The other day I gave some hints as to where I took my birthday/writing retreat. I was at the Yosemite Bug, a hostel and “rustic resort” about a 22 mile drive from Yosemite. The rustic resort had a great cafe/restaurant where you can hang out for hours on end, eating and/or drinking. There were a bunch of other laptop folks spending as much time as I did in there.

The grossest thing about the place was the common kitchen for the hostel. People did NOT clean up after themselves, so I was greeted by crusty food caked on dishes and the one decent pot I wanted to use, and an ant colony looking to sustain themselves for the winter from counter top crumbs. The fridge was smelly from aged food–I recommended baking soda to the front desk. Way bummer.

This was my tent cabin for the last four nights at the Yosemite Bug. T’was small but a space to call my own. The only spooky time was early this morning when I heard a sound that could have been some large animal (I was thinking a Bear!) and even worse, the reminder that I had a half eaten chocolate bar in the tent. The canvas seemed really thin at that point. Happily, I escaped with chocolate.

and the inside:

Yesterday I went to Yosemite. The way-finding signs were quite prolific. I thought this was a very clever combining of services:

To get people out of their cars to reduce pollution, they bus people around in big hybrid buses. They advised hikers not to take this mode of transportation, I guess the buses aren’t focused on trailheads.

More signs. No feeding the deer while they are doing their duty at the fire hydrant. And in case you missed the parking complex, never fear, the signs will get you there.

Then there were these folks:

who were painting this view:

[Side note: Must break in here to say that these photos were all taken with my little Palm Zire72 and while I'm not entering any photo competitions with them, my little PDA did A-OK in my book. On my s**t list, however, is my Nikon, maker of my recently-gone-kerplutz-for-no-apparent-reason digital camera.]

Mark, close your eyes for this next photo. It’s a (gasp!!) black oak:

I went for a walk and boulder scramble to get to the lower falls. This picture was apparently taken before I realized the photo setting on my little palm pilot was on low-light incandescent, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to get it back to natural lighting. I’m still not sure what I hit to get it back to that setting (all the above photos were with the natural light setting).

Not much water coming down, you probably can’t even see it!

At the base of the falls

and another which triggered the following thoughts: Anyone who has done a bit of traveling in their life or lived in a touristy kind of place must have wondered at some point, “How many photos am I in around the world?” Having spent considerable time in Europe, the U.S. National Park system, & Santa Barbara–all international destinations, I’m probably in the background of hundreds (could it be thousands?) of pictures that will never be looked at again!

And finally, the beautiful trees. Had to get two shots to get from base to the tops.

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