DAY 93- Abilene to Dallas, TX…

I woke up to a HUGE loud bang against metal at 5AM in my hotel room in Abilene.  A cowboy had dropped his heavy overnight bag into his huge diesel pickup truck that was parked right out front of my room.  BANG!  5AM in the morning and I already felt like I had a heart attack!  A few minutes later the whole room was vibrating when he started up his truck.  Shortly after that I heard more cowboy boots thudding around and more loud pickup trucks starting up.  These cowboys liked to start their days early around these parts.  I looked out the window and the 75% of the parking lot that had been pickup trucks last night were gone. 

I decided to start a pot of coffee and get ready for the day too.  I got on-line and figured out what there was to do in Abilene before I started my drive to Dallas where I would spend the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I found out a few possibilities and headed up front for breakfast and a bit of assistance for directions. 

Photo- Frontier Texas a FUN place to visit and learn about Texas Hertiage.

Off I went towards historic downtown Abilene; I stopped southeast of it and went into Frontier Texas!  It’s a western heritage center that focuses on the frontier time period of Texas history.  It’s done with a new level of technology.  I went in paid the $8 entrance fee and wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was handed a map of the museum and before I knew it this southern Texas older gentleman was taking the map out of my hands and very nicely explaining what the museum was and how it worked.  He seemed impressed that I was all the way from Salt Lake City and wanted to ensure that I had a good time visiting Frontier Texas.  He was very sweet.

Photo- Inside the Frontier Texas an example of a covered wagon.

I had to wait for a few minutes for the next starting time.  Frontier Texas has a series of holographic spirit guides that take you through the history.  It was an amazing experience where these 6 historical figures took you through the history by telling you about parts of it.  In the first room, a hologram of Buck Taylor briefly introduced the spirit guides that you would be meeting as you went along.  In the second room, Buck Taylor’s hologram gave you a general overview of the Texas history; the big picture as it was called.  Then, I went down a hall where I went on to meet another spirit guide a Native American Indian that talked about the history of his people and what the land was like before all the settlers came. 

Photo- A community tooth brush!!??!  Ewwwwww!!

There were items to read and interactive things that you could along the way too.  I walked through a tepee and then met another two of the spirit guides.  These two were kind of having an interactive conversation with each other and it was very informative.  Next, I turned a corner and met a Captain Marcy.  There was a series of buttons in front of him that you could press to get answers to questions.

Down another hallway you got to meet another spirit guide who was a cowboy that moved cattle on a trail.  Though, there weren’t any real trails at that time.  He talked about the dangerous life on the trail.    Then, across the room on the other side you met another spirit guide who was a former slave that had been freed in hopes of locating his family that had been taken by Indians during a raid.  He ended up finding them and ended up going into the business of delivering supplies to pioneers. 

Then, I waited for a few minutes to get into the theater area where a presentation takes place.  It’s an amazing presentation where you sit on chairs that could be spinned in 360 degrees.  The theater show goes on all around you and it’s a wonderful presentation about the frontier Texas life.  After the theater show there was one more spirit guide that you met that I found interesting in that the woman who had managed to escape from Indian capture seemed to go through quite a few husbands on the frontier. Her first husband had been killed in the Indian raid.  She remarried and the next one went to check on the horses in the barn and didn’t come back.  She remarried again a military man this time that ended up being killed in action with Indians.  Then, I was at the end of Frontier Texas and was deposited in the gift shop area.  It was very worth the $8 entry fee.

Photo- The outside of the Grace Museum which is a restored hotel.

Next, I drove further into historic downtown of Abilene and located the Grace Museum.  I parked the car and walked in.  I paid the $8 entrance fee and was admitted to the Art Museum.  There are three floors of art.  On the first floor there was a featured exhibit called Wild Things.  There were two different artists displayed in this exhibit; one was Billy Hassell who painted colorful oil paintings with wildlife represented in them and the other artist was David Everett who had some amazing three dimensional wooden carved and colorfully painted sculptures.  On the second floor of the art museum there was a Texas Impressionism Exhibit titled Branding with Brushstroke and color, 1885 to 1936.  It featured several local impressionistic artists that had been in the area when Texas was just coming into being made a state.  The third floor featured a black and white photography exhibit by David H. Gibson called Quiet Beauty.  It was a wonderful art museum to visit and quite high quality for such a smaller town area.

Photo- The inside of Cypress Street Cafe in Historic Downtown of Abilene, TX.

I walked next door to have lunch at the Cypress Street Station Café.   It was a wonderful older building that had been remodeled to be a restaurant and featured a white tin punched ceiling.  I had the special of the day which had a beef quesadilla, chicken chimi, and a fresh salad with fresh sweet salsa vinaigrette.  It was a wonderful meal.  After lunch, I walked through a Texas gift shop down the street where it had anything and everything that was Texas.  It was fun going through but I just window shopped my way through it.

It was time to start heading towards Dallas.  It was basically a straight drive east on I-20.  It was a fairly heavy traffic day on the interstate and I think it was due to everyone heading somewhere for Thanksgiving which was the next day.  I set my cruise control for a bit below the speed limit and just went through with the flow.

Construction was a nightmare when I got into Dallas.  The exit that I should have taken was under construction and when I got off the interstate to try to back track the streets were curving every which way that I ended up getting totally lost.  I was lost about an hour and a half amid the Dallas Wednesday night rush hour traffic with construction.  I will say that it was really rather frustrating.  I also discovered that it was similar to driving in Salt Lake City in that if you put your blinker on they wouldn’t let you over.  I started driving like I did in Salt Lake City and just started to head over as a space appeared.  It all kind of reminded me of when the SLC was preparing for the Olympics and we had the Toboggan run going on with I-15.  I finally did manage to find the hotel and I opted to stay in the hotel for dinner.  I had enough of Dallas driving for the day.

DAY 48- Yosemite National Park...

I had been a bit concerned about visiting Yosemite National Park with all of the recent news concerning the Hantavirus there.  I got handed two extra pieces of literature at the entrance booth about the virus.  But there were still a lot of people going into the park so it couldn’t be that bad, could it?  Later I noticed signs all over warning about the virus too.  But the throngs of people were still coming in.

Photo- Warnings were posted almost everywhere in the Park.

It was busy constant driving traffic driving into the Park on the 17 miles stretch of curvy road that went from Oakhurst north to the south entrance of the park.  Didn’t these people know that it was Sunday morning?  They are supposed to be at church so that we “heathens” can have the roads to ourselves.  If I was in Utah, this would have been clear sailing but nope they must have all been “heathens”.  Yosemite National Park has over 3.7 million people that visit the park each year.  I was really hoping that this would be an off day for some of those people.

I stopped at the Wawona Visitor’s Center which was the first center I came to.  I went into the general store; mainly to get bottled water and maybe a snack in case I went on a hike.  I ended up purchasing a bumper sticker which I now have a growing collection on the back of my car.  Yeah, I’m one of THEM!  I gave into temptation and bought a cute t-shirt.  I also bought some more postcards to mail out.  I’ve got to keep the Popette, my dear older friend, updated about my where abouts.

Photo- About to enter the drive through tunnel just before the Tunnel View on the other side.

Next, I headed towards the tunnel and the Tunnel View which is probably Yosemite’s most famous pictures; thanks to Ansel Adam’s black and white photography.  When I got to driving tunnel I was surprised how long the tunnel was.  My car radio lost reception in it and I had my car lights on.  There were warning signs flashing towards the end of the tunnel to be prepared to slow down and stop. 

Photo- The breath taking Tunnel View at Yosemite.

And then I got the Tunnel View.  WOW!  I turned into a parking spot and got out to take photos.  I took a couple of photos and then just stood back in awe.  I asked a young couple to take my picture for me, and in return I took one of them in front of the view too.  I continued to stand there in awe.  While there a guy turns around and says, “Is this Yellowstone?”  I laughed and answered, “Well, they both start with a “Y”.  So you got that going for ya!”  We talked for a bit and his friend teased him that he couldn’t take him anywhere because he was always talking with anyone and everyone.  I took a picture of them in front of the view.  I wished them a wonderful day and continued on.

I was headed to the parking area near the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center.  That’s where I had seen bike rentals and bike paths in the Park’s brochure.  I found a parking spot and headed towards the visitor’s center.  I walked over to the center and happened upon a bike/foot path.  Now we are talking!  I was getting excited to get a biking route map and get out on my bike.  In fact, as bikes went past me on the path I kept on thinking of going back for my bike in the car.  But I continued walking on to the center.

I walked into the center and immediately asked about cycling at the counter.  The woman noticed my Hurricane Ridge t-shirt and asked if I was from Washington State.  She was from that area originally.  We talked for a bit and then she gave me a bike map.  There’s only about 12 miles worth of bike paths and bike friendly low traffic roads in Yosemite; a majority of that is only in the Yosemite Valley area.  But I was still pumped about riding my bike in Yosemite.  I checked out some of the displays and read about the history of the Park in the visitor’s center.

I went next door to the Ansel Adams Gallery.  They had prints and cards you could purchase of Ansel Adam’s black and white photography; as well as a couple of original photos of Ansel Adams if you had a mere $12,000 laying around for the least expensive one.  The other original photo was $14,000.  It was way beyond my ability.  There was other artist original works and prints to view and purchase also.  They even had videos of people climbing El Capitan’s face.  There was pottery and jewelry made by artisans too.  It was a wonderful shop and yes, you could even take your dog in with you.  I was amazed at how many people had their dog with them at this park.

Photo- The dry Yosemite Falls.

I took the quick hike of Yosemite Falls.  I knew it would be dry this time of year but I still had a bit of hope that there would be a trickle of water at least.  Nope, no such luck of that.  It was very dry except for a patch of moss.  Kids were climbing on the rock areas that during the Spring would be filled with running water.

Photo- Oh dear!  A deer stopping traffic in Yosemite.

I was now excited and started to my car for my bike.  On the way, a deer was just walking down the road.  It wasn’t even phased by all of the people.  In fact, it stood in the middle of the road and stopped a Yosemite Parks Bus.  The bus didn’t honk and just sat there to wait for the deer to move on.  It was funny all of these people were crowded around taking a picture of the deer stopping the bus.  Yes, I was among the masses on this one.

Photo- Of me with my bike in Yosemite.

Off I went on my bike, along a pathway.  Slowly, in some areas where they were people walking but even then; I was all smiles because I was biking in Yosemite.  I just thought it was so cool.  I verged off over to the path to Mirror Lake.  While on the way to the beginning of the trail there was a sign that said all rental bikes must stop here.  I pulled over and asked a gal if that was all bikes or just the rentals.  She said she wasn’t sure.  Then, I saw a tandem bike go by down the hill.  I jumped back on my bike and up the hill I went.  I think it was because the rental bikes didn’t have any real gearing or braking.  I got off locked the bike up and walked the trail in my mountain biking cycling shoes; not the best thing to hike in.  I should have thought this through a little more. 

Photo- Mirror Lake -- more like Mirror Sands.

Well, Mirror Lake is a misnomer if there ever was.  It was a sandy with strips of grassy areas.  I guess it’s like a puddle in the winter time, but that’s as close as it gets.  I talked with a woman who said back in the 1960’s when she visited it there was a shallow lake and that they were predicting that it would eventually be a meadow.

Next, I rode on a road area where it’s closed except for the Park’s shuttles.  It was wonderful.  Then, I also managed to ride the rest of the available pathways.  Next, I rode my bike over to the Yosemite Lodge where I enjoyed a beer along with chips and salsa.  I had a tour guide that struck up a conversation with me.  He was teasing me and asked a friend he had been sitting with him how far Fresno was from where they were.  I think I would have had a date for the night if Fresno where I was staying for the night had been closer to Yosemite.

It was about 4pm when I got back to the car and I had to get on the road for Fresno soon or I would be driving in the dark.  I wasn’t looking forward to that.  So off I went back through Oakhurst and off on Hwy 41 headed south.  I was on a race to get to Fresno before it got dark.  But every other hill, I came to had a California highway patrol car waiting.  So I set my cruise control to the speed limit and I did manage to get to Fresno about ½ hour before the sunset.

 

That also gave me a ½ hour to locate my hotel.  I only had a partial address of what street it was on and the name.  But I wasn’t concerned I figured I would find it and meanwhile I was checking out Fresno.  I’ve done this to a certain extent before and maybe I should be more stress but I’m not.  Quite often, things have a way of working out.  And they did; I managed to find the hotel and got checked in for the night.