Last weekend, I took my family on a little road trip, with an overnight in Groveland, where we met up with extended family.
But part of the trip was to try out my new plug-in Chevy Volt on a mountain drive. The car sure keeps me impressed. Chevrolet did a great job creating an engineering wonder. The car runs up to 40 miles on its batteries, then automatically and smoothly switches over to its on-board generator. It even has a mode where it will charge the batteries and keep a reserve when needed for mountain grades. If anyone has driven the "Old Priest Grade" road near Moccassin, it's a cool 2-mile 14% grade, climbing from 1100' to 2400'. The car cruised right up, with plenty of acceleration if I had wanted it.
A fun part of the trip was something new: Four wild turkeys lurking along the road, waiting for cars to stop. I recognized them as beggars, so we stopped, and they obliged by coming up to the car.
I had to install tire cables at the Hwy 120 Yosemite park entrance. Such fun!
Yosemite is pretty in white.
We stopped at the Crane Flat gas station to add 3 gallons to the tank. Here's the gas station attendant -- sitting on the post next to the car. Turned out to be another beggar.
Snow buddy
Deer at the Ahwahnee Hotel
Enjoying the world-famous view
