While Paul did some online job hunting, I, at the suggestion of a fellow Tri Girl, ran to McKinley Park. It was a nice park with a pond, rose garden and quite a few other runners. (Thanks Jen!)

We then drove to Yosemite via Highway 120. It was a beautiful drive with rolling hills, farms and small towns along the way.



We arrived at the park in the late afternoon and, before even reaching our lodging, stopped for a number of photos ops. As many trails were still covered by snow and ice, we knew that our hiking options would be limited, and so it was a nice surprise to discover just how much there was right in Yosemite Valley.

It was awe-inspiring to see some of the most famous landmarks – El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite Falls and Half Dome.









We also pulled over to join a crowd that had spotted a coyote. (We actually assumed it was a wolf because it looked so much healthier than our Arizona coyotes, but later learned that Yosemite does not have wolves.)



This may have been our once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Yosemite and so, even though it was not the optimal time to visit, we didn’t want to miss out. However, with the “figure it out as we go” nature of our trip, we looked into lodging reservations just a few days in advance. This left us with just one option – an unheated canvas tent in Camp Curry. It’s probably best that I didn’t know in advance just how miserable it would be.



To be fair, there were some positive things about this experience:
- Camp Curry is in a great location, very close to Yosemite Village.
- The tent had beds with sheets, pillows, and 4 wool blankets – all of which we piled on top of our sleeping bags.
- The tents were charming, in a rustic kind of way. They are probably wonderful in the summer.
- That which does not kill you, makes you stronger. Right?



But, there was a long list of things about which I was rather grumpy:
- Most of the camp was a mud pit due to the melting snow.



- We had to put all food and toiletries (including unopened packages) in a bear box next to our tent. Nothing could be left in the car either. This policy is understandable and, if you’ve packed for a few nights, probably not too much of a hassle. However, we had packed for 5 weeks and had a ton of bear-attracting crap.



- The cold was even worse than I had imagined. Temperatures dropped quickly once the sun set and kept going until they hit the 20’s.

I was pretty miserable this first evening, but kept trying to remind myself that I was in the midst of the trip of a lifetime and in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Having no place else to go to be warm, we joined most of the rest of the camp guests in the lounge and hung out as long as possible before retiring to our ice box. Needless to say, I did not sleep well.

Today was the first really nice day in a while for us – sunny and mid-60’s. It felt great.

We ran from our hotel to the American River Trail and then along the trail for a while. It was pleasant to be off the roads and to have river views, although somewhat disconcerting that the path appears to be “home” for Sacramento’s homeless population.



After showering up, we walked a short ways to rent bikes at City Bicycle Works. They did not have tandems, but we got great deal on a 24-hour rental of two single hybrids – just $43 total for the bikes, helmets and a lock.

We rode to midtown and walked through the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, a gorgeous church.





Just a block away was the Capitol, which happened to be having a big health fair on the lawn. There were media and speakers, but we took off when it looked like the Governator was not on the agenda. Later, while watching the news, I discovered that Shay (of Biggest Loser fame) had been on the agenda. I totally would have stayed for her! I’m sure Paul is glad to have missed it though.



Instead, we walked though the Capitol building, which is magnificent.







We hopped back on the bikes and rode about 3 miles to uptown Sacramento for lunch at The Art of Food Café, a raw restaurant that I had found online. As usual with raw meals, it was light, healthy and delicious. We had a burrito, The Cuban (a marinated Portobello mushroom) and, for dessert, chocolate cheesecake that was phenomenal.



It appeared that we had hit all of the major tourist spots in town and so we enjoyed some more riding on the American River Trail before calling it a day.

We awoke to a winter wonderland in Mt. Shasta!



Thankfully, the snow had stopped and the hotel parking lot had been cleared by a plow, but we walked down the street to purchase tire chains anyway. We might encounter more snow and ice in Yosemite and did not want to get stuck again.



Conditions improved as soon as we started south. We took I-5 to Sacramento and arrived in time for a late lunch at Café Morocco. It had fantastic reviews on Yelp, but we were somewhat disappointed to find it rather mediocre.

We checked in at the Quality Inn in midtown and then headed to Old Sacramento in search of dinner. “Old Sac” is a quaint, touristy area – much like Tombstone, but without the cowboys.

It was 28 degrees and we had plans to spend 3 hours on snowmobiles. I bundled up with 7 layers on top and 3 on the bottom, including my new snow pants. Amazingly, I was quite comfortable all morning, with the exception of my fingers which kept getting numb.



Our motivation for going to Diamond Lake was to snowmobile to Crater Lake. Unfortunately, that particular trail was not groomed. But, we had a blast anyway! The snow-covered, tree-lined trail was gorgeous and we only saw a handful of people the entire morning. Apparently, snowmobiling is not a popular Easter activity.





Paul was surprised when I requested two single snowmobiles instead of one double, and even more so when I hauled ass down the trail. Of course, I was also the one who got my machine so stuck in deep snow that we had to go back to the rental place and have someone come out to rescue it. (This is Paul trying to get it out.)



We made lunch on the road, stopped in Ashland for coffee and tea, and then continued down I-5 into California. When we left Ashland, it was about 50 degrees and lightly raining. As we drove, and climbed in elevation, the rain became heavy and then changed to snow. Highway traffic slowed to a crawl and, when it became icy, Paul pulled off at the next exit which was for the town of Mt. Shasta.

At the end of the exit ramp, we turned left, hoping to get to the Best Western just on the other side of the overpass. We saw cars sliding all over the place, and then ours became one of them. We couldn’t move without sliding and so we just put on our hazards, stayed put and watched lots of near misses as other cars attempted to make it over the icy bridge.

Just a few minutes later, a police officer asked Paul to step out of the car, got behind the wheel himself and got us off of the bridge and out of the way. He suggested trying it again with some momentum. This ended us up in a snowbank, but a good Samaritan towed us out and then recommended an alternate route to the other side of the freeway, which was where all of the hotels were located.



A few treacherous miles later, I hopped out at the Mt. Shasta Inn to inquire about vacancy while Paul tried to get the car out of traffic. The owner informed me that they had plenty of rooms available, but, before registering, we would need to get our car into the parking lot, which was buried under two feet of snow. So, I asked for a shovel and got to work while Paul struggled with safely getting the car back to the motel.



After about 10 minutes, I was thrilled to see four other people walking out of the hotel with shovels. It turns out that they were the kids of the motel owner. Then, a young man walking down the street with a shovel jumped in and started helping. He was just out to offer help to anyone that needed it.

While our situation was frustrating at times, we were amazed by and grateful for the many kindnesses shown to us by total strangers.

It took us a good hour to clear enough snow to get the car in the lot, maneuver it up the driveway incline and fit it into a snow-free spot. We were relieved to finally settle into our room and take off our wet clothes, but also felt fortunate to be there and not stuck on I-5 which was now a giant parking lot.

Happy Easter!

Although it had stopped falling, there was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground this morning. We bundled up and drove about 20 minutes to the site of the Horse Butte 10-Mile trail race put on by CORK (Central Oregon Running Klub).

As usual, I headed straight to the porta potties and willed the people in front of me to hurry up. As I finished my business, the race director gave the 10-second warning. Perfect timing – it was 32 degrees and I was happy to start running before I got much colder.

There were 173 people at this race advertised as “100% dirt and 99.9% single track.” Sure enough, after only about ¼ mile of forest service road, we hopped onto a very narrow trail.

I would have preferred more time to let the field spread out, as this left me stuck in the middle of a train of 12 people. I don’t like having people right on my heels and so, at the first climb, I stepped off the trail and then back on at the end of the line. I lost a few seconds, but a whole lot of pressure went with it. Yes, it’s a race, but I only found out about it 12 hours ago and was just there to enjoy the morning.

I was somewhat disappointed that the trail was not very scenic. It actually reminded me a lot of Arizona trails – hard-packed dirt, scrub, dead-looking trees, mountains in the distance.



The course was well-marked with flags and mile markers. Having guesstimated a finish time of around 2 hours, I was pleased to reach the halfway point in just under 1 hour. Shortly afterward, I came upon the one and only aid station. This may seem stingy for a race of this distance, but, in temperatures this cold, you don’t need a whole lot of fluid.

With a total elevation gain of about 500 feet, the course seemed quite flat compared to our San Francisco 20K hillfest two weeks ago. There was a definite incline over the first half of the race, but it was quite gradual.



I crossed the finish line in 1:56 and was given a fantastic handmade hat – possibly the best schwag I’ve received at a race.



We enjoyed veggie burgers and giant hot dogs while watching the award ceremony. Overall winners received plaid cowboy-type tops with the race name embroidered on the chest, while masters winners got embroidered Snuggies.







I was surprised and impressed that the race director remembered us and made a point to welcome us to the event and ask what we thought of it. She encouraged us to come back in the summer for other Bend races.

From there, we made a stop at Costco to stock up on some of our food box staples – canned salmon, canned chili, protein bars and almond butter – and then headed to our final Bend attraction, the Deschutes Brewery Tour. We ate at the Portland pub a few nights ago, but their primary location and brewery are here in Bend.

We gathered with a group of obvious beer lovers in the tasting room before the 1:00pm tour. The free tour includes 4 tastes of their various beers which may be consumed before, during or after the tour. I had two tastes before the tour, but, not being much of a beer lover, didn’t finish either.



Our tour guide, Samantha, was fun and knowledgeable. It was an interesting tour and our only complaint is that they do not offer their gluten-free beer in the tasting room.



We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Bend and would love to visit again in the summertime. But, it was time to move on, so we hopped back in the car, put on our book-on-tape (we’re on our fourth of the trip), and drove a few hours to Diamond Lake Resort where we purchased a snowmobile package that included one night in the motel and two 3-hour snowmobile rentals.

After an early dinner at the lodge, we had a quiet and relaxing evening of catching up on the blog and listening to more of our book, “The Amber Room.”