We woke up, ate breakfast and got on the road. We are not early risers and Kenji's bed has to be converted to a table before we can eat breakfast, so even when we really try to get up early and eat quickly, we don't really get on the road until 10am. We'll probably need to adjust things when the kids are back in school next week (this week is midwinter break) and Sonya has to start class at 8:30, but at least by then we'll be in Mountain time.
Michael now has hotwiring the RV down, and the generator is running smoothly. The only weirdness with the generator is now you can turn it on easily, but can't turn it off without going outside. Kind of annoying, but at least it works. Probably an electrical issue Michael can fix, but it's trudging along well enough, and will deal with all this stuff when we're stopped.
We had a blissfully uneventful drive on a straight road to the Mariposa Fairgrounds, near where my best friend Anita lives. With the pandemic making travel difficult, I haven't seen her in so long that neither of us had yet met each other's now not-so-new partners, and our kids have grown up so much! We met up for a socially distant picnic Shabbat dinner at the fairgrounds and caught up. The weather here is lovely and warm, a welcome relief after all the snow, rain, and wind, and perfect for a nighttime picnic.
Mariposa's claim to fame is that it is the "Gateway to Yosemite", but we won't be able to see Yosemite on this trip. California is massively restricting entry into national parks during covid, and there is currently no camping allowed, only one entrance open, and only 350 day-use entries allowed per day. To get the day-use entry passes, you have to go to a website at exactly 8am two days before and try to sign up for them while thousands of other people are doing the same thing. Both Anita and I have tried to get day-use passes three days in a row, and we have both failed. It's worse than trying to get Hamilton tickets when they release them on Ticketmaster! Apparently this is some special time of year when the sun shines on Yosemite Falls in a way that makes it look like it's on fire, which sounds amazing, but also makes it especially difficult to get in because everyone wants to see it.
Today's route:
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