[TR] great drives

[Michael]

   Mariposa?  You  simply CANNOT be in that neighborhood without visiting
   Yosemite  National  Park. You just can't! My first visit there, due to
   the  vagaries  of  my  business  trip  to San Diego and then Fresno, I
   couldn't  get  to Yosemite when planned. So, I got up at 3AM or so (in
   Fresno)  and set off for Yosemite. I just happened to come through the
   tunnel  (between  the  park  entrance  and  Yosemite  Valley) right at
   sunrise...just  in  time  to watch the sun rising above El Capitan and
   Half  Dome.  That  was  in  1984 or so and I am still awestruck by the
   unbelievable natural beauty of the place!! You HAVE to go there.
   Jim Muller wrote:

My recollection from having been on it once and driven part of it is
that California state route 49 between Mariposa and Coulterville is
the crookedest road in the country.  Even after they straightened it,
so we were told.  Not for the faint of heart.  Of course, we did it
in a borrowed Ford LTD wagon loaded with music gear and four people.

Speaking of adding time, don't forget that when you go from the west
coast to the east it takes three hours longer than you might
calculate.  I guess it must be the prevailing winds or something
because it takes so much less time going the other way.