Day 29 - Lee Vining, CA to Mountain View, CA

Well, today was an abortive success. We awoke early, though less early than we had been, with the intention of driving into Yosemite Valley to get breakfast at the Ahwahnee Lodge. I've eaten breakfast there before a couple of times, and both times I've indulged in a delicious smoked trout that they serve as part of a bagel and lox dish. But the Ahwahnee was not to be. Here was today's route:


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As I mentioned, the Ahwahnee breakfast was not to be. When we arrived at the entrance station to Yosemite, the ranger informed us that the road linking highway 120, which we were on, to the Yosemite Valley was closed due to fire. A route into the valley was still available, but it required a 175 mile detour that would then also make the remaining drive into the Bay Area longer than it needed to be. At first, we intended to make the detour, but that was because we didn't realize it was so far. The detour would have required us to leave the park, drive for 50 miles west, turn south for 50 miles, and then head back east into the park. We discovered the length of the detour only after we had driven through a significant part of the park. Unfortunately, because of this, we didn't really stop to take any pictures. Disappointed, we decided simply to push on to the Bay Area.

However, before leaving the area, I snapped these two pictures, which show the amount of smoke in the air. Perhaps I can find some solace in that the Valley would not likely have been terribly scenic shrouded in smoke.



Having crossed California, we entered the Bay Area in the early afternoon. Arriving in Mountain View means that the Journey of the Turtle has officially ended.

I traveled a total of 7085 miles in my move and saw some of the best of this country. Stay tuned in the next couple of days because I'm going to post some pictures that I didn't post before, and I have a few JOTT special editions in the pipeline.