...my husband and I were so excited to get an early start on Saturday morning to head up to Yosemite Valley to ride our mountain bikes around the park, hang out, and just enjoy a day at one of the most spectacular wonders of the world. He had worked diligently during the week to prepare the bikes for our journey, we packed plenty of fluids to keep hydrated, and the weather was predicted to be very enjoyable up the hill. We were looking forward to getting out of the Fresno area heat as well. The best laid plans...
...we decided to catch some food in Oakhurst at one of our favorite spots...we pulled up and noted they did not open until 1100 on Saturdays, ok, no problem, we figured that an alternate eatery would be acceptable, so we pulled into a restaurant associated with a local motel...our first clue that this would be a problem was the wait to even be seated. Once we were finally shown to a table, it was behind a grand piano (that was dusty by the way!) and our visibility was very poor. We we'ren't concerned about our ability to see a potential server, but their ability to see us. Some time had passed before we were even acknowledged. Once our drink and food order was taken, it was 45 minutes later and my husband was growing impatient...he got up to find our server and discovered that our order had not even been initiated. We said our thanks, offered to pay for the juice, and left...I had packed a couple of granola bars and peaches so we munched on these to tide us over thinking, "hey, when we get to Yosemite Valley, we'll catch a nice brunch at the Awahnee". Well, if we only knew what awaited us!
We were nearing the entrance to the Valley floor gate entrance when traffic slowed down to a crawl, and even though we were only about 3 miles from that entrance, it took another hour to get to the gate to pay the outrageous $20 fee. We were not discouraged at this point, only mildly disappointed with how long it was taking. Once through the gate, things seemed to be going well, we were then making good time...UNTIL...we entered the "tunnel" right outside the Yosemite Village area...traffic came to a complete stop! After 45 minutes, we were told that there was a tram on fire and efforts to put it out were met with a serious issue of the tram fire reigniting as soon as the flames were extinguished. Ok, we were close enough to the end of the tunnel, so, we pulled on through and parked thinking, "hey, we can get on our bikes and just ride on in"...uh, no! They were disallowing not only car traffic, but pedestrians and cyclists. The rangers said it would be at least another hour to contain the fire, and then who knows how long before folks would be allowed through.
We were instructed to turn around to head back home (or could wait it out)! On the way out of the park, we ran into "Barney Fife", a park ranger with an attitude that thoroughly chastised my husband for passing by him as he was directing traffic and threatened to give him a citation...hey, we we'ren't trying to find a place to park to wait it out, as many were, we wanted to get home (and stop SOMEWHERE to get something to eat).
Oh well, the best laid plans were a bust! We did enjoy a nice lunch at Tenaya Lodge (at about 2PM when all was said and done), and did enjoy some beautiful scenery on the way up and the way back down.We were safe, did get to enjoy one another's company while driving, and even enjoyed a little chuckle when we saw a man on the side of the road talking to a ranger...the fully bearded gentleman was wearing a skirt, dangling earrings, and a lovely bracelet..."to each his own"!
Another lesson to take into the workplace I suppose...when things don't go as planned, I need to try and focus on the stuff I was able to enjoy during the experience, work to mitigate the negative impact of the untoward events, and build character and endurance for the next attempt.
(oh...I thought you would like to know that despite the fact that we used 3/4ths of a tank on gas for the journey, our $20 entrance was refunded on our way out!)