One of my favorite RVing memories was a day in Yosemite between a couple of major rainstorms. I was on my way back to the SF Bay Area from Quartzsite in January and stopped in to wait out a storm at the Escapees Park of the Sierras in Coarsegold about a half hour south of Yosemite's south entrance.
The second day was clear before another major storm would come in the following day. I decided to roll the dice and make a day trip into Yosemite. Travel into the park wasn't advised as there were fears of the heavy runoff closing Hwy 140, the main route in and out of the valley. But I would enter and leave via the south entrance, Hwy 41.
The roads were clear and the back to back storms scared people off. I had the park virtually to myself under blue skies. I was enjoying the fire in the empty lobby of the Awhahnee Hotel enjoying the fire when I was approached by the maitre'd. I thought he was going to kick me out but instead he invited me to have lunch in their dining room, which was usually reserved for hotel guests. I explained I wasn't staying in the hotel and he smiled and said it didn't matter, they had plenty of room.
After lunch I took the trail to Mirror Lake and encountered one other person, I was able to find a spot on a flat rock and sunned myself for half an hour while enjoying the view of the mountains reflected in the lake.
I returned to my RV that evening, waited out the second storm and then returned home. The storms washed out Hwy 140, just as predicted.
