Another driving day. I underestimated the drive to Yosemite National Park – it seems close, but the actual route needs to bypass some lakes and mountains and so it was a pretty long drive (around 600 km.) The drive itself was OK, except that I was pulled over for speeding by a sheriff police car (or whatever they are called.) The officer was very courteous and only asked me to stay under the speed limit. So from that point on I had to drive a little slower, which was a little depressing, especially on nearly empty freeways.
When I finally got to Yosemite I ran into signs saying that I have to have chains for my wheels in order to continue into the park. I called the information line only to find out that there is only one road going into the park that doesn’t require chains, but chains may be needed inside the park anyway. Not in the mood for bravery, I decided against visiting Yosemite. I also didn’t feel like dragging myself through snowy mountains again, no matter how beautiful. Maybe I’ve had enough nature for this part of the trip. Additionally, a “maintenance required” light turned on in the car sometime during the day. National (the car rental company) said I shouldn’t worry but get it into a service center when I can. So I didn’t want to get stuck with the car in the park either.
So now I had to get off this mountain that I climbed with my car. Why are all the national parks on mountains anyway? I call to create a new park called Entirely Flat, On Sea Level And True To Its Name National Park. That’ll be nice. It was really dark already. You know it’s really dark when you can see the glare of the center (high mounted) stop light of your car in the rear view mirror. And the road down the mountain was curvy but I decided to go all the way down because I didn’t want to get stuck in a snow storm or something tomorrow.
And so I ended up in Merced, California, in a motel. Tomorrow – San Francisco. I still need to decide on a hotel or motel. I already have a few options I got from friends. I’ll do my “research” now and go to sleep.
‘maintenance required’ light is nothing — it turns on automaticaly after a certain number of miles. That is , you won’t get stuck because of it…
Yeah, that’s what National roadside assistance said. I still don’t like it, though. Anyway, I don’t plan to move the car much in San Francisco, so I might skip the visit to the service center.