WestwardGo!

The morning dawned cold, windy and foggy. The only change from the previous night being that we could see the bridge in all its glory as we crossed it for the 3rd (but not final) time. What should have been a simple drive to drop the van off ended up being a full tour of downtown in rush hour due to an outdated SatNav. After a small detour to drop our luggage off at the Airbnb we made it safely to the depot and waved a fond farewell to Angular. Our road trip took in 8709 miles, 71 days, 17 National Parks, 10 States, shamefully few showers making one incredible adventure and creating countless memories. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system (fondly called Bart) proved to be easy to navigate and before long we were checked into the Airbnb enjoying the luxuries of non-van life, mainly proper furniture and decent WiFi. For those interested in the culinary side of things we enjoyed a delicious Creole lunch and a wondrous sourdough pizza. After checking the weather forecast we decided to de...

We awoke to the air thick with smoke as the fire was growing and moving towards Yosemite, the smokey air created an interesting atmosphere amongst the trees, the shade and smoke cover welcome as it meant a cooler van. Due to the poor visibility and advisories not to spend too long outside in the smoke we didn't spend too long in Yosemite.  Our first stop was Bridalveil Falls, an impressive sight at over 175 meters! The drive to Yosemite Village has many fantastic views, unfortunately we had to pass them all by due to the smoke, we stopped in the village for lunch and a tour of the Visitor Center before continuing through the park along highway 120 to try and escape the smoke (and approaching fires!).   Happily for us the drive out of Yosemite along highway 120 took us above the smoke and we enjoyed fantastic scenery, especially around Tuolomne meadows.  We took a quick peek at Mono lake's hat-shaped island then headed off towards the local h...