Happy CampersNormally, Herb and I would never choose to go away on a Memorial Day weekend, as we have the luxury, as retirees, to go whenever we want. However, if we want to spend time with the boys and their girlfriends, who have this inconveniences called jobs, we make an exception.

But where to go on such late notice? It had to be a climbing destination to make them interested enough to play with us, but most of those were booked already. Then I remembered that a few years back, I had gotten a campground in Bishop let us stay in their overflow area over Memorial Day. What was even more amazing than that was that Memorial Days is Mule Days in Bishop, which draws thousands of people from around the country to watch people and their mules compete in various events.

So, everything was set. We would get a head start and head out Wednesday, and they would drive the long 7 hours from San Francisco after work on Friday.

However, to my dismay, the weather forecast was predicting snow in the Sierra from Friday night through Saturday night, possibly closing mountain passes. This same thing had happened in our February Yosemite getaway with the kids. But, as anyone who lives in California knows, the weather in the Sierra can be snow almost anytime of year.

They told me not to worry. Rather than cut through Yosemite on the Tioga Pass Road (the shortest route), they decided that they would take the least mountainous of the passes and come via South Lake Tahoe, even though that added an extra hour.

Hopefully, it would all work out and we would get to spend the long weekend together.