Wednesday 11th October
Today we woke to cloudy (?or smoky) skies and set off for the four hour or so drive to Narrow Gauge Inn just outside the douth entrance of Yosemite. Iain drove out of San Francisco but we managed a route that went south along the coast and then turned inland to hit the highway to San Jose so we missed most of the city area. All day it was really misty and much of our drive was across miles and miles of flat plains growing mainly sweetcorn and cotton and acres of fruit or nut trees where there seemed to be no horizon - just cloud. Once we neared Yosemite, in Oakhurst we stopped at a tourist information centre where a very helpful lady gave us loads of info and maps. She also recommended a teashop down the road where I had a sandwich and iain a scone with a nice pot of tea! It was all dolled up like an olde worlde tea shoppe complete with fine china and embroidered napkins, not to mention the proprietor dressed up in a black gown and bonnet. The tea and sandwich were very welcome though!
We reached Narrow Gauge Inn around 4pm and have a lovely corner room with a verandah and windows overlooking the pine forest on two sides. They had very large fires nearby only a couple of weeks ago so many trails are closed and the Inn was at risk but luckily was spared.

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