So Malcolm Holser says:
> 
> I guess all of the busses made it up the hill -- we saw none on the side.
> We even made it up going the speed limit the whole way!  Sure glad the
> road has a 15 mph limit -- that was ours as well.  We were not so popular
> on the Tioga Road out of Lee Vining.  Fifteen doesn't seem to cut it with
> the other drivers there.

Hey Malcolm,

Glad you and the family made it okay.  I had the same uphill (so-what-else-
is-new) as you.  Used the pull-outs as much as possible.  Got some 'thank-
you' waves from some, some others probably wanted me to make a sharp left
of the embankment.  Oh well, 20 - 25mph is not too bad.  Sometimes first
gear was the only one I could go forward in after some of the pull-outs!

Really good campout Kath/Mark!  Kudos also to Martha and her new TDI toy.
Linda and I had a great time even though I was sleepy most of the time. :)

Did the Devils Postpile thing and the hot showers were a little hotter
than I cared for, but Linda loved it.  Saturday nights potluck Mexi
dinner was fabulous!  

Linda and I also used our Propex propane heater for the first time. 
Runs and feels great when I have battery power.  And as I was reminded
of several times while there, I need an aux. battery.  Well, I knew in
advance that I'd probably have battery problems because when I worked
in the evening to get the heater in and hooked up, I had the rear light
on and after only a couple hours work, the battery was dead.  I knew then
that my original battery was nearing the end of it's life.  And I've been
mulling the aux. battery issue over and I finally think I know which way
to go on what to use which is 2 6V T105's by Trojan which was suggested
by Bradley at the campout.  The original battery provided power for most
of both nights although Linda kept wanting to turn up the heat while I
cautioned that little heat would be better than none at all.  So I think
next time, the battery power will be a non-issue and we'll be plenty
comfortable.  I'll probably be too hot the way Linda wants it. :(

Thanks to Jeff Schneider and Bret ???  friend of someones for the
jump starts.  And thanks to those that offered too.

Steven 
Sacramento, CA
sjohnson@pcocd2.intel.com