phone. If you are a light sleeper you will be up early as the blinds do not fully cover the sides of the windows.

The block we were in had private bathrooms, but other blocks had shared facilities. The heating is old cast radiators but they only come on 2 or 3 times during the day. There is an electric blow heater supplied in the room. The walls are quite thin but we were on an end corner however the entrance door to the block was right outside so we heard everyone coming in and out as well. 

PHOTO_ID_R=ponchos---the-way-ahead.jpg]The first stop for us was the store by the hotel where we bought Yosemite ponchos! A very fetching yellow colour but they keep the rain out. We went to the hotel reception and grabbed a couple of chairs to settle down. There were a number of other people sitting there hiding from the rain, playing cards, chequers etc.

I sat with the laptop, Catriona had her book. The winemakers and Sommeliers of Sonoma would have been
horrified as we sat down and poured some Imagery Pino Gris that we had decanted into a Coke bottle into our plastic glasses! Hey, it tasted the same to us anyway :) Unfortunately one bottle only filles 1.5 coke bottles so it was soon gone. We needn't have bothered though as others just plonked the bottle of wine in front of them and drank it - we'll do that tomorrow.

30 minutes later, one bottle of Pino Gris was gone and we ordered a hot peach cobbler and a Moms Apple pie hot teas. About 5.30 we went back to the room, people had started queuing for the dining room as it is a first come, first served basis.

We headed back to our room and watched the Futurama movie on the laptop to kill some time. We went over
for dinner at 8 p.m., the rain had eased and it was just a light shower now.  

We put our names in and sat in the parlour by the fire which had been lit with some big logs. It was about 10 minutes before we were called for our table. Catriona needn't have worried about getting all dressed up for this restaurant. Fine dining it is not. There's no dress code and the food came out so quick it was obviously all prepared in advance. This food is about filling your stomach, not for a dining experience. 

The Wawona Hotel in the wet

We ordered Caesar salad and chickpea and tomato soup. The salad was fine, not as garlicy and with more croutons than the one I had the other day in Sonoma. The soup was in a bowl about the size of a mug, it was very nice, but it would have been even nicer if there had been a lot more! 

Main course was turkey linguine and pot roast beef. The linguine was tasty enough but the plate was stone cold and the whole dish was smothered in oil. The pot roast was more of a stew.

Catriona had a glass of local Pale Ale, I ordered a glass of Geyser Point Cab Sauv "you mean GUYser" said the waiter, no, I said GEEZER, that's how we say it, pffft. 

It was afterwards we also noticed that other tables had been served bread where as our guy hadn't bothered. We were in and out in under an hour. The place is as disappointing as most Tripadvisor reviews say it is. Total price was $84 with a tip I deliberately made low.

We returned to the parlour and ordered coffees. We topped those up with shots out of our hip flask (never
leave home without one!). The table service bar closed at 9.30 pm! There were 3 or 4 other couples still sitting in there. One guy was talking to another couple about how his wife had gone to listen to some audio books. Listening to how he droned on to anyone who would listen, she was probably just glad not have to listen to him.

We were back in our room by 10pm and had a glass of Benziger port.

This is one problem with Yosemite. Yes, its fabulous outdoor scenery, fresh mountain hiking, good for the soul - but there is bugger all to do at night!