So I thought I'd post a smidge about some of the places I've lived/been on Fridays, since I've pretty much been to hell and gone *g*.
Today's missive is about Yosemite National Park, a place near and dear to my heart. I lived there for almost five years back in the day, and by "lived there", I mean actually lived *in* the Park, pretty much under the shadow of Half Dome.
Yosemite is one of those awe-inspiring places... The main Valley itself is just magnificent, with granite carved monolithic that rise 2,000 feet above the valley floor. Half Dome is obviously a favorite, and when I was sixteen, we hiked to the top and spent the night up there, watching a lightning show as it rolled into the Valley. Not the smartest thing to do *g*, but hell, I was sixteen! LOL.
Glacier Point is a don't-miss location, and you can drive there *g*...heck, even my husband, who's a city boy through and through was totally impressed. There's a story that Lyle Alzedo (a football great with the Raiders) was hung by his heels from Inspiration Point (2,000 foot drop, then splat), and since the story came from my boyfriend at the time, who was a linebacker for the Chargers before he blew out a knee, and he was the one doing the hanging, I believe it.
But some of the coolest locations in Yosemite are off the beaten path. When I was going through my (*ahem*) altered-reality stage *g*, we used to go spirit-walking up the Mirror Lake Canyon, where a good number of the local Indian tribe were massacred by the Mariposa Battalion back in the day to make it safe for white settlers. Lemme tell you, wanna talk about shivers and things that *do* go bump in the night? Holy crap. We had more than one totally freaky experience there (I'll spill all at another time), but the most comical is something that happened years later.
See, I'd told my hubby all of the things that had happened there, and he just gave me a condescending look and said that we were all high, and it was mass hypnosis. Soooo, the last time we visited, I took him out to Mirror Lake. Keep in mind it's broad daylight, and there's about 100 tourists walking with/around us. Anyway, we're walking the dirt path, happy as you please, when he gets this kinda panicked expression and asks if I feel anything weird. Now I was fine, so I asked him what he was talking about. He said that it felt like someone was reaching through the ground and latching onto his legs...almost like he was dragging them through drying cement. This went on for a good quarter-mile, and he's getting more freaked out by the second, so finally I pull him off, down to the paved road, and voila, he's fine.
All I can figure is that he was being whacked in the head (metaphorically, of course *g*) by a soldier or Indian brave who died there, since he's a warrior himself (Air Force).
He swears to this day that he'll never set foot on that patch of land again, but at least now he believes me! LOL.
So anyway, that's the first in my installment of fun (but weird) places to go...if you wanna feel the *power* of someplace, Yosemite is definitely a go-to spot!
Next time I'll talk a bit more about what I saw/felt over my time there.
Have a fabooooo weekend!
Terri/Keira
