Day 3 To the interior, doorstep of Yosemite.

I didn’t have a lot of sites to see today, it was all about getting over to the east side of Yosemite National Park, to get ready for tomorrow. I am going to spend my blog time talking about the difference in the people and masks requirements in California.

Last night I went to dinner at a recommended restaurant in the harbor area of Fort Bragg. The restaurant was busy, but I got a very strange vibe there, a marked difference from the friendly people in Oregon. There was just something off at this restaurant.  It’s probably not a fair review, after all the Holiday Inn Express I stayed at was new and nice, the guidebooks all call Fort Lee Charming, but last night, sitting at the bar, it was just strange.  The elderly lady next to me at the bar, who was a regular, had no interest in talking to me, she was more interested in asking the bartender where her order was. The guy next to her called the bartender over and asked if they could step away from the bar, I could still hear and he was complaining that every time he comes to this restaurant, he is charged for 2 martinis, and he should only be charged for 1 and ½.  Another diner approached the bar and said she ordered Pepsi and got Dr. Pepper. I just couldn’t figure out why the vibe was so different, the landscape looked like Oregon, the town was the same size, it was just different.  

Tonight, in another small town in California but on the eastern side, I ate at the only choice in town, a small diner playing Elvis and other 50’s music, very relaxed and I heard no one complaining about anything.

My mask report is all over the place. Last night in Fort Bragg, all the places had a mask mandate, and today an hour outside of town I stopped at a convince store for coffee and even though the sign said masks were required, nobody inside was wearing. I asked the clerk, and she said the manager did not require them.  Further east, I stopped for lunch to meet an old friend that I worked with 20 years ago at Intel.  This town, Folsom, near the state capital of Sacramento with lots of upscale restaurants and shops, no mask requirements in site.  Here tonight in this very small town of Lee Vining, back to mask requirements everywhere.  I can’t figure it out, I just walk around with my mask in my pocket and try to do, what I think is right.

Finally, a note on my drive today, I had a little bit of everything. Going east from the coast, I went back over the mountains I crossed yesterday, tight turns, logging trucks and impressive forests. Once over the mountain I was in agriculture country, looked like almond and olive trees. Continuing east, it was over the Sierra Nevada’s though the area impacted by the recent Caldor fire, south of Lake Tahoe. From there I looped through Nevada, more high plains but still with some recent fire damage and even some snow on the side of the road, into the town before Yosemite.  Pictures below are from the restaurant last night and my approach into town tonight and from my hotel.

Beer: Yosemite Pale Ale - Mammoth Brewing

Book on Tape: Started American Dirt

Song:  Came on today - and I like this song - I Lived One Republic