Finally made it.

Finally made it to Yosemite, well that’s not strictly true as I am staying in the Yosemite Westgate lodge which is about as near as you can stay without going to the accommodation offerings in the park itself. 

Left Reno in bright sunshine and very warm weather. I planned to cash a couple of traveller’s cheques in Reno before ending up in the more remote area tonight. The Wells Fargo cashier and supervisor couldn’t help (which was totally different to the very helpful one in Seattle last week) as they claimed they couldn’t cash them! I then tried a branch of US Bank and they could do so but with  a $5 charge and a lot of data entry on their part! Maybe it is a regulation in Nevada? The Wells Fargo supervisor suggested I tried cashing them in a casino, but I declined that idea.

Once on the road it was back up into the mountains and onto to Lake Tahoe. This is a huge lake high in the Sierra Nevada mountains and straddles the border between Nevada and California.

Lake Tahoe

Stopped off to take some shots of the blue water and sky then drove along the east shore and stopped as South Tahoe to stock up at Safeway for some food to keep in the fridge at the lodge. I also bought a made to order sandwich (so many questions for one sandwich!) to eat by the road later on.
The roads went ever higher and past a lot of the facilities used by skiers and snowboarders in the winter. The markers along the road side, to show the route in heavy snow, were a good twelve feet high in places.

I forgot to mention in yesterday's entry that on the long straight roads into Reno there was a strong wind blowing across the road and bringing with it real life tumble weed! At first I thought it was an animal running across but no, it was bona fide tumble weed.

I stopped at a quiet spot above a fast flowing river to eat my sandwich and take in the view then pushed on to my final destination.

Lunchtime view

It was a bit of a concern that on one of the hairpin bends a little earlier there was a warning of an accident and a tow truck with a taut cable stretching over the edge, presumably to retrieve a stricken car. The road was quite narrow in places and there were very few barriers - concentration was required.

I filled up the car in a small gas station well before Yosemite as there was not likely to be much in the vicinity of the park. I chatted with the cashier and asked whether they would have accepted traveller’s cheques and she replied “sure, no problem” so maybe it was a Nevada state thing that caused the issue this morning.
The last stretch had another tortuous ascent before levelling out and running into Buck Meadows which is where I am based for the next three nights. It is quite a relief to be able to settle in for a few days after the one night stops I have been doing since last Wednesday.

The Westgate lodge  consists of six two storey buildings each with about 10 rooms apart from the reception building. They all look into a central area that houses a pool and hot tub plus a children’s play area. All very peaceful apart from the insects singing in the trees! There should be a good clear sky too as there is very little else around here.

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