California IV: Goodbye Los Angeles, Hello Yosemite

We bade farewell to Los Angeles this morning and headed out over jam-packed freeways to make our way to Yosemite. After three exits, we crawled off the 101 and took surface streets, Chiara, our trusty GPS, correcting us constantly. Finally, sensing her frustration, I turned her off and we went by dead reckoning until we hit the 405. From there it was smooth sailing up the 405-5-99 to Visalia, a little southeast of Fresno where we stopped for lunch and a couple work conference calls.

I decided that Fresno was the place to get gas before we headed to the park, so we hopped off the 41 and found ourselves in a Ring of Hell that Dante didn’t describe—strip malls and no-large-sign-zones, making gas stations and grocery stores almost impossible to find. Half an hour later, we managed to fill the tank, and Chiara, back in our good graces, piloted us out of Hell and back to the 41.

Down the road, we passed through Coarsegold, stocked up on some wine at Oakhurst, and headed to Yosemite National Park where I will spend the next 3 days in a conference room while Nancy explores some of the most beautiful area in the country. At least the conference room has windows…that look out at tourists headed off to have fun.