2013 Lap around the USA

[john.waters]

Day 53 – Monday 1st July 2013–Crane Flat Campground – Tuolumne Meadows – Tioga Road– Yosemite Village – Glacier Point – Tunnel View - Crane Flat Campground. 191 Miles


We were up by 8am and cooked breakfast before heading down into Yosemite Village. We were to meet some friends there, but with no phone reception at Crane Flat then decided not to come as we had not made contact with them. So we made plans to meet in Los Angeles in a couple of day’s time.

We went for a drive around Yosemite NP instead. We went back and took a drive along Tioga Road for an hour or so before turning around and heading back to the Village and onto Tunnel View before heading out to Glacier Point.
I really thing these two places are the most jaw drop views I have ever seen.
You need to give yourself a slap to the head to see if you are dreaming. A place I will never forget.















In my element.




By late afternoon we arrived back at our camp at Crane Flat and somehow had covered 191 miles in the park. And well and truly ready for bed. I still managed to get the laptop out and have a look at the day’s photos.

Yosemite National Park is also on my long stay list and would love to spend a week or so early in the snow season... Everything looks so muck prettier with a sprinkle of snow. To me anyway.
It was somewhat a sad day as it was our last night camping in the van as tomorrow we would be heading to Los Angeles

[john.waters]

Day 54 – Tuesday 2nd July 2013–Crane Flat Campground - Yosemite National Park – Bakersfield – Tehachapi Rail Loop – Los Angeles – 413 Miles

We woke up to a very hot day. A quick breakfast and sort out what food was left before starting on the huge task of sorting out all of our belongings as well as what we purchased over the last seven and a half weeks.

I could see by the amount in the back that we would need extra luggage. I had earlier o in the trip booked an extra bag for us but somehow it just didn’t look enough.

We left Yosemite NP and our first stop was Wal-Mart in Bakersfield. We only purchased a couple of things and the main one being another suitcase.

We stayed in Tehachapi in 2011 and went out and watched the trains going around the Tehachapi Loop. When the trains reach the top of the mountain they go through the tunnel, and then do a full 360 loop before heading in the other direction.

It’s an amazing sight to see. I spent 17 years with the Railway in Australia so I’m always looking for places like this.
On our last visit we didn’t get to the right place to actually see the train coming out of the tunnel as well as on the full loop. The walk to get there in 100 degree plus temperature was a challenge though, especially up the hills. But well worth the effort, wasn’t it my dear.





By this time in the trip we had managed to get our US currency down so we wouldn’t have too much to exchange before leaving.
When we picked the van up the fuel was on empty so we were told to bring it back the same. I miscalculated and needed more fuel in Tehachapi. I had $12 in quarters left over from the washing machine change so used that to hopefully get enough back to LA.
I set the motel in LA as a destination and let the GPS guide us faultlessly to the front entrance of the Motel. We arrived just on sunset and a fitting end to our road trip.

We managed all the traffic without giving it a second thought. My driving skills had improved and now it was time to go home.

We pulled up at the entrance and greeted by the staff and began unloading all out possessions onto a trolley along with my steel capped boots and new cowboy hat sitting on top. I can only imagine what they were thinking as we pulled more and more bags from the van.

Our van was taken and parked for the night at a cost of $25.00. I would have taken it back to the rental company had it not been closed.
Finally we made it with all our belongings up to the room and sat them on them on the bed. I knew straight away we would need more luggage.
I was soon on the phone to book another 23 kilo of luggage through. Hopefully that would be enough.
The rest of the evening was fairly quit as neither of us wanted to acknowledge the trip was nearly over.

[john.waters]

Day 55 –Wednesday 3rd July 2013 - Los Angeles – 2 Miles.

Up early again as we had to have the van back at Escape Campers by 8.30 am and get back to the motel before our friends arrived.
The trip to the depot only took a few minutes in the early morning traffic. On the way I asked my wife a question.
If we were to keep the van for another month, where would we go from here?
Her reply was, I don’t know.
Mission accomplished.

I don’t think I could have spent anymore time on the road as what we had done. I was not enjoying the driving on the last few days as I normally do. It would have been a different story if we were still out on the road exploring.

But being in Los Angeles I think we felt ready to head home to our family and see the three grandsons again.
The beauty of the internet was we were able to talk to them on Skype and tell them what we were up to.

We dropped the van off and completed the paper work before catching a taxi back to the motel.
We were really pleased with the van and if we were to do it again I would not hesitate using them. It served our purpose and we couldn’t fault the van or the service from Escape Campers.

Back at the motel we met up with some friends who had come down from Fresno for the day.
We did a bit of touring around Los Angeles before finding a nice Italian Café near Venice Beach.
I had been to Venice beach on our last trip but didn’t get to for a walk along the beachfront and markets. I did this time and it was certainly an eye opener.










Before heading back to the motel we found a factory seconds outlet and purchased another suitcase for the trip home.
We spent the next few hours sorting and packing until we had it what we thought was OK. But it still looked like we had too much. There was no way I getting any more luggage.

[john.waters]

Day 56 –Thursday 4ndJuly 2013 - Los Angeles – Flying home.

We had all sorts of plans for our last day in the USA and the 4th of July Celebrations. But by the time it came around we were quite happy to just chill all day.

We slept in until just before checkout time as our flight wasn’t until 9.20pm. Our plan was to leave our luggage at the motel and catch a bus and explore some more of LA.
After dragging our luggage into the foyer and checking out, but instead of a tour bus we decided to take the shuttle bus over to the Airport instead.

It was mid day by the time we arrived at the check in and joined the line waiting for the desk to open. I spotted a set of scales outside the terminal and decided to weigh our entire luggage.
Bag at a time it was weigh and reorganise until I had them all within the desired maximum weight. Even my camera bag and my wife’s carry on were even OK.

Arrival


Departure


Getting through security and customs took a while and we eventually found ourselves in the airport departure lounge where we spent the next eight or so hours just sitting and relaxing while waiting for the flight home.

Most of the time was spent on our laptops either chatting on facebook or sorting through the thousands of photos waiting to sorted and edited once home.
I also purchased a new USA Road Atlas and had a glance at a few places we never made it to.

Our Fourth of July celebrations was watching the fireworks through the big glass window of the airport departure lounge.



We boarded our plane and waved goodbye to the USA as we headed down the runway.

Road Trip America 2013. Done and Dusted.


John & Sandy Waters

To be continued......................................... ...........................................

[Southwest Dave]

Loving the latest updates John.

I'm a country boy at heart and not a lover of the City, but I really enjoyed San Francisco and Alcatraz. Glacier point in Yosemite remains my favourite view of them all. I thought perhaps it was because it was the first of this magnitude on our first ever trip, but maybe not !

Dave.

[Yikes ! That's a lot of luggage. ]

[DonnaR57]

I enjoyed your trip report thoroughly! Thank you for taking the time and effort to put up a beautiful report with gorgeous photos! Like you, we always seem to have another trip in the back of our head while we're taking the current one. It will be interesting to see what you choose for your next one.


Donna

[Mark Sedenquist]

Fabulous trip report. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

So thrilled you managed to get a clear day at the Tehachapi Loop. And you captured a full-length train! If you haven't already seen this photo -- Here's one of the LOOP by RTA Contributor Bruce Jones....

Mark

[john.waters]

I havent quite finished the report and have abit of a summary to add just to finish it off.

Im sorry it took nearly four months to complete. As aways I have another plan on the burner.
Alaska and Canada and a four week motel and car trip on the east coast. Maybe around november one year.
As for luggage it was a lot.My camera gear added a fair bit to it, but I think we visisted too many places and had to buy momentos. Less gear next time.

Thanks
John

[john.waters]

Loving the latest updates John.

I'm a country boy at heart and not a lover of the City, but I really enjoyed San Francisco and Alcatraz. Glacier point in Yosemite remains my favourite view of them all. I thought perhaps it was because it was the first of this magnitude on our first ever trip, but maybe not !

Dave.

[Yikes ! That's a lot of luggage. ]

Yosemite was a favorite of mine too. I like it more with just a bit more snow.Coming from a dry area of Australia I enjoy the snow in the scenerey.

[john.waters]

Fabulous trip report. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

So thrilled you managed to get a clear day at the Tehachapi Loop. And you captured a full-length train! If you haven't already seen this photo -- Here's one of the LOOP by RTA Contributor Bruce Jones....

Mark

Thats a great shot of the loop Mark, a favorite place of mine too. I got a bit lazy toward the end of the report and didnt do much editing.
I would love to have got a few panos but very hard with a moving train. It was very hot so we didnt hang around for another train.




John