Yosemite

We were in Yosemite last weekend with my parents and nieces, out from Oklahoma. It was an american family vacation in the purest sense from the "I'm here and I paid the entry fee, now entertain me" destination to the mini-van we rented to haul all of us.



A few soundbites from the weekend are probably worth a thousand descriptive words:

9 year old, after wading in water that had been snow maybe 10 minutes earlier:
"My feet are, like, totally numb."
6 year old: "Yeah, my feet are totally dumb too."

"Hey! I think I left my ($120, cheerleading-team uniform) tennis shoes in the parking lot back at Bridal Shower Falls!"

"Can we go to MacDonald's?"(Repeat 60 times, turning to Aunt Kim and adding hopefully:) "They make fruit and walnut salad."

6 year old, woefully, to her mother on the telephone, "Aunt Kim says they don't have KFC in California."

and finally from my mother, in her most authoratative tone:

"If I hear the words KENNY CHESNEY one more time, you girls are NOT going swimming when we get back to the hotel!"

But the conversation I'd really like to transcribe took place on the Yosemite Valley Floor tour bus. I think you probably had to be there, though, and I couldn't do justice to the accents unless you're an expert at reading phonetic script. The protagonists were a group of 18ish French backpackers and some elderly Amish men, the topic: the ins and outs of Greyhound bus travel. Evidently the Amish are considered experts of sorts on Greyhound travel, who knew? Both groups were decked out in their full respective uniforms, the Amish with their hats and beards and the French with the word "PUMA" emblazoned across every clothing item and accessory from socks to packs. Good lord, the Amish and the French! You can spot 'em from a mile away, you can't get 'em to fight a war for ya, and they think they've got the last word on every damn thing. (Just kidding--about the Amish.)


Waiting for the tour bus with Doody (cherokee for "grandpa," and conveniently descriptive in English) and half the population of northeastern Indiana.