Stony Creek Campground to KOA West Yosemite/Mariposa - 8/10/16
We left Stony Creek Campground this morning ... It was 37 degrees when we left. Paul turned on the seat warmer in Fritz just to warm himself as we drove. We definitely found the "cool" in a summer vacation.
We checked into KOA West Yosemite/Mariposa ... About 22 miles from the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite National Park (west entrance). We are trying out KOA campgrounds to get a sense of their utility as a campground option when the campgrounds in national parks are not available ... This is particularly important since most of the national park campgrounds do not have electrical, water and/or sewer connections. We can "dry camp" (run off of our own battery power and our water storage and black/gray water storage tanks) for four to five days (max), but then we need to connect to recharge, refill and evacuate. KOA seems to have a fairly standardized "product" with predictable services ... But a bit crowded, a bit further away than we'd prefer and a bit structured.
However, we are in the midst of a veritable United Nations of fellow campers ... With almost all of the campers in this KOA campground being international visitors renting an RV for their summer American vacation to the iconic national parks/world heritage sites in the western United States. It is a fascinating melange of languages, customs, and different ways to camp (a German father and teenage son having quite a conflict on how to connect the water hose ... When I returned later, the cable television was connected, but not the water. An Asian family gathered around four charcoal briquettes in a grill trying to cook dinner ... Finally the grandmother collected twigs to build a fire in a grill ... Ignoring all of the fire restriction signs. Another German father and sons trying to decipher the difference between the washers and the dryers in the laundry room ... Not wanting to return to the family camper without having washed their clothes. An Italian family passionately discussing something that was a complete mystery to me ... I think that it might have been the appropriate way to back up the RV. And everyone using so much lighter fluid to get their charcoal grills going for an "American dinner" that the air reeks of lighter fluid ... Even adding more lighter fluid to already raging fires.). I'd love to have an "app" that takes a sample of the spoken language and gives back the language being spoken. We can guess the major European language groups, but there is quite an array of visitors to our country taking on the challenges of navigating our highways, byways, national parks, rental RVs and campgrounds ... We have challenges at times and we are a part of this culture ... I can only salute the many visitors who are dedicated to exploring our lands ...
2 comments:
What a fascinating set of observations about the international attraction of our national parks. If only the US Congress shared this viewpoint and restored reasonable funding for the NPS.
I can hardly wait for your posts after you enter Yosemite. I hope there is enough water this year to the falls to be flowing. Take the trail up to the top of Yosemite Falls, but please do not venture off the trail onto the very smooth and mist slippery set of rocks at the top of the falls! Spend your retirement savings on dinner at the Awhaneee Hotel...
We're all for restoring funding for the NPS ... Such gems in the American landscape deserve support as do the exceptionally hard-working and dedicated staff of the NPS. Another testament to climate change and the impact of drought ... There was no water in the Yosemite Creek and no waterfalls, lower or upper, at Yosemite Falls. Delaware North, the former concessionaire for Yosemite National Park and other national parks, copyrighted the names of iconic lodges, restaurants and campgrounds. When Delaware North lost the concession for Yosemite, the company took all of the names, including the Awahanee Hotel ... All of the names have been changed. It is now the Majestic Hotel ... And, unfortunately for us, too crowded to get a reservation (frankly, too crowded to even get on a shuttle to go to the hotel ... We're loving our parks to death).
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