G.A.S.P.

v

The next day (9-27), I moved to the Upper Pines Campground where I had reservations for three nights. The only problem was that there was a large RV in my campsite, and the owner explained that he had that site for the next two nights. I went back to the entrance and explained my situation. They put the RV somewhere else. Shortly thereafter, someone else arrived – Mr. Coyote! He was just sauntering down the road, apparently looking for something left on a picnic table, when he and a squirrel spotted each other at about the same time. They both took off, and I do not know the outcome of the chase, but I was really surprised at how fast the Coyote could run.

I walked to the top of Vernal Falls in the afternoon. There was some water, but not much. I had to hurry back because my "home" Public Television Station in Kent, Ohio had arranged for a photographer from the Fresno Public Television Station to come out to Yosemite to do a "photo shoot" of me. The photographer, Tom Aller, arrived at 3:00 with his wife Carrie and son Forrest. Carrie and Forrest went off to play in the river, and Tom took me (and B.O.B.) off to find some great backdrops for photographs. I felt like one of those high-paid super-models (you know, "stand over there in the weeds and look this way"), except that I didn’t get the $25,000 for my day’s work. Tom, Carrie and Forrest are a really nice family, and I enjoyed my time with them. As they left, Carrie insisted that I keep the rest of the bag of chocolate covered raisins that they had brought with them. Being a big sucker for chocolate covered raisins, I didn’t argue long.