Fried Eggs with Mustard

 

This morning I pulled my house keys out of my pack to lock away into my suitcase; I would not need them for a while.  As I held them, a feeling of disbelief washed over me:  I can’t possibly own a house, can I?  It seemed so foreign!  Living in Beagle seems so right.  I had to take a minute and remind myself of all I left behind.  But I don’t miss a thing.  Well, I briefly missed Stella yesterday.

I left Bass Lake and traveled Highways 41 and 49 to Tuttletown Recreation Area, planning to spend two nights there.  The drive along Highway 49 was gorgeous:  It winds through the high mountains on the western edge of Yosemite; a well-built road with delightfully engineered curves and I thought about how much fun it would be in Stella.  I never had anyone in front of me and rarely anyone behind, perfect for a leisurely, scenic drive.  My side of the highway was quiet but there were plenty of cars coming towards me; I seemed to be heading in a different direction than most people.  I take this as a compliment.

It was 85 degrees when I arrived at the Tuttletown Recreation Area, I could not wait to jump into the water!  A giant reservoir with fingers and islands much like Lake Powell up in Utah and, like Lake Powell, a destination much more suited for boating than camping and swimming.  Sadly, as is true of most bodies of water in California, it is drying rapidly and it was a long, long, long walk down to the rocky shoreline.  But swim I did!  And a good long float on my back too before hurrying back to the Noses who were sacked out inside the shade of Beagle.  (With her windows open and the fan on, she stays very cool—thankfully nothing like a car.)

The Noses and I do not handle hot weather well; poor River especially could hardly move, so I knew I would rather not stay both nights.  If I had been unsure of my next location, I would have persevered but since I knew I was headed to one of my favorite places, I wrote ahead to see if I could arrive a day early.  The Kitness prevailed; they had a spot for me.

Following my disorientating experience with my keys this morning, I took advantage of the relatively cool morning and took Opus on the poorly marked but otherwise well-maintained hiking trails that weave and crisscross through the pines around the reservoir.  I was hoping to do at least three miles but managed to get lost so ended up doing four and a half.  It sure felt good!

Arriving back at Beagle, hungry for breakfast, I began to fry an egg.  Having just finished Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden, (for the fourth time, I believe), his character David popped into my mind; he was always putting mustard on his eggs.  I had and love Dijon, I love Hemingway in general and that book in particular, so I gave it a try.

And where has this taste been all my life?!?  This is going to be how I eat eggs from now on.  It was so delicious I wished I had cooked two.

We packed up and hit the road by 10:30, as the thermometer was climbing past 75.  This time of year, you cannot pass through Yosemite from west to east as Tioga Pass is closed so I headed up Highway 108 over Sonora Pass (picture above.)

Such a gorgeous drive!  I have done it before but not sure I have ever done it this early in the year; the snow etched into the mountain sides and fast flowing rivers dazzled me.  And, of course, my beloved pine trees with almost no underbrush so you can easily make out the giant granite boulders patiently waiting for attention.  Ahh, lovely, lovely drive.  I highly recommend it even if Tioga Pass is open; there are far fewer people and plenty of places to pull over and enjoy nature.  I pulled into an empty campground and the Noses and I enjoyed a picnic lunch.  River, being the only Nose off leash, raced around the shore of the river like she was six months old.  Opus glanced over with disdain.

And so here you find me for four nights, at the Mono VistaRV Park, a rare RV park experience for me but I have been coming here for years.  I have raved about it before so will just leave you with me sitting inside Beagle as the sun shines through the trees and into her windows, a strong, sharp wind is blowing, it is due to drop below freezing tonight (yes!) and I can hardly wait to fry another egg.

-K

PS:  Blogspot has alerted me to the fact that the email notification is not going to be supported after July.  Assuming I am still on the road you will have to add “check the Beagle blog” to your to-do list if you want more updates.  Or follow me on Twitter, I will tweet out a link.  @kitrinabryant