Last Day

8/14/16

Dear H-,

How is your weekend going? I hope you are getting to do something fun.

My vacation is almost over. Right now, I am staying with some friends in a cabin in a town called Oakhurst in California. Oakhurst is south of Yosemite National Park. I've stayed the last two nights in this cabin, and today I will be making the last part of my journey home.

While here, I've been able to spend time with old friends. I've made a few new friends as well. There are 16 people staying in this cabin, so you can imagine how crowded it is!

Yesterday, all of us went to Bass Lake.  Most of the people in my group went swimming in the lake, but I didn't! I don't like cold water, so instead, I wrote letters to my students!

After hanging out at the lake, we all came back to the cabin where pretty much everyone went down to a waterfall that is near the cabin. Unfortunately, I had tried to hike down to the waterfall the previous day, but I had fallen and scraped up my toe pretty bad. I was not feeling so good about hiking down again, ,so I stayed at the cabin and watched the Olympics. My afternoon was great! It was quiet and comfortable in the cabin. 

Now, it is the morning of the last day of my trip. Everyone is getting ready to go. Today, all I have to do is make it from here to the Bay Area. It's been a great trip!

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for session.

Your teacher,

Elaina

P.S. On the way home, I made one last stop at the quirky Casa de Fruta. It's a hotel, restaurant, fruit stand, gas station ,candy store, tourist train, carousel, antique farming equipment location, and more, all in one stop. 

Devil's Postpile and Yosemite

8/13/2016

Dear I-,

How are you? I got your letter. I haven't played Pokemon Go, mostly because my little brothers really liked Pokemon when it first became popular years ago. I wasn't interested in POkemon then because they were. Now, I guess that old idea is still stuck in my head! It sounds like you've been having a good time in Tokyo.

Last night, I stayed in a city called Tonopah, Nevada. This town was a gold mining town in the early 1900s. This morning, I got the chance to explore the town. I walked through the cemetery that was used from 1901-1911. I also walked in the downtown area and even checked out some really old mining equipment.

Tonopah cemetery

downtown Tonopah, Nevada

 I dropped off a couple of letters for my students at the old post office downtown then got back on the road. My next destination was Devil's Postpile in Mammoth Lakes, California.

It took a bit more than 2 1/2 hours, but I finally arrived at the shuttle bus stop. The only way to see Devil's Postpile is to take a bus to get there. The problems were that the bus ticket booth had a long line AND the nearest parking spot to the bus stop was 1/2 mile away. I was surprised by how many people were there already!

After waiting in a very long bus line and riding on the bus for 30 minutes, I arrived at the Devil's Postpile trail. I hiked the trail and arrived at the Devil's Postpile National Monument.

Earlier in my trip, I saw Devils Tower, a national monument with clusters of geometric tubes clumped together that rise out of the ground.

Devil's Postpile is a similar, unusual rock formation. This formation was created by lava around a hundred thousand (100,000) years ago. I took a bunch of photos and finished the hiking trail back to the shuttle bus. 

My next stop was Yosemite National Park. I've been there quite a few times, but this time, I entered the park from a different direction. I was able to see a part of the park I've never seen before. 

mule deer in Yosemite

along Tioga Pass

Unfortunately, I didn't get to stop very many times since I had to meet some friends at a cabin in Oakhurst, California for a camping trip. This camping trip is the very last part of my trip.  

I look forward to seeing you this week.

Your teacher,

Elaina

Tuesday, June 15th The Last Push Home Las Vegas, NV to Santa Clara, CA

Our road trip ends today.  It is 9 am - checkout time is 11.  I still have to get ready for the long 9 hour drive from Vegas to Santa Clara.  Greg still has $200 burning a hole in his wallet and is determined to lose it before we leave, but not if I can help it.

I’ve been told that the next 9 hours will be uninteresting - we aren’t driving through particularly nice parts of California.

Time to pack.

UPDATE:


The 9 hours of driving was completely uninteresting, and very hot.  Much of it was driving through the desert.  I must admit that I’m very glad to be here.  And I’m glad to be done with all the driving (although Greg did do most of the driving).

So, here ends another great trip.  We saw some really cool things and did some really cool things and made a lot of stops.

Until next time…