"And I love Yosemite, I love you land of sunshine..." 279 miles

"You wanna go pee pee or potty?" said the father of a small child in the restroom of "Nicelys" Diner/Cocktail lounge/Laundromat (multitasking) in Lee Vining. He then started to wash his hands. Something I had been attempting to do but was unable to get the taps to work. "Just pull and turn" he said. "So that is why you rule the world?" I replied..."you can do stuff we can't!" He looked for a moment and then started to laugh.

As I filled up with fuel at the petrol station across the street a group of old men had gathered at the workshop to talk. "they meet here everyday to shoot the breeze" said the pump attendant. "nice place to be" said I. "Ok if you like being poor" he replied. Obvious when you think of it. Tiny community no jobs.

Driving up through the park it was sensory overload time. The sights the smells the wildlife (one dead deer, lot of dragon flies, no bears). The guide book says "don't approach wildlife" like I am going to saunter up to a grizzly! Eventually ended up in a small town called Visalia. The motel receptionist who's eyeshadow matched her top told me all the bars were up on "Brubaker". I walked for blocks and even asked in a Chinese restaurant. No one had heard of it. Ended up in a bar/restaurant called "Crawddadys". Met a bloke who was a jazz drummer who asked me; "does anyone like us?"



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"And you played without a care but not up in the High Sierra" 176 miles

All the things you read about Casino gambling are true. I lost track of time. One minute I was checking in to my room in a casino hotel the next it was the following morning.

In between times I took in a comedy show. "Ladeez and genlemen, please welcome from England Mr Joel Sanders" - all this way to watch a British comic? Main event was "cowboy comedian" Kip Attaway who did jokes and bawdy songs and had props like hats and sang with helium. This was more like it! I enjoyed him, as did the mainly silver haired audience who didn't bat an eyelid as he sang songs such as "How Can I Tell You I Love You When You're Sitting On My Face? "Paris Hilton Is A Million Dollar Ho!".

After that it was time for gambling ... oddly enough wandering through the casinos and seeing people grimly staring at slot machines, or watching the turn of a card without any semblance of enjoyment on their faces put me right off. That, and my inherent meanness and lack of understanding of games of chance. So I decided to wander round and watch instead.

Nothing gets in the way of the gambling. All the bar tops have machines let into them so you can't have a drink without there being the opportunity to lose a few dollars.

Police are everywhere, as you would expect when there are people staggering around with large amounts of cash on them. In one bar a man was sitting handcuffed on the floor as security waited for the cops to turn up. Seemingly oblivious, the punters played the slots around him. In another casino a soul band were doing some excellent covers to an audience of about 12 people. - a seemingly thankless task, but, like true professionals, they gave it their all. A few more beers and it is was 3am and I was eating again ..... damn!

Later that morning I got my car back from valet parking (odd feeling paying someone $3 to drive away in your vehicle) and headed for Yosemite.

I took the scenic route round the southern end of Lake Tahoe. The sun was scorching, but it got cooler the higher I climbed into the mountains. The views just get more spectacular and the smell of the pine forest has now been joined by that of sagebrush. Just over the summit, Lake Mono came into view which was jaw dropping. Headed down into the basin and am now holed up in a little motel which smells of cinnamon and coffee as it has a coffee shop attached in the small town of Lee Vining.

Tomorrow I am going to tackle Yosemite. I can see the snow capped mountains from my room as I type.


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