American Diary Part 15 Yosemite again!

Sunday 10th June We arrived at the same campsite we had visited at Yosemite. Nicole and I put up out tent in record time whilst the newbies struggled with poles, pegs and fly sheets. I gave in and helped, it was too painful to watch. The next challenge was the first dinner. I had already decided not to do any shopping - 3 weeks was long enough. so, some of the au pairs did the work this time and cooked up some spaghetti, tomato sauce and hotdogs. Not gourmet but sufficient. We then chatted until dark and an early bed after the briefing about bears and food storage - this caused a lot of sreeching from the au pairs about being eaten alive, having their tents ripped open and general feeble behaviour about the cold, hard ground, no pillows, no hairdriers and bugs- WE ARE CAMPING OUTDOORS FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!! Monday 11th June Woke early (5.45am) to get a shower, only 2 cubicles and 12 girls. Already I was surprised to see it full with a queue. What takes them soooooooo long????!!!!! I lost patience a little with one girl doing makeup in the mirror and taking far too long. Anyway, by 8am amazingly we were all ready to leave. Our tour leader 'Pia' from Germany was excellent, getting more involved in the cooking and food boxes than Dan ever did. She even had oven gloves and a clever metal thing for toasting bagels over a gas burner! Having already visited the park last week, I planned to hire a bike and go cycling along the valley, or try to get on a horse. Once inside the park I took Nicole to find the stables. When we walked there we were too late, but just as well. The 'horses' turned out to be Mules - and fat mules too! so glad we didn't commit ourselves to going. So instead, we hired pushbikes and with the wind in our hair we cycled a few miles through the valley in search of Mirror Lake. We found it at the end of a steep path which had to be walked, and had just enough time for a photo before cycling back, returning our bikes and getting the shuttle to meet the group and move on to our next stop. The weather this time was much clearer and leaving Yosemite we left via the TIOGA pass which had been our entrance last week in the snow and grey skies. This time it was warmish, and clear so perfect for photos. We stopped at a great viewpoint for snaps, then again at a lake to have a picnic lunch. The pass itself is just under 10,000ft and once through, the road is pretty steep cut out of the rock winding through a granite valley. the next stop was MONO LAKE - another repeated visit (not happy with Suntrek for 2 days of duplication) and those of us who had already seen it, just sat in the sun whilst the au pairs (AP's) wandered around. Hardly interested in it at all, so they didn't take long. At least it was a chance to see the volcano again which we walked around before. Our camp site was to be at a place called BISHOP. A flat site with an entrance in the style of a wild western town. It would have been perfect except for 3 very creepy guys who could have been in the movie 'Deliverance' camping nearby with a red pickup and a habit of chewing something and spitting it out. One of them approached me and asked questions about our group - I was pretty economical and wanted him to leave, but he had a pervy sneer on his face which I really didn;t like and he go tthe message and walked back to his mates. Dinner was ok - Tacos from the Panama AP, then Pia took us all to a local creek in the desert where hot water flows into small pools from undergound springs. The group went in, but I didn't fancy it - it was a bit dirty to be honest and smelled and when I saw dog poo on the bank it really put me off so I stayed on dry land! the memory of creepy guy also made me want to stay fully clothed! It was an early nigh after that. Back at camp in the dark, some took showers