USA Day 8: Sacramento, Launderland, Jamestown (2014-10-03)

USA Day 8: After a classic breakfast with even worse, terrible coffee, we found a cozy hotel in Yosemite National Park.

We wanted to spend two nice days there. However, things usually don't go as planned. All the hotels were full, only available from

For 500 $ per room, you can still find a small motel room.

Change the day's goal? No! We're driving anyway.

But first, our laundry needs to be done. Since we're staying in a rather small budget hotel, we unfortunately have to do it ourselves. Check out and departure to Launderland. After about 1.5 hours, everything is clean and dry, packed away, and we can head off towards Yosemite.

1. Stopover after a 15-minute drive:

Folsom Premium Outlet. Because Helene allegedly threw out my good Swiss Army knife with the trash bag, I went on a desperate search for a Victorinox store. Unfortunately, there wasn't one at this outlet. Too bad. On the other hand, I made a few impulse buys at Tommy Hilfiger.

Back on the road, we continued through a beautiful and hot, almost desert-like landscape. There are countless meadows and pastures, but hay grows directly there, which is certainly an advantage for the farmers, as they can harvest fodder immediately.

In the afternoon, we drove past a small Western town called Jamestown. The old town was so great that we spontaneously stayed here. We first booked a night in a pink room called Diamond Lil at a hotel called the Jamestown Hotel – there were only 2 hotels (editor’s note).

In a quiet idyll, we enjoyed the mild summer evening with dinner on the hotel veranda, and let the evening wind down with a glass of red wine, a local Zinfandel.