Trip journal-Mary

After 6 wonderful months of planning the eastern Sierra trip it is finally under way! Even with perfect plans laid out in front of the team we had to make last minutes adjustments due to the federal government shut down. The plan was to meet at Peet’s Coffee in Hayward at 8:30am. Tim and I loaded up the PT cruiser and were ready to roll at 7am! An earlier five car accident on 880 had cleared and we made it to Peet’s at 7:45…truly a record for a Silicon Valley commute time! We got a coffee and settled in. I decided to call Patrick to see how far along they were. To my surprise they had not left San Jose yet. Tim had it under control…off to breakfast we go. Doug’s Place, promoted by the Peet’s employees and customers is where we dined. Good food and very kind people! I happened to ask the waiter where the nearest Post Office was, his response, just a couple of blocks away. The couple next to us over heard our conversation and asked if we needed a stamp. I said yes, we need to get the granddaughter’s birthday card in the mail. She insisted that we take her stamp after rummaging around in her purse for it, as it was extra and she rarely carries them! So we finished breakfast and were off to the Post office. We missed it the first time…so we just went back to Peet’s to meet up with the guys. They had not arrived yet, but called to let us know they were only 15 minutes away. So we told them we would go to Post Office again, this time we found it. Happy birthday wishes were now on their way to Amber! Back to Peet’s we go…and we wait, about 15 minutes and we get a call from Patrick, only to find that they were at Peet’s as well, we’re outside and they were inside. Finally the group is all together and ready to go. The original plan was to go 120 highway but they closed it early due to snow. So a new route was planned, and to my delight chose Highway 88 to Jackson….my old stompin’ grounds. As soon as we hit Waterloo exit off of Highway 99 I could smell the dirt and see that the walnut harvest was still going on. As we drove through Lockeford I was saddened to see that my great grandfather’s home had been torn down. Even though it was in disrepair it still saddened me to see the now empty lot. But as we continued toward Clements my heart waxed home, as we passed my families and my childhood home. I couldn’t see the house through the trees but I know it’s still there. To my surprise, and for the first time in my life, the population of Clements has finally changed from 242 to now 941 people! And yet it looks almost the same as it was when I grew up there. Off to Mel’s diner in Jackson for lunch, a local favorite, great tasting burgers all around.
As we left Jackson on Highway 88, we started coming into fall colors around Cook’s Station. The colors just got better and better the higher in elevation we went. I told the guys about Lake Kirkwood a little known lake which they had not heard of so we took a 15 minute off road trip to show them this little unknown jewel. It was as quiet there as a mouse on the night before Christmas and unchanged since the last time I was there was about 20 years ago. All of us took a few pictures. Anxious to be traveling again back in car we went. The beauty of the trees showing off their fall colors as they danced with the ever changing afternoon light was a beautiful sight to behold.

View Larger Map