You, me and Sally makes three. day 5. Monday 9th September. Holdups, highways and hospitality

tiggr · 13 Feb 14, 01:10 PM

Today was our first move and we were on our way to Yosemite. Fewer photos today as most of the journey was on various highways. Our car pick up time was 10am so no need to hurry. We naively thought that if we got there too early they wouldn�t give us the car before the allotted time. We took our time over breakfast and grabbed a couple of cinnamon buns and two bananas for later. We left the hotel at 9:30 and got a taxi right at the door for the 10 min ride to O�Farrell Street and the Alamo pick up. Ten minutes later we pulled up and my heart sank when I saw the enormous queue of people and suitcases winding down the block.

All the other offices, Dollar, Thrifty and Hertz had small queues but the queue for Alamo was staggering! To cut a long and boring story short, we joined the queue at around 9:45 and finally reached the desk inside at just before twelve!

There were five desks in operation most of the time except for a period of around 45 mins when a lady got into some sore of argument with the desk clerk and then the manager and she was not a happy bunny. I was observing this all through the window from the street so don�t know what it was all about but it passed a bit of time speculating!
It actually only took a few minutes for us to complete the paperwork with no trying to sell us any extras at all. (It was the same clerk who had been with the angry lady and I think she had had enough). I did ask if it was like this every day or was it because it was a Monday but she said no, it was the same every day so if you are picking up your car from O�Farrell Street leave yourself plenty of time!

Round the corner and into the garage we went and found the car.( it was bigger than we had expected, a Dodge Journey I think) and loaded up. We both by now needed the restroom so we trooped back up to the street and went into the Hilton Hotel, trying to look as if we were residents,

where we located some lovely restrooms just off the lobby. Back across the street and back to the garage we went. We were really getting quite tetchy by now as we just wanted to be on our way but every time we programmed the Sat nav for some reason or other she ( Sat Nav Sally from now on) , tried to send us to Chicago! Paul had already loaded our route out of San Francisco on to Google maps so using that, off we went. It was now nearly 1pm! The route to the Bay Bridge was really very easy and straight forward and when we had crossed the bridge

we began to relax a little as Paul got used to the car. We continued to use our own Google map and also some written instructions that I had downloaded.

The fire in Yosemite was still burning at this point but they had contained around 80% of it and had reopened the 120 which was the route we had chosen to go. We made good progress, only taking one wrong exit of the freeway which we soon rectified. However our plan to arrive at the park in the early afternoon had been well and truly scuppered by the wait at Alamo so we decided to wait and decide what to do when we got there. We managed to programme Sally on route and finally got her to accept we were going to Yosemite and not Chicago. Paul reckons it was because we were in an underground garage and there was no signal maybe Chicago was the default destination on the Sat Nav?

Somewhere around 3 I needed another restroom stop. We were passing through Oakdale at this point so we pulled into the car park of a large supermarket and went in search of the loos. We were directed through swing doors out the back to the huge storage area with forklift trucks driving around and staff loading pallets. Gosh you wouldn�t find this happening in the UK.

Anyway I felt like we should purchase something so off we went to find some wine. One bottle of wine later and we sat in the car and had, no not the wine! but our cinnamon buns, bananas and some crisps. And so suitably refreshed we continued on our merry way.

Soon we were �heading into the foot hills and approaching historic Gold country�, at least that�s what it said in the blurb I had downloaded! Apparently there are plenty of diversions along the way including California�s longest covered bridge at Knights Ferry. Unfortunately we didn�t have the time for these little diversions and we drove on climbing higher and higher on the 120.

We had also noticed lots of banners and boards on the roadside along the way thanking the fire fighters for every thing they were doing which I thought was great.
Now I must admit, if I am honest, I didn�t really enjoy these mountain roads. Paul is an excellent driver and the twists and turns and steep gradients didn�t faze him one bit but as I was sitting on the �wrong side� of the car, I was sometimes looking over the precipice so to speak and coming down some of those gradients just before a sharp left hand turn it felt like you were going to continue over the edge! Paul kept urging me to admire the view which I did a few times but I felt strangely guilty for admiring the scenery while he had to concentrate on the driving. Anyway higher and higher we went and I wondered if the road would ever start coming down again. At last we seemed to be sort of at the top and we drove through Big oak Flat and Groveland. On my original plan I had wanted to stop for something to eat here at �The Iron Door Saloon� which bills itself as the oldest continuously operating saloon in California! Another one of those �oldest� claims. I wonder how many of them are actually true? We still had a way to go so I snapped a photo as we drove past, needless to say the photo was not great!

We missed a fantastic view point called �The rim of the world� It was on the other side of the road and by the time we realised what it was, it was too late to stop. We reached the Big Oak Flat entrance to the park at just after 5.

It had taken us about four hours with a few short stops along the way. We had already made the decision that there was no point going on to the valley visitor centre today so we took our time driving down admiring the scenery until we came to a view point where we got our first view of Yosemite proper.

We pulled over and got out to stretch our legs and marvel at the surroundings. It was a little hazy and as others have said photos just don�t do this beautiful place justice but we took our fair share anyway! There was a young couple in an old beat up camper van and the girl was coking some dinner on an old primus stove sitting on a little wall surrounded by all this magnificence. I don�t know if they were on a road trip or a weekender I just remember thinking how lucky they were to be able to do something like that.

After sitting just taking it all in for a little while we headed on and soon made a turn on to the 140 El Portal Road. We were heading for The Blue Butterfly Inn in the grounds of Yosemite View Lodge. Having driven round the car park once we spied it sitting nestled back a little way behind the Pizza place. We parked our big vehicle in the rather small parking lot out front and rang the bell. We were very warmly welcomed by the owners Liz, a retired teacher and Ron, a retired mechanic.

After a chat we were shown to our room on the ground floor.

A quick unpack and we made our way to the huge deck which sat just above the Merced River at the back of the house.

It was absolutely beautiful and the deck was filled with dozens of humming birds feeding from the nectar feeders which were hanging at either end of the deck.

We were greeted by tea (served in a beautiful china teaset ) and home made cookies! I think Liz is a secret anglophile!

(They have visited the UK numerous times). We sat and relaxed for over an hour in the beautiful surroundings chatting with our hosts who were both very knowledgeable about all things Yosemite, especially Ron who had been a mountain climber for many years. We learned that the fire was now contained to the upper reaches of Hetch Hetchey, Tioga road was still closed but all other parts of the park were open although the air was still a bit hazy and depending what way the wind was blowing you could sometimes smell the smoke. They told us all about the local wild life including a bear who liked to visit the bank on the other side of the river. Unfortunately we never got to see him but at one point an osprey flew right past us searching the river for trout which we could see swimming in the shallows as the water levels were very low. I could just have sat there all evening but we were getting hungry and Liz said the pizza place next door and the restaurant which were both part of the Yosemite View Hotel were pretty good so we walked next door to the pizza place and shared a make your own pizza,( pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms and black olives), two beers and two large glasses of wine and the bill came to $42. We sat enjoying our drinks for a little while before walking back and climbing into the large comfy bed where it was lights out right away ready for our full day in the park.

Tomorrow: High, low and all around we go!

abiknox · 15 Feb 14, 10:16 PM

Arrgh! Nightmare to hear about the Alamo car hire! That's where we are picking up from! Not an ideal way to spend hours of you much anticipated holiday!

Other than that the day sounds lovely, we are staying at the Yosemite view lodge so will probably be giving the pizza place a go!

**ali-s** · 16 Feb 14, 11:09 AM

Would have liked to visit Yosemite on our trip , oh well , a reason to go back.

tiggr · 16 Feb 14, 03:45 PM

Originally Posted by abiknox

Arrgh! Nightmare to hear about the Alamo car hire! That's where we are picking up from! Not an ideal way to spend hours of you much anticipated holiday!

Other than that the day sounds lovely, we are staying at the Yosemite view lodge so will probably be giving the pizza place a go!

All I can say is get there early! Hopefully you will have better luck than us.

The pizza place is fine very basic but great pizza! The restaurant was pretty good too. They are the only places to eat at the lodge unless you eat in the park.
Heather

k4ti3-x · 16 Feb 14, 08:29 PM

What a shame about the car! We are picking ours up from Alamo in SF but ours is from bush street but I think we will head earlier just in case! Looking forward to reading mire

florida girl · 19 Feb 14, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by ali-s

Would have liked to visit Yosemite on our trip , oh well , a reason to go back.

Same here

but not sure it was the right time of year to go.

We encountered similar queues at O,Farrell Street too,remember waiting in line and thinking "hope we don't get him" why do they feel the need to try to sell you everything going when all you want is to get your vehicle and go.

lovedisney89 · 19 Feb 14, 05:43 PM

Yosemite looks stunning. No time to fit it in our september trip though

Thanks for sharing

denthefrog · 21 Feb 14, 01:19 PM

Fabulous finish compared to the stressful start...I would so love to go to Yosemite..

**Twentyyears** · 24 Feb 14, 10:29 PM

Love Yosemite too!

13 Feb 14, 01:10 PM	#1
	13 Feb 14, 01:10 PM tiggr Excited about Disney
tiggr Excited about Disney Join Date: Aug 02	You, me and Sally makes three. day 5. Monday 9th September. Holdups, highways and hospitality Today was our first move and we were on our way to Yosemite. Fewer photos today as most of the journey was on various highways. Our car pick up time was 10am so no need to hurry. We naively thought that if we got there too early they wouldn�t give us the car before the allotted time. We took our time over breakfast and grabbed a couple of cinnamon buns and two bananas for later. We left the hotel at 9:30 and got a taxi right at the door for the 10 min ride to O�Farrell Street and the Alamo pick up. Ten minutes later we pulled up and my heart sank when I saw the enormous queue of people and suitcases winding down the block. All the other offices, Dollar, Thrifty and Hertz had small queues but the queue for Alamo was staggering! To cut a long and boring story short, we joined the queue at around 9:45 and finally reached the desk inside at just before twelve! There were five desks in operation most of the time except for a period of around 45 mins when a lady got into some sore of argument with the desk clerk and then the manager and she was not a happy bunny. I was observing this all through the window from the street so don�t know what it was all about but it passed a bit of time speculating! It actually only took a few minutes for us to complete the paperwork with no trying to sell us any extras at all. (It was the same clerk who had been with the angry lady and I think she had had enough). I did ask if it was like this every day or was it because it was a Monday but she said no, it was the same every day so if you are picking up your car from O�Farrell Street leave yourself plenty of time! Round the corner and into the garage we went and found the car.( it was bigger than we had expected, a Dodge Journey I think) and loaded up. We both by now needed the restroom so we trooped back up to the street and went into the Hilton Hotel, trying to look as if we were residents, where we located some lovely restrooms just off the lobby. Back across the street and back to the garage we went. We were really getting quite tetchy by now as we just wanted to be on our way but every time we programmed the Sat nav for some reason or other she ( Sat Nav Sally from now on) , tried to send us to Chicago! Paul had already loaded our route out of San Francisco on to Google maps so using that, off we went. It was now nearly 1pm! The route to the Bay Bridge was really very easy and straight forward and when we had crossed the bridge we began to relax a little as Paul got used to the car. We continued to use our own Google map and also some written instructions that I had downloaded. The fire in Yosemite was still burning at this point but they had contained around 80% of it and had reopened the 120 which was the route we had chosen to go. We made good progress, only taking one wrong exit of the freeway which we soon rectified. However our plan to arrive at the park in the early afternoon had been well and truly scuppered by the wait at Alamo so we decided to wait and decide what to do when we got there. We managed to programme Sally on route and finally got her to accept we were going to Yosemite and not Chicago. Paul reckons it was because we were in an underground garage and there was no signal maybe Chicago was the default destination on the Sat Nav? Somewhere around 3 I needed another restroom stop. We were passing through Oakdale at this point so we pulled into the car park of a large supermarket and went in search of the loos. We were directed through swing doors out the back to the huge storage area with forklift trucks driving around and staff loading pallets. Gosh you wouldn�t find this happening in the UK. Anyway I felt like we should purchase something so off we went to find some wine. One bottle of wine later and we sat in the car and had, no not the wine! but our cinnamon buns, bananas and some crisps. And so suitably refreshed we continued on our merry way. Soon we were �heading into the foot hills and approaching historic Gold country�, at least that�s what it said in the blurb I had downloaded! Apparently there are plenty of diversions along the way including California�s longest covered bridge at Knights Ferry. Unfortunately we didn�t have the time for these little diversions and we drove on climbing higher and higher on the 120. We had also noticed lots of banners and boards on the roadside along the way thanking the fire fighters for every thing they were doing which I thought was great. Now I must admit, if I am honest, I didn�t really enjoy these mountain roads. Paul is an excellent driver and the twists and turns and steep gradients didn�t faze him one bit but as I was sitting on the �wrong side� of the car, I was sometimes looking over the precipice so to speak and coming down some of those gradients just before a sharp left hand turn it felt like you were going to continue over the edge! Paul kept urging me to admire the view which I did a few times but I felt strangely guilty for admiring the scenery while he had to concentrate on the driving. Anyway higher and higher we went and I wondered if the road would ever start coming down again. At last we seemed to be sort of at the top and we drove through Big oak Flat and Groveland. On my original plan I had wanted to stop for something to eat here at �The Iron Door Saloon� which bills itself as the oldest continuously operating saloon in California! Another one of those �oldest� claims. I wonder how many of them are actually true? We still had a way to go so I snapped a photo as we drove past, needless to say the photo was not great! We missed a fantastic view point called �The rim of the world� It was on the other side of the road and by the time we realised what it was, it was too late to stop. We reached the Big Oak Flat entrance to the park at just after 5. It had taken us about four hours with a few short stops along the way. We had already made the decision that there was no point going on to the valley visitor centre today so we took our time driving down admiring the scenery until we came to a view point where we got our first view of Yosemite proper. We pulled over and got out to stretch our legs and marvel at the surroundings. It was a little hazy and as others have said photos just don�t do this beautiful place justice but we took our fair share anyway! There was a young couple in an old beat up camper van and the girl was coking some dinner on an old primus stove sitting on a little wall surrounded by all this magnificence. I don�t know if they were on a road trip or a weekender I just remember thinking how lucky they were to be able to do something like that. After sitting just taking it all in for a little while we headed on and soon made a turn on to the 140 El Portal Road. We were heading for The Blue Butterfly Inn in the grounds of Yosemite View Lodge. Having driven round the car park once we spied it sitting nestled back a little way behind the Pizza place. We parked our big vehicle in the rather small parking lot out front and rang the bell. We were very warmly welcomed by the owners Liz, a retired teacher and Ron, a retired mechanic. After a chat we were shown to our room on the ground floor. A quick unpack and we made our way to the huge deck which sat just above the Merced River at the back of the house. It was absolutely beautiful and the deck was filled with dozens of humming birds feeding from the nectar feeders which were hanging at either end of the deck. We were greeted by tea (served in a beautiful china teaset ) and home made cookies! I think Liz is a secret anglophile! (They have visited the UK numerous times). We sat and relaxed for over an hour in the beautiful surroundings chatting with our hosts who were both very knowledgeable about all things Yosemite, especially Ron who had been a mountain climber for many years. We learned that the fire was now contained to the upper reaches of Hetch Hetchey, Tioga road was still closed but all other parts of the park were open although the air was still a bit hazy and depending what way the wind was blowing you could sometimes smell the smoke. They told us all about the local wild life including a bear who liked to visit the bank on the other side of the river. Unfortunately we never got to see him but at one point an osprey flew right past us searching the river for trout which we could see swimming in the shallows as the water levels were very low. I could just have sat there all evening but we were getting hungry and Liz said the pizza place next door and the restaurant which were both part of the Yosemite View Hotel were pretty good so we walked next door to the pizza place and shared a make your own pizza,( pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms and black olives), two beers and two large glasses of wine and the bill came to $42. We sat enjoying our drinks for a little while before walking back and climbing into the large comfy bed where it was lights out right away ready for our full day in the park. Tomorrow: High, low and all around we go! __________________