El Portal is our home... well it is now Bob's for 2 weeks, as I'm now with his sister on my way home. It is not the most exciting place. A few apartment blocks for park staff, a primary school, pre-school and a very inviting looking pool. I did manage to swim laps on several occasions when we had days off and it wasn't crowded with kids, but the opening hours were very limited. The apartment is comfortable and cool with a hint of a view of the river.
The river always seemed to entice me, but getting into it proved to be a challenge. Eventually we found a gorgeous swimming hole and for the past few weeks visited regularly. Such good training for open water swimming. A stretch of about 100m and variations of current. Probably a little nicer than most open swimming spots due to the extraordinarily clear water. So cool to watch the trout and visit with other life in the process.
We traveled in & out of the park on a daily basis... well for 5days at a time for regular 91/2hr shifts. These were more like 12 hour days. The communite is 35 to 50minutes,then add in the down time between shift times and the bus timetable. There are a number of interesting activies it would have been great to attend if we had been living in the valley... movies, music, shows & campfire talks.
Mariposa is a small community another 40 minutes or so West of the Valley. We linked in a few activities around the regular grocery shop. One such visit was to the Mariposa museum. A stunning aray of information and exhibits. A hot dry place without alot going for it, but extremely rich in history. Mariposa, meaning butterfly, thus many businesses incorporated the theme.
Some interesting history of the gold rush from 1848 onward and earlier details of trappers who happened upon Yosemite. Of course many people have lived here long before the American people. 1,000's of years of Indian habitation. Italian visitors and of course a large proportion of the present State of California was part of Mexico at that time. The Mariposa County extended all the way south to include Los Angeles. Interesting when you meet people, as we did, who were complaining of the foreigners and their crime (Meaning Mexicans!) necessitating gun ownership! This one particular man was talking of his interest to come to NZ and as he seemed put off that it is cold there (not understanding that of course the seasons are reversed) we didn't enlighten him.
