Monday morning I text with my friend Ana to meet the old fashion way: agreeing on a location and a time and just be there. It’s because I have no cell service in Yosemite park, so when I drive into the park I have no way of communicating anymore. Fortunately that’s not necessary anyway, because just when I have parked my car at the parking place near the trailhead, Ana comes walking towards me with a big smile on her face. It has been almost exactly a year since we’ve seen each other and it’s great to see her again. While I make a quick breakfast we catch up on life and then we get ready for the hike. I’m lucky, because Ana has been working here lately as a hiking guide, so she can tell me all kinds of interesting things about the park. From time to time she points out mountains and places, tells me what they’re called and how this all came to be. She explains for example that the vertical lines on the granite walls are caused by water and the horizontal ones by magma when these mountains were pushed up from the ground a long time ago. Besides that we also see and hear many beautiful birds and squirrels. We see enormous waterfalls and I have the feeling that this hike shows me a big part of the park. The weather is great, it’s sunshine and blue skies today. Because sometimes we hike in the sun and sometimes in the shade or right by a waterfall the temperature keeps switching and I’m glad Ana told me to bring a few layers with me. Especially my rain jacket turns out to be great when we hike right by the waterfall and get a nice natural shower there. Ana tells me that the last part of the hike is not very known and so we’re the only ones hiking there. It’s so peaceful and beautiful here. Great to spend a day in nature with a friend. Late in the afternoon we’re back at the parking lot and it’s time to say goodbye again. It was only one day together, but surely a great one.
I decide to drive in the direction of Lake Tahoe and see how far I can get today. I follow the scenic route that Ana recommended and it’s beautifully winding through the mountains. Slowly the landscape changes from forest to farm land to snowcapped mountains. It turns out to be quite a drive, I think of about 5-6 hours or so. It’s beautiful around sunset and I keep driving until it’s dark and arrive late in the evening in South Lake Tahoe. That’s quite a big town with a lot of restaurants and stores, but there are signs everywhere that overnight parking is not allowed. I keep driving til I’m at the waterside and when I see a hotel I decide to just wing it and park there for the night. I think I’m not supposed to park there, but I’m so tired now that I can’t keep driving. I go to bed and fall asleep quickly.
In the morning I find a note on my windshield from someone telling me that I was not supposed to have parked there and that I could have been towed. I’m glad they didn’t notice me sleeping in the back of the car and that I can leave without problems. Around Lake Tahoe the gas stations are super expensive (around 6 dollars for a gallon), but I see on the map that about half an hour driving from here the prices are more reasonable. Fortunately I still have enough gas to get there and so I drive early in the morning to that town. Again the road goes through the mountains, but it’s not icy and there aren’t many cars out on the road around 5am. I get to a gas station where the price is $3,50 per gallon and so that saves me a lot of money. I drive further to a Walmart and park my car there for a while until the store opens.
After a week of camping I really long for a bit more comfort like a shower and a bed and so I search for a hotel near Lake Tahoe. I find a beautiful one right at the waterside and book it for two nights. That’ll give me some time to relax and work before I continue the road trip. I also notice that I’m getting a bit restless, because my car has become quite a mess after living in it for a week, so I take some time to clean it up and organize things. After about half an hour it looks great again for future camping.
Then I go into the Walmart to get groceries for two days and drive further to the city of Reno where I saw a Barnes & Noble on the map. Since I have plenty of time today before I can check into the hotel, I could take a little detour. After browsing the book store and getting some books (Sorry Elsa, I bought more books, haha!) I drive back into the direction of the lake. I found a highly reviewed coffee place in the town next to the one of my hotel and there I sit down to enjoy a cappuccino and a cinnamon roll. I do a bit of work and some reading and then get a message from the hotel that I can check in. I drive to the hotel and am happily surprised by how great it is. I had asked for a room on a high floor. They gave me one on the top floor and it has a view of the lake, which is only one minute walking away. They even have a laundry machine, so I make use of that opportunity to get clean clothes. Fortunately I always have a piece of rope with me when I’m camping which I can use for a washing line. So, not much later I have my laundry hanging in my hotel room and I go for a walk by the lake. The grocery store is about half an hour walking, perfect distance for now. I get some beers at the store and when I’m back at the hotel I drive to a pizza place in the next town for dinner. Back at the hotel I find a nice movie to watch (I’m lucky that the previous people haven’t logged out of their YouTube account on the tv) and enjoy the pizza and beer. I already know how I want to end this day: next to the hotel is a Jacuzzi. After a week of camping it feels amazing to sit in a hot jacuzzi with a cold beer. I’m happy to have some relaxing days here before the roadtrip continues.
