All Good Things Must Come to an End

July 19

Friday

We were up and at 'em early this morning. 6:00 AM is a little dark down in the valley when you're surrounded by these mountains. It took a little longer to load the car since we had to protect our car and food from those hungry bears. We then had a breakfast of champions.....chocolate milk and a chocolate chip Clif Bar, It was sad to leave this beautiful sanctuary created by God but, we must move on.

We left Yosemite from the east side. We passed through Tuoloume Meadows. It was such a lovely, peaceful drive with lakes, creeks and wildlife. George and I got a great surprise going down Hwy 140. We both looked at the same time and saw a large bear standing in the middle of the highway. He was about a 1/4 mile away. He then loped off the road into the brush.

Yesterday our bus driver told George about a neat place to visit. It is the town of Body. Oh I might mention it is a ghost town. It is a state park. In the MID 1800's it was the site of a gold strike and part of the gold rush. At one time the population  swelled to 10,000 residents. After the gold tapped out, the people moved out too. Fires at different times took  out some of the buildings and the remaining buildings sat untended for quite a while. In later years, it became a state park. It was really intriguing to go there. Things were left in place wherever they were. Broken wheelbarrows, old cars, organ in the church, caskets at the funeral home, fire engines in fire house. It's like people just disappeared.

I purchased a book, "The Story of Bodie," and I can't wait to read it. After this trip, I will need a bookcase for all my books. I'm getting books instead of t-shirts. I was really excited yesterday to find there was a book entitled "Death at Yosemite." It will go on my shelf with "Death in the Grand Canyon" and "Death at Yellowstone." I know I'm a little morbid but, I look at it as a way to prepare myself not to do something stupid like many victims did.

We arrived in Mammoth Lake, CA around 4:00 PM.  Our motel is directly across from the ski slopes and the lifts. Not too much happening on the slopes now. I can imagine what it's like in the winter with all the snow.