On the next morning it was time to end the relaxing and reading, and start trying to find the random point in earnest. This was the day for backroads. So I started out with my GPS pointed at the random spot, and just followed wherever it pointed. It was about 150 miles as the crow flies from where I was to where I was going. Given the back roads, that meant it took about 6 hours to drive. Along the way their were little mountains...
Palm lined streeets through little towns...
Which then turned into desert streets...
With strange hills and yellow grass...
Soon after I crossed into Mariposa country the road I was on turned into a dirt road.
I had already been going at least a dozen miles without there being any crossroads, places to turn, or any signs of human habitation other than the road and the occational fence. I had no idea how far this dirt road would continue. And of course, I was almost out of gas. Running out of gas here would not be fun I thought. This was not exactly a horribly inviting place where I'd be running accross a gas station any minute...
The only life I saw waere these strange little ground squirrell things and the occational bit of livestock...
But I really got worried when I had to stop because a peacock was wandering accross the road...
As it turned out, the dirt road I was on continued without turnoffs for more than 20 miles. When the dirt road ended, I was less than five miles away from my random point. By my gas was reading empty. I hit a turn off, the left turn aimed right at my random point. But if I went straight ahead for just a couple more miles, I'd hit the town of Mariposa, where I was sure I could find gas. I decided not to risk it (I know, boring) and went to get gas first. I made it, barely. The gas station attendant asked me how Daewoos ran. I told them they did.
Anyway, then I headed straight to the random spot, which conveiniently enough was just barely off of Route 140 and only a couple miles from Mariposa. I was there in mere minutes. I pulled off the road within the error circle on my GPS. Which meant that I was close enough to spit on the spot. Well, not quite, but close enough so that for all intents and purposes I was there. In reality, the actual spot was perhaps 1000 feet away. I took a bunch of pictures in every direction from where I pulled over, but here is the one most likly pointing at the spot itself...
The spot is right there somewhere in that grove of trees. I did not try to walk any closer. You never know when some farmer might come out with their shotgun you know. This was close enough.
Anyway, I then went to try to find a place to stay in Mariposa. Mariposa is a lovely small town, population less than 300, plus tourists. Mariposa is known for two things. First, it was one of the gold rush towns that sprang up in 1849 when they found gold in California. They have a little gold mining museum, and you can pay to try to pan for gold yourself. (I did neither thing.) Second, it is a gateway town to Yosemite National Park. It is the last town on the west side of Yosemite before you enter the park itself. (Even though the park gates are almost 50 miles away.) There is a big sign at the edge of town telling if the park gates are open or not and there is a visitors center where you can get all kinds of tourist type info. Cute little town.
Of course, being prime tourist season for Yosemite, nearly all the hotels and motels were full. But the folks at the only one of those hotels with a name I recognized (the Best Western) were nice enough to tell me that the "Miners Inn" still had a couple vacancies. The Miners Inn was up on a hill at the very edge of town. It was run by a couple gradmotherly ladies. They indeed had a single room, but it was only available for one night, and I was thinking of staying two nights. But, they had a bigger room with a king sized bed and a whirlpool bath available for both nights for just 15 dollars more. So I took that. It was a pretty nice comfy room. I was happy. After having dinner at the attached restaurant and saloon, I watched some TV and then went to sleep.