Hollis:
Yosemite was incredible. The Disneyland of nature - or at least that's how I sold it to my 9 year old. We found a great place to stay - the Yosemite View Lodge - two miles outside the Arch Rock entrance on 140 in El Portal. Less than 15 minutes to Yosemite Village. We saw mule deer, a bear, crazy humans climbing El Capitan, and on the way back, Hetch Hetchy. Very cool! I brought the portable DVD player (hooked up to the TV) and a bunch of movies. We never watched. The room had a balcony overlooking the Mighty Merced less than 10 feet away. After the young 'un went to bed, my wife and I spent each evening out on the balcony listening to the river, watching the moon and stars, while I strummed my Electrum unplugged. Not much volume, but VERY spiritual in a non-religious sort of way.
As far as hemp goes, it really is the same plant as cannabis (marijuana - a racist term promulgated by Harry Anslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics for about 40 years, in an attempt to play on the discrimination against Mexican farm workers in the southwest in the 1930's). Industrial hemp has been bred for centuries to be high in fiber content which just so happens to make it low in THC. It's kind of like a chihuahua and a mastiff are both dogs, but no one (except maybe the DEA) would ever confuse them. (Or like an Alembic and a Fender Squire are both guitars). Hemp is used for a very wide variety of products: paper, rope, clothing, shampoo, foods, even Mercedes uses hemp in the interior of their cars. Hemp oil is very healthy. I even have a couple of hemp guitar straps.
Bill
